General Points re: EAMT 203 Tutorial Outline

• My e-mail:

mikep@alcor.concordia.ca

• Consult the class web page for documents, assignment explanations, course notes, and other info pertaining to the EAMT 203 tutorials:

http://alcor.concordia.ca/~mikep/eamt203

• The tutorial schedule as well as portfolio guidelines are already posted there, and the Powerpoint presentations I use in class will soon be as well.

• Help is given in tutorials for two major assignments in the lecture portion of the course

• Listening assignment

• Concert report assignment

• These assignments are marked by the lecture professor

• For the tutorial grade, participation in the form of in-class playing & discussion of work and in-class presentations is vital, as is attendance.

Technical / Software Dimension of EAMT 203

• Acknowledge that experience in sound editing & sound montage software is more and more common

• No particular software editor, sequencer, etc. is therefore absolutely required in the course

• HOWEVER, for those who do not have access to their own audio editing & montage software, and to facilitate communication between students & professor in composition techniques workshops, basic instruction is given in Peak and Soundmaker (advanced audio editor-processors) as well as Deck (audio montage editor) to provide useful & necessary tools for composition and consultations (Weeks 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9 in MacLab).

• Who has laptops with audio software? Please bring them to the techniques labs, along with headphones.

Technical assistance is available all year on an ad hoc basis from the Music Department’s studio assistant, Colin de la Plante.

Contact him to set up a time, preferably in small groups, at:

moleofsoul@yahoo.ca

[Review syllabus]

20kHz

5kHz

1kHz

500Hz

200Hz

20Hz

10kHz

Sonogram height shows frequency of spectral elements:

Sonogram colors show intensity of spectral elements:

Softest Loudest

Sonogram L-R axis shows time placement of spectral elements:

Musical example: excerpts from Debussy, Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune

Spectrum

1

Analysis: sonogram/spectrograms

Sonogram colors show intensity of spectral elements:

Softest Loudest

EA example

Spectrum analysis (sonogram/spectrograms)

20kHz

5kHz

1kHz

500Hz

200Hz

20Hz

10kHz

2

Everyone should have their own (or have access to) Sonogram/Spectrogram software:

FREE option: Sonic Visualizer (cross-platform; download from www.sonicvisualizer.org)

Spectrum analysis (sonogram/spectrograms)

Everyone must have their own (or have access to) Sonogram/Spectrogram software:

FREE option: Sonic Visualizer (cross-platform; download from sonicvisualizer.com

Small learning curve - only learn necessary commands / menus, e.g.:

Spectrum analysis (sonogram/spectrograms)

Other options:

- [MAC] Amadeus II or Amadeus PRO

- includes audio editor (PRO is multitrack) as well as sonogram analysis; as little as $30 U.S.

- [PC] several shareware, freeware and inexpensive possibilities;

- input search words ‘spectral analysis software’ or ‘spectrogram software’

The vertical axis of an oscillogram represents the amplitude or force of the pressure wave

Lower amplitude (softer) parts of the sound

Higher amplitude (louder) parts of the sound

The horizontal axis of an oscillogram represents the timeline over which the pressure wave plays out

(Beginning / earlier part of sound) (End / later part of sound)

Amplitude and loudness

Amplitude and loudness

In amplitude terms,around -1 dB

In amplitude terms,around -12 dB

In terms of loudness,difference soundsa bit less dramatic

Musical example: excerpts from Ravel, Boléro 3 EA example: 4

Certain sounds, like the notes produced by musical instruments, have what is referred to as pitch

Pitches are more neatly organized compared to other sounds, consisting of stable frequencies that reinforce one another because of being mathematically related in a simple way.

Again, a zoomed-out oscillogram does not tell us whether a sound is pitched or unpitched:

Sound A

Sound B

All we know is that the first sound has sharp attack, andthen a consistent decay…

…and that the second sound has several peaks before decaying

Frequency - pitched & unpitched sounds

But a look at the sonograms for the two sounds immediately reveals which is a stable, organized pitch, and which isn’t:

Sonogram A:

Sonogram B:

Fundamentalfrequency

Harmonicmultiples of

the fundamental

Thick clustersof partials not

reinforcing anyparticular frequency

Frequency - pitched & unpitched sounds