Microphone Auditions

Summary

U WRITE WORDS HERE>>>>

it was fun using new mics and seeing which ones had what sound

Microphone Audition

Terms

  •  Microphones
    • Dynamic – The sounds waves itself its creates the membrane by moving its diaphragm. Very popular and very well known. It is good for low and middle range, NOT high range.
    • Condenser – The membrane has an electrical current waiting for sound. When the little sound waves hits it, it responds instantly. They are all over the place, but it need a electrical energy {amplifier} from something {example – battery}.
  • Polar patterns
    • Omni – Picks sound up from all directions which is picked up equally. This is used for interviews because it can pick up more than one person, without having to have two separate mics.
    • Cardioid – Picks up one half of the microphone, also known as a ‘directional mic’. Most sensitive in the front, about 180 degrees.
    • Bi-directional – ‘Figure of 8′, picks the front and behind of the mic, but the 90 degree angle on both sides does not get picked up.
  • Transduction – Converts one form of energy to another.
  • Voltage – An electric force or or a potential difference shown in volts.
  • Phantom power – Activates the condenser in a microphone. DC powered mostly between 12 and 48 DC voltages.
  • Sensitivity – Voltage at its known sound level. Can be called by its voltage or decibels. Higher number means more sensitive, everything is mostly in negatives.
  • Frequency Response – The range of sound the microphone can produce and how sensitive it is within the range.
  • Transient – A variation in current, voltage, or frequency.
  • Placement – Placement of the microphone is key, depending on the sounds you want, it can just be the distance from you or the instrument from the microphone. This part of the microphone can effect others emotionally in a way to connect with the audience.
  • Proximity effect – Decreased sensitivity to low mics, which reduces background noise and vibration and counter acts when used very close to the source.
  • Output – A place where the sound leaves the system.
  • Characteristics – This is the Relative Response and Frequency in hertz graph to show how good or bad the microphone is. This can show the quality of the mic.
  • Noise rating – This is the octave pressure level and the mid frequencies of the octave.
  • Hardware
    • Clips – A clip is something that you use to hold a microphone on something { example – stand }, but, using the wrong kind of clips can effect the performance, make sure it is tight so it has the correct effect.
    • Stands – This ties in with a clip, this is what the clip will connect to. This keeps the microphone towards the object you want to hear without having to hold it or keep it still.
    • Windscreen – Something that covers and protects the microphone, mostly a foamy material.
    • Direct Box – A device used to connect amplified instruments and having it put in a direct mixer.

 What I Learned

U WRITE WHAT LEARNED HERE DUDE!

i learned that i like the mic after the sm7b (ill check with headphones at home and edit this) a lot. it had a warmer, fuller sound.

School of Rock – Day 6 – Bass Basics

SUMMARY

i learned how bass and side chaining works

CLASSROOM

Watch How Bass Works (47 minutes)

bass is new

bass was hard to make with no organ

PRACTICE ROOM

i practiced the lead guitar in drop the guillotine by peach pit

Profile in Excellence

Screenshot from Polyphonic at YouTube

Profile in Excellence

Image from Wikipedia

OUTSIDE / JOURNAL / IDEAS

im thinking i wanna play my bass when i get home. also i realize now that my bass sounds a lot floppier on the low e than the fender bass.

STUDIO

i started a song but i didnt finish it

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

i learned i need more sleep so im going to force myself to sleep at 10 tonight at the latest no matter what.

ACTIVITY EVALUATION

Content (The WHAT)

Rating: OK  – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5  – HIGHLY ENGAGED

Rating: ?

What interested you about the material?

Process (The HOW)

Rating: OK  – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5  – HIGHLY ENGAGED

Rating: ?

Which activities engaged you most? Why?

School of Rock – Day 5 – Rhythm Basics

SUMMARY

one person said my song made em happy so this now the only important thing that happened today

CLASSROOM

Watch How Rhythm Works (47 minutes)

accent in beats is really important

syncopation sound more human like

i like syncopation

pulse, rythm, tempo, syncopation make music

cuban music cool

this was my favorite of the videos

LAB

Step 1: Watch Drum Arrangements Made Simple and learn how to create a simple groove and fill-ins.

Step 2: Learn how to Arranging Drums in Hookpad

Step 3: (Optional) Explore Advanced Drum Arrangements in Hookpad.

crash on first beat

long fill ins on new parts of the song

he goin off on the midi drums

short fill in first then long

fill in before new part/crash beggining of new part

pickup/start measure

PRACTICE ROOM

Time for the right hand to take center stage (if you are a right-handed guitar player).

Watch Mike Palmisano show you how to play guitar like a drummer.

playing to a beat helps. it make it sound better than just a metronome

A Side Note

OUTSIDE / JOURNAL / IDEAS

Flip through the Quizlet on Rhythm Terminology flashcards a couple times.

