Soundtrack Production for the Moving Image

Different Kinds of Moving Image

Film

Film production is often on a much larger scale to that of other forms of moving image media such as animation or television. This is because movies will often have a much larger budget than that of tv shows due to the difference in average profit that they produce for their respective production companies, allowing them to spend more. Often movies have a longer time frame to complete production than other forms of media as well, due to the strict release schedule of many TV broadcasters; however this is entirely dependent on the movie company and its willingness to postpone release.

Classic film franchises such as Jurassic Park, James Bond, Star Wars, and Harry Potter use soundtracks heavily within their films in order to manipulate the feel/mood of the movie and the investment of the audience within the story. For example the well known 'Hedwigs Theme' from Harry Potter (composed by John Williams) was intended, and succeeded, to instill a deep sense of mystery and tension towards the mysterious world of magic and adventure that lay waiting within the film. In contrast to that 'The James Bond Theme' (composed by Monty Norman) is used to make the audience feel excited about the action centric film, and to create a sense of awe and coolness around the titular character. This is  complimented well by the classic James Bond intro scene where the silhouetted Bond struts onto stage and shoots down the POV assassin aiming at him. To truly understand the importance of soundtracks to these films, imagine if these two films swiched themes. Both would sound ridiculous in the others place because they simply do not fit the genre and mood of the films.

However in modern film, a very different approach has been adopted where by the soundtrack to a film should be subtle enough to not be strongly noticeable but still be able to convey the intended mood of the present scene. One of the most prominent examples of this style of sound track production is the Marvel Movies franchise, which has no commonly recognisable soundtrack or theme music. Another feature of modern film making is using placement music. This is the technique of using the sound track of another film within your film whilst it is still under production and then replacing it before final release. However film makers often want their sound track to sound close to the placement music in order to maintain the current feel of the film and so commission composers to create music that is very similar. This causes many films of the same genre to have unbelievably similar soundtracks.
This video demonstrated some practical examples of the kind of production I am describing.

Television
Soundtrack production for television is similar to that of film, except that tv budgets are often less than that of major motion pictures. Because of this, TV shows will often use licensed music instead of creating an original soundtrack. These can be found easily online. However TV with a large budget such as Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad will still commission some original pieces, and most shows will commission an original theme. These will play at least once per episode and will become an integral part of the show which the audience will immediately begin to associate with the show. Because of this the themes must fit the genre and mood and setting of the show.

For example, Game of Thrones has a very intense theme which builds over time. This represents the dramatic themes of political intrige and adventure that are essential to the show. The theme is also an orchestral piece and as such is quite classical. This fits the medieval epic fantasy world in which the show is set.

In contrast, the cop comedy show Brooklyn 99 has a much more funky fast paced theme. This upbeat style fits the light hearted comedic core of the show,  and is supported by the simple, bold and colourful title sequence. The theme, while modern in tone, doesn't stray too far from the classic examples of shows of the same genre. This could be a comedic choice to fit the consistent theme throughout the show of being a parody of the aforementioned genre.

Web
Internet based media and entertainment has blown up significantly in the last 10+ years, and in some aspects have wildly outmatched and overtaken many 'traditional' forms of media. While soundtracks are used in some more high budget shows and podcasts (which rely totally on audio to maintain an audience), internet content creators will often use royalty free music/sound effects for intros or background music. However, due to the unique relationship between fans and creators on the internet, many creators use specific music or sound effects much more frequently than others simply because their fans begin to associate them with it. One very popular choice for internet creators is music by Kevin Mcleod; as he has a wide range of royalty free music available for use at any time. As a result of this his music can be seen in the content of many different creators across many internet platforms.

Hand Held
Hand held devices are not often used to create the kind of media that requires a soundtrack. Usually they are used casually for personal messaging, social media, and on the spot video/audio capture. Because of this, a majority of sound used is diegetic. The audio of hand held media is usually of a lower quality than that of other forms, again due to the casual nature of the format; super high audio quality is not required.

