Jackson Parker

The track that will be analyzed for this genre analysis is a piece off of the soundtrack from a film called “Little miss sunshine”. A short summary of the film is: “A family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus.” (IMDB, 2016)

Above is a layout of the track, this layout marks out all of the changes that happen throughout the track. The first section that has been marked out is an single pad synth being played in 16th notes, this section only lasts for 16 bars before the next pad synth is introduced. The timbre for this synth is quite bright and easy as that is the tone that this piece is trying to come across as. The level for this synth is quite low as all of the other instruments and synths that get introduced during this track are louder than it in the mix. The panning for this instrument is panned to the mid left as it is still noticeable in the right side of the stereo field. The envelope for this synth has a very short action with a long release, adding to the feel of it being bright as it is easy to follow without it creating unease to the listener. The synth itself has some reverb on it to give it some space in the mix as well a very short delay. There are only two chords that are being played by this instrument and it changes at 8 bar intervals.

 

The next synth that is introduced is another pad synth that is nearly exactly the same as the previous but is panned to the mid right instead of left and has a higher level in the mix.

 

The next section that is introduced is a real instrument that is introduced, that instrument is lead piano. The timbre of this instrument is nice and bright as it is a lead part in a bright track, this instrumentation fits in very well to the theme of the track. The level of this track in the mix is sitting in the middle of the mix as it is sitting in front of some instruments but is still sitting behind other instruments in the mix. When it comes to this instrument, it is sitting in the middle right in the stereo field, this adds to the other pad that is sitting mainly in the right side of the mix. For the topic of time domain, there is a small amount of reverb on the piano to give some space to the instrument in the mix.

 

The next section introduces two new instruments to the mix; an acoustic guitar and a xylophone. The tone for guitar is nice and light as that is fitting for the track, and for the xylophone the tone is sharp and bright as is there to simulate a plucking guitar. The levels for the two instruments sit at Marky the same level, which is sitting in the middle of the mix. The guitar sits nicely in the mix sitting parallel to the second pad synth as well as the xylophone is being played in stereo, giving a stereo feel to an instrument that is playing single notes.

 

The next instrumentation that is introduced is a strings section. The introduction of this section is useful to add emotion to this track, moving along the tone that has been developed in this track and developing it to some degree. The tone for this instrument alone is soft as it sits low in the mix but above the first pad synth that was introduced. When it comes to panning it’s a stereo pan that is mainly heard in the centre of the field but is noticed in both the left and right pan.

 

The next section is a break from two instruments; the guitar and xylophone and the introduction of a drum kit. The parts of the drum kit that are being played for this section are the kick and the snare. The introduction of the kick adds a driving bass to a section that has had two pieces of instrumentation stop playing for a part the a rather treble heavy mix and for the snare, there are no real hits from a stick but from brushes. The tonality of the kick is slightly dulled as it still drives the track but still fits the genre of the track. The snare brushes fit the track as the other tracks in the genre use this instrument in this way. The tone for the snare brushes are very mellow and easy, adding a nice tonality that the track has been developing in previous sections.

 

This track fits into this genre of acoustic as there are large amounts of acoustic instruments being played, as the genre of “Acoustic” only uses mainly acoustic instruments with some exceptions. The aesthetic that this track carries is a happy/joy emotion because it creates the emotion that is required for the film that it is made for.

 

References

Little Miss Sunshine (2006). (2016). IMDb. Retrieved 25 August 2016, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449059/?ref_=nv_sr_1

The Winner Is – Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 25 August 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSKCaSkrQdk

 

 

The track that will be analyzed for this analysis is the a piece from the soundtrack for the film “The Sixth Sense” a short summary of the film is “A boy who communicates with spirits that don’t know they’re dead seeks the help of a disheartened child psychologist.” (IMDB, 2016)

Above is a layout of the track, this layout marks out all of the changes that happen throughout the track. The first section that has been marked out is the introduction to the main theme and during this section only the piano is playing, the timbre of this instrument can be seen as either sad or emotional as this is used to create unease to the listener this is common in the genre of this track. The piano is sitting in the middle of the mix but is slightly panned to the left. In terms of balance, the piano is the only thing that is being played but overall the level for this instrument is sitting quite low despite playing the main theme for the soundtrack. When it comes to time domain and the different processing that has been put on this instrument, reverb can be heard heavily in this mix as it is used to add distance and also create distress in the context of the track. Overall this instrument is used quite diversely, as it is used to introduce the main theme but also later on in the track is used to create a large amount of tension as the instrument is being played in cohesion with many other instruments to completely change the mood of the track.

