April 2013

Let’s Look At Some Software Synthesizers!

Apr 102013

Hi, this is Rich from N.C. again, for the last explanation of a topic from the Introduction to Music Production class on Coursera.com.

Today I want to compare some different software synthesizers in Reason 6.5, and show you where the various components are located. I’ll be showing you the main parts: the oscillators (VCO), filters (VCF), envelopes (ADSR), low-frequency oscillators (LFO), and the amplifiers (AMP).

SubTractor

I’m going to start with a very popular software synthesizer in Reason, the SubTractor. It’s a self-contained synthesizer, in that the parts are all laid out in a specific order, and you can’t change it. You can change the values, but not the order.

If you’ve watched the videos in class, you’ve seen the SubTractor already.

Antidote

Next up, one of my favorite software synths in Reason, Synapse Software’s Antidote. Antidote is also a self-contained synth.

The layout is pretty straightforward here. Note that I have highlighted the “Volume” knob as the amp, because there really isn’t an amp section on this synth.

Thor

Next up is another classic Reason synth, Thor. Thor is a semi-modular synth. It differs from a self-contained synth in that you can change some of the parts from a set of fixed selections, and you can change the routing of the signal through the synth.

You can see where filter 3 on the right has no filter in it. You can create a filter from a drop-down menu, or choose no filter. In the same vein, you can change all of the oscillators to one of six types: analog, wavetable, phase modulation, FM pair, multi-oscillator, and a noise generator.

I highlighted the global and amp envelopes, because both can affect the amplifier. Take note of the differing design of the global envelope. There’s a delay before the attack, and a hold before the decay. This sort of envelope can do some really neat tricks.

The A-Series

I’ll end with the A-Series synth by OchenK. The A-Series is a modular synthesizer, and the first one available in Reason. You can mix and match the various components however you please, and route them however you like. It’s a bit intimidating at first, but I think it’s a great way to learn how synthesizers work.

Here’s the front:

It looks simple and straightforward at first glance, but actually, each part of the synthesizer is an independent unit that functions on its own. To make a sound, you have to hook all of these units together, like this for example:

The green wires are virtual control voltage lines (or just CV), and the red and blue lines are virtual audio cables. You can see the signal comes in through the A-19 SEQ in the upper left, which receives the note on and value data from the MIDI keyboard. The gate carries the note on and note off MIDI signals to the ADSR envelope unit, which creates an envelope and sends it to the VCA (amplifier), which tells the VCA when to let the sound through (like controlling a virtual volume knob.)

The wire coming from the jack labelled “CV” on the A-19 SEQ carries the note pitch data. That goes to the VCO (oscillator) next to it, and the data tells the VCO what frequency to change to. The red cable carries the audio out to the A-12VCF, which contains a high- and low-pass filter, then the audio runs out from there to the amplifier. You select which waveform you want to use by running an audio cable out of it. I’m running a cable out of the sine wave oscillator. I could run cables out of all 4 oscillators to the A-13 mixer if I wanted to. (But that’s another demo.)

Finally, I connected the A-14 LFO (in the upper right corner) to the fine-tuning control of the VCO to create a little vibrato.

It looks complex, but you can learn a lot from it, and do even more. (You can even make an FM synth out of these!)

Reflection

I hope you learned a little bit about the software synthesizers in Propellerhead Software’s Reason 6.5. I decided to leave the filter and mod envelopes out of the discussion, and didn’t highlight them because they were a bit of an advanced topic.

You can also probably tell that I’m a big fan of modular synthesis.

This has been a very interesting and fun class. Good luck to everyone out there!

Choruses, Flangers, and Phasers.

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Apr 082013

Hi, this is Rich from N.C. again, and this week I’m going to talk about and demonstrate how choruses, flangers, and phasers work.

All three effects are variations of modulated short delays. You can create a number of effects with them, and each one sounds different from the others.

Let’s Join the Chorus!

Chorus effects create multiple de-tuned copies of the track to create the illusion that more than one person is playing the same track. It’s the same as a chorus of people: everyone’s a little flat or sharp, so the combination of all of those voices that are just slightly off comes across as a wide, thick, big sound.

Changing the delay time of the track creates changes in pitch, which creates the audio illusion of more than one person playing that track.

Choruses are great for making a sound wider, thereby creating more room in the mix.

Put Flange B into Slot A

Flangers are essentially comb filters that are put into motion. A very short delay on a chorus (start with 0.1 milliseconds) will generate a comb filter. It creates a swirly, wide sound.

You can use an LFO to move the filter up and down the audio spectrum to create a feeling of motion.

You can also add some feedback to the flanger to add some depth to the sound.

Flangers are great for opening up the stereo sound of a track, making it sound “wider.”

Set Phasers on Groovy

Phasers take a series of notch filters and put them into motion as well. Phasers sound a lot like flangers. While flangers are strictly comb filters, phasers don’t have to be as evenly spaced. The notches in a phaser can be configured many different ways to get a variety of sounds, so you get better control with a phaser than you do a flanger. Unlike flangers, phasers are not even across the audio spectrum.

