Shaping Sound in the Studio and Beyond: Audio Aesthetics and Technology

417 Pages·14.158 MB·English

by  Gottlieb G.

Shaping Sound
in the Studio
and Beyond
Audio Aesthetics and
Technology
Gary Gottlieb
#2007ThomsonCourseTechnology,adivisionofThomsonLearning Publisher and General Manager,
Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or Thomson Course Technology PTR:
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, Stacy L. Hiquet
including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or
retrieval system without written permission from Thomson Course Associate Directorof Marketing:
TechnologyPTR,exceptfortheinclusionofbriefquotationsinareview. Sarah O’Donnell
TheThomsonCourseTechnologyPTRlogoandrelatedtradedressare Manager ofEditorial Services:
trademarks of Thomson Course Technology, a division of Thomson Heather Talbot
Learning Inc.,and may notbeusedwithout written permission.
Digidesign Photos and Pro Tools Screen Displays # 2006 Avid Marketing Manager:
Mark Hughes
Technology, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Avid,
Digidesign,andProToolsareeitherregisteredtrademarksortrademarks
Acquisitions Editor:
ofAvidTechnology,Inc.intheUnitedStatesand/orothercountries.
Orren Merton
All other trademarks aretheproperty oftheirrespective owners.
Marketing Assistant:
Important:ThomsonCourseTechnologyPTRcannotprovidesoftware
Adena Flitt
support. Please contact the appropriate software manufacturer’s
technical supportline or Website for assistance.
Project Editor/Copy Editor:
Thomson Course Technology PTR and the author have attempted Cathleen D.Snyder
throughout this book to distinguish proprietary trademarks from
descriptive terms by following the capitalization style used by the Technical Reviewer:
manufacturer. Barry Hufker
Information contained in this book has been obtained by Thomson PTR Editorial Services Coordinator:
CourseTechnologyPTRfromsourcesbelievedtobereliable.However, ErinJohnson
becauseofthepossibilityofhumanormechanicalerrorbyoursources,
Thomson Course Technology PTR, or others, the Publisher does not Interior Layout Tech:
guaranteetheaccuracy,adequacy,orcompletenessofanyinformation ICCMacmillan Inc.
and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or the results
obtainedfromuseofsuchinformation.Readersshouldbeparticularly Cover Designer:
awareofthefactthattheInternetisanever changingentity.Somefacts Mike Tanamachi
mayhave changed sincethis book went topress.
Indexer:
Educational facilities, companies, and organizations interested in
Katherine Stimson
multiplecopiesorlicensingofthisbookshouldcontactthePublisher
forquantitydiscountinformation.Trainingmanuals,CD ROMs,and Proofreader:
portionsofthisbookarealsoavailableindividuallyorcanbetailored Kate Shoup
forspecific needs.
ISBN 10:1 59863 391 0
ISBN 13:978 1 59863 391 7
eISBN 10:1 59863 760 6
LibraryofCongress CatalogCard Number:2007900081
Printed intheUnited StatesofAmerica
07080910 11TW109 87 65 43 21
Thomson Course Technology PTR, adivisionof ThomsonLearning Inc.
25Thomson Placen Boston,MA 02210n http://www.courseptr.com
This book is dedicated to my three ‘‘one and
only’’ girls:
Kyla, my baby girl; Miranda, my big girl; and
Melanie, my best girl.
Foreword
If you’re looking for a book that’s going to tell you in five easy lessons which
buttonstopushtomakeahitsingleinGarageBand,ShapingSoundisn’tit.Thisis
a serious book: It’s for people who take sound seriously and are serious about
learning about it. This book will take you to that very important place where
technology and art meet, where the technical decisions you make will have a
profound effect on someone’s art, and where the art will define how you use
the technology.
Which is not to say that it’s ponderous or heavy. Far from it. It’s thorough, but
it’sclearandlogicalandcarriesyoualongquitesmoothly.Gary’sstyleisthatof
a friendly, patient teacher, who is eager for you to understand what he’s talking
about and wants to be sure that you do before you move on to the next topic.
Whichallmakessense,sinceGaryisafriendly,patientteacher,asIlearnedwhen
we worked together in the Sound Recording Technology program at UMass
Lowell.
I met Gary when he was making the transition from practitioner to educator,
taking his years of experience at the craft of recording and figuring out how to
pass on his knowledge and wisdom to students.
Intheyearssince,hehaslearnedalotaboutteachingandhowstudentslearn.He
has built a terrific program at Webster University, and this book is one happy
result of that achievement.
InShapingSoundyouwilllearnfromGarynotonlywhatrecordingengineersdo,
but why they do it, and not only what the equipment does, but why we need it.
You’lllearnhowourtools canmakethingssoundbetter,andalsohowtheycan
make things sound awful. He’s always providing context, making sure you have
thebackgroundtoabsorbwhatcomesnext.Hestartsatthebeginningandtakes
