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Thinking and Reflection on learning

Hello everyone, I think this is the last blog.

In fact, I wanted to do another research on European and American movies and John Williams and Hans Zimmer at the end. But one is that time is really not enough, and they can study too much. The second is that when I was watching Hans Zimmer's master class, I heard him say: "in fact, I really hope that new people will come up and tell me new things, rather than imitate how I do it. I want to see what the music will look like in the next ten or twenty years." I know Some people don't like him and think he is very hypocritical (just like my former teacher), but even if it is true that his words are not from the heart, it also enlightens me

Indeed, we have to study and learn the skills of composers in the past, so that we can learn more so what? Just like AI, which is gradually rising in the world, some of them have mastered certain composing skills (they dig deeply into the writing habits of every famous composer, find out the rules, and then write similar music). Although it sounds ridiculous, I think I'm making a machine myself? How do the imitators do this? Is this really good? Even if I really imitate to the extreme, where is my own thing? Just like the best realistic paintings were eventually replaced by cameras, can I really write robots in the future?

On learning ability is not natural, I do not have so strong memory, nor so fast learning speed. If we really want to compete at that time, we will feel that we are facing thousands of composers at the same time, and there is no hope. So are human concerts replaced by robots? I don't think so. Because the machine has its limitations after all, it can't create an instrument that has never been created before (if there has never been a violin in the world, the computer can't make its timbre), and it can't judge whether the music is good or bad, only we can judge it. Therefore, as long as we keep innovating, we can always lead the machine.

If you think about it like this, you have a lot of clear ideas. You don't have to blindly imitate others to achieve the best. After all, many masters are from scratch. You should always maintain a heart of exploration and never give up any possibilities. Only in the end can you find my unique music. It's a bit too far away. In fact, I'm very happy in the learning process. Without these tasks, maybe many things just stay in the stage of liking, and there are no opportunities and excuses to persuade myself to study it. In just three months, I've learned a lot. Just like graduate students, we should master our own learning ability instead of learning Is to wait for the teacher to give knowledge every day.

Now this is the best era. We have a fast Internet and can learn all kinds of knowledge of different races all over the world. It's also the worst of times, because it makes us see our own insignificance. But it's not bad to work hard now.

[zitongcheng]

A study of Asian Film Music （China Area）

In the last issue, I analyzed the soundtrack of many Japanese film and television works and animation works. This time, I will formally analyze the music of China. In the early days, in fact, China's music development was influenced by many other countries, especially Japan and South Korea. But in recent decades, due to the rapid improvement of music literacy, more and more composers began to explore the possibility of Chinese national musical instruments.

And I personally feel that the most representative is actually a program called national treasure.

What surprised me was not only the shock of the music, but also the integration of many instruments different from the previous Chinese music. Chinese national musical instruments have this very strong color, but instead, most of them are difficult to integrate, and lack of thick bass to provide full sound. In the past, the older generation of artists thought that the most authentic national music was pure Chinese national musical instruments without any other national musical instruments. Therefore, it is conceivable that even the ensemble of musical instruments did not merge together. It was more like the music played alone was packed in a room. (later, there was a compromise. After joining many percussion instruments of orchestras and orchestras, the sound was much fuller.)

But in the national treasure, they not only show the characteristics of national musical instruments, but also integrate them into orchestras and pop bands with electric guitars, and fully integrate them into programs with a sense of history. This may be common today, but it might have been unthinkable decades ago. The goal of all this is to show the characteristics of the premise to achieve the most impressive sound effect.

Next, I found a whole set of theme songs written for the game in recent days. One of my favorite songs is the cover song "Jiang Wei does not return." https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1a5411G7hE

This piece of music has really reached the level I most want to achieve in the level of arrangement, whether it is the melody of the song or the author's grasp of the climax rhythm, the control of segmented emotion, and the expression of national musical instruments.

