Sonic Art & Sound Design- P20 doc

3 p95 QC Preflight Point 2 nd 33 Job no : 76098 Title : The Fundamentals Of Sonic Art Client : AVA Scn : # 150 Size : 200(w)230(h)mm Co : M3 C0 (All To Spot)(Coagl) Dept : DTP D/O : 16.02.07 (Job no:76098C1D/O : 09.03.07 Co: CM11) 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:10 AM Page 95 p95 2 nd (Job no:76098C1D/O : 09.03.07 Co: CM11) 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:10 AM Page 95 p95 2 nd (Job no:76098C1D/O : 09.03.07 Co: CM11) 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:10 AM Page 95 94 95 p95 2 nd (Job no:76098C1D/O : 09.03.07 Co: CM11) Of equal importance is the monitor system. Small computer speakers are rarely adequate for serious sound work and, without high-quality monitoring, it is difficult to make precise adjustments. Headphones too require some thought, especially since low frequencies are normally felt rather than heard and headphones cannot reproduce this effect. Microphones are important too. The best quality is obtained from large condenser microphones but these require a power source. Not all audio interfaces offer this option so this may need to be taken into consideration when choosing an interface. The keyboard and mouse is a useful general-purpose interface but, for sound work, it may be worth considering an additional controller. Especially where performance is under consideration, a THE COMPUTER 11. Commenting upon the ubiquity of the computer in his fascinating book Electric Sound: The Past and Promise of Electronic Music (1997, New Jersey: Prentice Hall), Joel Chadabe observes: ‘Indeed, one could say that by the late 1980s the age of computer music was over because everything was computer music.’ USB MIDI controller and keyboard may prove a useful and relatively inexpensive way of entering data and controlling the system. Many high-end software manufacturers offer their own dedicated controllers but these are often restricted to particular applications; in this respect at least, the cheaper units are often more flexible. Left: Tascam workstation controller It may be worth considering an additional controller to the general- purpose keyboard and mouse interface when working with sound. Image courtesy of TEAC Corporation, Tokyo. Far left: USB audio interface A useful and relatively inexpensive way of entering data and controlling a system. Image courtesy of M Audio. 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:10 AM Page 95 QC Preflight Point 1 st 33 p96 Job no : 76098 Title : The Fundamentals Of Sonic Art Client : AVA Scn : # 150 Size : 200(w)230(h)mm Co : M3 C0 (All To Spot)(Coagl) Dept : DTP D/O : 16.02.07 (Job no:000000 D/O : 00.00.07 Co: CM0) 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:10 AM Page 96 1 st p96 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:10 AM Page 96 1 st p96 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:10 AM Page 96 PROCESS AND PRACTICE 1 st p96 Operating systems and software At present, the two main platforms – Macintosh and Windows – have little to choose between them for most sound activities. Recently, applications previously unique to one or other have become cross- compatible, allowing the exchange of files between the two systems and so the choice, at present, is largely one of individual preference rather than of distinct advantage. 12 Multitrack audio recording and mixing is one of the more demanding computer- based activities and there are many applications that cater for this at varying levels.The de facto commercial standard is Digidesign’s ® ProTools® system but most audio sequencers such as Logic or Cubase will carry out many of the operations for which ProTools ® is intended although, almost inevitably, more slowly and with somewhat less flexibility. A major part of such applications is the M‘plugin’. The ability to handle plugins is an increasingly important capability of audio software, especially since their functionality now extends to generating and manipulating sound by synthesis and sampling. Short of using a full-scale synthesis programme, this is currently perhaps the most popular approach to creating sound in the computer and has the great advantage of being tightly integrated with the recording environment of the audio sequencer. 12. Some very high-end applications such as, for example, SuperCollider, remain platform-specific but others such as MAX/MSP are now cross- compatible (subject to some relatively minor limitations). Right: Cubase Created by Steinberg and originally developed to control MIDI instruments, it has expanded to include audio recording and processing as well as synthesis and sampling using ‘plugin’ software. Image courtesy of Steinberg. 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:10 AM Page 96 3 p97 QC Preflight Point 3 rd 33 Job no : 76098 Title : The Fundamentals Of Sonic Art Client : AVA Scn : # 150 Size : 200(w)230(h)mm Co : M3 C0 (All To Spot)(Coagl) Dept : DTP D/O : 16.02.07 (Job no:76098C2 D/O : 22.03.07 Co: CM3) 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:10 AM Page 97 p97 3 rd (Job no:76098C2 D/O : 22.03.07 Co: CM3) 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:10 AM Page 97 p97 3 rd (Job no:76098C2 D/O : 22.03.07 Co: CM3) 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:10 AM Page 97 9796 p97 THE COMPUTER M PLUGINS 3 rd (Job no:76098C2 D/O : 22.03.07 Co: CM3) Left: Workstation controller Digidesign® ICON workstation controller for ProTools®. Image © 2007 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Plugins are programmes that run within a main application and add specific functionality to it. For example, programmes such as Cubase and ProTools® make extensive use of plugins for specific processes such as reverberation, dynamics processing or sound synthesis. 