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6 Tips for Hearing Your Own Music Objectively

 

I recently had a conversation with a young songwriter, who found it frustrating trying to objectively scrutinize her own music.  “I can’t even tell if a song I wrote is good or horrible.” It reminded me of the first time I was able to hear my own music objectively. It’s a really interesting story that I sort of forgot about. In recalling it, I realized there must be a way for songwriters and artists to hear their music objectively without the utter humiliation that I experienced. Let me explain.

In my early days of attempting to write songs at a commercial level, I felt I was a pretty decent songwriter. My co-writer, who was also the main musician and producer for the songs we wrote, was also really good. We loved what we were creating. We would play them for friends and family and they would be blown away. “You guys did that? It sounds like something you’d hear on the radio!”, they would say. So, when our music was getting rejected for sync opportunities (music in film and TV) we found ourselves scratching our heads. Usually, the rejection had to do with my lyrics but sometimes it would be the production quality or the vocal (MY vocal) not being “right”. Man, it hurt. But mostly, it was confusing. I didn’t know how to fix it. I’d listen back to a song we had just finished and have no idea if it was good or bad or somewhere in between. I didn’t know how to hear my own music objectively.

Around that time, over the course of a few years, we attended a lot of “pitch sessions”. Pitch sessions are opportunities for artists, producers, and songwriters to pitch their music to a panel of industry professionals; either music supervisors (the people who actually select the music for movies and TV shows), producers with hit song credits, record label executives, etc. The attendees would throw a CD into a bin (yes, it was all CDs back then) and they would randomly select one and play the track for the panel and the room full of attendees. After listening to the industry professionals talk about what they listen for, what matters to them, how they identify “broadcast quality”, what their thinking process is, eventually it became really easy to identify a song even 10 seconds in and know if that industry pro was going to like it or not. I found it really easy to determine whether or not the songs being played were at the standard they needed to be.

One fateful pitch session, over the loudspeaker, broadcasting for the entire room to hear, one of our songs began to play. My co-writer and I both sunk into our seats. We instantly knew that our song was not at the standard they were looking for. Now, it wasn’t horrible. It wasn’t way off track. But it just wasn’t quite there.

Those pitch experiences trained my ear to hear music differently and they helped me develop the ability to hear my own music objectively. Notice, I said it “helped me develop the ability” to hear my own music objectively. It did not happen at once and it is still hard to listen to my own creations the way I listen to others’ creations. But I have learned some tricks and tips over the years that I’m happy to share with you.

Just a word of warning, these suggestions are for people who really, truly want to be professionals and are seeking to be creating at that level. If you are creating music because it brings you joy and you aren’t hoping to achieve a measurable level of success, these tips aren’t for you. Keep creating and making yourself and your loved ones happy!

Stop listening to friends and family

People who love and care for you will always listen with a different filter than they listen to other people’s music. THEY will not be able to listen to your music objectively. Of course, be gracious when they tell you how amazing your music is and how amazing you are. Just know that they are not going to be the best judges of your work. That being said, your friends and family are usually your first “fans”. Don’t be tempted to dismiss them as such simply because they are your friends and family. This isn’t related to building a fan base, only to who to listen to for specific feedback about the quality of your music.

Stop listening to people on social media

This may sound a little counter-intuitive since most of you are building and connecting with your fanbase on social media. But this is one of the big reasons why it is important to move fans away from social media and onto your mailing list! Other creatives are on social media engaging, commenting, and so-called “connecting” with you for their own purposes, right? I mean, isn’t this how we get the algorithms to work in our favor? Isn’t this how we find and connect with new fans? Here’s the thing; these days we have two issues working against us as creatives when it comes to social media (only two?) First of all, yes, this is how we find and connect with fans. So we have to be there.  Second of all, we are living in an era of over-the-top positivity, which in so many scenarios is a great thing. But I have personally witnessed people posting videos or audio of themselves singing and they are…..really, REALLY bad. Yet, all of the comments are full of people telling this bad singer how amazing they are. I recognize these are dangerous waters I am treading in because the opposite response would be horrific and horrible. The truth is that even the really amazing singers have comments telling them how horrible they are. These comments are not reliable or accurate, either way! There are trolls. There are haters. There is also a reward system set up to benefit accounts for engagement. So, yes, you need to post, you need to engage, you need to comment, you need to respond to comments and all of this needs to be positive. Don’t be a troll! But also, this means you must not take any comment as meaningful feedback. Phew!

Study great songs commercially released that really move you and connect with you

There is no other way to know how to write great songs than to study great songs. Whether it’s the production you love or the “nuts and bolts” of the song (lyrics and melody), study them. Go beyond just listening for enjoyment. Break it down. Study the arc of the story, the way phrases work together, the change in melodic shape from section to section, and why certain parts of the song stick in your head.

Read books and blogs, listen to podcasts, etc. about songwriting and production

These resources often use great songs as examples and explain why a certain lyric worked so well or reveal the magical process a songwriter used to create the most beautiful melody. Be a better craftsman by studying your craft.

Become a helpful critic for other aspiring creators

There are songwriting organizations and Facebook groups full of creators who post their “works-in-progress” and ask for feedback. Take an hour one day a week and do some listening and offer constructive feedback. Remember to be kind, respectful and helpful. If something sounds so awful, that you can’t think of anything nice to say, then move on and find another post to comment on. This process of listening to someone else’s WIP, knowing the intention is to give helpful feedback, should help you begin to recognize the details of what makes a song move you.