What's more, the author also took out the specific engineering documents of music for personal analysis and sharing for everyone to learn. https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1eX4y1T7Ux

In this, I really learned a lot, there are a lot of parts I can't hear in the process of listening to the song. This also makes me once again confirm that the orchestra and pop band are indispensable in Chinese style game and movie soundtrack. Finally, let's study Chinese style movies. After searching the Internet, we find that the most popular music is the theme song of this animation movie. five

It can be said that this big fish is a must-have composition for KTV, which is also very popular nowadays. With the singer's excellent mood, moving melody and the combination of theme and story, it fully sublimates the theme of the film. What's more amazing is that the female voice of this song is actually sung by a boy. (I always thought the singer was a girl in that year)

In fact, there are many different types of music that can be studied and shared, but the space is limited, so I chose these special representative ones to present their characteristics, but I also learned a lot in them, not only how to integrate national musical instruments with other musical instruments, such as to express them and write music that is more suitable for the theme style of movies and games, but more importantly, how to express them Let me know the importance of integrating new things, maybe a little creative change can change the whole music.

Sources：

Nguyễn Đạt(2020),《国家宝藏 第一季 DISC 1 OST》,{online video} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ7oyrUp4qY&list=PLGGVBVwTwe4x-7x16tNGZHRmRNZWwg2Sw&index=8

搬运工bilibili(2019), 【国家宝藏】 最震撼人心的《水龙吟》没有之一！！！！,{online video}https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yDW6s0pUD8

李常超-Lao乾媽(2020), 【李常超】姜维·不归,{online video} https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1a5411G7hE

Yeah_Shirley(2020), 【姜维·不归】的编曲工程解析,{online video} https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1eX4y1T7Ux

BELLA PING MUSIC CHANNEL(2016), 【HD】周深 - 大魚 [歌詞字幕][動畫電影《大魚海棠》印象曲][完整高清音質] Big Fish & Begonia Theme Song (Zhou Shen - Big Fish),{online video}https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aMdBA00Ijc

[zitongcheng]

A study of Asian Film Music (Japan Area)

Maybe a lot of people have questions about the title, right? Why do you want to do such research? My answer may be yes or no. It is precisely because I am a Chinese, and I may have this type of demand when I return to work in the future. Secondly, in the past, most of my music learning was based on classical music (whether university education or piano learning), so in fact, I am familiar with and unfamiliar with these music. (secondly, most of this research focuses on East Asian Film and television music. For example, Indian music has little contact with China.)

When it comes to Asian music, it's mainly pop music. Even in film and television soundtracks, there are many popular tracks. I think this may be because people in Asia prefer the melody of music. The most famous one is Japanese music, and there are many very good Chinese styles, which are actually from the hands of Japanese composers, so I first searched for Japanese film and television music and animation music. When it comes to film and television music, the first is the theme song by Naoki Banze

This theme song is actually very distinctive. I always wanted to study it when I watched this film and TV play. This time is just an opportunity. Finally, I found an analysis about it on the Internet https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1k54y117uL

This is a music analysis made by a senior producer of film and television music. It analyzes in detail how music connects with the plot, when to use what kind of harmony, and how to allocate paragraphs.

Next is the Japanese animation music. As we all know, the Japanese animation industry is an important part of Japan, in which countless classic film and television music were born, and all this originated from several key figures in Japan, including Yoshihiro HISHI.

Joe Hisaishi, in the present may also be extremely famous, and he Sky city and chinchilla, as well as summer in movies and TV plays, can be said to be my childhood memories. three

In which we can find a feature, that is, no matter in the orchestration and harmony, hishirang did not do anything special, and in which the biggest flash is his beautiful melody. This also makes me feel very stressed, especially after listening to so many masters' melodies, I feel that the music I write can only be explained by being unappealing.

Let's change to osano Hiroyuki, who is known as little Hans zammer. In China, we also have many gods who are called great gods. The key lies in the style he is good at. His works are basically based on the sense of epic and eschatology, and he is found in many animation and TV plays. The giant of attack, the crown of evil and the Dragon doctor are all his masterpieces.

As for his works, I also like them very much, and I have written an assignment imitating his works written by Long Yi, but I always feel that there is no essence, so I also launched an investigation.

This video is a good explanation for Hiroshi osano's secret. There are two main points. One is that his orchestration uses broken and firm strings and magnificent brass. The other is that his personal control of climax ability is enough to achieve the effect of explosion.

In fact, there are still many works worthy of study, such as Mr. mizumi's lemon, which are very good works. However, most of them are based on their own perception, and most of the technical things are only auxiliary, so it is difficult to summarize the rules.

This time, it seems that what we have analyzed are all Japanese articles. Next, let's analyze and study Chinese style music.