 

The next section is the introduction of the woodwind and strings sections, these two sections consists of, what I am able to determine are flutes, violins and other stringed instruments. The timbre of the violin the string section are, during this section quite emotional or sad but do change later in the track, as these instruments are also used to build tension in the mix. Again the time domain that is used for these instruments is heavy reverb as it adds distance to the separate instruments and builds tension. The panning for the flutes are stereo panned and are slightly to the right but also sitting in the left of the mix.

 

The next section that can be heard is a section that is home to a tonality change, changing from a tension building, introduction to a track into a lighter tone that almost gives the listener a bit of ease about what is going to happen in the rest of the track. This tone change is thanks to the instrumentation playing major notes over minor as the human mind interprets major notes as light, happy and good, whereas minor notes are seen as dark, sad and bad. The instrumentation for this section stays the same as the previous section.

 

The next section is playing off of the previous section as it is a tone change, changing the positive tone that was developed in the previous section into a darker, mysterious tone. This is done by reintroducing the main theme of the track and playing it out until the theme is changed by the instrumentation playing minor notes the violins playing their notation with tremolo , meaning that the notes that the violins are playing are being played rapidly with very little gaps in between notes. This technique is used to build unease with the listener as tremolo on violin is very uneasy to listen to when played in a minor tone. The section then continues with the minor tones being played out on the piano but mainly bass notes, but with higher notation being played over the top of the bass notes, adding an extra layer of tonality to the piece that also creates more unease and creates tension to the track.

 

Once the previous section has finished, the next section that is played is a larger part to the track, this is because a large amount of the instrumentation is being played at once, the piano, strings section and woodwind. These instrumentation are also added with that of a large drum that is being played in this section, adding some more bass to a treble heavy mix that this is. The drum is heard during this section as it adds some drive to the section and also adds to the theme of this section. The dynamics of this section differ completely to that of previous sections as there is a large peak in the dynamics during the climax of this section.

 

The next section is can be considered as the outro as the main theme is being played but other instruments are slowly fading out of the mix, the strings section are all playing longer notes that previously and the woodwind section are playing parts that indicate that the track is concluding.

 

The genre for this track is mystery as it builds suspense and adds mystery to a track that makes you wonder what will happen throughout the track as it is constantly changing. The era for this track was in the late 90’s as this composition was written for the film “The Sixth Sense” which was released during the year of 1999. The target market for this piece is paired with the target market for the film it was released with, which being a film with a rating of MA15+, can still be a large market, as a demographic that is taken for this film is people over the age of 15 who enjoy horror/mystery/thriller movies.

 

References

The Sixth Sense (1999). (2016). IMDb. Retrieved 25 August 2016, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167404/

The Sixth Sense Soundtrack. (2016).YouTube. Retrieved 25 August 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL-zX7FtIVM

This trimester was a bit of a mess when it came to my project management and time management because I had a habit of leaving this late and getting stressed about not getting them completed. For my major project, a group of classmates and I decided to create a sound replacement for an Adventure Time episode, the episode was titled “Card Wars” and was a total sound replacement; meaning all of the Voices, Foley (Sound Effects) and Composition. This was all done in three weeks because all of our time prior to this project was used on our class project, which was also a sound replacement; Disremember. Our major project turned out well and I am pleased with the overall result. you can view the sound replacement here: https://vimeo.com/179426614

All throughout this project the people that I have worked with: Harley James, Jackson Higgins and Stephan Novak, they have been helpful towards me if I needed help and gave me advice on how I can make my foley recording better. When it comes to the foley recording for this film I believe that I have done a good job with what I have recorded and edited, after they were put into the “Master Session” it make my worries go away because it filled all of the blanks and worked out great in the mix.

When we were mixing the final project, we needed to comply with the loudness standards and the Australian broadcasting standards. “Operational Practice 48 (or OP 48) has been the standard when mixing for broadcast on Australian TV. OP48 is a little vague and is generally enforced differently, depending on which TV station your soundtrack is being broadcast on. OP 48 is also based on VU and Peak level which is more a measure of the electrical signal of the audio rather then how loud the soundtrack actually seems to the listener. This meant that by using a bit of multiband compression and EQ you could make the sound seem louder while keeping in check with the OP48 requirements.” (Sound and Code. (2016))

When our overall project is compared to the original product there is obviously some differences; for example, we are not professional voice actors, some of our voice acting was good but it wasn’t consistent, and that’s coming from one of the main voice actors. One thing that I am proud of is the foley, even though it was my contribution it really brought the whole project together.

Another side project that I worked on this trimester was a trimester 6 grad film called Noah, where it followed the story of a boy who gets on offer to audition for AIM or the Australian Institute of Music. This then causes financial issues as the boy lives with his mother who is struggling with financial issues, as well as paying for her son’s piano lessons. For this project I was working with Harley James, I was operating the Boom and Harley was the recording engineer for this project. There were four days shooting all together that I was able to attend but I missed one day because of other commitments. This project really helped me develop my already existing boom operating skills as well as microphone placing for lapels on actors without them being scene on camera.

