hedgarmusictech-blog

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Music and Sound in Media

Music and sound are a part of modern media that we have become accustom to, as it’s presented to us in many ways across numerous formats. Perhaps the most famous use of music and sound is within film, however it’s also used across a variety of fields such as games, animation, adverts, apps and websites. Whether this be via the use of existing music, soundtracks composed specifically for film and the use of Foley to emulate the everyday sounds that need to be implemented into film to add realism.

Firstly, we look at the use of existing music in the media, the most lucrative and popular use of this technique is perhaps in film, coinciding with the vinyl revolution of the last decade, film soundtracks are now creating revenue for Hollywood production companies and record companies alike. However, this isn’t just a fad fuelled by nostalgia, as films released within the last 3 years such as Guardians of the Galaxy, A Star is Born and The Greatest Showman have their soundtracks released alongside the actual film’s release. The use of music and sound involves the use of the leader of the project’s (whether that be a director, developer or creator) choices of copyrighted tracks that reflect the themes, characters and aesthetics of the project. Perhaps a leading example of using this technique to great effect is Quentin Tarantino, when you think of his film ‘Pulp Fiction’, the sound that instantly comes to mind is Dick Dale ‘Misirlou’ the title track of the movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22u36FOXUQc

This song is Tarantino setting the mood of what is to come later in the film, a high-octane thriller full of action set amongst the aesthetic of the golden age of American rock n roll music, and this is continued throughout the duration of the film. This really helps the viewer establish the atmosphere of what they’re about to watch, no one would hear the up-tempo overdriven guitar of Dick Dale and assume they’re about to watch a romantic comedy.

Although this use of music in the media is effective, the issue it faces is purely monetary, as the cost of buying the rights to all these tracks for a film can cost production companies millions, therefore it can only be reserved for big budget filmmakers and not everyone. Therefore, we also see this technique used in advertisements, as big companies can afford to pay the copyright of the tracks, however independent game makers for example couldn’t afford this which lends them to use other forms of music and sound.

An alternative use of music within media is the use of original music specifically for the project it will be used in. This can include film scores, theme tunes for TV series or games. The advantage of this technique is that the game developer/ TV or film director can communicate with whoever is composing the music to ensure the mood of the music perfectly encapsulates that of the scene it’s going to be used with, a perfect example of this being John William’s ‘Jaws’ soundtrack in the emergence of the shark scene , and Ennio Morricone’s score for the climactic scene in ‘The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly’ called ‘Ecstasy of Gold’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9QTSyLwd4w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubVc2MQwMkg

Another advantage of this technique in comparison to using existing music is the scalability of price, making it an accessible technique to projects with varying budgets, for example big budget Hollywood movies can use full orchestras and choirs for their music, but likewise a relatively unknown industry such as gaming in the 1980’s saw Nintendo be able to compose the Mario Bros theme with just one man and a synthesizer for a fraction of the price.

A disadvantage of original scores in media is that it’s very time consuming to create original music for films that may last 2 hours, as well as the difficulty for lower budget projects being able to acquire the resources to create and record music for their project, or indeed hire someone else to do so on their behalf. In comparison, if budget isn’t an issue using existing music in media projects is a far quicker alternative when it comes to the final article being completed.

Perhaps the most frequent and widely unknown use of sound in film especially is the use of Foley sound effects. Due to the focus on dialogue when recording audio for a film, the natural intricacies of naturally occurring sounds such as footsteps and the wind blowing aren’t captured in good enough detail for the director. Therefore, the art of Foley is to artificially create these sounds in a film studio using all manner of techniques, examples of professional Foley artists can be seen in the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPdMqoFb6rI

Foley artists are highly skilled individuals, and therefore are employed by big budget organisations, making it difficult for fledgling filmmakers to employ them for their own films. However, the art of Foley is an industry staple ever since it has been established, and therefore it must be appreciated as a great value to sound in media, as filmmaking, TV shows and adverts wouldn’t be the same without it.

