UNIT 35: Sound Creation and Manipulation

Saturday, 28 April 2018

DRAFT

Original Musical Piece

Sound synthesis is achieved by generating waveforms and manipulating the resulting sounds. The process of sound synthesis begins with the use of a waveform generator, called an oscillator. The oscillator creates a sound wave, the most basic of which being a sine wave. This wave consists of a fundamental frequency, with zero harmonic overtones. An example would be a sine wave of the note A, which would have a fundamental frequency of 110Hz.

When creating this song, I decided to start with drums.
Firstly, I used microphones to record real drum hits to use as samples. I used one direct mic on each instrument and one ambient mic to capture some reverb and the acoustics of the stairwell I recorded on.
Secondly, I processed each of these tracks into useable samples.
For the snare, I isolated the transient of my recorded snare hit and added some EQ and compression to the direct mic to fine-tune it. I then blended the direct mic track with the ambient mic track to give the sound a bit of reverb.
Next, I bounced the output, which combined the two tracks into one .wav file, before opening my main project and importing this file into the ultrabeat sampler to use as my snare drum.
I then repeated this process on the kick drum, crash cymbal and open and closed hi-hats.

Having finished adding my samples to ultrabeat, I changed their levels within the plugin and then made a drum sequence for my song. I made a few different drum patterns which change as the song progresses to give the song some variation.

Once my original drums were laid down, I began to add melody to the song.
I decided to exclusively use synthesized sounds for the melody of this project, and as I wanted the project to be 100% original, I had to make all of my synth sounds from scratch. I began synthesising the bass sound for my song, using the ES1 synthesizer.

LO2: Be able to use the editing functions of a synthesizer

Synth Patches

I have created a total of 15 synthesised patches: 8 on the ES1 and 7 on the ES2.

One of the first patches that I created was my bass sound, which I made on the ES1.
I wanted to create a sound for the bass line of my song, on the ES1. I began by choosing a combination of triangle and rectangle waves on the ES1, because that sounded like the best combination for this purpose

Editing functions:

Oscillator:
Oscillators are used in synthesizers to generate different waveforms. For my 'synth chords' patch, I used the oscillators on the ES2 to generate mainly square waveforms. I chose square waveforms as I was looking to produce chords that sounded like string instruments and square waveforms are suited to this type of sound.

Amplifier:
Increases level of signal, including ADSR. I used the amplifier to give my sounds the level that I thought was appropriate without making them distort.

Amplifier on ES1

Filter:
Changes signal by removing frequencies. The cutoff frequency is the point at which all frequencies are 'cut off'. In a high pass filter, all frequencies below the cutoff frequency are attenuated, while all frequencies higher than the cutoff are allowed to pass. The reverse is true for a low-pass filter. For my sub track, I put the filter cutoff on the ES1 to a very low setting to give my sub an exclusively low-frequency sound.

Filter component on Logic's ES2 synthesizer, showing cutoff frequency dials ('cut'), as well as resonance, drive and frequency modulation dials.

Envelope generator:
Used to change the attack, decay, sustain and release (ADSR) of a sound. I used the ES1's envelope generator in my bass patch to eliminate the popping sound at the beginning of it's transient. Since the popping sound could only be heard at the very beginning of my bass patch, increasing the attack by a low value made it far less audible.

ES1 Interface with close-up of envelope generator, showing the slightly increased attack used on my bass patch.

Sample Patches

I began recording my sample patches on a drum kit. I used an SM57 to record individual hits on the crashes, hi hats, a snare and three different toms. I then used an Audix D6 for the kick drum.

Here are all my recorded drum samples

Waveform Editing:

Acoustic theory of waveforms:
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Loops:
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Sample start and end points:
To create samples, I

Sample looping:
Once one repeat of either a rhythmic or melodic arrangement has been created, it can be looped for as long as is required. I used both the looping function on logic and the sequencer in ultrabeat for this purpose. Ultrabeat's sequencer allowed me to come up with a drum pattern from my percussion samples. I then dragged this pattern into a track in logic, before using logic's looping function to make it repeat for the duration of my song.