Get professional feedback

Probably the best move I ever made to improve my songwriting was joining a company called Taxi. Taxi is a middle-man, filtering type of company. Let’s say a major record label is looking for hit songs for a well-known artist on their roster. They send a brief out to publishers and sometimes, directly to companies like Taxi. Taxi shares this brief; “major label looking for big ballads for a huge female artist’s next album, looking for hit songs along the lines of Celine Dion, Josh Groban”, something like that. Taxi members see these briefs and submit a song or two that may be a fit. Taxi charges a $5 fee per submission which I am CERTAIN is a way to keep people from pitching all of their songs to every brief because….they will. Anyway, when I joined Taxi, I really had never received any unbiased, professional feedback on my songs. The first year of my membership, every single song I submitted was rejected. For some of the submissions, Taxi would offer a critique. The critiques were coming back with specific instructions on writing better lyrics, writing better melodies, working on the production quality and so on. The annual convention Taxi holds is where I started attending my first pitch sessions. Getting rejection after rejection, reading the critiques, AND learning to hear what the industry pros were looking for sent me down the path to actually learning how to write at a professional level. Eventually, I started getting songs I submitted forwarded to the client and got quite a few sync placements that way. There are companies like Taxi but there are also organizations like NSAI (which I highly recommend if you are interested in writing for country artists) There are blogs, people like me, other professional songwriters, and/or producers sometimes offer feedback. You can also contact the press for album reviews.

The most important point of all of this is to understand that it IS possible to learn how to gain some amount of objectivity when it comes to listening to your own music. It does require work and some adjustments to your mindset. The most difficult obstacle to overcome is we often become emotionally attached to things we’ve created. The more you create and are willing to rewrite, change and even collaborate with others, the easier it will be to “detach” a bit. Keep going! Keep creating!

 

SoundGirls L-Acoustics Grants 2022 

SoundGirls L-Acoustics Grants 2022 

 

L-Acoustics is offering 4 grants for courses in the L-Acoustics Education Program. The Education Team  has structured the grants to relate to certain job profiles to help the recipient advance their knowledge  and skills in their respective fields:

This grant focuses on offering access to in-person training via our packaged seminars. For in-person attendance of courses, hotel accommodations are included with the grant. Grant recipients are responsible for any additional travel expenses.

Prospective candidates must be members of SoundGirls and have until Oct. 9, 2022, to submit their applications. Winners will be announced on the website and social media on November 1,  2022. Candidates can only apply for one choice of grant.

The recipient can choose to attend the courses at any time between the time of being informed of their award and December 31, 2023. 

System Technician Grant: 

This grant consists of enrollment in the following courses in the L-Acoustics Education Program:

o System & Workflow 

◊ Establish your role in the L-Acoustics ecosystem and align your practice with the latest  tools and state-of-the-art workflow 

o K System of choice (K1, K2, K3, Kara II, or Kiva II) 

◊ Recognize the standard configurations of the benchmark Kx system and gain hands-on experience rigging and listening to them. 

o Fixed Installation Systems 

◊ Advance your skills in implementing a safe and functional L-Acoustics system and prepare it for calibration. 

This grant aims to empower the trainee to learn how to mount, rig, cable, and connect an L-Acoustics system.

It also aims to give the learner knowledge of:

❑ Introduction to the L-Acoustics ecosystem

❑ Basic understanding of the Soundvision and Network Manager software

❑ Mount and rig an L-Acoustics system safely and prepare it for calibration

❑ Use and deployment of a K System

Completion of the courses in this grant includes 1-year access to the L-Acoustics Education Platform learning community and content for all the courses.

APPLY HERE

System Engineer Grant: 

The recipient requires prior completion or concurrent enrollment to System & Workflow, or previous completion of System Fundamentals. This grant consists of enrollment in the following courses in the  L-Acoustics Education Program:

o Soundvision 

◊ Learn the most advanced software functionalities for 3D venue modeling, system simulation, and line source optimization. 

o Drive System 

◊ Master the configuration, control, and monitoring of an L-Acoustics system from the source output to the loudspeaker inputs. 

o M1/P1 Measurement & Tuning 

◊ Learn how to record measurements with the P1 processor and how to perform a  loudspeaker system tuning with the M1 software. 

This grant aims to empower the trainee to learn how to design and calibrate an L-Acoustics system. It  also aims to deepen the learner’s understanding of:

❑ Soundvision, Network Manager, and M1 software

❑ Room modeling for optimized loudspeaker system design

❑ AVB Milan for audio distribution

❑ Tuning and calibration of an L-Acoustics system using M1 measurement software

Completion of the courses in this grant includes 1-year access to the L-Acoustics Education Platform learning community and content for all the courses.

APPLY HERE

L-ISA Grant: 

The recipient requires prior completion or concurrent enrollment to System & Workflow, or previous completion of System Fundamentals. This grant invites the recipient to attend all the L-ISA-focused  courses from L-Acoustics Education:

o L-ISA Technology 

◊ Start your immersive journey with an overview of the L-ISA Technology from loudspeaker system design, object-based mixing, and immersive audio algorithms to project workflow. 

o L-ISA Loudspeaker System 

◊ Master key system engineering steps in planning and deploying L-ISA systems:  loudspeaker system design, implementation, and calibration. 

o L-ISA Live Mixing 

◊ Create an immersive live mix, directly from your desk input channels or from an original left-right mix. 

o L-ISA Preproduction 

◊ Learn and experience the preproduction process of an L-ISA live event from the studio to the venue, anticipating the constraints of the large scale. 

This grant empowers the trainee to design, implement, and calibrate an L-Acoustics L-ISA system. This grant also empowers the trainee to prepare, encode, and control objects in an L-ISA mix as well as create a mix in L-ISA when walking up to a L-ISA system with or without preproduction. It also  aims to deepen the student’s understanding of:

❑ L-ISA Controller software and L-ISA Technology

❑ Soundvision, Network Manager, and L-ISA Controller software

❑ Software, processors, and amplified controllers

❑ Good practices for L-ISA-ready loudspeaker system design, implementation, and calibration ❑ Creating and monitoring an L-ISA mix on loudspeakers and in binaural listening environments ❑ Good practices for preproduction and visiting engineer support on a loudspeaker system  using L-ISA technology

Completion of the courses in this grant includes 1-year access to the L-Acoustics Education Platform learning community and content for all the courses.