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My blog on mixing and mastering techniques by Harry Edgar:

 Mixing and mastering are necessities in the creation, production and distribution of music that can drastically alter how the end product (usually an album) can sound.  There are may components that go into making a track sound perfect to the ears listening to it, the techniques I shall be talking about today include:

·         Mixing with EQ

·         Balance/Depth

·         Compressors/advanced compressing techniques

·         Using a noisegate

·         Using effects processing (reverbs, delays, modulations etc)

·         Mastering EQ techniques

·         Using a brick-wall limiter

·         Master bus/multi band compression

·         Enhancing stereo width.

 Mixing with EQ:

 EQ is a vital tool in mixing, this is because when you’ve recorded all the instruments for the composition that you’re working on, in almost all circumstances there will be instruments competing for certain frequency ranges. For example, instruments such as guitars, vocals and piano may all be competing for mid range frequencies; therefore equalisation is necessary to ensure all instruments have a pocket to sit in so to speak, so that they all can be heard clearly in the mix.

 Although there are no rules in mixing, and sound is purely subjective, there are frequencies believed to be specific to certain instruments that can be boost or cut. For example, when equalising a bass drum, it is widely recommend to put a low pass filter on to cut out any sub-bass frequencies below 50Hz (unless these are required such as in a dance track) and to boost the region of around 60-80hz to emphasise the bass of the kick. Also, boosting around 3KHz is recommended in this day and age for a kick drum, as this will boost the sound of the beater, therefore giving the kick definition even in small speakers such as Apple earphones. EQ is vital in removing any unwanted frequencies that an instrument may produce, for example it’s widely recommended to cut around 200Hz on an acoustic guitar, as there’s often a persistent ringing that is unpleasant to the ear.

 Balance/Depth:

 Leading on from EQ, balance and depth are two very important procedures in making sure each track has space to be heard in a song. Balance simply refers to monitoring audio and reducing gain or volume accordingly, ensuring that others aren’t overpowering certain tracks. Depth on the other hand is reference to the perception of the listener of how close a certain instrument feels to them, if every track were at the same depth then it would be hard to distinguish each track from each other. There are a few ways altering depth can be achieved, through reverb (which I will go through in more detail later), through balancing (as a louder track seems closer to the listener, and a quitter track seems further away) and through EQ. Depth is affected by the EQ of the track, as a warmer (more bass heavy) track seems further away to the listener, and a brighter (more treble/mid range boosted track) seems to be closer. Tracks altering in depth help to isolate them more in a mix, therefore making them easier to hear.

 Compressors/advanced compression techniques:

 Compressors are vital in mixing and mastering; the function of a compressor is to reduce the dynamic range of the track you are using it on. The result of this is a more consistent sound, and a situation where this can be useful is for instance on an acoustic guitar being played by a player with lacklustre picking consistency, to avoid heavier picking resulting in harsh string snap, a compressor gives the guitar track a very consistent sound which counteracts the picking inconsistencies.

 These are the main parameters of a compressor:

  Attack:

This dictates how fast the compressor kicks in after the volume of the track goes over the threshold.

Ratio:

This dictates by how much your original sound is decreased by, the higher the ratio the higher decrease in volume.

Release:

This dictates how quickly the compressor ceases to function after compression the sound.

Threshold:

This dictates what volume you set as the cut of point before the compressor has to kick in.

Gain:

This compensates for the volume lost when compressing, so the track stays at the same volume as before, but keeps it’s shortened dynamic range.

 Examples of advanced compressing techniques include side chaining and parallel compression. Parallel compression is where you send your original track (usually drums and bass for this technique) to a bus in your DAW, this therefore essentially creates two identical copies of the track that are blended together. On the bus, you must then proceed to heavily compress the signal, to an extent that you would normally consider excessive, and then turn the volume on the bus down so that it creates an audible difference when removed, but cannot be outright heard. The effect this creates is the two tracks blending together to create a bigger sound that is compressed, but still retains the natural dynamics of a very dynamic instrument such as drums.

