Almanac
Answer to Yourself
Production Research - Greta Van Fleet & The Rust Brothers
In this entry I will be analysing research I have done on the production of rock & roll band Greta Van Fleet’s debut hit record Anthem of a Peaceful Army. Taking inspiration from classic 70s bands, they have an unmissably similar sound to Led Zepplin, with reaching influence from wider classic rock, blues, and folk artists such as Fairport Convention.
Live Sound - Jacaranda Sessions
During our live sound area of the module we have been working in the local music venue The Jacaranda with bands and in collaboration with the SAE film students to produce a live lounge set recordings on some of their tracks.
TMF Film Project Critical Evaluation and Reflection
For this project I aimed to create a polished and complete version of the given scratch audio which accompanied this segment of film. In undertaking this project I captured audio in multiple workflows depending on the situation, mostly foley recording sessions for the auditory FX and atmosphere, as well as ADR recording sessions for the dialogue, and finally mixing sessions to complete the piece.
Animation Project Critical Evaluation and Reflection
For my animation audio project I have produced a soundscape accompaniment for the visual piece Endless Rust. For this I aimed to create a complex ambience backing which would be an immersive and full mix, this was then layered with music tracks as well as foley spot recordings and fx.
Roles and Analysis of Audio for Game Production
Within the production of audio for the accompaniment of a video game there are a number of roles which are to be undertaken to complete the project. These cover the design of sound-scapes and audio fx and the recording of each, as well as the editing and implementation stages of the audio being loaded into the game environment in pre-production of the game itself, along with the mixing of all audio to consistent and appropriate levels.
Gimme Shelter Recording Project - Vocal Recording
With the instrumentation done at this point there was only the vocals to record in. For this I decided to again use the Tascam desk as there would only be one input channel for the recording and the Tascams functionality would be better suited personally for the session.
Gimme Shelter Recording Project - Rhythm & Guitar Recording
I organised the first recording session, aiming to track the guitars through. For this session I booked an afternoon slot of the Tascam mixing console / studio. For the rhythm guitar Luke brought his Telecaster, fitting with the equipment used on the original record, and with this being the driving riff track in the piece we sent the signal through to the live-room via the tieline in at the patch bay, out to a Vox amp which was set to add some distortion and drive to the guitar.
Gimme Shelter - Mixing
When approaching the mixing stage of my production of Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones I wanted to capture the same energetic and big sound of the original within my own. During the recording stages I had familiarized myself with the deconstructed audio tracks of the original so that whilst we tracked instrumentation such as the guitars, I could refer back to the original tone to compare against what I was getting from the instrumentation in our own version.
Gimme Shelter Recording Project - Pre-Production / Session Planning
For the recording module I have been working on a recording of Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones (1969), during this I have had to plan for several recording sessions within which I will record the various audio tracks I need for the final track. For this I researched the original's audio tracks, listening through and critically listening to the deconstructed tracks referenced below.
Delivery Specifications and Technology Requirements
There are a number of different formats for audio to be stored digitally. These range in attributes such as size and quality, and knowing which specific file type or format is required for a submission or audio project can be important to ensure compatibility, consistency and quality.
Applied Aesthetics In A Mixing Context
Over this last month I have worked on a 3-track project with an artist which has been aesthetically focussed to fit an outsider, somewhat low-fidelity and down beat sound. Using inspirations of the audio qualities of released records by artists such as Daniel Johnston and Jeffery Lewis, we aimed for a dark and moody style with the tracks to bring together the melancholic lyrics / vocals with the disenent guitar falling in and out of melody, calamity / rhythm in a overall disassociating atmosphere, which I emphasised in the mixing stage to enhance the audio quality from its original recording files.
Audio Studio Types
Within audio production industries there are a number of different studio types which are utilized in different professional production scenarios determined by the audio required and for what purpose it will be used for.
For music productions recording studio will by standard consist typically of two rooms, one acoustically treated live room designed and dedicated for the recording aspect of the production where the performance is carried out, connected to this room is then the mixing suite which contains the hardware / software to record and mix the track audio.
Roles And Workflows In The Music & Multimedia Industry.
Within the music and multimedia industry there is a range of roles and workflows that are suitable for and applied to the variations of music production in different settings and context. Within music production specifically there are usually the three core aspects of audio recording, audio mixing and post-production in any given project, these roles in professional settings are usually filled by different individuals so that they can focus on the specifics of that area of the production.
Guitar & Vocal Recording Studio Session
During the week a few of us arranged a recording session in one of the university studio rooms, Das played the electric guitar, Bethany on vocals and myself covering the audio engineering. The recording setup we used consisted of an sm57 for the vocals, with a pop-filter to prevent unwanted noise, positioned with a mic stand and connected to the input 1 on the focusrite audio interface via an XLR carrying a balanced signal, this being a dynamic mic it did not need phantom power however it did require some pre-gain to bring the level up to an adequate loudness.
A Telharmonium Recreation
During a lecture on the history of electronic audio equipment and instruments we learnt about the Telharmonium instrument and how it was used to transmit music through phone lines around the year of its production in 1896. When we were told by our lecturer that it’s sound was one that had been lost to history I thought it would make an interesting project to try and attempt a recreation of the lost sound and integrate it on another project of mine.
Waveforms and Subtractive Synthesis
When using a synthesiser to create sound, fundamental waveforms are first created by layering sine waves generated through oscillators. These waveforms are Sine(containing only fundamental harmonics), Sawtooth (containing odd and even harmonics), Square (containing only odd harmonics) and Triangle (containing also only odd harmonics, which drop in amplitude proportionally to the frequency).