Animation
Animation has many similar features to that of film and television, as it is not a media format as such, but a style that can be used in a multitude of different ways. Because animation does not uses voice actors as opposed to screen actors, the visual portrayal of the characters in a project are limited to the animators skill as opposed to that of the performers. Because of this, soundtracks and voice audio can play a very large role in the success of an animated feature, but they can often end up unintentionally competing for viewer attention. One animation studio that consistently created incredible animated films with emotive voice acting and spectacular soundtracks was the Japanese animation studio, Studio Ghibli. Ghibli was renowned for creating enchanting music that matched whatever world was being portrayed in the film, whilst also using talent voice actors to create characters that the audience would become emotionally attached too. Moreover, when their films made their way to the west the voice dubs were created in an equally meticulous fashion in order to maintain the magic of the originals.

Another famous studio is the Cartoon Network. This is perhaps more familiar to most people, as are it's property's. Cartoon network is known for its use of eccentric story telling and characters to create wacky amusing shows for children and young teens. Often sound effects will be used to emphasise certain moments or interactions between characters, this style of soundtrack usage has become very common in popular western animation.

Composition

Form
Form is how each part of a chord progression is laid out. One form layout is AABA, with A slightly varying in certain points. This allows for repetition in order to create a structured song with a recognisable pattern but also stop the song from becoming too boring. Each section is usually around 4 bars long.

Structure
This is the layout of the different sections of a song. For example:
Verse Chorus Verse Bridge Chorus
Each part of the song has its own chord progression, by combining these sections a song is created that has a regular and coherent format but prevents it from becoming stale by repeating the same parts consistently.
A chorus is usually quite repetitive and catchy in order to create a hook for the listener to remember.
A bridge is usually 8 bars long, this helps to breakup the song a create some variety.
The structure I have use is Verse Chorus Verse Chorus Bridge Verse Chorus Verse.

Genre
Genre is the style of music that a song falls under. These include but are not limited to, Classical, Rock, Pop, Country. My song falls under the pop category, but it has some latin/mariachi influences which gives a very jolly mood to the piece.

Statement
A statement is the 'motif' of song that reoccurs throughout the piece to create a specific feel or mood. I have used this in my piece throughout. It is at the start of the verse and is intended to create an uplifting sense of fun.

Repetition
This is often used to make the song catchy and memorable to the listener. It is also used in order to make the more varied parts of the song stand out. I use lots of repetition throughout my piece and believe it makes my bridge and ending stand out especially.

Inversion
This is used to make chords sound different in order to give variety or achieve a desired feel while giving the same note. This can be done by playing the notes of a chord at different positions on an instrument. I have done this in my main ukulele chord pattern where I use different positionings of the D chord in my verse and chorus in order to create a sense of variation in the song.

Difference
This is used to prevent the song from becoming boring via continual repetition. This can be done by inserting unique sections within the song that do not repeat. I have done this by creating a bridge, and by altering the end verse to allow for a smooth, interesting finish.

Individuality
This is the unique take on a genre or piece of music. I have done this by not only using a ukulele as my main instrument, I have also made a trumpet as a my main melody line in order to purvey the latin influence of the song.

Originality
All of the chord progressions and melody I used were created by me. I spent time finding chord patterns that worked together and picked out a suitable melody line for the trumpet from that.

Composers Rights
A song writer has all the writes to their piece of music and any anyone wishing to use it for commercial/monotised means must first seek the permission of the person who has the intellectual property rights. The owner can sign over the rights to another individual or an organisation. Any profits made from a third party via the song must have a portion that goes to the composer. Composers can also claim compensation if a song plagiarises prominent part of their composition.


Sampling

Sampling Techniques
Sampling is the process by which sections of songs, or audio clips of miscellaneous origin, are cut up, edited, and used within another compositional piece. This is very prominent in modern music and many artists make their songs exclusively via sampling. On cubase, samples can be heavily altered via processes which add different effects to the clips.
I used processes at the start of my song which I downloaded from the internet, one was of a busy street which I used to create an active atmosphere to the song which I felt added to jolly/party like feel of the song. I also used a sample of a group of people cheering in order to further emphasise the desired mood of my composition. I used the fade out process on both of the samples in order to create a smooth transition into the song.

Waveform Structure
A waveform structure is the form of a sound wave in a physical representation.

Sine waves are very common and are very sonically smooth.
Sawtooth waves drop suddenly and give very strong buzzing sound.
Square waves also give a buzzing sound but are more open.

Waveform Editing
Waveforms can be edited in order to changed the core sonic format of a sound, One program that can be used for this function in Seylenth. This can be used to change frequency as well as wave size and other factors which can heavily change the way audio sounds.

https://soundcloud.com/user-401119215/composition-final

Unit 49-Setting Up a Live Performance and Recording Equipment

Setting up sound technology is an essential part of almost all of the music industry, and so in this assignment we were tasked with setting up the equipment as though we were preparing for a live event.