 Sidechaining on the other hand, is the act of compressing a track in accord to another track, most commonly used in EDM music to create a pulse effect. To do this, you may create a drone using a synth pad, and then recording a MIDI kick drum doing 4 beats a bar, you’d then utilise the sidechaining option on the compressor of the kick drum and sidechain the kick to your synth. Then, after muting the kick drum, whenever the kick drum would be played, the sound of the synth ducks out, creating the desired pulse. Here is a youtube video further explaining this concept:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mhdw-r9YYE

 Using a noisegate:

 Noisegates are extremely effective when mixing tracks that contain loud instruments that create feedback such as an electric guitar. The function of a noisegate is to set a threshold of sound in decibels that it will let through, and any sound quieter than said threshold is not allowed through and therefore the signal is shut off. This is useful for getting rid of any feedback that a guitarist may get from their amp between playing their parts. The parameters of a noisegate obviously includes the threshold, the time it takes the gate to kick in (attack), and the time it takes the gate to open (release).

 Using effects processing:

 Effects processing is an umbrella term covering many aspects of mixing. First, there’s reverb, which as I mentioned earlier is useful in creating depth within your tracks. As the function of reverb is to emulate the natural decay that playing in large rooms would give an instrument, the more reverb added to a track therefore, the further away that track is perceived and vice versa. An application of this that is a personal favourite of mine is the reverb used on the vocal track of Lou Reed on the Velvet Underground’s track “Sunday Morning”, as the track develops, more reverb is added to the vocal making it seem as if it’s progressively moving further away from the listener. Here’s a link to this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qK82JvRY5s

 Another common example of effects processing is the use of delays, a delay simply repeats the signal of a track and can be manipulated as to how many times it does this, how often it does this, and how loudly the repeats are. Delay can be utilised to create more stereo width (which I shall talk about in more detail later), and to create intricate rhythms on simple tracks to enhance them. An example of this can be seen in David Bowie’s track “Let’s Dance” as Nile Rodgers’ guitar track has been subject of a delay during mixing. A link to the track is hear for you to have a listen for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4d7Wp9kKjA

 Other common effects processors include modulation, this includes effects such as chorus, flangers, vibes and phasers. These are commonly used for guitars and can be bought in physical form of an effects pedal, however in some instances have been used on whole tracks, an example of this being on the latter half of the Jimi Hendrix Experience song “Bold as Love”, as the whole track has had a phaser added to it. You can listen for yourself on Spotify, Apple music, Itunes or any alternative streaming site, as unfortunately there’s no studio version of the song on Youtube.

 Mastering EQ techniques:

 Equalising a whole song demands a different approach than just a singular recorded track. For example, a main difference is that when using EQ whilst mastering, it is advised very strongly that no extreme changes are made to the EQ of the track, as the mix should already be close to what the artist required. Professionals advise that the Master EQ band should contain anywhere from 5-12 minor alterations to the EQ o the song, with nothing boosted or dipped by more than 2db. There are additional techniques that can be used, for example it is common to make an exception to the above rule regarding decibels as removing any frequencies under 50hz (aka the “sub-bass) as these frequencies are only useful for dance tracks and not much else. In addition, mastering engineers are also known to put a shelf on any frequencies in the range of 10k or above of about 2-4db, as this is known as “adding air” to the track.

   Using a brick-wall limiter:

 A brick-wall limiter is a more extreme form of compression. Much like a compressor, a threshold is set that no sound can go over without being reduced, the difference with a limiter is that the effect is much more immediate than a compressor, and the ratio used to reduce the sound is usually a lot higher. This is useful for removing any clipping or digital distortion in a track, however misuse can result in the destruction of the dynamic range of a song, and therefore a brick-limiter must be used carefully. Examples of albums that have been over limited to the point of removing dynamics include Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Californication” and Metallica’s “Death Magnetic”.