APPLY HERE

System Expert Grant 

This grant consists of enrollment in the following courses in the L-Acoustics Education Program:

o Variable Curvature Line Source 

◊ Perfect your understanding of line source behavior to optimize your mechanical design and use of electronic settings.  

o Loudspeaker System Calibration 

◊ Develop a comprehensive approach to calibration in the entire workflow of a project. 

This grant aims to empower the trainee to advance their understanding of system optimization as well as learn about:

❑ Acoustic behavior of a variable curvature line source and its sonic performances over the audience.

❑ Physical deployment of a variable curvature line source so that electronic adjustments become optimization rather than correction.

❑ The goal of a loudspeaker system calibration and its link to the other project stages: design,  implementation, and operation.

❑ A rational methodology for the verification, the tuning, and the handover of a loudspeaker system.

❑ Best practices for an accurate and representative measurement of a loudspeaker system frequency response.

Completion of the courses in this grant includes 1-year access to the L-Acoustics Education Platform learning community and content for all the courses.

APPLY HERE

L-ACOUSTICS has revolutionized the Pro Audio industry with its legendary Line Source Systems. For the past two decades, L-ACOUSTICS has developed a reputation for creating innovative solutions to the most demanding sound reinforcement requirements. Commitment to the scientific method and product innovation have been our philosophies from the outset. For the second year, L-Acoustics is providing members of SoundGirls working in Live Sound grants for L-Acoustic Certification.

 

 

Pioneer Recording Engineer – Betty Cantor Jackson

 

Betty Cantor-Jackson is an audio engineer and producer and is best known for her work recording live concerts for the Grateful Dead from the late 1960s to the early 1980s.

Growing up in Martinez, California, Betty had an interest in electronics and would open up radios and other electronic devices apart and fix them. In high school, she would book shows and would go on to help with shows across the Bay Area. It was during this time that she would sound engineering and this would eventually lead to her meeting the Grateful Dead. In 1968 she would start an internship recording live sound with Bob Matthews at the Carousel which would become the Fillmore West.

Betty would work with Bob on the Grateful Dead’s second studio album and would go on to work together regularly mixing the band’s live recordings. She would go on to marry tour manager Rex Jackson and continued to record the band’s live shows with their equipment. (Jackson would die in a car crash in 1976). Betty would continue to work with the Grateful Dead helping with the stage setup and continuing to record. She would eventually stop working with Dead after a breakup with Brent Mydland (the band’s keyboardist). Her last project with the Dead was in 1981.

Betty used her own tapes and equipment to record the Dead and would keep them in her possession unless they were bought by Dead. In the mid-’80s, Betty would hit hard times having her house foreclosed and moving to Oregon to become a nursing assistant. She would end up losing her storage space and over 1000 tapes would be auctioned off. They would become known as the Betty Boards, mostly consisting of recordings of The Grateful Dead, but included bands such as Legion of Mary, Kingfish, the Jerry Garcia Band, Old & In the Way, and the New Riders of the Purple Sage.

The Grateful Dead declined to bid and three different parties would end up in possession of the tapes. One party stored them, while a second party would transfer the tapes to cassette and distribute them, and the third party kept them in a barn where over the years they would start to decay. This party would eventually start restoring the tapes; over 200 tapes have been restored and digitally archived. The Dead would offer this party $100,000 for the tapes, but they have vowed not to sell for less than a million dollars. In 2014, one of the other parties started to restore their tapes.

Several of these tapes have since been commercially released. The most notable of these is Cornell 5/8/77, a concert at Cornell University’s Barton Hall. It is widely regarded as one of the Grateful Dead’s best shows and one of the best live recordings of the band.

Betty would not record shows until 2011 when she stage managed Wavy Gravy’s 70th Birthday Benefit Concert. Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes fame was playing the benefit with his new project Chris Robinson Brotherhood. Betty loved the group and insisted on recording their future shows. These recordings turned into a series of live albums called Betty’s Blends. She also mixed and mastered for the Americana band Midnight North in 2015.

As of August 2019, she is the engineer and production and road manager for the band and the choir of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church.

She was a true pioneer, a woman defining her path in an industry that was almost exclusively male.

Fun Facts about Betty

While working at the Avalon, she decided she wanted to be a DJ, and her friend Dusty Street wanted to be a recording engineer. Dusty would go on to become a DJ and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Betty would become a recording engineer.

She would work with McCune Sound and worked at The Monterey Pop Festival

She worked at Woodstock.

She recorded Quicksilver Holding Company at San Quentin.

She recorded Waylon Jennings at Folsom.

She was one of two women on The Grateful Dead. Candace Brightman was the lighting designer.

She once threw Alice Cooper off her stage, because he had ruined equipment at the Fillmore.

During her junior year, Cantor had written a term paper on the history of psychedelic drugs. LSD

On Sexism

In a 2018 interview with NPR Betty Cantor-Jackson also recalled having to do a certain level of social acrobatics just to get her job done right: “The only way I could get things done was to ask stupid questions that actually weren’t stupid – they were questions designed to get them to understand what they were working with. I couldn’t tell him, because that would not go, because I was a girl… [I would] play a dumb blonde and ask stupid questions and get them to understand their own self.” Cantor-Jackson took the extra time to convince venue sound engineers that her ideas were their own, and in that way, she recorded an increasingly celebrated body of work, including tapes from Radio City Music Hall, Saturday Night Live, and the now-enshrined Cornell ’77 show.

https://www.npr.org/2018/03/20/593958534/do-you-want-to-talk-to-the-man-in-charge-or-the-woman-who-knows-what-s-going-on

Betty’s Legacy

Aside from her live recordings, Betty was a pioneer as a female sound engineer. Having to hold her own in environments where people were more likely to view her as one of their buddy’s old ladies than as the asset she was to the entire Dead community. Betty helped capture not only the music but the energy and connective hypnosis of a Grateful Dead concert. Though her name is not plastered on t-shirts or albums and to some she is only an ex-girlfriend with a forgotten storage unit, Betty’s legacy highlights the powers of passion, curiosity, and adventure.