Image Metric levels from the Wikimedia Commons

i walk like 90-100bmp

i feel tired

STUDIO

Funklet is back!  This time in the studio. Pick a drummer, like Clyde Stubblefield. Play around with their a beat with Funklet’s editing options. Play a rhythmic guitar strumming pattern over the beat. Practice playing in time with the beat. Try muting the strings and keeping tempo, chucka-chucka style. Watch this chucka-chucka tutorial, to better understand the technique.

CONTROL ROOM

Funklet is back, AGAIN!  This time in the control room.

Pick a drummer.

Export the MIDI file.

Import it into Soundtrap.

Record a rhythmic guitar strumming pattern over the beat.

Watch Mr. Le Duc’s Tutorial for Exporting and Importing MIDI Files with Funklet, HookLab, and Soundtrap, if you get stuck with any of these steps.

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

today i spent half of my time trying to find out why there was an error while i was trying to dual boot linux. i never fixed it. so i was kinda discouraged

School of Rock – Day 4 – Harmony Basics

SUMMARY

Write your daily summary last, at the end of the day here… Only one to two sentences.

CLASSROOM

Watch How Harmony Works (47 minutes)

each note has secret notes inside of them (you can get them out with harmonics)

composition can revolve around chords with notes that go throughout instruments

most western music revolves around primary triads

discord/dissonance makes music better

sus chord sus chord

generic chords can still make a unique song

LAB

i just messed around with chords and notes again. i used the chord progression from the video and tried to make a unique song with the notes which was cool.

OUTSIDE / JOURNAL / IDEAS

Go for a walk and think about the Tonic (1 chord) and the Dominant (5 chord) and how they create push and pull, tension and release in composition.

With the type of music i really like it starts super nice tonic chord then a super dissonant chord followed by one or two chords that rise then being it home. idk if thats what the walk was supposed to be for but thats what i thought about

  • Tonic (1 and 8 chords)
    • Root note creates a feeling of resolution and stability 
  • Supertonic, Mediant, Submediant (2, 3, 6 chords)
    • Moderate tension, useful for transitions 
  • Dominant, Subdominant, Leading Tone (4, 5, 7 chords)
    • Create lots of tension to get to the tonic 

Mr. Le Duc’s Key of C Major Notes and Chords Chart (PDF)

STUDIO

cool video 👍

CONTROL ROOM

i maed song

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

i made an entire song and it is making me happy

School or Rock – Day 2 – Basics and Foundations

SUMMARY

today i learned a little music theory a lot about the effects in soundtrap and how important attaching emotion to music is

CLASSROOM

most music is made of 12 notes

semitone/half step is one note

whole tone/full step is two notes

7 notes in major in minor keys

c key would be all white notes from one c to a c an octave above

major scale is 2 whole tones a half tone then 3 whole tones and a half tone

(it seems like when talking about black notes you use sharp names instead of flat(except for like this one note i think?))

keeping different instruments in their respective space makes music sound less muddy and clumped together (for example like rythm guitar would have a wider but lower range since its chords but a lead would be higher and you could eq out the low ends)

remove the 4th and 7th from a major scale to make a major pentatonic scale

LAB

Songs at https://www.hooktheory.com/theorytab/charts/chart/top

I found two songs, the first was “The Legend of Zelda Main Theme” its in the key of B flat Minor. The tempo was 95 and i found it interesting that it looks like it used chords and notes outside of its key a lot and it gave it more tension. The second song was get lucky by daft punk. Its in the key of B dorian it doesnt say the tempo but it sounds like its around 110-120 bpm. It was a pretty normal chord progression with one sharp chord being the only chord that wasnt a regular major.

PRACTICE ROOM

  • soundtrap is pretty good i just wish it had monitoring but honestly for a website daw its really good. the built in effects sound cool so i dont really feel limited by not having vst’s

OUTSIDE / WALK / JOURNAL

today i wanna learn soundtrap more because ive been trying to be fluent in working in different daws (so far im doin great on fl studio and ableton, and then this one linux based daw and garageband/logic pro x im ok with)

STUDIO

American Songwriter Andrea Stolpe’s series: How to Write a Song: Use Imagery and Small Moments

Attatch an emotion to the music/let the listener experience what you experienced through what you say and when you say it compared to the tention of the chords

CONTROL ROOM

learning the mix effects to make everything sound fluid

https://academy.soundtrap.com/p/soundtrap-expert

Get to Know the Studio

Explore the Regions

Explore Tracks

  • It was fun using this new program im still messing with it. yeah it cool:D

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

I learned how most of knobs on the effects work and a problem i solved was the live monitoring, i just opened my sound settings and pressed the “listen to this device” option for the guitar input.