Sources:

2001TOS.Channel(2013), Hanzawa Naoki Main Theme (TV Size) "Theme of Hanzawa Naoki",{online video} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDizIS7Hm6k

Rax_Xu(2020), 半泽直树主题曲涉嫌“剧透”？bgm多重细节揭露！,{online video} https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1k54y117uL

Vitaly Kogan(2012), Joe Hisaishi - Summer (High Quality),{online video} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7or0noYfMA

澤野弘之 / SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] (2020), Hiroyuki Sawano / Project【emU】 “Attack on Titan” suite{online video} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6Fl1Xl1ogg

balike79(2012), 醫龍插曲 - Aesthetic（附中文字幕）,{online video} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59i5CsV7Rfs

[zitongcheng]

Music in narrative films

Well, since I did a lot of sharing work last time (in fact, it really helped me a lot, and I want to share it with you), so this time let's do some research on Book types

This time, I started my work on film music, because I am about to start the next round of film music assignment, so I plan to make some preparation for my study. I feel that if I want to learn movie music, I have to start from movies, so I first looked up the words about the movie music guide. In the process of browsing, I found a book called Franz Waxman's Rebecca: A Film Score Guide . By David Neumeyer and Nathan Platte  is often mentioned, but I can't find the content to read directly from the Internet, so I found a reflection after reading to understand the content: Book Reviews: Outside the "Western Art Music" Canon - "Film Music: A History," by James Wierzbickithe author analyzes that this book is not so much the history of music as history The author of the book does not take a typical way to pay attention to the regional characteristic films or guide the readers to analyze and enlarge the total score of films. Instead, he focuses more on the history seen through music reviews and the changing practice of music creation in the American film industry. Then the author listed some examples in the book, let me understand the inheritance of film music to a certain extent

Scholarly Journals link: https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/docview/753562531?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=14660

Then I went to the Internet to find some basic videos about the process of film music creation and demonstration

So after understanding these, I decided to go deeper to understand the differences between different styles of films.

Horror music. I have always been curious about whether the music of horror movies is mainly music or sound effects. Then I found this book: Music in the Horror Film: Listening to Fear . Edited by Neal Lerner.

After understanding these, I began to look for how to find the most suitable music theme to match a movie, and then I found this video

As film music, we must first determine the style, and then decide who is the perspective to tell the story, and the same music changes levels with the changing mood of the characters. Finally, we should not always use music to fill the gaps, because they are very powerful.

Then I found another video：

Among them, he listed several useful functions of music in the film: enhancing the sense of reality and immersing the audience in it. Change style and scene. Convey the feelings and thoughts of the characters. The same melody can also make different style (orchestration) changes in the plot.

These surveys enable me to have a certain understanding and a certain plan for film music once again. In the next new task of film soundtrack, I believe I can do better.

Sources:

Colin Roust(2010), Book Reviews: Outside the "Western Art Music" Canon - "Film Music: A History," by James Wierzbicki,{Scholarly Journals}  https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/docview/753562531?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=14660

Rick Beato (2017), Film Scoring: What The Pros Know | Getting Started,{online video} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J8KrZjs6uk

Now You See It(2015), How Film Scores Play with Our Brains,{online video} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCpYbSz1KqE

Cinecom.net(2017), How to find the right music for your film | Cinecom.net,{online video} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P79iVpkaEw

Music in the Horror Film Listening to Fear Edited By Neil Lerner collection of essays books

[zitongcheng]

Soundtrack in Interactive Games 2

Today, we continue to talk about music in interactive games. Last time, we shared a whole article about the choice of game music and the writing of the theme. This time, we will share our experience from a game producer and music producer.

First of all, he was asked why he needed to do the soundtrack as a game producer. Well, I can only say that part of the reason is his interests and hobbies, but he himself said that he didn't think that he could achieve the desired effect by giving music to others. Although I don't quite agree with him as a music student, I have to admit that he has more experience than me at present.

First of all, he pointed out the first element of game music: there must be enough music. In particular, many games have many levels. It's hard to imagine how tired the audience will be if they only have three pieces of music but are responsible for 50 levels. Every time the third music is repeated again and again, the players will start to get tired of the game. This point of view reminds me very well, especially when I was doing the soundtrack of a game video similar to a promotional film, it was very difficult to design a lot of level and environment music from one video. As a result, I always thought that game music was much simpler than movie music, but I didn't know that it just had a layer of game coat, and the essence was video music.