1. The first step was to remove all of the lids and cases from the mixing desk and power supply as this allowed us to access the equipment for the process to continue.
2. We then made sure that the lids were kept safely in view but out of the way as to not cause tripping hazards for the sound technicians.
3. After this we positioned the mixing desk and power supply to the side of the stage as to make sure we kept it out of the way of the performance and out of the audiences view. This also allowed us to have an unoccupied space to use. We made sure to keep the desk on the power supply at all times as to not use up unnecessary space. We also locked the wheels on the desk and supply stack as the not cause a potential risk where the stack could move off the stage or fall and hurt someone.
4. The next step was to move the base speakers left and right in order to create a full and even sound in the venue. They are also much larger and are used as the bases for the speaker stacks.
5. We then added the pillars for the main speakers to be placed on top, making sure that they we screwed in and tightened them fully to avoid the risk of the speakers falling down, potentially damaging them or hurting people around them.
6. We then added the main speakers to the setup.
7. After this we connected the speakon wires to the amp. These are essentially mix XLR cables but they are powered which allows them to power the amps.
8. We then positioned the wires around the outside of the stage and taped them tightly to the floor as to prevent any tripping hazards that could be caused by loose wires.
9. After this we proceeded to connect the mixing desk to the amp via the jack leads, ensuring that everything was balanced.
10. Once all of this was completed we plugged the power supply into the mains and turned it on.
11. We also made sure to flat line the desk to prevent any unpleasant noises that may arise. 
12. Then we plugged in an XLR cable and connected a mic.
13. We then turned on the mixing desk and did a desk check.
14. After this we turned on the power supply to the speakers and tested the levels, changing the EQ of the frequencies accordingly.
15. Then finally we tested out and added some different effects that were available on the mixing desk.

Hazard	Danger	Precautions
Live wires	Damaged/exposed wires can be dangerous electrical hazards that can cause injuries and even death via electrocution.	Avoid using any damaged wires at any time. If unavoidable ensure that the exposed/damaged section of the wire is thoroughly wrapped in electrical tape.
Liquids and electricity	Liquids when spilled on electrical equipment can not only damage the equipment but also potentially cause injury.	Avoid having any liquids or drinks near the equipment at any time.
Heavy equipment	If lifted in an improper fashion, heavy equipment can cause injury. If heavy equipment is dropped it can cause injury to those around it.	Always lift in the correct stance with your knees so that a majority of the pressure is kept away from your back. Also make sure to always lift with at least one other person.
Tripping	Lids and loose wires can be dangerous tripping hazards. This can cause injury.	Make sure to keep wires tightly taped to the floor, and to keep lids together and out of the way of the peoples feet.
Noise	When noise levels are too high the hearing of the people in the vicinity could be damaged.	Ensure that noise levels are never at or over 120dB.  If possible, try to ensure that the noise doesn’t get to that point as prolonged exposure to those volumes can cause permanent damage.

Risk Assessment

There are also many laws relating to noise control.

Noise nuisance and neighboursJump to table of contentsNight hours
Resolving problems with noise
Mediation

• Mediation Northern Ireland

Complaining about noise to the council

• issue a warning

• issue a fixed penalty notice

• seize noisemaking equipment

• damaging to health

• causing a statutory nuisance

Statutory nuisance
Noise abatement

• the noise must stop

• the noise is limited to certain hours

Noise and planning applications
Objecting to a planning application

• The planning system and development management

Commercial noise
Noise from loudspeakers

• advertising

• entertainment

• trade

• business

Complaints about dogs barking

• Local councils in Northern Ireland

• Buying a dog and responsible dog ownership

Legal action about noise

• you don’t complain to the district council about noise

• the district council doesn’t do anything about your complaint

If everyone liked the same sounds, noise would not be a problem. What's music to your ears, your neighbour might dislike. Entertainment venues and neighbours can cause a noise nuisance. Your local council can help resolve noise problems.

Night hours are 11.00 pm until 7.00 am. To reduce noise nuisance from houses and premises, the law defines a maximum amount of noise which is acceptable during night hours.

When noise exceeds the permitted level, the district council can investigate and take action against the neighbour or other noise source.

