Sound Engineering: Week 8 - Automation

Auto Off: Whilst running Pro Tools in manual mode. Ignores all automation
Auto Write: Write automation such as: Volume, pan, mute, plug in, send volume, send panning, send mute. Auto Write is destructive! Can turn on/off what you want to automate.
Auto Read: Reads the automation you have written
Auto Touch: Only writes while your touching, slowly goes down to 0 when unclicked.
Auto Latch: Stays at the level you leave it at.
Auto Trim: Keeps your previous automation, but can bring it up or down in volume.
Offline Trim: Trims while its not playing. Write 2 points and drag everything in the middle up or down.
Null Indicators: Indicate what direction you need to move the fader.

Uses
Auto Off: When you want to hear the finish product vs no automation
Auto Write: When you want to automate various drum hits left or right
Auto Read: When you have finished automation and you want to listen to it
Auto Touch: When you want a huge build up, with a slow fade down immediately after
Auto Latch: When you want a huge build up which stays at that high level
Auto Trim: When you want a voice level to be boosted while its playing
Offline Trim: When you want a voice level to be boosted while its not playing

Music Technology Forum - Week 8: Film Corporation

This week in Music Technology Forum, we went on a Field Trip to the Film Corporation located in Paradise. After some fun times in the park, it was time to enter the Film Corporation building. Once we had signed in our names and stuck our "Visitors" stickers on ourselves, a man, who we thought was Stephen Curry's brother walked past us. Much to our surprise, the field trip must go on.
We were first taken in the Foley room. We were told it was messy, but I don't think any of us were ready for the clutter that was in that small room. Shopping trolleys, pay phones, sand, rocks; you name it, it was in that little room.
After much talk about the Foley room itself, we were taken into the recording room. We watched a television series which the Film Corporation recorded their own Foley for. They used Foley for footsteps, bags with clanging metal, rustling clothes, and a police officer patting down two young boys. These scenes were watched on TV in the Foley room, while creating the sounds as they appear on the screen. This is a lengthy process, but needed to be done as some countries strictly want Foley in TV shows.
Next we headed into the film room where there was a huge theatre screen with a huge mixing desk. We watched snippets of a movie without Foley, and listened to it when Foley was added. The movie sounded fuller and more realistic with the Foley added.
Our next stop was the 'white room'. This room had a space painted completely of white with the edges curved inwards. This gave the deception that the wall is larger than it is. This room is where car commercials and other joyous commercials are filmed. With car commercials, they dump sand on the floor and have the car drive over it. On the commercial, they edit the sand to harsh scenery to give the effect that the car can withstand to these types of obstacles.
In conclusion, I believe the field trip to the Film Corporation was a very useful one. I enjoyed learning about Foley. I think its a clever idea and would like to understand more about the topic. Thanks to the guys at the Film Corporation for letting us into their domain.

Music Technology Forum - Week 7: Assignment

This week in Music Technology Forum, we spent a majority of the lesson viewing the upcoming major assignment. The assignment involves creating a portfolio in the form of a CD. Along with the portfolio we must include many things. A number of songs, which is entirely up to us how many songs we include, though we must take into account quality over quantity. A snippet of the songs we choose, which comprises of the best sections of the songs. The snippets must be no longer than 2 and a half minutes.

The portfolio must also include a CV. This CV should clearly note past achievements (relevant or irrelevant) that will demonstrate your willingness to the career at hand. A mini CV should also be included.

We split up into two groups to discuss more indepth about the portfolio. As a small group, we came to an agreement that 3 to 4 songs would be best. The number isn't small enough for the listener to think they aren't serious about the portfolio, but not high enough for the listener to lose interest. We thought a name for yourself + a logo would be useful.
For example - Don Patterson > D.P > ₯

Alot of detail and thought must be put into the portfolio, as we may be using them in our career. Its best to catch the viewers attention, maybe with a colourful CD, or a unique concept. We were told about one band who used the concept of inserting their CD inside a balloon and placed it in a box. The balloon was clearly labelled "*band name* are about to burst". I thought this was a clever idea, as it grabs your attention straight away whilst being unique.

Next week we will be visiting the Film Corporation near Paradise Studios. Ashley Close will be taking us through the building. I'm rather excited about this field trip, as it veering into the career I'm rather interested in.

Music Technology Forum: Week 6 - Ashley Close

This week in Music Technology Forum, we had a guest speaker by the name of Ashley Close. Ashley was recently overseas where he won 2 awards at the APRA awards, one of them being the national award for film & television. He began to talk about other countries, and which ones are the best for a film & television career. Some countries mentioned were: America, Japan, China, India; but the "film capital of the world", he says, is Los Angeles.
He goes on to say if you are looking to make it big in the film & television industry, the best place to visit is Los Angeles as there is so many opportunities. Many movies are shot in Los Angeles. Some movies have been thought of in another country, and then transported to Los Angeles to bring the script to life.
Ashley then talked about the role of "foley". A Foley artist on a film crew is the person who creates many of the natural, everyday sound effects in a film, which are recorded during a session with a recording engineer*.
To 'foley' a scene with a person walking with keys in their hands, you would have to mic from ear level the footsteps of the person. You would also need to capture the sound of clothes rustling as the person moves. The clinging sounds of keys would have to be recorded, and not overdone to make it sound as real as possible. Sometimes dirt is placed on the ground to add to the footsteps effect.