Selections:
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Regions:
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Creating Instruments:

Instruments:
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Zones:
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Groups:
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File organisation:
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Multi-sampling:
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Velocity layers:
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One-shot:
One-shot is when a sampled sound is played for the entire duration of the sample, even after the key/trigger has been released. This is useful when creating drum patches as it allows the midi controller to be used as a drum kit - the keys can just be tapped once as if they are being hit like a drum and still give the instrument's full sustain.
I used Ultrabeat's envelope generator to give my drum samples one-shot by dragging the sustain parameter to full:

The full ultrabeat interface with close-ups of the ADSR before and after I made my kick sample one-shot.

Reverse:
Sounds can be reversed in logic. The ADSR is flipped so that the sound begins with what would usually be the final stage of release and gradually builds up to the original attack. This can be used to give a rising tension effect, which can be effective in build ups or just before a drop.
I created a reversed crash cymbal sound for my track and used it just before the drop to make the build-up more intense.
I created the sound by recording a crash cymbal, opening the sound file in the EXS24 sampler, and ticking the reverse option to reverse the sound. I then used a midi keyboard to input the sample into my track.

Editing Parameters:

Volume:
It is important to set appropriate volume levels when sampling. This begins with recording a sample - the original recorded sample cannot be too quiet or it could get lost in the mix.
Drum samples must be mixed appropriately so that each drum hit can be heard other one another and the correct emphasis is put on some hits. This can all be achieved in Logic's Ultrabeat, as there is a volume parameter that can be changed on the left hand side of the interface for each individual sample. This can be used to set individual levels for each sample and therefore achieve a balanced mix of drum samples.
There is also the option to change the velocity of each hit in a drum sequence in ultrabeat. In my piece, I wanted to add some ghost notes to the snare in one of the rhythms I made, so I used the VELOCITY parameter at the bottom of the interface to turn down the volume of some snare hit's to push them into the background as ghost notes.

ULTRABEAT SC

Panning:
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Automation:
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Filter:
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LFO:
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Modulation:
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Hold:
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Voices:
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Mono/Poly:
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LO4: Be able to realise musical ideas that combine synthesis and sampling techniques

Synthesis:

Creating original sounds appropriate to the style of the musical project

Sampling:

Capturing:
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Editing and organising sample data appropriate style of the musical project
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Musical ideas:

Arranging skills (awareness of structure, idiom, texture);
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originality and plagiarism (sample clearance, MCPS, acceptable idiomatic use, notions of ownership):
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combining synthesis and sampling techniques in the same musical project
.....

I set out to make this piece 100% original as I didn't want there to be any chance of copyright infringement.

I began by programming my own synth patches. I used the ES1 and ES2 synths on logic and began with the default settings in order to make my sounds truly original. I used these original synth patches for all of the chords and melodic aspects of my piece.

I planned on using mainly sampled sounds for the rhythmic aspects of my piece. I used an acoustic kit and recorded my own drum hits for my samples to eliminate the chance of copyright claims. After recording the drum samples, I assigned them to keys on a midi keyboard to create my own 100% original drum sample patch.

I then went on to use my synth patches and drum samples to create a track, using my own musical ideas for structure and arrangement.

I decided to structure the song so that it began calmly, slowly building it up to a peak. I achieved this build up by gradually adding more elements and expanding the sound of the song.
I also decided to add a drop, which is idiomatic to a range of musical genres, from modern dance music through to metalcore and hardcore genres. I wanted the drop to catch the listener off guard to surprise the listener. I achieved this by adding a calm melody with one of my softer sounding synth patches, before dropping it with a keyboard slide and adding a 'build up'.
The build up consisted of a reversed crash cymbal to build tension as well as a quicker paced drum beat and a fast string of notes that matched the kick drum. As soon as the beat dropped, I added a 'bass drop'. I did this by using logic's generic sine wave generator plugin to create a sine wave that swept from 130Hz to 30Hz.
After the drop, I created two layers of synth patches playing the same catchy melody to give the song an interesting plateau. I also added a different, faster-paced drum beat to give the last section of the song a more upbeat feel.
To add variation to the last section of the song I dropped the drum beat for a bar at one point, before bringing it back with a very low-level, sampled xylophone in the background for variation. A few bars before the end of the song I also added a low-pass filter for two bars, to add variation and interest before the song finishes.