If possible, talk to the person causing the noise. People often reduce the noise once they realise it's causing annoyance

You can use mediation to resolve the matter. In mediation an independent, third party listens to your views and your neighbour’s to help you reach an agreement.

It is important to try and resolve matters informally. This demonstrates to a court you have acted reasonably if later you need to take legal action.

If informal attempts don’t work, you can complain about noise to your local council.

Under the Noise Act, when a council investigates a noise complaint about a neighbour, entertainment venue, pub, club or restaurant during night hours, they can:

The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act gives district councils authority to deal with noise from land and premises, which they consider:

A statutory nuisance is more than an annoyance or irritation.It is a disturbance that interferes significantly with your right to enjoy your home.

If you complain about noise to the council, an environmental health officer can investigate. They can assess the noise level.

If a noise nuisance exists, the council can serve an Abatement Notice on the person making the noise or the owner or occupier of the premises.

The notice requires either of the following:

Using the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act, district councils can designate all or part of a district an alarm notification area. This applies to security alarms in occupied and empty residential and commercial premises.

The owner or occupier must have a nominated keyholder and give the keyholder’s contact details to the district council.

To check if you live in an alarm notification area, contact your council.

Most buildings or developments need planning permission. Noise can be treated as a significant factor by planners making a planning decision.

When planners assess a planning application where noise is identified as a significant factor, the developer applying for planning permission might need to submit a noise report to the planners.

The report assesses potential noise impacts on health and well being and recommends how to lessen or remove noise impacts.

Sometimes a building or development, such as proposed renewable energy facilities, waste plants, quarries and transport networks, may require environmental impact assessment.

The developer must submit an environmental statement to planners. The statement should deal with identified noise issues.

Anyone can submit a written comment on any aspect of a planning application, as a supporter or objector. For people concerned about noise issues linked to a planning application, they can comment on the noise report or environmental statement.

Planners can grant planning permission with or without conditions for a building or development.  Conditional planning permission can include compulsory measures to lessen potential excessive noise impacts.

If a developer does not apply the measures, planners can take enforcement action.

To run music events, a pub  or club must hold an entertainment licence. If you’re disturbed by loud music or patrons at pubs and clubs, you can report this to the district council.

If the council issues a warning about noise which the venue ignores, the council can take action against a venue for breaking their entertainment licence.

The council can impose a fine, prosecute the venue or withdraw the venue’s entertainment licence.

Police, ambulance and fire brigade can use loudspeakers at any time, day or night. For other organisations, there are restrictions.

It is illegal to use loudspeakers for:

Chimes from ice cream vans are only allowed between 12 noon and 7.00 pm.

It can be annoying and disturbing to hear a dog’s constant bark, howl or whine.

If a neighbour’s barking dog disturbs you or causes a nuisance, you can complain to the dog warden in your council.

You can take legal action in the magistrates’ court if:

You don’t need a solicitor but you should ask Citizens Advice for help in preparing your complaint. You need to prove that the noise is a statutory nuisance.

Mixing and mastering

Original Material
Mixing

Organisation
The first project for this assignment was to mix original material provided to us to a high standard. In order to do this the first thing I did was organise the tracks so that I was able to work on the mix in an efficient and comfortable fashion. This was achieved by first colour co-ordinating the tracks, for example making all of the brass tracks blue, this shows me and anyone else who may use my mix that these tracks are directly related. Another example is the guitar tracks, I turned these green, but also turned the bass track a different shade of green to show that while these tracks are related, it is an indirect relationship. I also grouped the same coloured tracks next to each other in the project so that they could be easily worked on in session and I wouldn't have trouble finding them in the project or accessing them when needed. The next step I took in organising the tracks was cutting out any unnecessary parts of the track where there was silence or background noise which could take away from the quality of the track. This also allowed me to have more freedom to use effects as I was not worried about accidentally emphasising the rustling of a shirt or breath intake noises made by a singer.
Another organisational technique I used was to group related tracks together in 'sends'. This not only gave me another way to easily keep track of each audio line, it also allowed me to add the same effects simultaneously to the related tracks. This helped create a sense of uniform to the songs and created a more professional effect. I did this to the brass tracks, guitar tracks, and vocal tracks.