This trimester I mainly focused on quality over quantity as I wanted to produce and work on productions that had a high quality piece at the end of the project instead of what I did last trimester and work on as many projects that I could and hope that one of them turn out well and that’s what I believe that I have done.

References

OP 59 and Loudness Standards for Australian TV | Sound and Code. (2016).Sandymilne.com. Retrieved 19 August 2016, from http://www.sandymilne.com/op-59-and-loudness-standards-for-australian-tv/

The MS mastering technique is a technique that is used for mastering a track, and the MS stands for Mid and Side. This technique works by having a stereo mix split into 3 different outputs; Bus 1, and output 3 and 4, this bus outputs are then outputted to the master bus. The first bus, bus 1, is a mono bus as it only requires one signal to be sent through it, this then goes a mono Aux track then to the master channel and is left alone for now.

The next step is to send the same signal, the stereo mix, though a stereo output that gets sent to two different Aux channels, each with a plug in that can phase invert the signal. The side L mix will phase invert the Right channel and the side R mix will phase invert L channel, these signals then get sent through Bus 5 and 6, left mix on bus 5 and right mix on bus 6, these then get inputted to a new stereo Aux channel as a group. This then collects the two phases inverted signals together and creates a stereo mix that is missing the middle pan. Once the two groups of signals have reached the final Aux channels, the Mid and Side channels, these then get sent to the master bus.MS Signal Flow Diagram

What does this mean? basically it means that you have a larger control over what you can edit and master during the mastering stage. This is because the phase inverted signals has cut out the middle of the mix, this is why there is a second Aux channel labeled Mid, as it is the signal that fills out the middle of the stereo field.

When it comes to my own practice of mastering, I haven’t had a lot of experience as I haven’t fully mastered a track on my own before, but when I do eventually master a track this will be my go to technique as well as some other editing. When it comes to my own mastering there are a few steps; firstly I would head and tail the mix and fade them in and out slightly, just to make sure there are no pops and clicks when the track starts and stops. Next I would look over the track and see if there are any parts with dead air and reduce the dB of the mix so there are no noises in between the silence of the mix. next I would use the MS technique to get a better surround mix and begin to process the Mid and Side mixes. Once I have done that I will use a Maxim brick wall limiter, using this limiter I will use the threshold to boost the signal until it reaches- 0.1dB and use a ceiling of -0.3dB so then it will limit the signal from peaking.

The following write up is a small contract based on an artist recording agreement, between a company/producer and an artist/employer.

Artist Recording Agreement

The following shall constitute an Agreement (“Agreement”) between _________ (“Company”) and __________ (“Artist) with respect to Artist exclusively recording for Company, during the (“Term”) of this Agreement and Master recordings embodying Artist performances (“Master or Masters”).

1. RECORDING REQUIREMENTS: During the respective Contract Period, Artist agrees to record for Company sufficient Masters to comprise a minimum of one (1) extended playing phonograph record album (EP). Company shall have the right and opportunity to have a representative attend each recording session. An EP shall comprise no less than three (3) or more than five (5) Masters.
2. RECORD PRODUCTION: No recording sessions shall be commenced hereunder nor shall any commitments be made or costs incurred in connection therewith unless and until a proposed budget for the Masters shall be submitted by Artist in writing and approved by Company. Company shall have final decision on all money to be spent on all recording costs (“Recording Costs”). Company shall pay the Recording Costs of the Masters recorded at recording sessions conducted pursuant to this Agreement in any amount not in excess of the recording budget. Recording Costs incurred by Company in respect of Masters in excess of the recording budget theretofore approved by Company, shall by recoupable from any and all record royalties, excluding mechanical royalties, or other monies payable to Artist. Artist shall not incur any Recording Costs, not previously approved by Company in the Recording Budget, without Company’s written approval, and Artist failure to act accordingly shall be deemed a material breach of this Agreement.
3. ARTWORK: In connection with artwork prepared for use with the Masters delivered hereunder, and subject to time restrictions imposed by Company’s distributor, an Outside Artist shall be entitled to submit for our approval, proposed front cover art designs and/or Artist’s ideas therefor. In the event that the foregoing is unacceptable to Company, Company agrees to consult with Artist in connection with the preparation of alternate front cover artwork. Artist shall be entitled to utilise the artwork for concert, retail or mail-order merchandising, provided that Company shall have recouped, or Artist has reimbursed Company for all such costs for creation and licensing of the artwork.
4. ROYALTIES: Company agrees to pay royalties to Artist for each unit sold, according to the following schedule:

a. Company shall pay to Artist as a royalty, fifty percent (50%) for the Net Receipts received by Company, from exploitation of the Masters and fifty percent (50%) of any flat fee received by Company for licensing or sub-licensing the Masters less all Expenses agreed to herein, not to exceed fifty percent (50%) of the total Net Receipts received by Company (hereinafter Artist’s Royalty). In the event Company’s third part distributor withholds a commission and remits the margin to Company, this margin will be reduced by the agreed expenses and commissions and the balance divided equally between Company and Artist less the expenses set forth in this Agreement.