Ashley showed us a video he foley'd for, which included a trains, motorbikes, guns, slow moving actions etc. Real motorbikes were recorded, sometimes recreating the scenes in the video. Fight scenes were also recorded while actors recreated them, giving that extra element of realism.

Lastly we were giving the opportunity to share some of our own music with Ashley for some feedback. Lauren's song was played, and was given some feedback on the vocals to maybe double track it and pan both left and right, whilst adding reverb to the centre vocals.

In conclusion I found this lesson incredibly interesting, and might be the direction I head for after this Sound Engineering course. Thanks to Ashley for giving his time for our class.

* Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foley_artist

Music Technology Forum: Week 5 - Disc Edits

This week in Music Technology Forum, we visited a local studio called "Disc Edits". Upon arrival, we were taken into the main editing room. We had a brief discussion about what Disc Edits has to offer in the music industry, including the history and the future for Disc Edits. They have many Disc Edit buildings which have different roles, including manufacturing CD's, editing mixes, mastering etc. We were told about the room itself, and how it was specially built. The whole room itself was seperate from the actual building to limit the amount of noise coming from outside, eg. cars, noise inside the building etc. There were 2 speakers on the wall, with carpet fitted in a certain place which the boomyness of the sound is limited. The walls were built with many angles so sound can be bounced around. The wall which separates the mixing room with the recording room has been built with: wall-space-glass-space-wall-space-glass-space-wall-space-glass. Ridiculous as it may seem, it works incredibly well to limit a lot of noise. After a long talk we walked around Disc Edits, checking out the various rooms. Finally, some members of the class brought along pieces they have mixed for advice on how to make certain areas sound better. We also looked at a external EQ device where lazy people can edit from their couch; and how CD's progressed from the early years til now. Very interesting stuff.
Overall I quite enjoyed Disc Edits.

Quote of the field trip:
Simon: "I wanna steal that sign [Gibson St] and put it on my guitar."
Group: "Ahahah!"

Music Technology Forum: Week 4 - Band Recordings

This week in Music Technology Forum, we talked about the next field trip we were going to have. This field trip will show us all about CD production. This field trip will show us how CD's are manufactured; different techniques they use to feature a CD, and all the necessary ingredients in the recipe of CD making. I am looking forward to this excursion to learn more about CD manufacturing.

We then listened to a few class members' band recordings. We first listened to Lisa's recordings. I quite liked the end product. The band had rather quirky vocals, which worked well with the grungey/punk style they had going. The guitars were at a good level for the style being played. Everything sounded clean and well mic'd.

We heard Simon's mix. The bass did sound rather boomy, but I reckon it worked well. The acoustic guitar sounded very flowy and clean; very relaxing. The voice was smooth and clean. The mic'ing techniques for Simon's mix worked well for the type of music being played.

We listened to Jake's mix. The songs being played were very vocal driven songs, and the vocals were left out, so I believed that was the main thing lacking in the mix. The electric guitar's were sounding very clean. Could easily tell what the song was by the guitars straight away. Drum's were close mic'd, giving some good impact shots, although the drummer was intoxicated and maybe missed the drums on some hits. Was a good sounding mix.

We finally listened to my mix. I noticed straight away that all instruments sounded very far away. Piano was sounding ok, and the micing on the snare drum was rather delicious. In essence, my mix lacked impact, but the piano player gave it that extra edge.

Music Technology Forum - Semester 2, Week 2: Field Trip

This week in Music Technology Forum, we went on a Field Trip to a nearby house studio called 'MixMasters'. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the owner of the studio who took us in and talked about our Diploma of Sound Engineering course. Once David had arrived, we soon talked about the equipment used in the MixMasters studio; many of which we use in our University. We were told about the ways of the past in the field of recording and editing, where Sound Engineers recorded on tape, and had to cut specific areas of the tape if an error was made during recording. The tape was played back multiple times to find the correct area where the mistake was made. A lead pencil line was drawn on the tape. The tape was secured on a wooden block and cut with a knife. Finally, the tape was stuck back together with sticky tape. This was a lengthy process, but with modern technology and the endless possibilities with editing recording, it could be argued that recording on tape could take less time than recording straight to Pro Tools. We had a look at the recording area. We were shown a collection of vintage guitars and microphones and how some microphones from the past match up to the ones we have today. We were told about the materials used to build the studio, and which ones were the best. This studio was layered with large amount of carpet and covered with mud bricks for extra sound proof. We listened to a surf song that had been recorded and ways to manually EQ different tracks. At the end of the field trip, some members of the class played songs they have recorded themselves and were given some advice on how to possibly make them better.
In conclusion, I think this was a very useful field trip. I learnt alot about what it takes to actually build a home studio, and the ways engineers had to record in the past. I'm looking forward to next weeks field trip. :)