TheAudioMasterclassMusicProductionandSoundEngineeringCourse

MODULE08PRACTICALASSIGNMENTPROJECT:CreativityintheStudio

Outline

Manysoundengineersfulfillapurelytechnicalroletheyputintopracticeaproducer'sdesires,inmusic,
radio,television,film,advertisingandotherareas.
Butitisrarethataprojectcanbecarriedoutentirelywithouttheengineerputtinginatleastsomeoftheir
owncreativity.Indeedinsomefields,thesoundengineerisexpectedtobetheproduceraswell.

Thisprojectcouldbetitled'ExtremeCreativity'.Itstartswiththemostbasicofsoundsources,yetamazing
thingsarepossible.Youprobablywon'tbelieveuntilyouheartheexamplesincludedwiththepractical
assignmentnotes.

Project

Createasoundscapeorpieceofmusiclastingaround3060secondsusingonlya1kHzsinewaveand
whitenoiseasyoursourcematerial.

Youmaynotuseanyothersoundsource.Youmayuseanyprocessingtechniqueyoulike.

Summaryofrulesandguidelines...

Useonlya1kHzsinewaveandwhitenoiseasyoursourcematerial.

Useanykindofprocessing.

Yourtrackshouldlastbetween3060seconds.

Yourtrackcanbeasoundscapeorpieceofmusic.

Sourcefiles...
Sourcefile:1kHz.wav
Sourcefile:whitenoise.wav

Andhereisanexampleofwhatcanbeachieved...

Examplefile:1creativity.wav

ThesethreefilesarelocatedintheAssignmentNotesAudiofolder.Atthisstage,youshouldnotlistento
theotherfilesinthefolder.

1creativity.wavwasinfactmadeusingonlya1kHzsinewaveassourcematerial,withequipmentthat
happenedtobeathand,whichhappenedtobethreeoldRevoxB77reeltoreeltaperecordersandasmall
mixingconsole.

Theprojectwasstartedbyrecordingthe1kHztoneontooneoftherecorders,withtheinputlevelsetfull
upcausingthemetertogohardoverintothered.Theideawastolookforsome'interesting'distortion.

OneproblemwiththeRevoxB77isthattheelectronicsclipbeforethetapeissaturated,sothedistortion
washarshratherthansmooth,butintheenditdidn'tmatter.

Module08PracticalAssignmentProject
Next,thesystemwasconnectedtocopytherecordingontoanothertape.Thesourcerecorderwas
switchedfrom15inchespersecond(38cm/s)to7.5ips(19cm/s)sothatitplayedathalfspeed.

Asitwascopyingacross,Thetapewassloweddownbypinchingtheflangeofthereelwithfingerand
thumb,sometimeshardenoughtostopthetape.Thisproducedsomefrequencysweeps,goingalltheway
downtothelowestfrequenciesthemachinewascapableofplayingandrecording.Prettyrandom,but
therewasinterestingmaterialamongthechaos.

Theprocesswasrepeatedacoupleoftimes,generatingevenlowerfrequencies.
Next,partsofthetapethathadinterestingsoundswerecutoutandsplicedintoloops.AthirdRevoxB77
wasusedsothatitwaspossibletoplaytwoloopssimultaneouslywhilerecordingthemixofsounds.Itisn't
altogethereasytogetaB77toplayaloopoftape,butwithsuitablepositioningofmicstandsastensioners,
itcanbedone.

Thiswascopiedforthefulldurationofthetrackandproduceda'bed'ontowhichmoresoundscouldbe
laid.

Interesting'events'weresnippedoutfromtheearliertapesandsplicedtogetherontoanotherreel.Finally
thelooptapeandtheeventtapewereplayedtogetherontwomachines,andrecordedontothethird,
withafadeinandfadeout.
Therestoftheprocesswasastraightforwardtransfertoadigitalaudioworkstationfortoppingandtailing.
Nootherprocessingwasused.Thewholethingtookaroundanhour.

Notes

Itisessentialthatyouregardthereferencetrackasanexampleonly.Thereareahundredthousand
possibilitiesinthisassignment,perhapsmore.Lookaroundattheequipmentandsoftwareyouhave,and
findwaysthatitcanbeusedcreatively.Seekouttheunexpected.Don'tbeafraidto'breaktherules'.

Mostofall,havefun!

Whenyourtrackiscomplete,seewhatothershaveachievedintheassignmentnotes.

Assessmentcriteria

Creativityissubjective.Someofthesampleprojectsareoutstandinglygood.Behonestwithyourselfare
youamongthefrontrunners?That'swhereyouneedtobe.Ifyouarenotyetupthere,trysomemore
wayoutideas,breaksomemorerules.

Endofassignment

Ifyouhavepurchasedtheassessmentandcertificationpackagewithyourcourse,youmaysubmityour
worktoAudioMasterclassonlineforassessmentandcomments.

http://www.audiomasterclass.com/submission

PleasenotethatifyouhavenotpurchasedtheAssessmentandCertificationpackage,thesubmissionform
willnotworkforyou.PleasecontactAudioMasterclassifyouwouldliketoupgradeyourenrollment.

Module08PracticalAssignmentProject