Then he put forward a solution. First, each scene must have some independent music (which means a sharp increase in workload). Second, each boss must have different music at different stages. Finally, special boss also needs special music alone, and not only these can be included, but also some may have to be screened and eliminated, and the final choice is investment Music used. It sounds terrible, doesn't it? Of course, if you really work hard and have enough time, you can make every capital perfect. But the producer goes on to point out that there are still a lot of lazy techniques.

First, he asked a question? What kind of music are you good at. As a student of music score and composition, I should be good at all kinds of styles, but I have to say that I may still prefer the ancient Chinese style and Riman style. It's also a good thing to understand, because everyone has a favorite music style. But in game music, you can't do that. Whether you are good at the music or not, you have to make it conform to the theme. I also think there is no doubt about it. Then he listed the games he played for example. To sum up, you have to first determine what kind of game he is, light or hot-blooded? Do you want to be more emotional or more dynamic? It's better to find out the works of the same type for reference.

Among them, the author lists his music demos for the game, some of which are in line with the scene but not pleasant to listen to, the melody is good but not in line with the style, as well as other games are too serious and lack of atmosphere. Finally, when he decided on a theme, he began to develop it. When the game world has day and night, it is necessary to distinguish them. Making two completely different music will not only increase the time cost, but also make the music lose its "feelings" (the repeated melody also plays an important role in the audience's memory). The key lies in the instrument configuration and speed coverage. There are many more techniques like this For example, the theme before and after the anti string.Make the level music happy enough, but the world music is calm.

But if it's just like this, it will make the audience lose the sense of hearing. After this time, we can go back to the question just now. What style are you good at? Although it won't match the scene (as close as possible) in principle, it's really the best music you're good at. And such a small amount of music will not only make the players feel disobedient, but also give the audience a strong sense of freshness, and these music is often the real need to polish the place in this work.

And then, you need to add a certain amount of bad music to the game. Although it sounds like a paradox, it is useful. After you insert the bad music properly, it will make the ordinary music better, especially the music like game music, which needs long-time operation cycle, and it is easy to produce hearing fatigue.

Of course, there will be a lot of music that is clearly in line with the style will be abandoned. They may only be because the scene doesn't match, or the main melody is good but doesn't match the game. He said that this is also a normal phenomenon, but at this time, we should quickly decide to give up and reduce the time cost.

Finally, he pointed out that a good game project should be developed by the music department and the game department at the same time, which can not only save time and cost, but also make music serve the game better. In this video, I've learned so much that I'd like to share it with you (maybe you're a senior game musician and know all about it) but it's really a new perspective for me to treat this industry and understand its system. I hope I can participate in such a team in the future to really make a game of music

Note: most of the opinions in this article are from the original video author, I just share and add my own opinions.

China video website:https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV12t411y71N?t=1111枫2/为整个游戏配乐的技巧与心得，不是教你乐理，是给游戏策划们的(For the whole game music skills and experience, not to teach you music theory, is for game planners)

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Soundtrack in Interactive Games 1

This time, let's talk about some music in interactive games. Although I have just finished a soundtrack assignment for movie music recently, in fact, I encountered many obstacles in the production process, so I still feel that I need further in-depth learning to analyze how to better score in different types of games.

 I've looked up several weekly papers, and this one I'm most interested in. Because my first assignment is a gun fight CG, most of the music and sound effects are designed around weapons and explosions, and I just lack of research on other music.

The author first describes Mario. Although we all know that the original Mario game didn't have much flying action, it has a unique underwater music. Surprisingly, the author uses waltz music to try to describe weightlessness. And as a result, the past 50 years of floating music (whether in water or space) have used Waltz soundtracks.

 Then in the following paragraphs, the author describes the theme and the importance of trope to music. He lists two people. The first one is DN. He thinks that music theme is an aspect, and to a large extent, it has not changed for classical music. The other person is Ba, although he is involved in musical interaction rather than film. He thinks that the theme should be static in expression and the expressive force of narration should be dynamic.

