Category: Steve Says

Steve has emailed with with a few point of clarification. I don’t think that my analysis was wrong but perhaps lacked subtlety in some areas. We will come onto the “castration debate in a moment but first Steve points out that..

 Fletcher-Munson is generally something that is applied (or not that mix engineers are aware of) to the final mix output.

In other words it’s not something which is done on each track but right at the end after rendering.

Munson also seems to have worked with Fletcher who is missed off my previous post. If you are a Fletcher fan you can download a 1960’s video of him talking about his work.

 

 

 

This may provide some further clarity on the implications of that work..

Steve offers this defence of my criticism. If you remember I accused him, and just about every other professional sound mixer, of  “acoustic vandalism”. I said that by removing certain frequencies you are “castrating the audio”.

Speaking of the cutting (or castrating!) of certain frequencies is something that is done to the individual instruments or sounds within a mix if ‘balance’ and transparency is to be achieved in the mix (i.e. when all the instruments are brought together).

OK in part this was like prodding him with a stick! It was bound to get a reaction but I want you to think about whether I am right. I want you to think whether in art the concept of “rightness” is even relevant. The artist makes editorial decisions as a political statement by which they hope to prompt debate.

My previous point is in line with Steve’s view below. The notion of right and wrong is generally irrelevant as such value statements are a matter of personal preference or perhaps personal preference fueled by cultural context.

With electronic music this ‘sculpting’ of the sound (usually by cutting away rather than boosting frequencies, but not always) is purely down to the aesthetic requirements of the piece. There is no right or wrong, since  the sounds are created from scratch anyway. However, the artist, mix-engineer, producer, may decide to adjust certain frequencies by convention, to allow more transparency and allow each sound instrument to have its own slot or ‘platform’.

Steve provides this useful link which does explain the concept well ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve further points out that..

If such EQ work is not done the sounds will overlap to a greater extent and more interplay, masking or ‘wall of sound’ will be created. This, in certain circumstances can be a good thing! Other times it just sounds cluttered and nothing can be heard ‘clearly’. This may or may not be desirable.

In a traditional band setting it is usual that each instrument will have its place in the mix. To ensure this certain frequencies are trimmed allowing each element to have its own spot without encroaching on other instruments. This is sometimes called ‘banding’. It achieves a clear, transparent and punchy mix.

In an orchestral setting this is not generally required, as those clever ancestors invented instruments that generally overlapped only slightly and each instrument had its own place in the ‘mix’ coming out into the concert hall. To help with this the ‘layout’ of the instruments on the stage helped enhance this separation.

 

Visiting any artist at work is a privilege and in many ways feels like visiting Father Christmas in his grotto. The journey and the anticipation of what one will find heightens the nerves. In my career I have done this kind of trip many times.  I remember when I visited the artist Tim Shelbourne for the first time. It was for a broadcast and involved a lot of equipment to set up and a long climb to his studio in the top room of his house. Surrounded by “works in progress” and a vast array of “stuff” The place gave me a feel for what drove Tim as a creative.

Tim has moved on and has replaced his brushes with a computer pallet and that change is something which is evident in Steve the sound artist’s studio as well. Looking around I observe a redundant piano keyboard and a rack of expensive looking guitars which are a little dusty. What does this tell me? That this is someone who once worked in the analogue but has moved at some point to the digital; however he will still retain the skills and feel that came with the playing of those tools.

Parts of the room resemble a space craft with screens and strange lights but this is no crisp work area neatly set out. I am sure there is some kind of logic to the spaghetti of cables but it’s a logic which only the artist will know. All manner of coloured wires connecting one flashing panel to the other. Steve goes through them at a million mile an hour telling me what they all do and I nod and make all the right noises hoping that he wont realise I have not a clue what he is talking about. A mix of science and art and probably some philosophy he turns knobs and the equipment makes strange sounds. I snatch a couple of unsatisfactory picture in the poor light.
Things calm and we settle into more familiar territory for me of creative sound, he plays me some of the work he is producing at the moment and I hand over the memory stick with all the Sound.ogg work. Some are on this website but not all and the uploaded ones are MP3. Steve, to retain the quality, needs WAVs.