RECORD
Other than the muted drum beat and low pass filter, the last minute or so of my track didn't have much variation and was a bit repetitive, so I decided to use the programs Record and Reason as a slave to logic in order to add some more interesting synth layers.

I decided to add some chords at the end, using record.
I opened Record and created a new combinator, calling it 'NEW LEAD'. I then added a 'Thor Polysonic synthesizer' - a polyphonic, subtractive synthesizer which I thought would make a good addition to my piece due to it's ability to produce multiple notes at once.

I then toggled the back view of the patch bay and routed the stereo output of the new combinator to the main 'Audio I/O' (input/output), as shown below. This allowed me to go into logic and set the input for my new auxiliary track to a new input (RW: Channel 3/4).

Screenshot of back patch panel, showing the 'NEW LEAD' combinator's outputs (labelled as 'combi output')

Screenshot of back panel showing the 'NEW LEAD' outputs (vertical blue cables) going into Record's main audio output, to be sent to my 'NEW LEAD' logic auxiliary channel strip.

Screenshot of the 'New Auxiliary Channel Strip' window showing available aux inputs from Record.

Next, I created a new external MIDI track in logic so that I could input MIDI data from my keyboard into the track.

I played around with the synth settings on the Thor until it produced the sound I was after, which was a driven, polyphonic lead synth sound.
I used two analog oscillators to give me a combination of saw and square waves and a Phase Modulation oscillator to add some extra character to the sound. I used a comb and a state variable filter and lowered the resonance on both slightly to give a more gritty sound. I then lowered the decay on the amplifier's ADSR to give more space between the attack of each note. I added a bit more chorus and made LFO1 effect the shaper drive on the matrix.

The settings on the Thor Polysonic Synthesizer for my 'NEW LEAD' sound.

I then added a reverb unit to this combinator with the following settings:

Once I had fine-tuned the sound for this track, I used a MIDI keyboard to input the notes and bounced the region in

Monday, 20 November 2017

Sam Barnes: LO2, LO3 and LO4 - Sample and Synthesized Patches

Original Musical Piece

Synth Patches

I have created a total of 15 synthesised patches: 8 on the ES1 and 7 on the ES2.

Amplifier:
Increases level of signal, including ADSR. I used the amplifier to give my sounds the level that I thought was appropriate without making them distort.

ES1 Interface with close-up of envelope generator, showing the slightly increased attack used on my bass patch.

Low Frequency Oscillator:
Modifier - low frequency waves can be used to modulate other parameters through the use of a matrix. For my sub patch, I used the LFO in the ES1 to generate a wave at 7.01 Hz.

Modulation:
Changes wave characteristics, eg phase, flange, chorus, etc. I added chorus to one

Patch Bay:
I used the patch bay on the back panel of Record's interface to route the signal from my Thor Polyphonic Synthesizer, through my combinator and out of the outputs in the audio I/O module.

Monophonic and Polyphonic:
A monophonic synth can only play one sound at a time, meaning that they cannot be used to play chords. This limits them to melodic content, whereas a polyphonic synth can play multiple notes at once which makes harmonic structures such as chords possible.

Parameter Select:
Parameters that can be changed include volume, panning, LFO, filter, pitch, etc.

RECORD
Other than the muted drum beat and low pass filter, the last minute or so of my track didn't have much variation and was a bit repetitive, so I decided to use the programs Record and Reason as a slave to logic in order to add some more interesting synth layers.