 In the following, the author uses these two points to analyze a large number of examples: Arkham series of games; transitioning between various styles of gameplay results in a corresponding shift in topics. Wesley Bradford (2018) examines the music from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017) through the lens of topic theory, finding musical depictions of either modernist or pastoral characteristics and relating them to notions of past and present. Marina Gallagher (2018) takes a similar topical approach in her analysis of the music in Final Fantasy XII and XV, discussing anti-pastoral music as a depiction of some of the mechanical and otherwise unnatural settings located in both games. Tim Summers (2012) uses topics to describe immersion in video games, specifically first-person shooters such as Wolfenstein 3D (1992), which makes prominent use of military topics to fully engage players with the WWII-themed game that requires players infiltrate Nazi Germany strongholds.

  Summers discussed the relationship between video game music and Hollywood music. Although many aspects are similar, he said: “Music in video games must strike a careful balance between playing an active part in supporting and articulating the aspects of the medium that are special to video games, and at the same time, conforming to players’ media music expectations to be compatible with ingrained modes of understanding music for the moving image” (2016, 157–58).

  Finally, the author proposes that Players are constantly making choices while experiencing the narrative of video games, and musical tropes can guide a player’s actions, whether consciously or subconsciously, toward certain outcomes in the story. Film music tropes, on the other hand, can provide a rich subtext to the film (as in the Entrapment example discussed earlier), but viewers remain passive participants, unable to act. In both Skyward Sword and Final Fantasy IV, while players receive in-game, text-based clues about their eventual descent beneath their current position, the soaring trope reinforces the idea as players eventually fly to the surface and underworld respectively. Tropes in video game music not only add richness to these narratives, but also foreshadow future events, hinting at what comes next and influencing a player’s decisions during the game.The added complexity of interactivity in video games differentiates the genre from other media and heightens the usefulness of tropes as a narrative device.

Although a lot of things in this are based on the theory of result, I can learn a lot for a beginner. He gave me a thought before doing things, how can I write music to match the interaction of players? How can I write a soundtrack to predict the possibility of the player's future? This can give me a lot of ideas.

Sources:NintendoCentral(2019)Evolution of Underwater Levels in 2D Super Mario Games (1985-2019)  [online video],accessible by:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvRNuwneUNk

ATKINSON, S.E., 2019. Soaring Through the Sky: Topics and Tropes in Video Game Music. Music Theory Online, 25(2),.[Journal Article],accessible by:https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/docview/2283207071?accountid=14660&pq-origsite=summon

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Combination tone

I'm sorry that it took me so long to remember to write a blog. Ha ha, one reason is that I was busy revising my final homework before, and then I took advantage of the holiday to have a good rest for a few days Of course, I'm not always resting. I've learned a lot of interesting things to share with you. So, I don't want to talk nonsense. Let's start.

This time, I would like to discuss with you a very interesting phenomenon in a human ear receiving music. It is called CT（Combination tone）, which refers to the unstructured linear response of the internal mechanical structure of the human ear. Yes, when receiving two or more frequencies of sound, you will hear multiple frequencies in addition to the received frequency (excerpt from https://b23.tv/p27s9p ）They owe their discovery to violinist Giuseppe Tartini (although he's not the first, see George Andreas George), so it's also called Tartini timbre. 

(excerpt from Wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combination_tone)

In short, when we listen to two parts, our ears usually hear more than two parts. However, because the sound sense of CT is relatively weak, and it will be mixed with overtones, in many cases we will mistakenly think that it is the problem of timbre and chord sense. So when we listen to two pure tones (i.e. no overtones), CT can be more easily recognized, and the interesting thing is that although our ears can hear CT, it can't be accepted by any microphone (i.e. after recording, we can't directly see the low frequency on EQ and other plug-ins)

The following video is also a good introduction to the application of CT and avant-garde composers

In English

Introduction of different versions in Chinese：https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1ra4y1s76t?p=1&share_medium=android&share_plat=android&share_source=COPY&share_tag=s_i×tamp=1609019104&unique_k=p27s9p

However, many people think that it is unnecessary to study it since it is hard to hear. In fact, it is not without influence. In particular, many composers and conductors are easy to misjudge in the larger orchestral music (pointing out that someone played the wrong part but actually did not). Secondly, many violinists also use this method, because the pitch difference between the two strings is pure quintuple That is, the frequency ratio is 2:3, so according to the calculation formula of the two CT, we can get F1-F2 = 2f2-f1, that is, when the two CT coincide, the sound is pure fifth. For other formula data, please refer to:https://aapt-scitation-org.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/doi/10.1119/1.5098921

In addition, some CT can be made and listened with the current equipment, especially under the distortion effect, many sound effects can be detected by the equipment (low frequency can be observed after being magnified by dozens of times). Many people have started to use it, such as making electronic music, adding a large distortion with a synthesizer square wave, and then making a second degree superposition in the bass. The sound is very fierce and brutal beat frequency.

