TheAudioMasterclassMusicProductionandSoundEngineeringCourse

MODULE08PRACTICALASSIGNMENTNOTES

TheexamplefilesforthisassignmentwillbefoundintheAssignmentNotesAudiofolder.Thesetracks
wereallmadebyvariousengineersusingonlya1kHzsinewaveandwhitenoiseassourcematerial.

Herearedescriptionsofhowthreeofthebesttracksweremade,writtenbytheircreators...

TrailliumKhoxsbyBenLaw

Thepiecewasdonetothestandard4/4120beatspersecond.Istartedthepiecewithadrone,8thnotes
oneveryhalfbartillbar8,thenonevery4thbar.A1kHzsinewavewasusedforthis,withaenvelope,
attackequaltothedecay(onthe13thbarthedroneispitchshiftedtomakeacountermelody,notavery
effectiveonethough).

The'stick'soundwasmadeusingthewhitenoisewithasharpattackenvelopeanda'overdrive'and
'metalizer'plugin.The'metalizer'pluginwasalsousedtomakethesamplethatsoundslikeapistonfroma
train.

Forsnaresounds,Imade6differentsamples.ThefirstisenvelopedwhitenoisewithabitofEQand
reverb,thesecondandthird(thesameenvelopedsampleasthefirstplusa'smoother'attackedsample)
hasa'flanger'pluginwith0secondsdelay,Ialsouseda'0seconddelayflanger'tomakethe'big
bang'/'gunshot'sample(thisgaveitsomepunch,Ifigureditoutbymistake),thefourthandfifth(the
sameenvelopedsamplesasthesecondandthird)hasa'overdrive'pluginwhichmakesthefirstsample
soundlikeasnarewithakickdrumandthesecondlikeafloortomwithakick.

Thefirstmelodyisthe1kHzsinewavewithasharpattackand'resonant'decayenvelope.The
second/bridge/'conclusion'melodyhasafasterdecay,andhasa'overdrive'pluginandisoverlayeredwith
acopy,pitchshiftedaholeoctave.Bothmelodieshavea'doubledelay'plugin.Ifiguredoutthemelodies
notesIneededonguitarandpitchedshiftedthemwiththepitchshiftpluginthatcomeswithCubaseSL,
sameasallthepluginsused.The'helicopter'wasdonewitha'rotary'plugin.

Mostpartsweresenttosomereverb(probablyalittletomuch)apartfromthedrone.

Ispentabout3hoursaltogetheronthetrack,shouldhavespentanextrahourgettingamix('equalized'
andcompressed).

BenLaw,London,England

UntitledbyBlairJoscelyne

WhenIwascomposingthistrack,thefirstpartoftheprocesswasgivingmyselfatimelimittokeepit(and
myself)undercontrol.Iallowedanhourtogetthesoundsmadeandthetrackdown.Sometimesthemost
importantpartoftheprocessisthepreproductionhaveagoodgameplanofwhatneedstobeachieved
beforeyoustart.Thisistheethicthatusewhileproducingmusicforotherpeoplewhichismyfulltimejob.

DuringthisexplanationIhopetogivesomedetailedinformation,aswellassometastytrickstotry
yourself!

IdecidedthatIwantedtoshowcasethesoundsclosetotheirrawform,andthenhaveacontrasting
sectionshowinghowthesesoundscouldbeusedforsomethingmoreinteresting.Iwantedittobeobvious

Module08PracticalAssignmentNotes
thethesesoundsweretheoriginalsourceIthinkitwouldhavebeeneasytoreallymakesomethingthat
soundednothingliketheoriginalfilesbutIwantedthemtobereferencedinawaythatwasaurally
comprehensible.

IknewthatIwouldstartoutthepiecewithsomethingmellowandemotive,beforemovinginto
somethingalittlemorenasty,andthenareturntothenicenessforasimpleABAstructure.

AsacomposerInormallyprefertogetintodepthinrelationtothemusicandprogrammingbuttodayI'll
talkaboutthemoretechnicalsideofcreatingthetrack.Probablyduetolisteningtotheexampletrackand
beinginfluencedbythatwayofdoingthings,IdecidedthatIwouldgoabitmoreoldschoolalso.Iused
hardwareforeverythingexceptforlayingthefinaltrackstoencodeintoMP3's.

Equipmentused:

YamahaQS300Synth/Workstation(whichIuseasahardwaresequencer)

AKAIS3000XLSampler

MoogMS20ModularSynthesizer(usedasafilterbankratherthanasoundsource)

MackieD8B72ChannelMixingDesk

Lexicon'ALEX'ReverbUnit

Lexicon'Reflex'MultiFXunit

BehringerVAMPPro(GuitarAmpSimulator)

ProToolsfortracking(nopluginsjusttotracksoundsandthenencodeMP3)

GenelecMonitors

Thebeginningofthetrackstartswiththerawsinefilejustputintothesampler.Ifyoupanhardleftand
listentotheopeningofthetrackyou'llhearitisjustthesinetoneplayedaschords.Notricksherejusta
keymappedsinetone.

TofattenthingsupabitthesamefileistriggeredtoplayonthesameMIDIchannelbutitispannedtothe
rightandhasresonanceaddedandanLFOcontrollingaslowsweep.Thisgivesanicewidespreadand
enoughdifferenceinsoundtocreatealushsoundingpad.

HallReverbaddedfromtheLexiconALEXandsomebeatmatcheddelayisaddedfromtheREFLEX.Padis
trackedwithallFXonitandcomplete,apartfromsomevolumemuteswhicharementionedlater.

Drumswerealsoverysimpleintheirsounddesign.StartingwiththewhitenoiseIplayedasmallportion
ofthefileintothesamplerandretunedandEQ'dtomakethekickdrumsound,snaresoundandhihat
sound.

KickDrumsoundwastuneddownabout2octavesandcrankedwithshelvingEQat80Hzbyabout12dB.
Hatsoundwastunedupandthenhadahipassfilteronitsoastonotallowanythingunderaround3kHz
getthrough.Snarewassomewhereinthemiddleandwasplayedoutofthesampleronadifferentchannel
soitcouldbeprocessedwithsomereverb.

Thedrumbeatwasplayedintothesequencerbyhandandthenquantized.Ifyoulistencarefullyyouwill
hearthatthereareactually2drumsbeatsoundsplayingtogether.At0:19youhearthebasicdrumsounds
asdescribedbutithasbeenslammedwiththelimitersonthedeskandbeenseverelyfilteredwithEQ.

Thisdrumsoundstopsabruptlywithatimestretchedsnare(0:23)andtheseconddrumsoundcomesin

Module08PracticalAssignmentNotes
whichisthesameprogrammingbuttheyaregoingthroughthedistortionpedal,delayaddedandpanned
left.ThisdistortionwasEQ'dtoaccentuatethesnareandyouhearat0:10thatitgivesthesnareareal
musicalfeel.

OneofmyfavoritetricksandIurgeyoualltotryitifyouhaven'tbefore,ittouseyourdeskasanamazing
instrument,andyoucandothisinaverymusicalway.

Withthesedrums,oncetheywereprogrammed,Ifedthemthroughthedeskintothecomputer.BUT,I
didNOTmutethechannelsonthecomputerthatwererecordingandIbroughtthisreturnbackupon2
morechannelsonthedesk.Inthisway,whenthecomputerreturnfadersaredown,allthecomputeris
recordingisthesoundyouaresendingitfromtheoriginalsource.Assoonasyouraisethecomputerreturn
faders,afeedbackloopiscreatedwhichyoucancontrolinaveryprecisemannerwiththefaders,aswellas
theEQ.BysweepingdeskEQandbringingthefadersupanddownyoucontrolwhatfrequencythe
feedbackitandhowlouditis.Ihaveusedthissimpleandquicktrickinnumerousremixesandcommercials
forasoundthatyoucouldneverachievewithaboxorplugin.Thingsgetevenmoreinterestingwhenthe
computerreturnfadershaveFXunitshangingofftheirauxsends.Thenyoucanstartplayingthefeedback
throughtheFXandifsettheFXprefaderthenevenwhenthefadersaredown,ifyouareusingadelay,the
feedbackdelaywithcontinuetofadeoncethefadersaredowngivinganicetransition.

Iusedthisinavery,verysubtlewayonthedrumsoundsanditmostnotableonthehihats.(listenfrom
0:320:38)It'shardlynoticeable.

Halfwaythroughthetrack(justbeforethedrum'solo'at0:17)thepadisplayedpercussivewiththebeat.
Astheattackwasslowonthesamplerforthepad,andthereleasewaslong,thishadtobedoneonthe
deskbypunchingthe'mute'buttonsasthePadchannelwasrecordingintoProTools.Thisgivesanicelittle
syncopatedfeel.

Iusedthewhitenoisefileasareplacementforcymbals.Thissoundwasalsokeptrawandjustfilterswept
throughthefiltersontheAkaiSampler.

Thebassisnothingbutthesinefilemappedoutonthesampler.

Themaindistortedleadlinewasthesinefileinthesamplerthatwasusedforthepad.Itwasfedintothe
externalinputontheoldMS20andIusedthefilterstocrunchitslightly,beforesendingitthroughthe
distortionwithsomedelay.Itmakesupthemelodyandthedistortionhelpsgiveitarangeofcolorsnot
presentintheoriginalfile.

ThissamesoundwasthenheldonwiththesustainpedalwithmyfootasIfeditintotheMS20againand
madeavarietyofmovesonthefilterstogetsomeinterestingsoundsrecordingintothesampler.The
extremekickdrumsoundat0:09wasmadeinthiswayaswherealloftheanaloguestyleblipsattheendof
thepiecethatstartat0:48.ThesewerecreatedbyassigningtheLFOtopitchandthenplayingwiththeLFO
speedtogetthevarietyinsounds.

BlairJoscelyne,Sydney,Australia

WhitewashbySteveGracey

MypiecewascreatedusingtwoprogramsonmyPCCoolEditandFruityLoops.Istartedoutwithonly
thewhitenoiseandhadtheideaofcuttingitupintodifferentsoundsandmakingabeatoutofthem.So,I
tookdifferentapproacheswitheachsample.Stretching,eq'ingandsweepingtogetjusttherightsound.
Thentakingreallysmallclipsandpastingthemtogethertogetthemachineguneffect.Theneffectingthose
andstretchingthemandeq'ingthemagainuntilIgotsomethingtotallydifferent.Afterallmysamplingand
resamplingofthewhitenoiseihadabout15piecestoworkwith,mostofthemshort,intendedtomake

Module08PracticalAssignmentNotes
drumsoundswith.

ThenItookthesinewaveanddidsomeofthesameprocessingtolowerthetonesandbeefthemup.I
useditmainlyasmybasslinebutalsocutupslicestomakesomesoundscapepiecesanddrumsounds.

IfeltlikeIachievedwhatIwantedittosoundlike.AndIhadagreattimemakingthispiece.It'san
incrediblefeelingcreatingsomethingoutofalmostnothing.

SteveGracy,GracyStudios

Endofassignmentnotes

Module08PracticalAssignmentNotes