More on Betty Cantor Jackson

Betty Cantor-Jackson – Wikipedia

Betty Cantor-Jackson (born 1948) is an American audio engineer and producer. She is best known for her work recording live concerts for the Grateful Dead from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, including the Cornell 5/8/77 album. [1] She is noted for her ear for recording and her long tenure with the band. [2] [3] Contents 1 Early life

Betty Cantor-Jackson – IMDb

Betty Cantor-Jackson, Soundtrack: Bank Roll. Betty Cantor-Jackson is known for her work on Bank Roll (2012), Word Is Out (1977), and Grateful Dead: Dead Ahead (1981).

LSD, Betty Cantor-Jackson, and the Grateful Dead

Jun 10, 2021Betty Cantor-Jackson is a person who happened to experience both these phenomena simultaneously. Little did she know her teenage decision to take a capsule of LSD would soon lead her into a life-long strange trip alongside the notoriously psychedelic Grateful Dead.

EXCLUSIVE: Betty Cantor-Jackson Rekindles Her Love Of Taping … – L4LM

By now, the tale of Betty Cantor-Jackson has been told many times over. A sound engineer that caught on to the Grateful Dead phenomenon in its infancy, Betty taped hundreds of shows during the…

Betty Cantor-Jackson

Interview with Betty Cantor-Jackson 3/18/10. Can we talk about Cats Under The Stars? It’s such a nice record. I love that record. I built the studio for that record. We were at Front Street, which was our rehearsal hall. He was playing with Ron Tutt, Elvis’s drummer, and they were rehearsing to go into His Master’s Wheels, which was the …

Betty Cantor-Jackson – Home | Facebook

Betty Cantor-Jackson September 10, 2012 · Welcome to the Grateful Dead collection Here you will find both: Downloadable Shows (typically, Audience recordings), and Stream-Only Shows (typically, Soundboard recordings).

‘Do You Want To Talk To The Man-In-Charge, Or The Woman Who Knows … – NPR

Mar 20, 2018Betty Cantor-Jackson worked as the sound engineer for The Grateful Dead on official live and studio albums — and perhaps more importantly, recorded hundreds of reels of prized soundboard tape. Ed…

 

Jobs in Audio: A Handy Visual Chart

Audio is a diverse and fascinating industry, and if you’re just starting out in your audio career it can be hard to know about all the job possibilities and different fields that exist. This chart outlines some of the main industries and jobs in audio, to help give you an idea of the career options today. Many people combine several of these jobs and skill sets into a satisfying career or change jobs or industries mid-career. This is by no means an exhaustive list of audio-based jobs or industries, and if you’re interested in a particular field of audio, it’s a good idea to do further research into the kinds of roles that exist and to speak to people who work in that field. And as time goes on, new types of audio jobs are constantly being created with the development of technology and changes in the industry and society.

Here are some questions to consider when thinking about an audio career path:

 

Starting a Podcast on a Budget

DIY from one novice to another!

Passion is something that needs to be shared. Well, at least in my experience. And two things I am passionate about, are mental health and music. I also love exploring ideas, having conversations, and getting curious about anything I can get my hands on. I felt so blessed when I got my audio engineering qualification – because it set the ball rolling for me to start my podcast around a topic that ties in with my primary work (mental health and eating disorder/addiction coaching).

Now, for those of you who are seasoned podcasters and engineers, you may read this or listen to my podcast and be able to quickly highlight all the errors I have made along the way, but I am totally okay with that, as I am happy to admit I am still learning!

The purpose of this blog post, however, is to inspire those who might feel as if they don’t have “all the necessary skills/tools” to follow their passion. I am here to say: Start where you are at, and only growth will follow!

So, I will take you through the way I approached starting my podcast called “Curious About Recovery – Diving into Eating Disorders” available on Spotify and Anchor.fm and hopefully it will help you wherever you’re at on your podcast journey.

Finding a theme

This was relatively easy for me as I am already a recovery coach with lived experience of having an eating disorder, so it’s pretty much the topic I know the most about. What I had to decide was how to structure the podcast. I decided to make it three-fold in format.

  1. Interviewing professionals in the mental health and eating disorder community. (Expert episodes)
  2. Sharing my lived experience/insights into my eating disorder recovery. (Solo episodes)
  3. Interviewing people who have their own lived experience in recovery from disordered eating (People episodes)

This way I can learn and expand my reach through others as well as share messages that I might never have thought to share, worldwide! The trick here is to be confident and ask whoever you can, even if you think they might say no – you have nothing to lose!

Recording equipment and software

Audio Interface: Behringer UMC404HD

This nifty little 4 channel audio interface is all I needed! Compatible with the M1 which was super important for me! You will want to work with an AI to get a better quality recording than what is available in your PC/laptop.

Mic: Shure SM58

Okay, condensers are the preferred type of microphone for podcast recording, but hey it does the trick! You want to try to use ANYTHING but your laptop mic or your headphone mic – unless you have a super fancy headset of course. I coupled this mic with a small mobile vocal booth and pop filter just to remove some of the room’s sound (I do everything in my bedroom).

Headphones: Sennheiser HD280 Pro

These are SUCH good closed-back cans for those who are wanting quality audio and are working on a budget. I got mine for around R2200 at the time (about $130). A good set of headphones is important so that you don’t get any sound coming in from your speakers and then back into your mic. It allows for a clean feed from each podcast guest and keeps your audio in check. It also picks up little nuances from the guest’s side so that you can ask them to make any changes before you record.

PC: Mac Mini M1

I just put this here because I got it as a birthday gift from my sister and it makes me tingly all over with joy. But any good laptop will do. (Thanks Louise!)

