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TRANSCRIPT
Teaching in Technicolor
Incorporating Technology into the Studio
Overview❖ Audio Recording
❖ Video Recording
❖ MIDI and Digital Keyboards
❖ Software
❖ Why should we incorporate technology?
❖ A Technophile’s Wishlist
Audio Recording
Types of Microphones
Omnidirectional Bidirectional Cardioid Hypercardioid
Dynamic Ribbon Condenser
Understanding Our Microphones
❖ MEMS: Microelectromechanical System❖ Designed to capture the amplitude and frequency of
the human voice.❖ Because it’s a phone.❖ Some smartphones have multiple microphones or
noise gates❖ Smaller sampling rate
❖ Recording apps exist for both Android and iOS❖ They can adjusts the digital aspects of recording, such
as sampling rate, noise gates❖ You can buy external microphones for smartphones
and laptops❖ Handheld recorders are portable, and are much better
than smartphones for recording
The ImportanceOf Placement
Placement can affect the blend, the volume, the range, the sound quality, and the reverb.
If you are in a performance venue, you might want to place the microphone in the middle and up - think of the direction of the sound from the performer.
Voice
Strings
Winds and Brass
Piano
Be wary of...❖ Leakage: sounds from other sources blending into each other (especially if
recording an ensemble)❖ Background Noise: sounds like HVAC systems can harm an otherwise
good recording❖ Reverb: This is the persistence of sound - too much or too little reverb can
affect the quality of the recording
❖ The closer to the voice the microphone is, the less “reflection” you get - or a more “focused” sound.
❖ Place the microphone between 6 inches and 3 feet away from the f-hole.
❖ The best sound is often right near the bell - too far away and you’ll hear a lot of echoes and reverb.
❖ Microphones can be placed right near the soundboard, or about 15 feet back and way up, depending on the room.
Editing❖ Trimming: essentially cut, copy, and paste. But you can create “artefacts” (unwanted sounds) by doing this, so be careful.
❖ Fading: Allows you to fade in and fade out, especially useful to get rid of audience noises in a live recording.
❖ Noise Reduction: Eliminates certain frequencies - can be very useful to get rid of humming from the environment.
❖ Synchronization: Lining up audio and video recorded from separate devices
❖ Never edit recordings for competitions/auditions unless they specifically allow, beyond trimming the audio. Sound engineers can always tell!
Teaching with Recordings
❖ Poor recordings can make it difficult for students to listen for tone, dynamics, phrasing… pretty much anything musical!❖ Recording your lesson for students can help them during the week, both by demonstrations and listening for what they did
during the lesson❖ High quality recordings can help students (and ourselves) hear what sound we’re capable of.❖ Recording recitals make a great memento for students, their friends, and families.❖ Recording backing tracks and accompaniments can help with learning ensembles, concertos, and even technique (in place of a
metronome.❖ The waveforms of a recording can help a student see their dynamic contrasts.
Video Recording❖ Video recordings are great for showing students technical
problems and solutions.
❖ Make great mementos for students, friends, and families.
❖ Can be used for long-distance teaching.
❖ As smartphones increasingly become cameras that can text, their video recording capabilities far exceeds their use as an audio recorder.
The Importance of PlacementPart Two❖ Sports uses multiple camera angles for a reason! Different angles can greatly affect your
perception of a student’s technique
MIDI and Digital Keyboards
❖ Built-in capabilities are great for backing tracks, metronome, and exploring other sounds.
❖ The MIDI interface allows you to hook it up to your computer: allows you to place directly into a music notation software, composition programs like Garageband, connect to visualizers, and other programs like MaxMSP.
❖ MIDI also allows a keyboard to “talk” to another keyboard, and can be used for a (much cheaper) Disklavier system.
Dongles❖ One downside is just how many things you need to support all the different technologies.❖ You might need:
➢ USB adapters➢ USB-B, USB-C, USB male to male...➢ VGA/HDMI adpaters➢ ¼ inch to ⅛ inch adapters➢ Power cords➢ XLR cables➢ Various audio cables
Digital Audio Workstations
❖ DAWs can be very expensive: Ableton, Logic, and Adobe Audition can be hundreds of dollars
❖ Free DAWs are great and do almost everything you will probably need to do.
❖ Audacity, Reaper, and Ardour (Linux).
Video Editing Programs
❖ Most often, the program that comes with your computer is more than adequate
❖ iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, Quicktime (basic editing only)
Music Notation Software
❖ Sibelius (no longer supported) and Finale are still the industry standard.
❖ Dorico is the newest notation program.
❖ Musescore is a good free program for basic notation.
Visual Programming Languages
❖ If you want a challenge, or are really into electronic music, these are the programs for you!
❖ MaxMSP is the most common program used by composers today.
❖ PureData is the free version of MaxMSP, but isn’t as user friendly.
❖ You can also explore SuperCollider and RCTmix if you want to get weird with it.
This sounds hard. So why should you bother?
❖ Can help students engage with music through creating visuals to go with the piece
❖ Adds another creative outlet to learning music
❖ Allows students to hear and see things that they can’t when they are playing
❖ Allows students to explore new sounds
❖ Students and teachers to engage with technology
❖ Enables long-distance lessons and performances
❖ Mementos for students
❖ High quality recording can help students with auditions, competitions, and festivals
❖ Creating backtracks and accompaniments for repertoire and technique
A Technophile’s Dream❖ Dr. Dan Landes’s set-up: Go Pro camera hooked up to monitor
above the piano, and a finger weight sensor installed in the acoustic grand piano
❖ Eye-Tracking Goggles
❖ Yamaha Disklavier/Steinway Spirio
❖ Piano Marvel
❖ Vibrato, pitch bend, filters, and microtones: TouchKeys
❖ Wearable controls with MaxMSP