 Master bus/multi band compression:

 Master bus compression takes place during the mastering stage and is the compression of the whole song and much like master EQ, is a very subtle process. No dramatic changes are usually made at this stage, as to preserve hat dynamics that the mix has provided you with. Therefore, when utilising master bus compression, mastering engineers advise that a small ratio is used, and a slow attack is also dialled in, this will therefore give the song a consistent sound, without it then becoming lifeless and undynamic.

 Multi band compression on the other hand, are compressors that work to specific frequency ranges. This may be useful for example in making basslines and kickdrum hits more consistent, as these are two examples of instruments that we don’t necessarily want varying dynamics. The specificity of multi band compressors means that when mastering, you don’t have to sacrifice the whole track to fix a very specific problem.

 Enhancing stereo width:

 There are two very common ways to achieve the enhancement of stereo width. Firstly, there’s the method of panning tracks, which is simply the act of placing tracks on different points of the stereo spectrum, all the way from the right speaker to the left. This is used in every stereo mix ever produced, as this is a way to ensure that all of the instruments recorded have their own space in the mix and can be heard clearly. Commonly, instruments such as vocals, drums and bass aren’t panned and are kept central however, but as there’s exceptions to every rule, a lot of 60’s recordings pan vocals and drums. This technique has since been left behind, but panning is still rife in mixing to enhance the stereo width.

 Another method commonly used is a ping pong delay. To do this, you send the signal of whatever track it is you wish to enhance to a stereo bus, and then add the stereo delay plug-in to the bus. On this delay, you will dial in a very short delay time (perhaps a quaver on one side, and a semi-quaver on the other) and make other subtle differences to each speaker using the other parameters on the delay. Next, you must EQ the bus, adding both a high pass and low pass filter. Finally, you must add the bus into the mix so that in can be very subtly heard, this gives the original signal the effect of being double tracked. This therefore enhances the width of the track.

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Gorillaz- 19-2000 (Soulchild remix)

Probably one of the more recognisable remixes on this list, the enigmatic Gorillaz let Soulchild take the reins of one of their very first singles of the debut album of theirs. Straight away, there’s noticeable differences in the tracks, as the remix is a full 12 bpm faster than the original track (90-102) and the beginning is altered as we’re introduced to a fade in of 2-D’s (Damon Albarn’s alter ego for the band) voice.

All in all, the track is much livelier, after hearing the remix, you can’t really listen to the original in the same was, as it just seems to go along at a plodding pace, Souldchild also adds more vocal dubs to the chorus, making it more eventful and easier to sing along with. Unlike some of the other examples I’ve mentioned, this remix doesn’t rely on building up intensity, as the track is merely just a full fat version of the original source if you will, is another track I highly recommend you go listen to.

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Oasis- Falling Down (Chemical Brothers remix)

The Chemical Brothers are an outfit that ever since their inception in the 90’s had been trailblazers in British music and have had countless critically acclaimed albums of remixes and original material, it seems only just that they should collaborate with fellow pioneers Oasis. In my opinion, they take a particularly bland track from Oasis and breathe life into it in the case of Falling Down. The original drum groove, although very impressive, is recorded in such a lifeless manner on the original track and ends up being lost and sounding muddy, The Chemical Brothers recognise this and decide to rerecord the same groove but with a more prominent place in the mix and a much tighter sound with a more vicious attack. It is also looped throughout the song with no extra fills dubbed in, this is to create a very hypnotic effect to song, such as that of songs like “Tomorrow Never Knows” by the Beatles. The original 131 bpm tempo is also kept the same.