EQ
The next step that I took was to EQ each track. I did this by opening the EQ menu and dragging the frequencies to the volumes I felt fitted each track well. I started with the drums. For the kick I raised the low end considerably in order to increase the boominess of the track, however I also slightly raised the higher-mid range to create a thicker cracking sound that I felt would give more impact to the backbone of the song. Then I proceeded to mix the snare, I raised mostly the mid range on this in order to give it a solid thumping sound that I felt would keep the drums level, but impactful. I also slightly lowered the highest frequencies in order to reduce the sharpness of the initial hit and therefore slightly blunt the sound into a comfortable range. The cymbals and high hat were relatively easy to EQ, I simply raised the high end in order to make them more potent in the final mix. I then went on to EQ the bass and guitar tracks. For the bass track I cut the high end sharply, and raised the low end to give a more rumbling feel to the bass. For the guitar track I slightly raised the low end and mid range, but on the solo track I actually lowered the low end and raised the high end in order to make it stand out against the rest of the song, this also added emphasis to the parts of the solo which are played further up the neck. For the trombone I made it slightly more bassy, and raised the high end of the trumpet to create a sharper sound.

Compression/Expansion
Compression is the process by which specific frequencies can be controlled to specific, lower volumes. Expansion is the opposite and boosts the volumes of frequencies past a specific point. I did not use expansion in this mixing project as I felt that it was if anything, too loud at times. This led me to believe that I should use compression. I used compression on the vocals in order to balance the sound and stop the high notes that the singer reaches from becoming too piercing, this allowed for a more balanced sound to the vocals and also allowed the backing vocals to accompany the lead in a more comfortable manor. I also chose to use compression for the trumpet. This was because I felt that at times the trumpet became somewhat overpowering at points when it should have been more in the background of the song. By using some compression on the track I was able to create a more focused and balanced sounding brass section in the mix, as the trombone also benefitted via symbiosis from the improved trumpet track. I then decided that the trombone still needed to be slightly compressed as the brass section was still slightly too cutting for the rest of the track. However I believed that this was fixed one the compression was added.

Reverb
I used reverb on some of my tracks not only to emphasise the importance and potency of the tracks, but also to create a larger room feel to the song in order to simulate a more concerted piece. One of the tracks I felt it was most important to add reverb to was the lead vocal, I did this using the roomworks insert. However upon reflection I felt that the backing vocals also required some reverb in order to create the larger sound effect that I desired. Because of this I removed the lead vocal reverb and instead added reverb the vocal send that I had set up previously. This allowed me to simultaneously add reverb to all the vocal tracks which allowed me to not only create the desired effect but also keep the tracks balanced. When using reverb I tried to use a small amount as to not over power the rest of the tracks and also to avoid alienating the vocals tracks from the overall project.
Upon doing this I felt that some more tracks required reverb in order to effectively complete the large room effect I was trying to achieve. I also felt that giving other tracks some subtle reverb would allow the stronger reverb effects on the vocals to integrate better into the project. I once again used the roomworks insert but this time on the brass send in order to give the brass section a more choral tone, I believe that this allowed me to achieve the desired effect.

Pan
I also used Pan when mixing the song. This allowed me to create a sense of depth to the tracks and also change the sonic dynamics of the song somewhat. I only used subtle pan in the range of between 5-20 in either direction. The first thing that I used pan on was the backing vocals. I panned the first to the right and the second the left to create a thicker more active vocal section. I also panned the guitars and bass tracks to opposite sides, and then did the same with the trumpet and trombone; with trombone on the same side as guitar and trumpet with bass. The contrast of the tones of these instruments allowed me to create depth to the sound of the song but without sacrificing the balance that I had worked to achieve throughout the project.

https://soundcloud.com/user-401119215/stick-together-mix

Mastering

Real Time Mastering
There are two ways by which a project can be mastered. The first is by bouncing the project into one audio track and then mastering that track separately. The way that we mastered this track was by actually using the in program mixer to mix each individual track simultaneously by using the stereo output channel. This not only allowed me to improve the project as a whole, but also go back and edit the mix if needed at any point.

Multiband Compression
The next thing I used to master the track was multiband compression.This was added by using he mixing interface and opening the inputs for the stereo output track which encompasses all of the other tracks. I found this particularly useful as it allowed me to keep the entire track at a balanced level by separating the frequencies of the track into sections and compressing them individually. I increased the ratio and threshold slightly on each of the tracks just to make sure that the sound didn't become to harsh at the more intese and powerful moments of the song, but I increased the ratio most on the mid range as I felt that this was necessary to stop the vocals and guitar from becoming too overpowering over the rest of the tracks.