Where To Record: ZENCASTR

I use Zencastr for recordings. Why? Because of a few things:

  1. It records each user’s audio as a separate track.
  2. It records directly from the source (so it doesn’t matter if your WIFI acts sketchy, you will still get their clean feed.
  3. It’s super easy to use and you can host up to 10 guests for FREE!
  4. There are options to record video and to produce your episode on the site (some costs are involved) but that is if you don’t have any audio editing software.
  5. The audio quality is 10 x better than using something like Zoom.

Software: Rx Audio Editor Advanced, iZotope Elements, Da Vinci Resolve / Logic:

I am fortunate enough to have the incredible RX9 Advanced Audio Editor (previous versions are not compatible with M1 yet – I think). This does wonders in my ability to clean up my guest’s poorly recorded feed as well as help match EQ, remove reverb and noise, and all the fun things RX allows for. I am a HUGE fan of all my iZotope plugins as well which help me along this process. I use Da Vinci Fairlight (SUPER powerful and FREE) for basic audio and video editing and other times I’ll switch to logic for a more refined approach.

Getting it onto a streaming platform (without a budget):

Now, the first thing I realized when starting my podcast was that to stream it on any platform, you first must upload your show onto a host site (missions, right?). I searched all over for a host site that was affordable for me and was disappointed at every turn. Then I stumbled upon Anchor.fm and man was I impressed.

On this site, you can upload your episode for free (yes, free) and it acts as the host site for automatic streaming onto Spotify. With one or two clicks, your show is live! What a blessing! You also have the option of converting your episode into a blog post directly onto WordPress! The only thing here is that I am not profiting from these episodes YET, which doesn’t mean it’s not possible to do so on this site. I think once the show gains traction I might venture into that avenue, but for now, I am happy with my show simply being a way of spreading the message I am passionate about (again, purpose first, right!)

Here your show will be available on Spotify and Anchor.fm itself. It does not stream to other platforms, so if you are okay with this then no problem!

Challenges and how to overcome them:

Having to keep track of time zones with guests abroad. I use Timanddate.com to make sure all my bookings are accurate.

Setting deadlines is important. Make sure you know how many shows you want to release per month and work consistently over time to make it happen. Communicate with your guests as to when their interview will be, and prep them beforehand with a welcome letter, preparation questions, and a time and date of their episode release so that they can coordinate with their marketing team. Time management is key!

Legalities!!! Believe it or not, there are laws about podcasting. You will need to do some research here but the most important one I have found so far is to get your guests to sign a release form, telling them exactly how you intend to use their recording, what compensation plan you have (if any), and ownership rights. Very important!

Getting your podcast “out there”. If you are doing this solo, it means you will need to make the time and effort to get it out to your audience. Start by creating an Instagram page dedicated solely to the show – look at creating cover art, images, branding that aligns with your personal or professional brand, and your brand voice. Then post to other platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or wherever you have people following you. Also, ask friends and family to go give your show a listen and a rating. The more the merrier!

Biggest takeaways:

Remember what the purpose of your podcast is. Are you wanting to make money or share your passion? Whichever it is, you will need to approach it differently. For me, right now it’s about sharing a message, so I have been happy to put in the time and not profit from it yet.

Be consistent. Plan ahead of time. Make sure you always have at least 5 episodes ready to edit/release at any given time, so that you never feel as if you are falling behind on those weeks you decide to take time off or are involved in a time-consuming project.

Have fun! Don’t get too serious about this. The more you strain yourself about getting things perfect, the less enjoyable this process will be. If you have something worth sharing, I promise you the process will feel fluid and free. Keep looking to others for additional support and advice should you need it.

So, there you have it! My novice experience with starting a podcast. I have had SUCH fun and am loving this phase of my life. If you feel like taking a listen, head on over to Spotify by following this link:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1TwaZ2ID4FRQthckqfjR0h

And my Instagram page: @curiousaboutrecovery

If you know anyone struggling with disordered eating or if anyone wants to pick my brain about my podcasting experience thus far (still in the infancy stage), then feel free to reach out to me!

Designing With Lead Vocals

Until recently, I didn’t consider myself an Ableton Live user, since I was primarily using Pro Tools for vocal production. Since I mostly produce Electronic-Pop music, I made the switch to Ableton earlier this year. Before then, I was faced with the complexity of designing new vocal parts for a project using Pro Tools and stand-alone plug-ins with loads of parameters, and I craved an outlet for a more intuitive process.

After recording the vocals for my original song called “Beach Blood” in Pro Tools, I transferred the files over to Ableton to build a track that really reflected my style. One thing that made this such an easy change is the many learning resources. On top of the website’s Knowledge Base, the DAW has both an “Info View” and a “Help View” that makes understanding parameters and navigating through the manual very simple. This information isn’t revolutionary, but I emphasize this because I didn’t feel like I had the same kind of resources for learning other DAWs or even other audio software.

As I dove into producing my song, one resource I used that I highly recommend is the YouTube videos of fellow Berklee alumni Claire Lim, known as dolltr!ck. Getting started using Ableton’s built-in vocoder was super easy with this tutorial. My song is extremely vocal-heavy, so adding a vocoder was the obvious next step for incorporating dynamic texture. Following this tutorial, I created “carrier” and “modulator” tracks in my session, with the “modulator” track as my lead vocal recording I made in Pro Tools. Since the vocoder is supporting layers of organic background vocals, I mostly listened for how this new part blended into those existing vocals. This let me release my grip on the technical aspect of the plug-in. Here you can see how basic I kept the modulator, and I’ve included one audio clip without the vocoder and one with it to hear the difference.

 

 

I also used the vocoder plug-in to transform a lyric into a sort of “lead” synthesizer instead of supporting the vocals with harmonies. I played around with a preset called “basic peak lead” which uses FM synthesis in Ableton’s Wavetable synthesizer, perfect to satisfy my affinity for harsh FM sounds. In my other Wavetable examples, you’ll see I mostly utilized various LFO speeds and depths to manipulate the position of the oscillators in the modulation matrix. I followed my gut with these decisions and found it really natural to incorporate my choices into the song. The image below shows what that looks like, and here is how that sounds.