b. The royalties shall be computed in the national currency of Australia and shall be paid to Artist in Australian currency at the rate of exchange prevailing on the date payment is made or, if higher, at the rate of exchange at the business day that payment should have been in accordance with this Agreement. Any bona fide reasonable and or agreed fees paid to third party distributors by Company or deducted from Company’s Gross Receipts will be included as deductible expenses for purposes of calculating Net Receipts.

5. EXCLUSIVITY: You agree that during the period of this Agreement that you will not perform for any other company or firm for the purpose of producing phonographs  of any kind. After the expiration of this Agreement you will not re-record phonographs recorded hereunder this Agreement.

6. NAME & LIKENESS: During the Term of this Agreement and for as long as Company shall be entitled to sell the Records derived from Masters produced under this Agreement, Artist hereby licenses to Company the right, and to license others the right to use Artists’ name, likeness, voice or other identification for use in association with any promotion, marketing or advertising, in any medium now known and exisiting or that is created in the future, of the sale of Records pursuant to this Agreement. Furthermore, Artist does not reserve the right to license or consent to the use of Artist’s name, likeness, voice or other identification, for or in connection with the recording or exploitation of Records under this Agreement by or for anyone other than Company.

7. MASTER RIGHTS: All songs recorded/or submitted for use on the EP during the Term shall be recorded by Artist on Company’s behalf and all Records made therefrom, together with the performances embodied therein, shall, from the inception of their creation, by licensed to Company, under the terms and conditions started herein, for a period of ten (10) years, throughout the Territory. Company shall have the right to secure registration of the sound recording copyright in and to the Masters on Artist’s behalf and any and all renewals of such copyright. Company shall have the sole exclusive rights to use the Masters throughout the Territory or any part thereof in any manner it sees fit, including, without limitation, the sole and exclusive right throughout the Territory to:

manufacture, advertise, distribute, lease, license or otherwise use or dispose of Masters and Records embodying the songs, in any or all fields of use, by any method now or hereafter known, upon such terms and conditions as Company may elect.

8. SUSPENSION: Company reserves the right by written notice to Artist to suspend its obligation hereunder and/or to extend the expiration date of the then-current Contract Period. In the event of any default or breach by Artist of any of Artist’s obligations hereunder, Company, by written notice to Artist, reserve the right to suspend or terminate the Term or Company obligations to Artists.

9. DEFINITIONS: For the purpose of this Agreement, the following terms shall have the following meaning:

“Contract Period” shall mean any period of the Agreement wherein a term or obligation may be applicable.

“Expenses” shall mean all expenses incurred in connection with any production of audio and/or visual masters and all payments.

“Extended Playing” (“EP”) shall mean a Record that has no less than 3 Masters and being no less than fifteen (15) minutes in duration.

“Master” or “Masters” shall mean any original recording, production and/or manufacture of Records, together with any derivatives thereof (other than Records). 

“Net Receipts” shall mean the amount received by Company from sales or licenses of Records after deducting any and all direct costs, taxes and/or third party payments in connection with the creation, production, manufacture and exploitation or use of such Records or Masters recorded or produced under this Agreement.

“Records” shall mean all forms of sound reproductions whether now known or unknown, on or by which sound may be recorded for later transmission to listeners embodying sound, including without limitation, any discs, vinyl, tapes, cassettes, digital transmissions, audiovisual recordings or any other configurations.

“Recording Costs” shall mean all costs incurred with respect to the production of Masters embodying the Artists performances, including audio visual recordings.

“Term” shall mean the duration of the Agreement during which Artist accepts and agrees to services rendered to the Company.

“Territory” shall mean the world.

10. OBLIGATIONS OF COMPANY: In the event that Company does not fulfil its obligations within two years from the date of approval of Agreement to the delivery of the completed Master Recordings, Company shall be considered in breach of contract and will relinquish all rights and clams against said Master Recordings.

11. RIGHT TO LEGAL REPRESENTATION: Artist represents and warrants that Artist has read this Agreement and Artist understands that this is an important legal document. Artist hereby represents and warrants that Artist has been advised of its right to seek independent legal counsel in connection with the negotiation and execution of this agreement and that Artist has either retained and has been represented by such legal counsel or has knowingly and voluntarily waived its right to such legal counsel and desires to enter this agreement with the benefit of independent legal representation.