The track begins with a cacophony of disjunct melodies played on sawtooth synths (which gives the buzzing sound in the intro) and the count in on the electronic drum kick thuds the track into action and the original chord structures and bassline are not majorly tampered with.Although we do see the use of distortion and heavy filters in the intro, which gives the track a very psychedelic feel to it very common of a Chemical Brothers track.  The layers of the song build and build until around 1 minute 30 in when the first verse is played and Noel Gallagher’s reverb soaked psychedelic lyrics are met with a very sparse environment without much instrumentation. The vocals are also modulated, as a flanger has been added to Noel’s voice to give the melody movement as the words begin to sound almost warped, this is different to the original track, which had a more clean pop vocal as it was a single off of Oasis’ “Dig Out Your Soul” album. All in all, this track is more of a psychedelic trance record than a full-on dancefloor filler, which is why I enjoy it personally so much and is one I’d seriously recommend.

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The Stone Roses- Made of Stone (808 State Remix)

The Stone Roses are a band synonymous with club bangers, being regular performance acts at the Hacienda, one of the most significant and famous nightclubs in history and the Mecca of the ‘Baggy’ scene in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Their single Made of Stone however is more of a dark and moody indie pop anthem, not one that would be regularly heard on a dancefloor, that is until the boys at 808 State got hold of it. Created for the compilation album Stone Roses- The Remixes, 808 State celebrate everything glorious of the Madchester scene channelling this through one of the heroes of their time.

The songs tempo and layout is not massively altered, the tempo staying at 126 bpm, however the remixes instrumentation is quite the contrary to its inspiration, as John Squire’s light and melodic guitar work and Reni’s very authentic drumming is replaced by layers upon layers of synth and drum machines. The beat is nothing but pure controlled chaos and the frequencies demonstrated in the low end with the pounding almost drone like synths in the intro really kick you in the chest, the drums are trance-like and almost infectiously cause you to want to throw your body about to the carnage that is the track. Throughout all this however you still hear Ian Brown’s early angelic vocals cut through and the familiarity of the chorus ensures that this remix is the perfect club track.

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REMIX BLOG

A remix, in my opinion, can go one of two ways, they can either enhance a song and bring out an attitude and visceral sound that the original version could never achieve making it perfect for a club experience, or it can derail what made the original song exactly that in the first place, and bring it down to a level of mediocrity. Below I shall list four remixes that over the course of this assignment and discuss which of these two options was managed to be achieved. Remember however, that nothing in music is objective, so don’t take my word for it and check these tracks out yourself.

Ian Brown - F.E.A.R. (UNKLE remix)

We start the proceedings on a negative note, as the artist known as UNKLE takes on the anthemic and monkey walk inducing lead single off Ian Browns solo effort Music of Spheres. Uniquely, the track has been slowed down from the original’s bpm of 160 down to 132, and in fairness to UNKLE this does give the song a more club friendly tempo, and this isn’t where the smart choices end. The beginning of the remix shows promise as we hear a dramatic opening minute of string and piano arrangements from the original track, a gated synth is also utilised in the intro to give the track momentum and a pulse through use of side chaining.To build a crescendo from section to section whilst also adding texture, UNKLE also utilises a white noise filter on numerous occasions and when Brown’s iconic voice delivers the “Have you got the FEAR?” hook the other instruments are stripped as the vocal is isolated. The vocals have been tampered with, as a phone notch filter has been added, this gives the track a lo-fi feel and is a key difference from the remix to the original.

This dramatic build up has a rather lacklustre pay off however, as UNKLE’s beat that he lays underneath the track as we hit the climactic club dancing section is uninspired and nothing more than a remnant of the dying out 90’s drum and bass movement. The new drum kit added however does give the track more energy as the quick release of the snare hits makes the sound really impactful and differs to the original. UNKLE also utilises wide panning effectively throughout the track, making use of the stereo spectrum perhaps better than Brown did on the original track, with various sounds being isolated to just a single speakeer. Overall, UNKLE doesn’t do enough to the original track for it to be considered his own, it just seems to be a thoughtless throw away of such an iconic songwriter’s music. The remix also loses sight of what made the track so special, Ian Brown’s clever lyrics, instead opting for the repetition of two whole lines throughout the four minutes plus track.