Returning to Wavetable, I used two instances of this synthesizer as bright pads to contrast the heavy bass material in the song. While the option to really dive into this instrument is available, I also found it easy to get a sound I wanted without exploring too deeply into the complexity of wavetable synthesis. I just dragged my lead vocal sample into the visualizer window for the first oscillator and used a pre-existing detuned saw for the second oscillator. I also set the octave on my MIDI keyboard higher so the pads didn’t mask the vocals. Similar to the lead vocoder track above, I made some slight adjustments to the modulation matrix with my main focus on the oscillator positions, and in one instance, I added an arpeggiator MIDI effect. Even though it’s not immediately obvious that this sound came from my voice, it has a similar essence and keeps the sonic footprint of all these different parts within the same space.

The last design element I want to point out from this project is a rhythmic vocal sample I made using the Simpler instrument. I used the lead vocal as the sample and cut a random short clip, and I adjusted the envelope to give it a short decay. Then, I played around with the loop, warp, and filter options, and added the overdrive audio effect for some color. Once I got a staccato sound with a mixture of tonal and atonal qualities, I listened through my lead vocal to find a lyric I wanted to emphasize when the loop played all the way through. I felt like this last step highlighted the story in the lyrics which is always the most valuable and detailed part of my music.

 

 

Most of these techniques are straightforward in Ableton Live, which makes following my producer’s intuition a painless process. I have reiterated in many of my recent blogs (since focusing on producing my own music) how important it is to get out of your head, trust your gut, and free up the space in your mind that clutches to technical excellence. I still value a highly technical design or mix, but I’m leaning more into my instincts to balance out years of servicing my engineering self. For now, I am more attracted to the process of music making that puts creativity at the forefront of my projects.

L’ARTE DEI RUMORI

 

Don’t let the title fool you! Rumori is not rumors, but noises, and that is what this blog is about.  All will be revealed as you read on…

Over the last few days, being in isolation as I recover from a bout of Covid, not serious but neither do I want to pass it around, I decided that I needed to re-master my piece that I had hurriedly loaded onto Bandcamp.  I decided to make a few changes: extracts of dialogue that seemed ‘out of place or unnecessary, move a few sounds around the stereo image, add a clip that I had forgotten to include, and found a group of three clips that had been coordinated into the second movement but were ‘empty’ by which I mean I had to find and link the .wav files.  Also, I had to decide what to do with the bits of dialogue that are central to the piece.

On the 1st of April 2019, I had an operation on my throat which affected my vocal chords.  For six weeks after that, I could do no more than squeak and rely on writing messages to communicate.  When my voice finally returned, it was raucous and very low in volume; and of course, I could no longer sing. Though I can go into a higher soprano register, the range is limited to just about seven tones from high to low; as a result, it breaks if it tries to go into the lower register so, I don’t sing.  My speaking voice is rather like my hair; I never know what it will be like from one day to the next. And since I am no longer with someone, I can go days without speaking, which makes it worse – catch me at about six, early evening, and it’s comfortable.  I’d only been in Italy a year at the time of the operation and all the friends I have made since, recognize me with this voice; it’s me, Frà.

The reason I wanted to make this clear is that I overcame my ‘shame’ about my voice and learned to love it.  This is important since I use it in several of my pieces.  And here is the point of this preamble: Felicia Atkinson, French composer, and sound artist uses her spoken voice but in a rather special way: her dialogues are almost always softly spoken and often submerged into the ambience of the sound so sometimes not heard clearly, while at other times they come through quite clearly.  For example, in ‘Pieces of Sylvia’ from her latest album, ‘Image Langage’, the voices are barely discernible, which creates a mood around the piece and maybe encourages one to listen much more closely than might normally be the case.  The voices become a dialogue panned hard left and right and gradually become clearer towards the end.   You can listen to this track (once) via this Bandcamp link:

https://feliciaatkinson.bandcamp.com/track/pieces-of-sylvia

‘Shirley to Shirley’ on her 2019 album, ‘The Flower and the Vessel’ use a heavily processed dialogue that creates a sense of intimacy between the speaker and the listener but can more easily be heard. Other pieces on this album vary in how the voice is presented but it is always an integral part of the music and always spoken.  You can listen to this track (once) via this Bandcamp link:

https://feliciaatkinson.bandcamp.com/track/shirley-to-shirley

So, one of the reasons for the remastering was my unhappiness with the dialogue.  I had originally thought to have it ‘submerged’ in the texture of the drones and other accompaniments.  However, this piece is quite dense in places, so the voice struggles to come through.  I took a decision, therefore, to bring the voice forward and in so doing created a new problem for myself, noise.  A problem which I shall clarify and explain how I dealt with it in a while, but first a few considerations.

In last month’s blog, I spoke about being a sound artist due to an absence of typical musical features.  In effect, my music (sic.) is noise.  As early as 1913, Luigi Russolo, wrote a ‘Futurist’ manifesto L’arte dei Rumori. (The art of Noises).  In his manifesto, he posited that the human ear was becoming accustomed to the speed, energy, and noise of industrialization and of urban living.  He and his fellow ‘futurists’ even created a ‘noise orchestra’ in their Milan studio and categorized sounds into six families of noise:

  1. Roars, Thunderings, Explosions, Hissing roars, Bangs, Booms
  2. Whistling, Hissing, Puffing
  3. Whispers, Murmurs, Mumbling, Muttering, Gurgling
  4. Screeching, Creaking, Rustling, Buzzing,[7] Crackling, Scraping [7]
  5. Noises obtained by beating on metals, wood, skins, stones, pottery, etc.
  6. Voices of animals and people, Shouts, Screams, Shrieks, Wails, Hoots, Howls, Death rattles, Sobs

Indeed, much of this is also my potential musical palette. The point is that since ‘noise’ is the main material of my Sound art, although I have used traditional musical elements as well, there are no real criteria for any elements of my work,  I work at the sounds and how I put them together as would a painter and, on any particular morning, as I review my piece at stages of completion, like the painter, I decide that it is finished as I want it and it conforms to my vision of the work based on my interior narrative.