The effective date of this Agreement shall be the ____ day of _____________ (month), 20__.

 

Company

 

By:

________________________, CEO/President.

 

Artist

 

________________________

Track Information:
Recorded: March – August 2013
Released: January 2014
Genre: Pop Punk
Written By: Ben Barlow
Label: Hopeless Records
Producers: Seb Barlow, Neck Deep

Context:
Neck Deep are a 5 piece, Pop Punk outfit for Wales, UK. Formed in 2o12, the group released two EP’s; Rain in July and A History Of Bad Decisions, before being signed to Hopeless records in 2013, the band released a statement about being signed to this label: “It’s probably a terribly cliché thing to say, but signing to Hopeless is a dream come true for us. Being a part of the Hopeless family feels like a real honour; it’s such a massive step in our band’s career. Being associated with such a reputable label and the incredible records they put out has given us a sense of responsibility to live up to these high standards, but we have worked incredibly hard to create a debut album that we feel with match up. We literally can’t wait to release our record and do our best to make everyone proud and continue to maintain their standards of work. We are feeling very positive and excited about the future for our band, and everyone at Hopeless has been incredible in making us feel welcome and a part of the family.” (Neck Deep, 2013).

(Image 1 -Ben Barlow,Fil Thorpe-Evans, Dani Washington, Matt West, Lloyd Roberts. Neck Deep) 

On the 22nd of August, allegations of sexual misconduct were made towards guitarist Lloyd Roberts, these allegations made towards Roberts were of sending inappropriate photos to an underage girl. The response of the band was that they were aware of the situation and asked for “a moment to get to the bottom of this.” (Alternate press, 2o15) A day later, the band clarified that Roberts would be “stepping down” from the band as he didn’t want to make the band’s reputation be tarnished as a result of these allegations. On the 13th of October, Roberts released a statement which explained that the police had cleared him of the online allegation charges. In the same statement, Roberts hinted that there are no plans for him to return to the band. On the 18th of December, Sam Bowden officially joined the band as Roberts’ replacement.

Genre
The Genre of this track is Pop Punk as it has characteristics of both popular and Punk music; that being combining easy to follow chord progressions that is mainly found in Pop, with the fast paced drums and aggressive vocals found in Punk.

It’s not known when the term “Pop punk” was first used but since the mid 70’s, there has been pop influenced Punk music. bands from the Power Pop genre helped lay the foundation for the sound of Pop Punk, which help the genre emerge after the wave of Punk bands coming from the UK, these bands include The Ramones, the Beetles and The Sex Pistols. One of the noted bands that have helped pave the way for modern Pop Punk is the band Bad Religion, this band was formed in 1979 and was one of the bands leading the Southern Californian Punk scene at the time. It can be scene that this band layers their pissed off politicized sound with smooth melodic harmonies.

Song Breakdown:
Length: 2.56
BPM: 150
Time Signature:4/4

Instrumentation
Drums

because of the genre that this track originates from, the drum kit for this track is going to be very strong and punchy, giving it a very present place in the mix. The kick is slightly boomy and punchy, giving it a very a driving place in the mix with the bass guitar. It can be heard that during chorus of the track the drummer is using double kicks, as the beaters as moving too fast for only one to be in use.

The snare is snappy with a small bit of low end. The snare is present in the mix, as it’s a rhythmic instrument, it drives the track and adds some depth to it. The snare also works with the kick instead of fighting for presents in the mix, this works by them have different frequency bands.

The toms in this track are very resonant, adding some air into the drum mix, as they have a different tone to the snare and are higher frequency wise than the kick the three toms can be heard quite clearly in the mix. The panning for the different toms are quite spread out, adding some space to the drum mix.

Cymbals are quite present in this mix as the frequency for these instruments are high, making them noticeable in the mix. The Hi-hat is very constant in this track, driving the track with the pairing of the kick. The other cymbals in this track are panned differently and are spread evenly throughout the mix.

Bass

The bass is a little bit muddy in this track as the tuning for this track is drop C, and drop tuning a bass guitar is going to add a bit more slap as the tension is not as high on a low gauge string. It also seems like the high end of the bass has been rolled off as there isn’t a  lot of highs in the bass at all. despite being muddy in the mix, the recording of the bass is clean, meaning that the bass was recorded through a DI box instead of using a microphone on a bass amp.

Guitar

For this track there are two main guitar tracks, Rhythm and lead, each has been panned hard right and left to differentiate between the two very similar tracks. These guitars have been recorded via a microphone through an amplifier so the distortion has been added in the mixing stage of this track.

