Category: sonicArts

Listening List 1 Michel Chion: Requiem – Dies Irae, 1978 John Chowning: Stria (1978) Brian Eno: Unfamiliar Wind (Leeks Hill), 1978 – 82 Jonty Harrison: Klang (1982) Jonathan Harvey: Mortuos Plango, Vivos Vocos (1980) Paul Lansky: Six Fantasies on a Poem by Thomas Campion – Her Reflection (1978 – 79) György Ligeti: Artikulation (1958) John Tenney: Collage #1 ‘Blue Suede’ (1961) A zip file of the entire list is…

Audacity is a free, cross platform, open source audio editor. You can download it from Sourceforge. We will use Adobe Audition a great deal, but Audacity is very functional, and the price is fantastic.

The Blackboard site has not quite populated with all students, so I’ll post some early things here. You can always download a copy of the syllabus here. I know that this is important to you. Really, it is. Read the first two sections of Chapter 1 from Jeffrey Hass’s Introduction to Computer Music (Introduction and Sound).…

The final test will happen during class on Thursday (12/5). Here is a brief review. Sampling Rate What audio property is sampled? How often do you need to sample to get an accurate recording? What happens if you don’t take measurements fast enough? (If you sample rate is not fast enough, or high enough.) What…

Audio delay is a simple process that allows for a variety of audio effects. In the most basic implementation, incoming audio is copied. The copy is delayed by some some specified time and its amplitude is scaled before mixing it back into the original signal. Short delay times – generally less than 20 ms –…

Equalization and Filtering The difference between filtering and equalization (EQ) is generally one of amount and purpose. Since EQ is a form of filtering, I’m going to explain filters first. Filters A general definition for a filter is anything that changes the gain of frequencies in a sound. This definition is so general it is useless, since…

The last in a series of convolution how-to posts, this post covers using convolution in Digital Performer, using ProVerb. Like the Convolution Reverb in Audition, ProVerb is a convolution-based reverb effect that allows you to load your own impulse files. You can also adjust dry/wet mix, input and output gain, reverb width, and impulse length…

I’ve covered convolution in SoundHack in a previous post. You can also use Adobe Audition for convolution, since it has a convolution-based reverb process. Effects in Audition can be previewed non-destructively from within each effects dialog window, but once you apply the effect the process is destructive (the file is changed – once you save…

Convolution can be used musically for cross-filtering of sounds and for simulating reverb. The process is the same, no matter your musical intention. Different musical effects can be obtained by using impulse files of various lengths and amplitude shapes. Convolution in SoundHack SoundHack implements convolution as a file process, the same as its other processing…

I have several posts already up about spectral processing. Here are the most relevant to our Intro to Sonic Arts class: The Fourier Transform Phase Vocoding Convolution