EQ
I also decided to do an overall EQ on the stereo output track in order to once again make sure that the balance was an absolute presence throughout the project. I also felt that doing an overall EQ would help me to sweeten the sound by making sure that it had the extra touches that it needed to make it very even. I slightly raised the low end to a smooth level which I felt created an extra layer of subtle thickness to the bass and the heavier drums. I also did a very slight raise at around 3k which allowed the vocals to still stand out after the heavy alteration they had received to make them less cutting in previous steps.

Mix Level
I put the mix level of the track at -0.45. This is because the mix level of the track should always be aimed at around 0, as the mix level is measured mostly in the minus range. Having a mix level that is too low will cause the track to play too quietly on most sound systems. This is why when when mixing i found it useful to pre set the mix level and then control the volume on the mac's own volume setting and mix each individual track based off of the mix level. This allowed me to know that the project would play at an appropriate level when completed.

Sweetening The Sound
In order to make sure that I was always doing what was best for the track I took regular breaks throughout each session and listened to other music or media to make sure that I had fresh ears for when I came back to the project. This allowed me to see clearer what I needed to do for the mix. I also got my peers to give their opinion on the mix when I made an important change to see if my decision was a wise one, and to make sure that I wasn't negatively impacting on the song.

https://soundcloud.com/user-401119215/stick-together-master

Yellow Cover
Mixing

Organisation
Once we had finished mixing and mastering the original piece that we had been given, we were then tasked with mixing and mastering one of the tracks we had created in a previous project. I chose to use the yellow cover which I had created for the recording a pop song project. The first step I took was to organise and streamline the project. This first thing I did was to cut out all the dead space in each audio track, this allowed for minimal background noise in the project as well as making it easier to mix and master later on in the process. It also made for a smaller file which takes up less data space. The next thing I did was colour code each track by similarity. This allowed me to edit specific musical sections of the song with ease, and also made locating and keeping track of the audio files much easier. I then proceeded to group the tracks by sends. This allowed me to simultaneously edit groups of tracks in order to create balance and uniform among within the project. The sends I created were guitar, vocal, and piano. As these were the instruments with multiple instrument tracks. I also used the mixing screen to adjust the volume levels of each track as I felt that some of them needed to be adjusted, such as the ukulele and vocal.

EQ
The next thing I did was EQ the tracks. For the guitar I used the EQ on the guitar send, but put less of the send effect on the 2nd guitar track as this created a slight raw tone to the back of the track. I used a moderate low shelf for up to the 2k frequencies to make a more vibrant feel to the guitar in general, followed by a sharp drop in the high end which severely reduced the sound of clicking on the strings which I felt created a much more professional tone. This then evened out toward the very high end.
Then I EQ'd the bass. I first created a massive drop in the high end as I felt that this was not needed even slightly in the bass track, then I raised the low end with a brief but noticeable spike at around 50 in order to maximise the potency of the range at which the bass mostly plays. I felt that this crated a very smooth bass tone. After this I EQ'd the ukulele track, this was tricky as it was an unusual instrument to EQ. I decided that the best sound was given by harshly reducing the low end, and creating smoothly melded spikes around the 3.5k and 7.5k ranges, as this created more vibrancy in the tone which I felt was the main purpose of the ukulele as a lead instrument.
Then I moved on to EQing the vocals. I decided the use the same technique as I had on the guitars to maintain some of the raw tone from the original unaltered audio. I boosted some of the high end on the lead vocal track as this was the area at which the vocalist became the most quiet and gentle, so I felt it needed to be boosted somewhat. Then on the vocal send I slightly lowered the EQ at the points where the vocalist became too sharp.
After this I EQ'd the piano, once again using the previous technique that created the raw tone I felt grounded the song by only EQing the lead piano track. I did this by creating a spike at around 1k where some key points in the song were present, and then creating a gradual rise which evened out towards the the end to add more emphasis to the build ups the pianist had created.
The last track I had to EQ was the tambourine. I did this by drastically reducing the low end and creating a very slight raise at the high end. Not much high end alteration was needed as the track was already very self sufficient at the high end.