Vocals

The vocals for this track (and for the band in general) is a mix of yelling and signing, the vocalist; Ben Barlow does this to add some harshness to the vocals so it fits in to the genre of Punk, as this is a common characteristic for the genre. Because of the type of vocals that have been recorded for this track, this leads me to believe that during the recording of this track that the microphone that was used was an SM7B, as the microphone is a good quality dynamic microphone and is used for heavier vocals than singing. In the choruses it can be heard that the vocals have been double tracked, giving the track a larger feel and gives the vocals a layered tone and fits well with the track.

Dynamic Range

The dynamic range of this track is rather consistent because when the structure changes from verse to chorus, the chords to change but the level at which they play stay the same. Towards the end of the track there is a break in the dynamics as it slows towards the end of the track, this is only for a short time as the instrumentation picks back up a short time after.

 

 

 

References

Wishful Thinking (Neck Deep album). (2016). Wikipedia. Retrieved 19 August 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wishful_Thinking_(Neck_Deep_album)

(2016). Hopelessrecords.com. Retrieved 19 August 2016, from http://hopelessrecords.com/hopeless-records-signs-neck-deep/

Neck Deep. (2016). Wikipedia. Retrieved 19 August 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neck_Deep#cite_note-23

Pop punk. (2016). Wikipedia. Retrieved 19 August 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_punk

 

 

 

Adventure Time

Team members

Jackson Parker

Stefan Novak

Harley James

 

Task

 

Total sound replacement for one whole episode

The episode will be the “Card Wars” episode

Every member will have a part in everything

 

Task include:

• Foley
• Voice acting
• Musical Composition
• Sound effects
• Ambience

 

Plan

 

Each week we work on getting everything together, a member will work on a different task each week so that we can get everything done as quick as possible, once we have all the assets we need every member will meet together and have a review meeting. In the review meeting we will discuss what we like, things we want to change and start putting the session together.  

 

Equipment

 

For vocals we will use a C414 and a SM7B

Sound effects we will use a RODE NT1A and a C414

Musical composition and sound effect will created through Ableton and Logic

The final session will be mixed and mastered in Pro Tools

 

Budget

 

A good studio would cost around $500 an hour

We will spend roughly 4-8 hours a week in the studio.

In total the cost would be maximum $4,000 for studio time, 8 hours a week for 6 weeks.

 

Microphones

C414 – $900

SM7b – $400

NT1A – $255

The microphones are a one off cost in total $1,555

 

DAW costs

Logic pro X – $320
Ableton Suite – $900
Pro Tools – $600

Cables cost
Deluxe mic cable  – $52.50
We will need 3 – $157.50

Total Budget
$7,532.50

 

Timeline

 

Week	What	Who
1	Vocals, Foley, ambience, music production	All members
2	Vocals, Foley, ambience, music production	All members
3	Vocals, Foley, ambience, music production	All members
4	Editing	All members
5	Final Editing begin mastering	All members
6	Final mastering, finished product	All members

 

Risk

 

Risk	What to do
No one showing up	Make up for work/ask them what’s happening
No backups	Make makeups
Equipment failure	Change equipment, get new equipment
Lost files	Make sure to backup
Not good enough	Make it better, re do takes

 

Outcomes

 

At the end of the project we believe that we will achieve a total sound replacement for the Adventure Time episode. We all plan on working really hard to get everything precise and up to a standard that would be air-able on cartoon network. We will take noise limit references from the original episode and match accordingly.

We plan on getting a wider knowledge on voice acting, foley, bit tune composition and productions, and game like sounds out of this trimester. Gaming is a passion between all of us and would love to show this to future employees in gaming companies or even a position in a cartoon show.

For my major project this trimester, a group of my university classmates decided it would be a good idea to do a sound replacement of an Adventure time episode, specifically the episode “Card Wars”. This project has been challenging to say the least, as we have re-recorded the vocals for the characters, composed music and replaced all of the foley for this episode.

My contribution for this project, beside be a voice actor for the role of Jake the Dog, was to record, edit and mix the organic pieces of foley. this didn’t seem like a big task at first but believe it or not, I was wrong. the first thing that I did was map out all of the sound effects that I need to replace, going though the episode in Protools, my DAW of choice, and place a marker wherever there was a sound that I needed to replace, by the end of that stage I had 134 markers and was ready for the next step. (Photo Here)

The first step that I took was to replace the footsteps, see what I did there? Anyway, I used a AKG c414 to record all of the sound effects that I created, for the footsteps, as this is an animated show, I took liberty of that for the sound effects, I used my fingers tapping on the table of the studio I was working in (the post production suite at SAE) as the footsteps and pitch shifted it to where it felt the best, and recorded all of the footsteps for both of the main characters; Jake the Dog and Finn the human. Next was the subtle box taps that Jake does during the beginning of the episode, this was replicated in the same manner, recording myself tapping the table and pitch shifting, however I also recorded the sound of the c414 microphone box opening, specifically the piece of acrylic inside of the box rubbing across the felt inside of the box, this adds an effect that makes it feel more realistic.