In conclusion, CT is not only an auditory hallucination, but also an acoustic effect that can be detected. In terms of practicality, it can not only be used to adjust the intonation and explain the false listening, but also be used to produce new effects on the synthesizer. It's really something worth exploring.This also tells me that music is not only music, or not only the sound combination of musical instruments, but also the sound itself. We still have many ways to explore the sound itself. And there are infinite possibilities

Sources:

Adam Neely(2017), Combination Tones,{online video}  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73_CiAYX00k

Combination tone From Wikipedia, https://aapt-scitation-org.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/doi/10.1119/1.5098921

China video website：【不实用】人耳的频率响应非线性效应：Combinational Tone，巴别隅https://b23.tv/p27s9p OR https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1ra4y1s76t?p=1&share_medium=android&share_plat=android&share_source=COPY&share_tag=s_i×tamp=1609019104&unique_k=p27s9p

https://aapt-scitation-org.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/doi/10.1119/1.5098921

Another Look at Combination Tonesby Harder-Viddal, Candice，  

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Deep learning of sound design(should be)

Maybe you will ask, why is this topic again? Was it not this topic last time? Well, I can only say you're right. The reason is that I am still studying this project and have summed up some of my own experience (I also want to show you something else, but I am a little busy now..)

Last time, we said that most of the sound effects in movies and TV programs are post production. This extends to our first question, why are most of the sound effects in movies and TV programs recorded or synthesized? I think there are at least three reasons (welcome to add). First of all, many films and TV works are not suitable for early recording due to environmental reasons, especially outdoors, there will be a lot of noise. Secondly, the sound effect of many movements is not very full in the actual effect, and does not have a "sense of power". At this time, it is more necessary to create or synthesize a new sound to match the picture, so that it sounds like that. Thirdly, there are many sounds in science fiction or special effects that can't be recorded. First, it may not exist in reality. Second, it may damage the microphone if the sound source is too loud. It can be said that it is these practical difficulties that have created the profession of sound engineer.

Well, having said so much about my ideas, it's time to talk about other people's things.

First of all，the following video is a good explanation of the previous point of view, which shows by the way what "Foley" is:

And some of the daily routines of their studio (if you're interested),it will show you how to foley the animals:

And then, I would like to share a misunderstanding of my previous cognition. I always thought that except for some sci-fi sounds, all other sounds were "adjusted" by one voice, but the following video overturned my cognition:

Now that you've seen this "most basic fist," can you imagine how complicated other different sounds might be? Sometimes it may sound like a very ordinary sound needs a lot of synthesis, so this also increases the requirements of the sound engineer's work.

But this also leads to another problem, that is, if a sound is synthesized by many sounds, how to make this sound without knowing the synthesis conditions? In fact, the problem is very simple, that is - follow your ears. No one can tell you that the sound of this thing must be like this, especially when it is made by others. What you can do is to train your ears, and then make all kinds of strange attempts to create your own sounds. At the same time, the good news is that if you make it, you don't have to look for it again.

Sources:Earth Touch(2012)Holey Foley | Sound Design at Earth Touch  [online video],accessible by:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li6TSwybqjU

Earth Touch(2012)Crazy sound engineer explains: How to foley animals [online video],accessible by:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw7grznzAWc

Corridor Crew(2015)Sweet Sound Design Tricks! [online video],accessible by:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0_7UOIelVU

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Initial learning of sound effect design

Hi, readers, I'm back - let's start exploring music formally this time

This time, we are going to talk about the design of sound effects. This is my first class in school. At first, I thought that sound designers should be totally different from music, even though they are all for "sound". Because in my impression, sound design is just like designing sound to match the environment and action, which means it doesn't use musical instruments, and in most cases there is no timbre or pitch. Although sometimes can make very cool things, but also from my impression of composers are very different.