Phasers are great for guitars and pads, because they are similar to notch filters in how they act. That way, they stay out of the way of the bass, drums, and vocals. That’s very useful for making more room in the mix.

For all three effects, you need to keep an eye on your wet/dry mix. Dry is the unaltered sound coming in from the track, and wet is the version with the effects added. Adjust the knobs accordingly to get the sound you want.

How Do I Tell Them Apart?

I created a demo track in Reason 6.5 using Synapse Software’s Antidote. The first few bars are of the plain vanilla Init Patch of Antidote, then I ran the same bars through Antidote’s built-in phaser, then through its chorus, which I turned into a flanger.

It’s a little loud.

https://soundcloud.com/xyqbed/coursera-demo

Reflection

Well, I certainly learned a lot about modulated short delays, choruses, flangers, and phasers. It was a little tricky getting everything set up and running, but I managed to get it all done. I hope you enjoyed it.

Noise: Our Enemy… Sometimes Our Friend. (Frenemy?)

Music Production No Responses »

Apr 012013

Who doesn’t like a little noise in their music every now and then? I know I sure do, when used in the right way. What most of us don’t like, however, is noise messing up our perfectly good music in the wrong place.

Hi, this is Rich from North Carolina, and this time I’m going to talk about controlling noise so that it doesn’t get the better of your recordings.

You Can’t Escape It

Noise is everywhere, and it surrounds us all the time. Even if you go into the quietest of all quiet rooms, you will still hear the noises of your body (or maybe those of the person next to you!)

We want to reduce as much of the noise surrounding us as we can so it doesn’t impact our music negatively. Then later on, if we want to add noise, we can add it whenever or wherever we want.

There are two kinds of noise we’re trying to eliminate:

Acoustic Noise
Electrical Noise

Reducing Acoustic Noise

Acoustic noise comes from the common (and sometimes uncommon) sounds that surround us: computers, air conditioners, fans, appliances, motors, televisions, friends, relatives, and even pets.

So how do we get rid of all of this noise?

Listen carefully to the room you want to use. How silent is it really? You’re trying to establish what the silence or room tone of the space is.
Move away from noise sources. That computer starts to sound like a jet engine in a quiet room. Are the windows letting in a lot of noise? Is there a better space you can use?
Create an isolated space for recording. I like to use my clothes closet for voice-overs, because it’s really quiet, and full of clothes on hangers that are eager to kill any noise in the room. I just hook up a mic to my interface, and hook that up to my laptop, and record what I need to there.
Turn off sources of noise such as air conditioning, fans, heating (of all kinds– radiators can make random pinging noises, too!), television, and appliances.

Acoustic noise is everywhere, so it’s impossible to get rid of it completely, but you can limit it this way.

But that’s not the only noise you have to deal with.

Reducing Electrical Noise

Electrical noise comes out of every piece of gear you use. It’s noise that comes into your lines, and gets recorded right along with everything else. It can really mess up a recording, and be frustrating to deal with at times.

Almost all gear has a self-noise specification that will tell you just how much noise it generates. Better gear will generally generate less noise.

Here’s how to reduce it:

Don’t use so much gear. Use the minimum necessary to get the job done. Every piece you add is going to make it noisier!
Shorten the cable runs. The shorter the run, the less noise gets introduced. If you only need six feet of cable, run a six-foot cable. Don’t run a twelve-foot cable.
Use balanced cables. Balanced cables are designed to reject noise. Unbalanced cables are not designed to reject noise. So if you have to have an unbalanced line somewhere, convert it to a balanced line as soon as possible with a good direct box.
Turn off appliances and dimmer switches. Both dump a lot of noise into your power lines, which gets picked up by your equipment, then it winds up in your recording, and you have a headache on your hands in post. That hum you see at 50/60 Hz is probably coming from a loud power source.
Use better gear. This usually works. Do your research before buying. Expensive gear isn’t always better. (It usually is, but it’s no guarantee.)

Avoid Unnecessary Gain Stages

That means leaving your mixer on U and not using it to boost signals. Gain stages add more noise.

If the sound coming in is too quiet, move the mic closer instead.

Generally mic use and placement can fix a lot of gain problems. Use the right mic for the job. Pick a polar pattern on the mic that will reject unwanted sounds, and only pick up the sounds you want to record. Directional microphones can be really useful in this regard.

Don’t Push It Off To Post

It may be tempting to use a filter or some other post-production strategy to reduce a noisy recording, but your best post-processing solution is not to introduce the noise in the first place.

Noise can be great as an effect, or as something to add into a synth, but it’s not so great when you can hear it in an unwanted place.

Control noise. Don’t be controlled by it.

Reflection

I’m not exactly sure how I can demonstrate how to reduce noise in a blog post, since a lot of this is pretty situational, but I can at least go over the points Loudon talked about in the lecture. I hope this helps!