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:10 AM Page 97 QC Preflight Point 1 st 33 p98 Job no : 76098 Title : The Fundamentals Of Sonic Art Client : AVA Scn : # 150 Size : 200(w)230(h)mm Co : M3 C0 (All To Spot)(Coagl) Dept : DTP D/O : 16.02.07 (Job no:000000 D/O : 00.00.07 Co: CM0) 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:11 AM Page 98 1 st p98 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:11 AM Page 98 1 st p98 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:11 AM Page 98 PROCESS AND PRACTICE 1 st p98 Above: Reason Essentially similar to, but much simpler and less extensive in its possibilities than, MAX/MSP, it provides a versatile and user-friendly resource for sound programming. ‘THIS DANGER OF OVERKILL IS PARTICULARLY ACUTE WITH THE COMPUTER – PROCESSING OF SOUND AS ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING CAN BE DONE.’ TREVOR WISHART, ‘AUDIBLE DESIGN’ 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:11 AM Page 98 3 p99 QC Preflight Point 2 nd 33 Job no : 76098 Title : The Fundamentals Of Sonic Art Client : AVA Scn : # 150 Size : 200(w)230(h)mm Co : M3 C0 (All To Spot)(Coagl) Dept : DTP D/O : 16.02.07 (Job no:76098C1D/O : 09.03.07 Co: CM11) 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:12 AM Page 99 p99 2 nd (Job no:76098C1D/O : 09.03.07 Co: CM11) 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:12 AM Page 99 p99 2 nd (Job no:76098C1D/O : 09.03.07 Co: CM11) 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:12 AM Page 99 9998 p99 1000. frequency (Hz) amplitude envelope filter envelope filter envelope scale read/write settings Audio on/off filter envelope base (Hz) filter Q (0 1.) duration (ms) waveform sine clear clear writeread play 1000. 1000. 0.3 2 nd (Job no:76098C1D/O : 09.03.07 Co: CM11) Programming More sophisticated and flexible forms of synthesis (and other processes) are offered by dedicated applications such as Reaktor and Reason with even more programming flexibility available from environments such as MAX/MSP and SuperCollider. This, however, is only the start of work with such applications that are designed to go far beyond the sequencer plugin in terms of offering the user the opportunity to work with every conceivable sonic variable. Inevitably, this is a complex and demanding process but, as suggested above, there are several useful levels of approach to this area. Applications such as Reason create an on- screen environment that is reminiscent of the physical setup of a studio and its equipment racks, complete with jackfields, patchcords etc. and for the beginner, this can provide a useful and familiar point of entry. Beyond a certain point, however, the ability to provide a physical equivalent becomes less possible and, arguably, less useful. At this point, higher-level systems such as MAX/MSP and SuperCollider come into their own by offering advanced functionality and ultimately flexible programmability. Although sometimes difficult to master, these systems allow for a radically different approach to computer-based creative practice. Summary At this point, the user begins to define the nature of the technology with which she/he wishes to work rather than accepting the capabilities of a given system as a series of constraints upon what may be achieved. Here the computer genuinely starts to become a creative tool that is at the service of the artist and a vast panorama of possibilities appears before us. This exciting new landscape is, however, by no means an entirely safe place: there are many pitfalls that await the unwary. Not the least of these is the temptation to do things simply because it is suddenly possible to do them. Trevor Wishart has made a number of cautionary admonishments in his book Audible Design , warning that when we design or customise a system that can vary any possible parameters of a given process, we must carefully ensure that these are used in a considered and purposeful fashion. We need, in short, to make judgments and decisions that are based upon what we intend for a particular work. This is almost entirely at odds with the open- ended approach suggested by Brian Eno and deciding whereabouts along this spectrum our course of action will lie is perhaps one of the more difficult choices that we encounter in creating certain types of sonic art. THE COMPUTER Above: MAX/MSP synthesis patch A simple synthesiser created in Cycling ‘74’s MAX/MSP software. On-screen objects are used to designate processes similar to those found in an analogue synthesiser (oscillators, filters etc.) and are even connected by virtual patchcords. Image © Tony Gibbs. 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:12 AM Page 99 . user-friendly resource for sound programming. ‘THIS DANGER OF OVERKILL IS PARTICULARLY ACUTE WITH THE COMPUTER – PROCESSING OF SOUND AS ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING CAN BE DONE.’ TREVOR WISHART, ‘AUDIBLE DESIGN’ 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd. reverberation, dynamics processing or sound synthesis. 76098_CTP_072-107.qxd 3/24/07 6:10 AM Page 97 QC Preflight Point 1 st 33 p98 Job no : 76098 Title : The Fundamentals Of Sonic Art Client : AVA Scn : # 150. generating and manipulating sound by synthesis and sampling. Short of using a full-scale synthesis programme, this is currently perhaps the most popular approach to creating sound in the computer and