Compression/Expansion
Once I had finished EQing the project I started to used the compression and expansion inserts. I used some compression on the guitar send in order to cut some of the moments when the guitar levels slip out of unity with the rest of the track. But on the piano and tambourine tracks I made it heavier. On the piano this was to stop it from overpowering the vocals at the more intense and musically dense parts of the song. And on the tambourine it was to cut the very brittle clacking present when the tambourine was being hit heavily during recording.
Due to the gentle and soft vocal nature of the singer, I felt it was necessary to use expansion on the vocal send. This was in order to stop the vocals from weakening at certain points in the song where the vocal tracks are more calm, I felt that this strengthened the tracks in order for them to be potent without being overly loud.

Reverb/Delay
I felt that reverb needed to be present on many of the tracks in the project in order to create a thicker and larger sound. This was necessary due to the light sonic nature of almost all of the audio tracks aside from the bass and tambourine. I first added reverb to the ukulele track as I felt due to the fact that it was the lead instrument it needed to be a more potent and vibrant track. By using the reverance insert I was able to create subtle and gentle reverb which immediately gave a much more professional feel, it also created a very smooth feel to the ukulele by overlaying on each stroke of the strings. This softened the tone of the track. I also used reverb on the vocal send using the room works insert. This allowed me to create a larger room effect on the vocals which created a more symphonic tone; I used this very subtly in order to not overcrowd the vocals as I had already included a second vocal track to create the double vocal effect. I also used roomworks on the piano send in roder to create the same effect as the vocals only slightly stronger. I used the same insert as I felt that the piano and vocal tracks complimented each other extremely well and I wanted that unity to remain. After this the only remaining track was the tambourine. I felt that the tambo track was actually quite dull, and needed to be made more interesting and bright in order to give it purpose and influence within the track. I did this by first adding ping pong delay on an insert. This created an echo like effect which immediately gave the track more power, I then added reverb using reverence. This allowed me to create the brightness on the tambourine I had been unable to achieve prior. I feel that the reverb I added to the project made a huge impact of the final piece as really allowed me to achieve the tone that fitted the song best.

Pan
I used pan in order to create depth to the project. I first did this by moving the acoustic guitar tracks to opposite sides of the pan scale. I also placed the tambourine slightly left, this created a very heavy imbalance and so I decided to move the secondary piano track and ukulele track slightly right in order to maintain unity but also create a more interesting field of depth. I kept the vocals central as well as the main piano track (due to the complement of these two parts together) as I felt that this anchored the song and created a more focused feel to the heart of the project. I felt that due to the rich deep tone of the bass, I felt that keeping it central was creating a sense of planar flatness to the low end of the track which took away from the rest of the project. However this also meant that whenever I tried to pan the track it created a heavy imbalance on the project, in order to counteract this I copied the bass track and panned the two tracks to 30 right and left respectively. This allowed me to not only maintain balance but also add depth to the low end of the project.

Automation
I also used some automation on tracks that vastly varied in volume levels such as the vocal and tambourine. This allowed me to manually input volume levels which I then gradually and smoothly faded in and out of each other to make sure that each track was at a suitable and effective level at all times.

https://soundcloud.com/user-401119215/yellow-mix

Mastering

Post Mix Mastering
For the mastering of this project I used a different kind from the original piece. For this piece I bounced down the finished mix on to a completely separate audio file at 16bit; this is due to that being the CD quality we needed. I then put the new audio file on a completely separate cubase track and mixed it as if it were an individual track.

Multiband Compression
I used multiband compression to slightly raise the lower end frequencies. This created a heavier bass sound which I felt was necessary to ground the otherwise light and bright track. I also slight increased the compression ration on the mid to high end just to ensure that at certain points in the song where the it becomes more passionate and intense the viewer is not subjected to harsh or sharp sounds.

EQ
I EQ'd the track with the intent of brightening the sound and making the track more impactful. I did this by creating EQ spikes at around 300 and 3.5k. This brightened the strings and vocals to allow for a more interesting and pretty sound. It also made the track sound much clearer and each piece was much more noticeable as an individual piece as opposed to just blending into the background of the track.

Mix Level
I put the mix level of the track at 0. This is because the mix level of the track should always be aimed at around 0, as the mix level is measured mostly in the minus range. Having a mix level that is too low will cause the track to play too quietly on most sound systems. This is why when when mixing i found it useful to pre set the mix level and then control the volume on the mac's own volume setting and mix each individual track based off of the mix level. This allowed me to know that the project would play at an appropriate level when completed.