But when I really came into contact with this course, I found that my idea was too one-sided. Sound design is not only so simple as recording and playing. In terms of music, it is possible to create completely different timbres with various devices to meet the lack of timbre of different composers (especially synthesizers). Technically, he also mixed a lot of computer music and recording studio technology. Whether EQ or reverseb, or early recording to later mixing, they all test the technology and ears of sound engineers. So it can be said that he is a composer in another sense.

Immediately, I went to the Internet and began to search for various information. Because I'm really surprised why they have so many resources to record sounds for them (especially monsters and special effects), and how they do it? Until I saw this video

Emmy nominated Foley Artist Caoimhe Doyle demonstrates movie sound effects(2013)accessed via youtube

（Caoimhe Doyle of Ardmore Studios who has also worked on Game Of Thrones shows Newstalk's award winning science show Futureproof how to make sound effects for movies）Same source as above.

Yes, looking at her various demonstrations in the video, I found that maybe many of the voices are not their sounds in the real world, but we think that they should be made in this way by combining our own film and television pictures. What's more, we are more surprised at the video frequency behind.

The Beautiful Lies of Sound Design

This video completely smashed my world view, and I found that many voices can be made by simply using things around me. "More than 90% of them are fake." but it is a reasonable and gentle lie.

I used to think that the so-called sound effect should be the closer to the reality, the better the recording, so I have been using my lack of suitable conditions as an excuse not to make sound effects, but to download them directly.Now I really realize that there are a lot of sounds that we can't touch at all. They are all made of ingredients.If I want to learn or become a sound design business in the future, I have to learn from now on.

The above are my thoughts and demonstrations of music design, as well as for those who do not know about sound design. In the next blog, I will show more of my own research on sound design. Please look forward to it.

Sources:

NEWSTALK(2013)  Emmy nominated Foley Artist Caoimhe Doyle demonstrates movie sound effects [online video] accessible by https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrbgY6ajTgo

TEDX TALKS (2016) The Beautiful Lies of Sound Design | Tasos Fratzolas | TEDxAthens [online video] accessible by https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDy5j0c6TrU

[zitongcheng]

Blog Introduction

Hi readers,I'm Zitong Cheng, I come from China and I'm a student learning in Music and Sound for Film and Games course at the University of Hertfordshire. To be honest, I'm surprised if you can read this blog. this blog may give you much less knowledge than the Internet, but perhaps, if you are a musician, I can give you a different perspective on music as a foreigner. If you are not a musician, you can read it as a story.......

Well, let me see. Where should we start?

Emmmm , how about me? I think it's much more interesting to talk about a child learning music in China than to introduce this blog. By the way, it can also help me clarify why I am here and what I need.

Once upon a time there was a child, We could call him Z.Like many other children learning music, he was chosen the piano by his family.But in fact, he didn't hate such a choice. On the contrary, it was his first time to establish a connection with music, and he was very happy.

But with more and more practice, he gradually lost the joy.“You have to try to analyze the composer's thoughts at the time, not your own feelings, to play the piano”“If you want to be a Master Pianist, you also have to practice at least eight hours a day”Such a voice has always been around the little boy, but he does not want to give up, after all, insisted on such a long time.

But one day, he realized that many of his excellent piano teachers were also running for a little money. He was confused. If he really persisted for such a long time, even the minimum work and reward could not be directly proportional.

So he changed his major and chose composition. He felt that, at least in the field of composition, he could speak his music freely, even though he was still confused about his future.He also wanted to leave his own music at this time,But he couldn't find a way.

Until one day of the fourth year of college.I came to America as an exchange student. My tutor suggested that I choose film score major,I didn't feel much at that time, because I wanted to learn composition skills more.But I found that I was wrong. With the deepening of my study, I found two masters-john williams and Hans Zimmer. I found that the soundtrack of almost all my favorite movies was their work.Whether it's John Williams, who pays attention to traditional composing techniques, Harry Potter and Raiders, or Hans Zimmer, who likes to create bass synthesizers, Batman, dark knight and inception.Z finally found a way,A way to write your own music and leave it in the world, but also to make money, taking both dreams and reality into consideration.

It seems to have said a lot of digressions, but these are actually my luck. Because if there is any deviation, I can't study and write this blog in this place today.

After all, who knows about tomorrow?

Look forward to it. Hahaha.