If you are familiar with the animated show “Adventure Time”, one of its main characters; Jake, has the ability to change his shape and become gigantic or tiny, he can also change how long each limb is. When this happens in this episode, I used the sound of a balloon being rubbed and mimicked Jake’s movements, the end result really does work well.

The next main foley recording that I did was during the second part of the scene when Jake stretches to clear a pile of pots, pans, plates cutlery and cups off of a table and throws them out a window, how I replaced this was record the balloon for Jake’s stretching, recorded a box filled with foley FX  instruments (plates, pans, metal poles, chains etc.) and recorded myself moving my hand around in the box, doing this makes it sound as if its being picked up in a pile. When Jake stretched to throw the pile out the window, a pile of plates and pans got theatrically thrown out the window, so what happens when things get thrown out a window? They smash. Lucky for myself I didn’t need to break anything as i have already recorded a smashing noise for a previous project, this really made it easy to find the right sound as I’ve already edited this sound recording.

Being this episode is based around a card game, there needs to be some card noises; like cards being picked up, put down and turned, I recorded this by using a paper card that I hand on my wallet at the time and it sounded great once I edited it, all of the sounds that I used that came from that card fitted the scene.

One of the best and worst sound effects that I created for this film is this one now, as when I was recording it it was really gross but sounded great. During the card fight, one of the cards that Jake has is the Wandering Bald man, that just happens to be walking in a mud landscape, yep, mud. What this means to me is that I need to figure out how to recreate the sound of walking in mud, I tried many different sources trying to find the best sound, I used the inside of my shoe, but that didn’t work, I tried to process the sound of Jake walking but that didn’t work. After many different trials to no avail, I looked around the studio to see if I could find anything that could work in my favor, than I saw an object that I used as a sound effect in a previous scene, a packet of sweet chili gran waves, I used the packet for the rustle of the packet as Finn has a few packets of chips and I needed to record that sound. What I ended up doing was getting a two handfuls of the gran waves and crushing them up to no quite a powder but almost the constancy of mashed up wheatbix, I then added water to this in a bowl and began to mix, this was a point where I was questioning what I was doing but I continued to mix until the paste was ready, and recorded myself mashing my fingers into this paste in time with the wandering bald man walking and it sounded amazing. I was really surprised how well this worked. here is a picture of the paste that I used for the sound effect of the wandering man:

Throughout this session there was a lot, and I mean A LOT of reused sounds, as every time a card was played a sound was needed, so I reused the card noises quite frequently.

When it came to problem solving the post production studio can be a bit of a hassle when you first use it as the settings are all over the place and there are multiple interfaces that you can use that are attached to different sets of speakers, so knowing your signal flow in that studio is vital to getting work done in there. I was in the post production room for 1 and a half hours and completed the first minute of the episode or the first scene. Once that was completed I had to relocate my set up because there was another booking straight after mine and being such a short booking, knowing the room and getting set up as fast as possible is very important. So once I finished there I moved to a live room that wasn’t being used, this worked out well for me as the rooms are good environments for recording, besides two out of four walls being made of glass. Once I moved into the live room I used a presonus interface to help me record through to my windows laptop. Now being a windows laptop I needed to install a driver to run the interface but at the time I didn’t know that so I tried a different interface, a zoom F8 field recorder had hope that would work, but it had the same issue. I then looked up the zoom F8 instruction book on the internet and that brought me to the zoom website and there was a link to the F8 driver, this made me download and install the driver for both the F8 and the presonus interfaces because I knew what I was missing. Once I had installed the driver for the presonus interface, which ended up being the interface that I used for the rest of the session, I began getting signal to my laptop from the c414 (after I turned on phantom power on the interface).

There’s still a little bit to do on the overall project but the organic recordings that I was in charge of is complete and that is a step in the right direction.

Track Information:
Released: September, 2002
Genre: Hardcore Hip hop/ Rock Rap
Written By: Marshall Mathers (Eminem) & Jeff Bass
Label: Aftermath, Shady, Interscope
Producers: Eminem & Jeff Bass
Awards: Platinum (ARIA), Platinum (RIANZ)

Genre:

The Genre for this track is Hip Hop.  Hip Hop started in the early 1970’s and began to evolve when mixers and samplers became more commercially available, this new availability of mixers and samplers encouraged the popularity of block parties around the New York City area, this was mainly apparent among African American youths residing in the Bronx. The area of the Bronx is most northerly point of the five Boroughs of New York City, the others Boroughs include; Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. At block parties DJs played percussive breaks of popular songs using two turntables to extend the breaks.