you efficiently through the physics and acoustics that you’ll need to know to get
themostoutoftherest ofthebook.Whenhetalksaboutrecordingandediting,
he makes it clear that today’s digital techniques didn’t just pop up overnight:
They followed years of research, experimentation, and practice in the analog
world.Heknows,andconveystothereader,thatunderstandinghowourcurrent
tools and practices evolved is critically important for anyone who wants to call
himself or herself an audio professional.
But like all good recording engineers, Gary’s primary concern isn’t the theory,
the gear, or the techniques—it’s the music. Gary has recorded and produced a
huge variety of stuff, under a wealth of different conditions, and knows what
iv
Foreword v
works and what doesn’t, what sounds good and what doesn’t. And he knows
why. Now he’s not only telling us, but also giving us ways, with the text, the
CD, and the exercises in each chapter, to learn what he knows through
experience.
I’m listening, and you should be, too.
Paul D. Lehrman
Medford, Mass.
April 2007
Paul Lehrman is Director of Music Technology at Tufts University and is the
‘‘Insider Audio’’ columnist for Mix magazine.
Acknowledgments
Many people have helped me over the years. In my professional career in New
York,BarryLazarowitz,JerryRagovoy,GaryChester,Tommy“Monst”Civillo,
Ben Wish, and Leslie Mona-Mathus all taught me about the skills and psychol-
ogy needed to succeed in audio. Thanks also to Brooks Brown and the crew at
WEQXinManchester,Vermont;workingthereremindedmehowmuchfunone
could have at work.
AsIbeganmycareerasaneducator,thosewhohelpedmealongthewayinclude
mymentorsPaulNelsenandWillMoylan,bothofwhomtaughtmethevalueof
sharingmyknowledgeandthebestwaystopassthatalong.Mypeersandfriends
ineducation,suchasBarryHufkerandPaulLehrman,contributedtothisbookin
ways of which they were probably unaware. I also learned more from my stu-
dentsthanIshouldadmit,atMarlboroCollege,CenterforMediaArts,Plymouth
State College, Castleton State College, University of Lowell, Massachusetts, and
now at Webster University. Thank you all. And you probably thought you were
the students, when I was actually the one learning.
Iwouldalsoliketothankthosewhohelpedmeinthecreationandproductionof
thisbook.Thegoodpeoplefrom Thomsonwho madethispossible: acquisitions
editor, Orren Merton; my production editor, Cathleen Snyder; technical editor,
Barry Hufker; and the Man with the Handshake, Paul Lehrman.
Personally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their support
throughout the years. Irving, Shirley, and Lisa Gottlieb; all my cousins; and
my friends going all the way back to high school, too numerous to name. You
know who you are. I love you all, and thanks for all the help.
vi
About the Author
Longtime music business professional Gary Gottlieb refers to himself as a music
generalist. A professional musician since age 13, he worked in radio on and off
for 25 years, and was a music critic for 9 years. As a recording engineer and
music producer in New York, Gottlieb’s long and distinguished career includes
work with numerous Grammy Award winners and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
inductees. His credits as a sound designer include numerous off-off-Broadway
productions, along with community and college theatre productions throughout
New England. Along with his history as a music critic and entertainment writer
for the Deerfield Valley News in West Dover, Vermont, and a disc jockey for
WEQX, a major modern rock station in Manchester, Vermont, Gottlieb
owned and operated amobile DJ service. In 2002he accepted a position as Pro-
fessorofAudioProductionatWebsterUniversityinSt.Louis,wherehenowruns
the Audio program.
vii
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
PART I
BASIC AUDIO THEORY 1
Chapter 1
Audio Aesthetics and Technology 3
In Search of Aesthetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Audio and Aesthetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Audio Technology Meets Aesthetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Chapter 2
The Properties and Characteristics of Sound 17
Sound as a Waveform. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Sound as a Form of Perception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
The Speed of Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
The Human Perception of Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Loudness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Pitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Timbre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Environmental Effects on Perception of Sound. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Fletcher Munson Equal Loudness Contours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
The Behavior of Sound Waves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Additional Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
ix