Sweetening The Sound
In order to make sure that I was always doing what was best for the track I took regular breaks throughout each session and listened to other music or media to make sure that I had fresh ears for when I came back to the project. This allowed me to see clearer what I needed to do for the mix. I also got my peers to give their opinion on the mix when I made an important change to see if my decision was a wise one, and to make sure that I wasn't negatively impacting on the song.

https://soundcloud.com/user-401119215/yellow-master

Creative Arrangement-7 Nation Army (Reggae)

My newest project for my BTEC music tech course was the creative arrangement in which I chose a song and converted it to a new genre. In this case 7 nation army by the white stripes and reggae. I initially found it difficult to begin to convert the song into the new style despite being very familiar with it. I decided to resolve this by researching genre specific tendencies that i could being to incorporate into my arrangements. By researching other reggae related genres such as ska, and roots reggae i was able to link the rock 7 nation army to the more funky and mellow reggae rhythms.

One of the first things I began create was the well known bass riff of the song, by adjusting the timings at which some of the notes started and finished I was able to create an off beat tune that gave the funky tone of the intended genre, I made two subtly different versions of the riff and alternated them every other bar. This added to the off beat effect of the reggae and also allowed for some subtle variation of the track in order to keep it interesting. Later on in the song when it comes to the end on the chorus and beings a build up to the next section I chose to keep the bass line as it was in the original as I felt this created tension and a dynamic change in the tone. I also used an EQ on the bass track in order to strengthen the lower notes and reduce the high end. This gave it a much more bassy and thick tone that I was very happy with, and that I felt fit the genre well. I used the solid pick bass sound as I found this to be the deep smooth tone I was looking for, with some harshness at the start of each note.

After this I decided to create a traditional reggae guitar track by using off beat staccato strums of guitar chords that can be found in so many tracks throughout the years. I found that this was when the track actually started to sound as though it could become a legitimate reggae piece as it gave the track a good solid back beat that was easily relatable to reggae. I used an electric guitar sound to create a more rocky tone to create some effect of power behind the track. Later on in the sequencing process i decided that the guitar track was too cutting and was uncomfortable when it ended. In order to counteract this I added a reverb effect which allowed each chord to end over time which felt much more natural and smooth. The reverb also helped to make the track fuller as the effect of each note was felt for longer. I also added a subtle EQ to make the peak of each chord stand out more.

I then proceeded to create a drum track. One of the reggae ticks that I found was reasonably common can be seen as the drums begin, where some bongos can be heard in a small piece just before the rest of the drums kick in, this was used by reggae legend Bob Marley. Most of the drums I used were a mix of lower floor tom sounds and a bass drum, as well as some bongo like sounds. I also used some closed cymbal sounds and a snare. I found that often higher pitched drums are used in a very sharp and choppy way in reggae and so I tried to recreate this in my track. When vocal lines were playing I stopped most of the higher pitched drums to allow for the rest of the song to not be drowned out by them, adding them back in once their was a vocal break or in key moments.

Next I added the main vocal line. I was unable to add actual vocals for this project and so resorted to finding an alternative. In my research I found that brass sections were/are very popular in reggae related styles and so i decided to use a trumpet sound for the vocal melody line. I found that this worked very well and that the tone fit the rest of the song very well. However i found it to be somewhat empty when compared to other reggae tracks I had listened to. This led me to the conclusion that I should compose some of my own vocal melody lines with other brass instrument sounds to give the true effect of the reggae/ska brass section whilst also providing some backbone to the vocal melody line. I began by making a lower harmony track to the main vocal using a tuba sound. I found that this alone gave the desired effect of strengthening the vocal track and so for the rest of the extra melody lines I decided to avoid complicated vocal like melodies.
I found that for long solo notes a harmonica sound fit very well and gave an almost wispy effect to the vocal melody, I decided that in order to increase this effect and make the track stand out more in the song I would add a reverb input on it. I found that this was a very good combination with the chosen instrument. Next I chose to add a steel drums track as I felt this would cut through the song well and give a potent effect, this proved effective and gave an almost quirky tone to the vocal line. However I felt that complicating the melody would cause the rack to become too convoluted, this is why I

chose to keep a simple repeating piece going throughout.

https://soundcloud.com/user-401119215/7-nation-output-stereo-out