I decided to add a new melody at the end, using record.
I opened Record and created a new combinator and added a 'Thor Polysonic synthesizer' - a polyphonic, subtractive synthesizer which I thought would make a good addition to my piece due to it's ability to produce multiple notes at once.

I then toggled the back view of the patch bay and routed the stereo output of the new combinator to the main 'Audio I/O' (input/output), as shown below. This allowed me to go into logic and set the input for my new auxiliary track to a new input (RW: Channel 3/4).

Screenshot of back patch panel, showing the new combinator's outputs (labelled as 'combi output')

Screenshot of back panel showing the 'NEW LEAD' outputs (vertical blue cables) going into Record's main audio output, to be sent to my 'NEW LEAD' logic auxiliary channel strip.

The original settings on the Thor Polysonic Synthesizer for my final lead sound, however I decided to change them before finalizing my project.

I then added a reverb unit to this combinator to open the sound up a bit.

Once I had fine-tuned the sound for this track, I used a MIDI keyboard to input the notes.

LO3: Be able to use the editing functions of a sampler

Sample Patches

I began recording the sounds I would use as sample patches, on a drum kit. I used an SM57 to record individual hits on the crashes, hi hats, a snare and three different toms. I then used an Audix D6 for the kick drum.

Here are all my recorded drum samples

For my second set of samples I changed the acoustic environment that they were recorded in into a staircase. I directly miked the sound source (snare, kick drum, xylophone, etc) and then placed an ambient mic somewhere else on the flight of stairs. This gave my samples a natural reverb effect from the sound reflecting on all of the surfaces in the stairwell.

I then manually cut these recorded tracks to isolate individual drum hits, added EQ, compression and reverb to each sound as necessary before importing them into logic's ultrabeat sampler to make drum beats for my song.

Waveform Editing:

Acoustic theory of waveforms:
I had to use my knowledge of waveforms when working with my samples as I used a transient shaper to shape the attack, delay, sustain and release of my drum samples. I also applied my knowledge of fundamental frequencies and overtones when using a frequency analyser to help me fine tune the EQ - the frequency analyser showed the overtones in sounds as peaks which allowed me to more precisely pinpoint the overtones that I wanted to remove.

Loops:
When creating my drum beat, I imported my recorded drum samples into an Ultrabeat drum sampler. I used these recorded sounds to create a drum pattern which I then looped for the duration of the appropriate section of my song.

Sample start and end points / Selections and Regions:
Before importing my drum samples into the sampler, I needed to ensure that the individual sample started and ended when I wanted it to.
For example, for my crash cymbal sample, I wanted it to have an instant attack (start as soon as I pressed the key) and then continue to sound right through to the end of it's transient just like a real crash cymbal would.
To do this I had to isolate a single recorded crash cymbal hit out of a recording I had made and ensure that I had cut the sample at the beginning of it's transient right through to the end.
I did this by zooming in on the region of the recording and making a selection of the entire transient of a single cymbal hit, before cutting it to a new track and boucing that region to a .wav file. I then imported it into ultrabeat and used ultrabeat's transient generator to ensure that the full transient was being played by dragging the sustain parameter to the right.

Above is an example of how I cut my hi-hat sample to ensure a full transient

Creating Instruments:

Instruments, multi sampling, velocity layers:
As explained above, the ultrabeat sampler in logic can be used to effectively create a drum kit that is triggered by a midi keyboard. This is called multi-sampling, which is where a sampler is used to input sounds into a midi-keyboard which can then be used to trigger them in any order.

The ESX24 is another multi-sampler in logic 9. I used the ESX24 on my track to create my 'drop buildup' track, which was simply a reversed crash cymbal. The ESX24 is useful as a multi-sampler as it has features such as velocity layers, one shot and reverse.

Velocity Layers:

The velocity function of the ESX24 sampler is useful as allows a sample to be played based on the velocity of the trigger (how hard a key is pressed). The velocity parameter can be changed so that a certain sample will only play when the appropriate key is hit within a certain velocity range. You can therefore have a single key that plays multiple different samples or samples at different volumes based on how hard it was hit. This is useful as it allows for more dynamic range when playing an instrument created on this sampler.