So, there are three main passages of spoken dialogue.  The first is angst-ridden in a context of confusion as much as noise, mainly granular sounds, drones, and harsh metallic sounds. In this context, the sound quality of the vocal clips is less important than the emotional impact of the rawness of some of the dialogue.  There are two distinct lines here but abstracted and deliberately misplaced.  The suicide extracts from Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar were recorded at home so fairly clean apart from a slight bloom in the upper partials of the reverb which sits well in the aggressively noisy ambience of the second movement.  My field recorded vocals were mono from my iPhone while walking and remain in mono through the mix but panned left and right by automation in the clips. The only treatment I gave them was the DeNoise – Adobe Audition has a lot of Noise reduction/restoration tools, some of them process based requiring you to capture the sound you want to treat/eliminate before processing, at which point there are many controls allowing one to fine-tune the treatment.

In this particular case, figure 1, I’m looking at the selected mono clip which has some background noise (medium frequency hiss). Now, this is noticeable when the clip finishes and the play head runs onto the empty track; I can hear this clearly as I solo the track.  In the context of the second movement, it would not be noticeable but as good practice, I try to work with the best quality clip I can get.  Incidentally, although both the SP monologue and the iPhone recording were complete recordings, I cut them up for the reasons I mentioned earlier, and this gives me more flexibility in the composition process.

As you can see from fig 1 below, I am using the DeNoise effect on the clip.  I am using the ‘all frequency’ processing focus and, at the top of the gain fader, the tick box allows you to listen to just the noise that is being taken out.  This is useful since I can hear if anything is being taken out of the voice itself and I can adjust this with the ‘amount’ fader. If I want to test, check and alter, I can make a time selection and adjust the fader until I get what I want, I can also on /off the effect with the green button at bottom left.  If I make an adjustment that might be applicable in other circumstances, I can save it as a pre-set.

Fig 1

 

Fig 2

In figure 2, you can see that for this noisy passage I also ‘cut out’ quiet windows to allow the text to be heard more easily (there are more above off-screen) which, to my mind, also creates an interesting effect of being transported elsewhere for the narrative line.

You can listen to this section via this Bandcamp link:

https://frcaston.bandcamp.com/track/the-haunting

The third mood gradually calms down and the texture becomes thinner and quieter and so, it was not necessary to create quiet windows in the texture.  However, this is the central movement and is a conversation about the genesis of the piece, both unscripted and personal.  That being so, I was not expecting to put it in the foreground so much.  However, on repeated listening, I felt it needed to have a bit more presence.  So, for each clip, I applied parametric EQ using a pre-set ‘vocal enhancer’ and just tweaking some of the points to reflect the natural spread of frequencies.  In figure 3 I have applied the EQ to the clip.  I also raised the volume of the clip a couple of dB

And later applied the DeNoise since the EQ introduced some noise.  In other words, the aim was to disguise the transition from clip to empty track.  This was a problem with working with tape; leader tape is silent and everything else contains noise and the more you do and rerecord, the noise becomes accumulative, which is why we often used Dolby ‘A’ units, even if, for electroacoustic music, they robbed the sound of some of its edge – so there were always decisions to be made.

Getting back to this third mood, the voice is now more forward, and I managed this also by the use of the automation lines in each clip where I could raise or reduce the volume of individual words to improve the feel of the conversation, yet it does not overly draw attention to itself; the purpose was to make this ‘meta-commentary’ sound and feel natural, conversational rather than uniformly even in volume.

You can listen to this via this Bandcamp link:

https://frcaston.bandcamp.com/track/la-conversaci-n

Fig 3

The parametric equaliser is one of my favourite compositional tools since I can really excite upper partials with it; for this, I created my own pre-set ‘snap crackle and pop’ (thank you Kellogs) and was used to make the Swiss alpine cow bells sound like heavy chains in the second mood, at the words, ‘…and she was gassed!’  It also created a spectacular effect from a recording of rain falling on an umbrella which I used in the first mood.

The fourth mood is the quietest and yet it was difficult to balance the reading of the poem with the chamber organ melody beating against the lower drones.  Again, I had the problem of noise on the clips which was noticeable as the clip ended and a portion of empty track came under the play head.  Again, each clip had parametric EQ applied to give presence to the voice and then DeNoise as with the other clips.  Fig 4 shows the treatment of the last voice clip which gives the piece its title: ‘her blacks crackle and drag’.   I’m quite happy with my reading of this last line but my voice was too uneven for the close of the poem, so I raised the volume of, ‘her blacks…’ and cut, ‘crackle and drag…’ a little.  The clip is panned hard left with a fade at the end.

Fig 4

Finally, I’d like to share this link to some tutorials on the Noise reduction/restoration tools in Audition:

https://helpx.adobe.com/audition/using/noise-reduction-restoration-effects.html

If you look at the tutorials and at the individual tools, they claim that noises of various types are removed without affecting the signal; I have found, even with my limited experience of these tools, that the more you use them, the more you understand which routines of which tools serve your purpose.

Most of this work is done in the ‘Waveform editor’ and although I’ve only scratched the surface of these tools (I probably don’t need too many, but their availability gives me another approach to processing my field recordings) and I can already see the potential for processing my clips before taking them into the multitrack editor when I put the composition together; in fact, many of the process treatments can only be done in the ‘waveform editor.