As I have previously stated; this genre developed and began to evolve as different mixers and samplers became more available and affordable, like the ADM BC-5, which as a console mixer, and the EMS Musys system, which was one of the first samplers to be developed. Different turntable techniques began to develop, alongside youths who would attend this “block parties” developing rapping as a vocal style in which allowed the artist speaks along with an instrumental or synthesized beat. Artists that  Notable artists at this time include Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, Fab Five Freddy, Marley Marl, Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Moe Dee, Kurtis Blow, Doug E. Fresh, Whodini, and Warp 9. In the 1980s, Hip hop as a genre began to develop even further to more complex styles, spreading worldwide as during the 1970’s in was contained to the US, it began to spread and become a part of the music scene in dozens of countries.

What happened in this year?

• George Bush creates the Department of Homeland Security on June 7th to fight threats of terrorism
• Estimated 40 million people now infected with Aids / HIV virus worldwide.
• Brazil Wins 2002 World Cup in Korea Republic and Japan

 

Era?

This was rap was coming up to the point it’s at today, with a large amount of artists coming up that are common names today, with 50 cent being named by billboard the number 1 rap song artist in 2000. This is when Eminem really became known in the mainstream media as a rapper, and has continued to hone that name to become a “Rap God”.

Target Demographic?

The target demographic for this track and Eminem as an Artist would be the audience who enjoy listening to this type of music and this sub genre of rap. This audience is as broad as it can get as Eminem is such a household name nowadays and is known by a large amount of people.

Cultural significance of this song?

This track deals with a lot of content as it covers all of the things that the artist; Eminem wants to get off of his chest and “Clean out his Closet”. This topic is very important and for many people it can be hard to speak about things that are hard to say, and if there is another media that you can use to speak about these things then it’s better than saying nothing at all.

Para Musical Intentions?

The lyrics that are presented in this track are very meaningful in the fact that depict all things that have happened to eminem in his life. The second line in this track depicts Eminem being protested, this is true; at 2001 Grammy Awards, Eminem performed the track “Stan” with elton John, There were protesters outside the award show urging cancellation of Eminem’s performance because of his lyrics. He continues to rap about how he was brought up without a father and “How he wonders if he ever kissed him goodbye”, he continues to rap that he doesn’t care if he did and wishes he was dead.

Aesthetic Content?

The instrumentation for this track isn’t large but the use of these instruments is what make the track great, the snare in the right panning really helps drive the track, working on the off beat when the kick is on the beat. The bell that is added in the chorus adds depth to the track as it creates ease when Eminem in singing the chorus. The vocals for this track are rapped with a lot of hate and anger because of the emotional topics that he covers in this track, as he covers his Father leaving him as a child, his Mother popping prescription pills in front him at a young age and how that has carried over to his drug abuse as a young adult.

 

 

References

EMS Produces the First Digital Sampler in the First Digital Music Studio (Circa 1969) : HistoryofInformation.com. (2016). Historyofinformation.com. Retrieved 18 August 2016, from http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=2717

Consoles of the 70s : part 2 | Preservation Sound. (2016). Preservationsound.com. Retrieved 18 August 2016, from http://www.preservationsound.com/?p=6130

Pearson, T. (2015). What Happened in 2002 inc. Pop Culture, Prices and Events.Thepeoplehistory.com. Retrieved 18 August 2016, from http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/2002.html

One of my projects this trimester that I have been involved in, is a short, 2 minute film, that requires all of the audio to be replicated and replaced with foley. This project was highly enjoyable as it made me think differently to how I would normally in regards to how different objects can make different sounds and how they can be manipulated to fit different scenarios.

The beginning stage of this project was myself going on set and recording some on location audio for both ambient noise and some of the original foley recordings to be mixed and edited during the post production stage of this project. The equipment that I used for this stage was a NTG2 microphone, that was used on a boom pole, a zoom H8 field recorder, and a sennheiser lapel microphone. Here is a photo of the gear that I used:

Though out the day there were 3 main shots that were recorded on the day with and transition shots also, the main shots were taken in a bedroom, an open room or “lounge room” and a kitchen. The bedroom was a tall room with hard wood walls, creating a natural reverb though out the room that I had to capture rather than try and recreate it in post production. For the recording of ambient noise I used the NTG2 that was attached to the boom pole, this was then recorded through the Zoom H8 field recorder. When recording the foley on set I used the same set up that was used to record the ambient noise but during this stage I aimed the microphone at the sound source instead of the room.

The filming during this shoot went to plan, and they created an edit for me to work off for the foley recording. For this stage I mainly used the post pro studio here at uni and went to work, using two different microphones to capture different recordings for the foley. The Microphones that I used for this stage was an AKG C414 and an SM57 to record from two different miking positions; close miking and distant miking. I used a large variety of different sources to make the foley track, here is a photo for reference of the materials that I used:

All these sound sources were used to create the end result that was used in the final product, here is a screenshot from the final session: