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    Music Production: Discover The Past, Present & Future of Music Production, Recording Technology, Techniques, & Songwriting
    Music Production: Discover The Past, Present & Future of Music Production, Recording Technology, Techniques, & Songwriting
    Music Production: Discover The Past, Present & Future of Music Production, Recording Technology, Techniques, & Songwriting
    Ebook146 pages2 hours

    Music Production: Discover The Past, Present & Future of Music Production, Recording Technology, Techniques, & Songwriting

    By Tommy Swindali

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    About this ebook

    What Makes A Song Great? 

    It's a big question, and one that has been written about endlessly in an attempt to reveal the "formula" for creating a worldwide, smash hit record. 

    First of all a good song speaks to you. You remember it, even if it's just one really good line...It fills you with emotions, whether those be sad or happy ones. 

    Then there is something else..., it's the way the music was produced and its techniques which hook you in and enhance the listening experience. 

    Music has come so far in the last four decades and is evolving at such a high speed.  Such a shift has impacted not only the consumers but also the practicing artists and music producers. 

    Inside this book you will find a timeless blueprint for making smash hit songs. It is a proven formula used by the legends of yesterday to make the stars of today. 

    Discover this and much more including: 

    • Over Four Decades Worth of Insider Secrets to Producing Smash Hits 

    • What Makes A Song Great? 

    • From Then to Now - Trends & Techniques in Popular Music 

    • Produce Your Best Music - No More Wasting Time on "How to Guides" or YouTube

    • Use This "Step by Step" Guide to Identify Your Favorite Production Techniques

    • Learn What Makes a Bad Mix and How to Avoid It 

    • The Proven Way to Put More Feeling into Your Music with Technology 

    • Tips for The Best Band Rehearsals & Recordings 

    • Pioneering Techniques Used by Miles Davis, The Beatles & More 

    • Psychology Hacks Every Music Producer Needs (Dr Dre and Rick Rubin Do This)

    • Workflow Tips In a "Do it Yourself" Culture 

    And much, much more...

    The road that led music to where it is today is laden with history which you can learn from to make your best music. 

    Whether you are an aspiring Music Producer or an expert in this field you can start from where you are and master the art of music production and songwriting. 

    So if your ready to discover make your best music then Read This Book

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThomas William
    Release dateMar 3, 2020
    ISBN9781393394020

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      Book preview

      Music Production - Tommy Swindali

      Chapter 1. Music Stripped To The Core: Understanding Sound

      Whether your goal is to become a music producer or an audio engineer, understanding sound is basic to your chosen profession. It is through sound - the medium - that the art of music exists. And, technology is what bridges the sound and the music.

      Making music is indeed fun, creative, and exciting. But, if you are to put music on record, you need to know the technical aspect of sound. It is fortunate that the science of sound is equally interesting. And, contrary to what one might think, learning the technical aspects of sound is not that difficult.

      What Is Sound?

      Sound is the change in pressure of the air molecules and can exist in any medium, even under water. To create sound, it is necessary to have an impetus to change the pressure in the air, like the string vibrations.

      Upon activating the stimulus, the air molecules that come into contact with the string, for example, become energized. The molecules that are in contact with the object, in turn, activate the molecules that are near resulting to a chain reaction. The activated molecules that are closest to our ear activate our ear drums and become the sound that we hear.

      Breaking Down The Sound Wave

      The chain reaction resulting from the changes in pressure of the air molecules create the sound wave, defined in three states – compression, rarefaction, and equilibrium.

      Compression is also referred to as positive pressure. It is when the molecules are pushing on towards the next group of neighboring molecules. On the opposite side is the rarefaction where the molecules are moving away from their neighboring molecules, creating a vacuum. This is a negative pressure away from the neighboring molecules, referred to as a pulling force. Compression, therefore, is a pushing force and rarefaction the pulling force.

      Equilibrium occurs when the amount of pushing force and the pulling force are equal resulting to a net force of zero.

      The changes in the air molecules occur in a cycle:

      ●  Air molecule (A) starts at the state of equilibrium

      ●  When force is applied to air molecule (A) it starts to move towards its closest group of air molecules (B)

      ●  With this movement from A to B,  a vacuum begins to form behind air molecule (A)

      ●  As air molecule (A) nears the next group of air molecules (B)  positive pressure builds up and compression occurs

      ●  When enough pressure builds up, air molecule (B) moves towards the next group of air molecule. When (B) moves away, a vacuum forms behind (A), the positive pressure decreases until the zero force is reached.

      ●  Molecules (A) and (B) continue to move away from each other resulting to a vacuum. A state of rarefaction occurs where the vacuum expands creating more negative pressure until such state is reached where (A) and (B) starts moving towards each other leading to the next cycle.

      ●  Note that the movement of (B) sets air molecule (C) into motion moving in the same cycle.

      ●  This process is what makes the sound wave spread through the air.

      It is interesting to note what happens with the interaction of sound waves. Imagine yourself pushing something with an amount of force (X). A friend decides to help and pushes with an amount of force (Y). The total amount of force used in pushing an object is (X) + (Y).

      Translate this imaginary pushing into sound waves interacting with each other. If two sound waves push towards the same direction at the same time, the sum of both is your total amplitude.

      Now, imagine holding a rope and pulling something with an (X) amount of force. Now, imagine further that a friend comes by and pulls the rope with a (Y) amount of force to the opposite direction. The total force applies is now (X) – (Y). Now, translate this scenario into sound. If one sound wave is in the compression state (the push) and another sound wave is in the state of rarefaction (the pull), the result is cancellation or what is referred to as a null.

      The property of sound waves and its functions are important for you to understand as it describes how complex sound forms. Then, you will learn how to manipulate sound waves. 

      Manipulating Sound

      Sound technicians or engineers deal with both live sound and electrical sound, also known as audio signal. For instance, when you talk through a microphone, the voice converts into an audio signal. The audio signal possesses various properties and characteristics associated with all types of sounds that go through the sound system. Each sound source, like the microphone or a CD player, has separate channels on a mixing board, which must be balanced to create good sound which some experts in the music industry refer to as joyful noise.

      You can control and change the different audio signals or sounds by equalization and altering pitch, volume, and sound effects. Equalization is the process in which you modify sound frequencies to suit specific needs need. For example, the settings for equalization (EQ) for a musical format and a talk show are different. You can use equalizers to remove or minimize unwanted sounds such as unwelcome hums from amplifiers. In music production, equalization is used to adjust the tone quality of certain instruments or voices.

      The quality of the sound you produce is determined by how you condition the sound through volume level mixing and equalization, as well as other settings that can be adjusted. Done the right way, the sound is good. The sound can end up bad or bland when the mix is done incorrectly. Other conditions may influence the sound to become bland including:

      ●  Sound bounce. Sound can become bad when a second microphone picks up a voice and amplifies it after bouncing. The sound coming out of the speakers can sound bad. That’s why in such a situation where there are several microphones in use, correct placement is necessary.

      ●  Feedback. Feedback is another source of bad sound, and when it happens, it can cause awkward moments and frustrations. Feedback is that grating sound that you hear when a sound source, like a microphone, picks up its own signal and then amplifies it from a speaker, resulting to a looping effect which can grow in volume and strength. Another source of this annoying sound is when the microphone is quite far from the sound source, causing you to increase the volume to try to compensate for the distance.

      There are other things you need to avoid if you are to come up with music that sounds professional. These include (1) external noise coming from neighbors or rooms near your building, (2) computer noise that will likely affect the quality of your sound, like acoustical interference between computers and microphones, and computer fan, and (3) air conditioning noise.

      On the other hand, what makes for a good sound comes from three parts: components that conditions the sound correctly for the unique environment, right placement of microphones to record the sounds, an expert technician who control and modify the sounds. If one of these parts is missing, your sound you create is not good. 

      Types of Audio Signal

      Just as an artist chooses the medium to create a work of art – like the piano for a musician and oil on canvas for the visual artist, the sound engineer and technician need to choose the medium for the sonic masterpiece.

      Pressure Waves. This is familiar to us since we hear them every day through our ears. An example is the tone A performed by a piano. When a musician presses the key of A on a piano, a felt-padded hammer strikes the appropriate string in the sound board. When struck, the action triggers a vibration at a constant frequency, which in turn, is based on the string’s length, thickness, and tension.

      The vibrating string causes the air around it to move at the same frequency

      creating a chain reaction called pressure waves or sound waves. The constant

      frequency of key A is 440 Hz which the ear can receive and convert into

      electrical signals the brain can understand. This frequency in music is called

      pitch.

      There are other factors that contribute to the sound produced, like timbre. Timbre is the essence of sound and what makes a specific sound different from others. What distinguishes the timbre is the material of the medium and its location. In the case of the piano or the guitar, its timbre is determined by the sound board, how dense the wood material is, and the room. Though both have the frequency of, for instance, 440 HZ producing the pitch A, the quality of the sound produced are different.

      Electrical Audio. A continuous stream of information represents this type of audio signal, which is also known as analog signal. An example is the speaker in your car which receives an electrical audio signal (the input) creating a vibration that results to the sound that you hear. The speakers would need a voltage to produce sound.

      The same is true with a microphone. Microphones produce electric signals in proportion to the amount of sound the microphone receives. When the singing or voice stops, the information exists as electrons coursing through the cable. These electrons need to be changed into digital data to be received by a digital audio workstation.

      Digital Audio. The digital audio is close to the electrical audio. It is represented by a pure voltage and is made of 1 and 0 with a level of threshold each. For instance, if the low threshold level is set at 0-2 volts and high at 4-6 volts, signal received that is below 2 volts will be defined

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