Zones:
ESX24's sample editing interface (as shown below) features spaces called zones, which are where single samples can be imported. These zones feature the options for control of which key or range of keys on a MIDI keyboard are responsible for triggering the sample, the volume at which a sample will sound, the option for whether the pitch will change depending on key trigger, a one-shot option and an option for reversing the sample

Groups:
Groups allow certain zones to be grouped together. This has several functions. One of the possible functions of the group feature would be to allow different samples to be triggered by the same key, depending on the velocity that the key is pressed. Several zones could be put into a group and assigned different velocity ranges to be triggered, which would mean that a single key could trigger different sounds depending on how hard it is pressed.

Ultrabeat also has a group feature, which allows a group to be assigned to a sound; meaning that no two sounds in the same group will play at the same time. The second sound in the same group will override the first. An example of the function of this is for hi-hat sounds - if a separate open and a closed hi hat voice is used in a sampler then it is often desirable for them to override each other when played, as a real hi hat can not be played both open and closed simultaneously.

ESX24's instrument editing interface, showing zone and group features.

Ultrabeat's group option (bottom right)

File organisation:
I organised my sample files into one folder called 'SAMPLE PATCHES', so that I had them all in one place and could access them easily.

One-shot:
One-shot is when a sampled sound is played for the entire duration of the sample, even after the key/trigger has been released. This is useful when creating drum patches as it allows the midi controller to be used as a drum kit - the keys can just be tapped once as if they are being hit like a drum and still give the instrument's full sustain.
I used Ultrabeat's envelope generator to give my drum samples one-shot by dragging the sustain parameter to maximum:

Editing Parameters:

As shown in the picture below, the ultrabeat sampler is very customizeable and has a whole range of functions. The sampler consists of two oscillators and a noise generator feeding into a filter and distortion unit in the center, as well as a low frequency oscillator (LFO) and several matrix options for modulating different parameters around the interface.

Ultrabeats interface, showing its editing parameters

Ultrabeat voices interface

LO4: Be able to realise musical ideas that combine synthesis and sampling techniques

I set out to make this piece 100% original as I didn't want there to be any chance of copyright infringement.

I began by programming my own synth patches. I used the ES1 and ES2 synths on logic and began with the default settings in order to make my sounds truly original. I used these original synth patches for all of the chords and melodic aspects of my piece.

I planned on using mainly sampled sounds for the rhythmic aspects of my piece. I used the acoustic drum kit and recorded my own drum hits for my samples to eliminate the chance of copyright claims. After recording the drum samples, I assigned them to keys on a midi keyboard to create my own 100% original drum sample patch.

I then went on to use my synth patches and drum samples to create a track, using my own musical ideas for structure and arrangement.

I decided to structure the song so that it began calmly, slowly building it up to a peak. I achieved this build up by gradually adding more elements and expanding the sound of the song.
I also decided to add a drop, which is idiomatic to a range of musical genres, from modern dance music through to metalcore and hardcore genres. I wanted the drop to catch the listener off guard and surprise them. I achieved this by adding a calm melody with one of my softer sounding synth patches, before dropping it with a keyboard slide and adding a 'build up'.
The build up consisted of a reversed crash cymbal to build tension as well as a quicker paced drum beat and a fast string of notes that matched the tempo of the kick drum. As soon as the beat dropped, I added a 'bass drop'. I did this by using logic's test oscillator to create a sine wave that swept from 130Hz to 30Hz.
After the drop, I created two layers of synth patches playing the same melody to give the song an interesting plateau. I also added a different, faster-paced drum beat to give the last section of the song a more upbeat feel.
To add variation to the last section of the song I dropped the drum beat for a bar at one point, before bringing it back with a synth melody that I made by running Record as a slave to Logic. A few bars before the end of the song I also added a low-pass filter for two bars, to add variation and interest before the song finishes.

Screenshots