Steve was keen to show a new module that he has bought which  (in terms I think I understand!) would take a phrase and sample it but then replay it at a given time when told to do so by a wire connected from another module but the knobs on the front would let you make a sliding choice of when that sample would be taken and how long its duration would be! These are some demos from the website.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its then I really started to get this. I am used to working in a Digital Audio Workstation  and before that on magnetic tape. (that’s not me!) I bypassed this whole module part. Steve I realised was not using this kit like a computer this was an live process, a performance with this being the instrument. He uses the computer as an input and output device and also Cubase as a post production tool.  Any one interested in Cubase? there are copies at university and you can get a full version for free for 30 days if you fancy a try.

We tend to use mostly Audition and Pro-tools but really a producer or artist needs to be familiar if not an expert on a range of systems.

Steve wasnt keen on me recording video I could tell but I bluffed my way through and captured this almost secret footage on my Ipad hence the poor quality.

We also had an interesting chat about a piece of work he produced looking at electronic pollution which we listened to commenting on the manipulation of voice and the moods within this extended item.

I hope to have that to play to you soon but its does have some similarities which this John Butcher work.

Steve is going to upload the Sound.ogg files to his system this coming week and then start working through isolating samples and getting a feel for how the new composition will move.

Hi Soundogg recordists.

The foundations are laid, Cubase is ready for our input….

I’ve spent a couple of hours this afternoon laying out a template and workspace for the forthcoming project. This is a bit of ‘donkey work’; basically creating tracks, assigning inputs and outputs to the software, creating groups of track types, specifying effects channels and getting the layout on the screen looking easy on the eye, essentially creating a workspace where all the most used and vital elements can be scanned visual and quickly.

I’m lucky enough to own a dual screen (2*27″) iMac rig on which Cubase is running, giving vast acres of screen space – but it still gets filled up! Here’s a screen grab to give you an idea of what we are working with, and giving you an idea of what a top end audio workstation looks like. It will look tiny on your screen, so remember its true size is displayed on 54″ of screen space 🙂

Obviously, the set-up is a little vague at the moment until the work actually starts, but certain key elements are in place such as delays and reverbs, master bus compression, and tools such as EQ, Oscilloscope, and Limiters. All vanilla flavours which will be customised as we build the track.

Cubase has unlimited workspaces, so as work progresses expect the screen layout to be changed as required.

As I say, this is just to give you a feel of the compositional and editing environment. Looks like fun.

Hi! It’s a shame I can’t be with you physically for the start (and probably all) of this semester. Due to an accident involving a hoover and a hard stone floor I am stuck at home with a bionic foot for company. My broken ribs are 100% analog, so have been left to heal themselves

However,, I am with you in spirit – and as mentioned by Dylan in his foreword, I will be listening to your input and attempting to weave everything into a unified audio collage. Perhaps it will be ‘musical’, perhaps it will be atonal… who knows! Personally, I hope we can make it sonically scary.

I am working in Cubase 8 mainly, however, as far as software goes… well, I use whatever I need, including the editor you will be introduced to over semester 1; ” Audition” by Adobe.
Hardware wise, I have a very large modular synthesis system which features digital and analog modules. So, I can process sounds and create timbres that are literally out of this world. Those expecting a wholly commercial result had best retire now

I look forward to getting your recordings and receiving your comments.

Here though are my top tips:
1/ Record quality.
2/ Use your ears.
3/ Be super selective.
4/ Let your sound create a vibe / feeling / tell a mini-story.
5/ Follow the brief.
6/ Record more than you think I will use.
7/ Listen for the following, they will be useful to me:
a/ Texture
b/ Pitch
c/ Rhythm
d/ the absurd, the unidentifiable, the space, especially the space!
8/ Enjoy trying to find novel audio. You may find it unexpectedly addictive.

Thanks guys, here’s hoping for an interesting collaboration. Over and Out