I think I have said this before about Audition, and why I like it so much is that it is a compositional tool as well as improving clips.  The spectral frequency display plays a major part in my composition since I use it to select frequency bands to create novel sounds. For example, if I take a full frequency sound with loop potential to become a drone, I can hollow it out by selecting the lowest frequencies, saving that, and then selecting the highest frequencies, sometimes barely audible, and bounce them together to form a drone with no middle frequencies.  So then I can play with this and perhaps blend in some movement in middle frequencies from a different source to create a drone that has ‘life’.   On the repair side,  should you have clicks in the quiet sections, for example, you can quickly use the ‘spot healing brush to paint the clicks out on the spectral frequency display (if you have ever used Photoshop, you’ll find this tool familiar).

Thinking back to Russolo’s classification of noises, I actually work with this material; my approach to the DAW and what it can do are specific to my compositional process.  And Audition is still my favorite: I can use MAX MSP with Audition by using the Plugin Soundflower which converts the midi into .wav.   But, please, please Adobe, add a Midi input and editor so that I can use some of the other instrumental samples available.

I’ve started learning Mexican Spanish for my planned trip to Mexico at the beginning of March; I’ll probably stay forever, I haven’t decided yet, but I’m aiming to be in Morelia because of the Centro Mexicano para la Música y las Artes Sonoras, Mexico, in Michoacán, which is 4 hours by train from Ciudad de Mexico where I gather, there are Soundgirls. Yay!  And I know where I’ll be and with whom on the 8th of March

Hermanas vos quiero a todas

 

Does It Matter Which DAW You Use?

A few years ago, when I was fresh out of college and looking for jobs, I remember reading an article that explained why Pro Tools is the industry standard and why every audio professional needs to make it their DAW of choice, whether they work in music, film/TV, game audio or podcast production.

In addition to this, I found that a lot of radio and podcast job adverts were very specific about the software they required people to know how to use (usually Pro Tools, Logic, or Reaper, but mainly Pro Tools).

It got me thinking about how many of us use a particular DAW simply because we’ve been told it’s the best one, rather than choosing one that suits our individual needs. Obviously, it makes sense to have an understanding of different ones (if nothing else, you’ll learn what you like/don’t like working with), but is it fair to reject a job candidate on the basis that they have a preference for one DAW over another? I don’t think it is.

I’m a big fan of Adobe Audition. It’s what I use in my day-to-day freelance work, what I used in my last full-time job, and what I used during my studies. Before that, I learned how to use Pro Tools and have also experimented with other DAWs in the past. But I don’t mind admitting that Audition is the one I feel most comfortable with. It wouldn’t be the best choice for music production, for example, but for radio and podcasting, it’s perfect. It’s widely used for this purpose, yet most production companies still require those they hire to have Pro Tools expertise.

This is not in any way a criticism of Pro Tools. It’s a fantastic and versatile DAW that undoubtedly works for a lot of people. I also understand that companies will have a particular setup and employees obviously need to know how everything works. But if someone is experienced in their field — enough to actually be hired — should it really matter if they’ve used a different DAW up to now? I’m not saying it’s easy to just jump into a piece of software that you’ve never used before, but it is entirely possible to learn (quickly) on the job. I’ve had colleagues in the past who had only used Pro Tools and had to learn Adobe Audition on the fly. But they still got hired in the first place because they were good at their jobs, not because of the DAW they used. I feel the same thing should happen with those who may not have much (or any) experience with Pro Tools.

If you’re a freelancer who chooses their own clients and projects, the DAW you use should be even less relevant to the people you’re working with. I haven’t yet had a client question my setup (unless there’s a situation that requires us to collaborate on an edit or share sessions, but those have been few and far between) but if they did, I would want to know if there was a good reason for needing to use a different DAW. I’ve never been in a situation where Audition didn’t meet my needs or allow me to deliver a project successfully.

To sum up, I think we can easily get bogged down by the term ‘industry standard’. What matters most is a person’s own skills and qualities and what they can bring to the table. The software they use is secondary.

 

Stock and Purchased Plug-Ins

With many plugins come great opportunities. Plugins, for those unaware, are akin to cooking spices. Each one has a different flavor to add to your dish. Say you got this basic track going, drums – bass – vocal – maybe a keyboard – and guitar, cool? Adding a plugin depends on which one can change the track dramatically or subtly based on your choice.

“Stock” plugins are built-in with the price of admission to use your DAW.  Thinking back to my cooking example, these plugins are your basic salt and pepper.  Here is a really good article you can check out if you want to learn more about your DAW’s plugin format from Renegade Producer. The link will be at the bottom of this post.  Some of the best examples I can give for what a stock plugin looks like in Logic X Pro match Equalizers and Multiband, they are easy to use and effective.

Besides stock, you can always go out and purchase plugins.  Not all, but many of these are clones of outboard gear, tapes, preamps, or amps like the Suhr PT100 for example. They offer a way to work with iconic equipment in the box for a smaller price than the original hardware. These purchased plugins can bring even more flavors to the table – bring out that hot sauce baby!

The names that often get thrown around are Fabfilter, Soundtoys, Waves, and UAD,  I would advise that the larger the price tag is doesn’t necessarily mean the best quality is guaranteed.  If you are just starting out or are a student producer and have some spare cash I’d recommend the following.

CLA-2A Compressor/Limiter from Waves 

Antares Auto-Tune Realtime from UAD 

C-Suite Reduction from UAD 

Little Plate from Soundtoys 

Now unless you got the cash or catch a really good sale you’re looking at spending a lot. While I would highly recommend learning the basics on when to best implement reverb on those pipes of yours ( or friends ) on stock, I can’t say to go on a shopping spree and end up not understanding how they work and burning that hole in your wallet at the same time.  As best as I could explain or a youtube guide could show its best with trial and error, cultivating your preferences and that unique flow that only you can.

*End note* if you really want to shell out for premium plugins I’ll let you on a secret… If you got that student ID on you can save massive amounts!! Acustica, Avid, Native, Soundtoys, Waves, FL, Fabfilter, and Ableton all have student discounts. Remember that Antares Auto-Tune I mentioned? You can get it close to 50% off with this academic link- https://identit-e.com/antaresaudiotech

 

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