Logical Psychosis

Once again I have opted to feature a mini-mix of an unfinished idea, rather than an individual sound or example of processing. I am finding that creating these 1 to 2 minute snapshots of the idea is giving me a new perspective on unfinished compositions that I might have otherwise left by the wayside. Perhaps rendering simplified versions of these pieces will serve as an interim step to producing completed versions. I’m also appreciative of the feedback I’m getting on these rough mixes from friends, family and even a handful of very nice reader comments. Thanks!

I wouldn’t exactly call this piece a remix, but it does use bit of my Rhodes playing and other samples from prior Keston and Westdal tracks and performances. The arrangement, bass line, chord progression and processing are all new, so it only obscurely resembles any other tracks. I’m quite fond of how the bass line sounds. It reminds me a little of an analogue, male vocal simulation that Tomita produced on his interpretation of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”, which otherwise has no similarities to this piece.

Logical Psychosis

Hybridized Beat Repeat

In my last post I explained how I rein in random processing behaviors to get the results I’m after. A good processor for randomizing audio is Ableton Live’s Beat Repeat. Beat Repeat effortlessly duplicates the once tedious process of repeating small chunks of a sample to get stuttering effects, but also has parameters to randomize the repetitions in a variety of ways.

For the Rhodes solo in “Six Weeks” I wanted to scramble my performance in some way to match the “broken” drum programming. Beat Repeat was the ticket, but I couldn’t get a complete take that fit well with the rest of the piece. If you look at the image you can see that the solo is made up of fifteen separate regions of audio. These are all abstracted from specific renders of the performance through Beat Repeat. After rendering the audio several times I selected specific phrases and organized them in a way that enhanced the dynamics of the piece, creating a hybrid. Listen to the solo by itself and then to hear it in context play the full track at 2:54.

Six Weeks (solo) – Hybrid Beat Repeat Solo

Six Weeks (full track) – One Day to Save All Life

Unity Status

Technically this post and the last have been more than one sound, so perhaps I should rename the category “one sound or more every day”. Anyway, I just made a rough mix of this musical sketch (not quite a complete piece yet) and thought it could serve as today’s sound.

The image is a partial screen grab of one of the virtual instruments I used. The chordal and melodic tones and the bass are all played and programmed by me, but the rest of it is sampled from an unnamed jazz recording, so although the samples are heavily manipulated this composition is unlikely to go much further than this.

Unity Status

Three Story Buildings

How much processing can a voice recording take? I guess it depends on how badly you want to fuck it up. When it’s a recording of Donald Rumsfeld justifying the war on Iraq, I want to fuck it up as much as possible. That said, the recording is pitched and time expanded, run through a noise gate followed by a compressor, automated erosion, stereo delay (feedback at 80%, left at 5ms, right at 12.5ms, mix at 50%), and finally a reverb that creeps in with automated mix and decay. Enjoy!

Rumsfeld

 

The Concept for AudioCookbook.org

Stove Top AudioDuring my life as a musician, audio engineer and sound designer I have always been fascinated by the unique ways we construct believable sound environments. The concept of AudioCookbook.org is to pass on what we have learned as sound designers, foley artists, musicians and engineers by hosting “recipes for sound design”. This can include all sorts of things we do as audio professionals to create great sounding productions. From crazy foley techniques to step-by-step sound design tutorials.

Plenty of great sites offer terabytes of pre-recorded audio files. That’s not the purpose here. The goal is to share fun and useful techniques on how to create high quality, original sound effects. Perhaps this will lead people to reach for the microphone instead of browsing for needle drop. To help illustrate techniques, an integrated media plugin routes audio or video files directly into a player within posts. If you’re an audio professional and interested in sharing your techniques we please consider participating.