School or Rock – Day 3 – Melody Basics

SUMMARY

I learned how to use the classroom tools to connect the guitar to the computer and i experimented with all the effects. And i learned how to make a melody and mix notes with chords that actually sound good.

CLASSROOM

Watch How Melody Works (47 minutes)

Video notes:

semi tones

tri tones

learn blues scale

LAB

practiced on hookpad

PRACTICE ROOM

Watch How to practice effectively…for just about anything – Annie Bosler and Don Greene

  • practiced notes quizlet
  • its reassuring knowing its not just “muscle memory” and more an actual thing that happens to my nerves when i practice

OUTSIDE / JOURNAL / IDEAS

im kinda lost but it sounded smart

STUDIO

Melody Composition Terms

  • Theme – a long, rythmic idea
  • Motive – a short, rythmic idea
  • Period – 8 measures/2 phrases
  • Phrase – set of four measures
  • Antecedent (Question) Phrase – first phrase/raise tension
  • Consequent (Answer) Phrase – second phrase/release
  • Scale Degrees
    • Tonic – home or not with stability/resolution
    • Supertonic, Mediant, Submediant – not home but not making much tension, it moves the song along
    • Dominant, Subdominant, Leading Tone – cause the most tension
  • Steps – movement using half or whole steps (lil steps to close notes)
  • Leaps – movement that uses more than half or whole steps (jumping around the scale)
  • Conjunct motion – melody built primarily using leaps
  • Disjunct motion – melody built primarily using leaps
  • Repetition – repeated material to create link between the two phrases
  • Contrast – material that contrasts a phrase
  • Variation – half way between repetition and contrast

Melody Resources

Mr. Le Duc’s Key of C Major Notes and Chords Chart (PDF)

CONTROL ROOM

Learn how to Create Tracks

Explore the Piano Roll, Drawing and Moving Notes

Learn to Edit Notes, Velocity, and More

Learn to Create Your Own Presets

  • i made a music on the website 😀

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

my guitar was out of beat because i didnt record to a metronome so i recorded with a metronome until it looped nicely and now it doesnt hurt to listen to. it took me about 30 minutes though

School of Rock – Day 1 – Silence, Safety, Tools, and Goals

SUMMARY

i learned how loud headphones/speakers can be before damage happens and i got my blog up.

CLASSROOM

Image of Gordon Hempton
Image by Richard Darbonne, © All Rights Reserved.

Listen to https://onbeing.org/programs/gordon-hempton-silence-and-the-presence-of-everything/

Safety

Watch 3-minute video preview: https://www.hrmvideo.com/catalog/listen-smart-safely-handling-the-power-of-sound

Add details to the notes below that you found interesting…

  • Goal: listen to music in a way that it will enrich but not harm you
  • 10%-20% of high schoolers have hearing damage
  • Hearing damage can happen in one occasion, doesn’t have to be constant
  • No cure!
  • Temporary Threshold Shift: “hearing hangover”
  • Wearing earplugs doesn’t change the quality of sound but just the volume
  • High-frequency loss is most commons with musicians
  • Distancing yourself from the source and earplugs are the best way to prevent hearing loss
  • Stimulants while listening to music can increase the risk of hearing damage
  • Resting your ears is important, space out concerts
  • 70 dB, no risk
  • 85 dB, risk after 8 hours
  • 91dB, 2 hours without damage
  • 100 dB, 15 minutes without damage
  • 115 dB, 1 minute without damage
  • 140 dB, immediate damage and pain
  • Symptoms of damage, tinnitus, muffled hearing, and other mental and physical problems like irritability, depression, high blood pressure, and fatigue
  • damage is done when the cochlea hair cells in the inner ear are damaged, they do not grow back. These are what interpret vibrations and turn them into what we hear

Advice

LAB

Write learning reflection here…

Write learning reflection here… and explore some songs at https://www.hooktheory.com/theorytab

PRACTICE ROOM

  • im gonna practice playing up to level 8 on “10 levels to guitar” by ichika nito

Guitar Tabs Explained

you read it and then play and it be like “doot doot” then im rippin

STUDIO

Start Soundtrap.com expert training here…

https://academy.soundtrap.com/p/soundtrap-expert

CONTROL ROOM

Finish Soundtrap.com expert training here…

Insert your certificate when you finish by clicking the ADD MEDIA button above, uploading a picture of your certificate, and placing it where Mr. Le Duc’s image is below. (Remove Mr. Le Duc’s image)

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

Tell your daily story here!  Highlight what you learned and enjoyed most.  Also, share what you needed to do to complete the day’s work. Problem-solving is one of the most important skills you need in life. Employers want to know HOW you get stuff done as much as what you got done.

WEEKLY ACTIVITY EVALUATION