Hey guys, Lord Nikon here. It was recently brought to my attention that it may be interesting for others to get an idea for how i write music, being that a lot of people are in the dark about all the awesome possibilities that you have with just a computer. But I think I’ll take it a bit further and get very in-depth in what will be a multi parter. So I will start off with some of the basics(terminology, etc.) basically just give you a proper intro. If there are any questions please post them in the comments section and i will reply promptly.
Ok, so ….. i think ill begin a the most logical starting point. Which is the waveform …. calm down, No crazy science or math here. Just some basics to help you understand what certain knobs and sliders will do for you. Trust me i hate math too. I will explain the basics of a waveform to you today and why and how they can effect you. At best you will come away from this with an epiphany, at worst you will understand you car’s EQ a little better.
So, the waveform…..for the explanations i will use the most simple form of an audio waveform a sine wave.As you can see there are some interesting attributes to this image. You can tell that there are changes in amplitude happening over time in which certain degrees are being marked. Now for the explanations…. the amplitude when related to audio typically means volume, Pretty cut and dry. The degree markers are markers plots in the phase of that wavelength. Now on to what this means for you. There are things that can happen with phase relationships that are as follows:
Phase cancellation: As you can see by the pictures below the two waveforms are 180 degrees out of phase. Now if you had these two waveforms up in a DAW(Digital Audio Workstation) of any kind and they were out of phase like this, They would make no sound at all.Whats happening is essentially a big tug of war. As the first sine wave tries to go up the other tries to go down and since they are absolutely symmetrical it just becomes essentially no waveform, a flat line, which means no amplitude = volume. Pretty weird i know. But being that every sound you hear is not this simple and not symmetrical this is a rare thing to achieve. But definatly a good thing to understand.
Phase reinforcement: What happens here is when they are essentially in-sync. Peaking at the same times and dipping at the same time. This the opposite of what happens above and so is the result. Twice the amplitude = volume. In realistic situations this can cause certain parts of a sound to kind of JUMP OUT AT YOU . Being that 99.99% of natural waveforms will not be this symetrical, You can still get the effects mentioned above but most of the time they will be spotty. The same is true with phase cancellation, It will tend to make things sound thin. This is typically called phase shift because its not happening all the time just certain parts of the waveform shifted to cause alterations in your sound. Which can some times be what your looking for. If you know what a flanger or phaser are this is the method by which that effect is created. Doubling the source sound and the controlling how the phase shifting is affecting it.
I can see that you are wondering “well what about the space/time part?” That is actually the biggest thing for today. As you can see there are 2 complete waveforms happening in the image above. If that happened over 1 second of time that would be a 2 Hz waveform.the measurment of hertz is based on frequency……. how frequently a complete waveform happens in a second. its really that simple. Humans would not be able to hear this due to the fact that we can only hear from 20Hz to 20,000Hz (20kHz) at best. I mean only babies can hear that. now this relates to pitch in a number of ways but ill keep it simple unless i get a request to go more in depth but basically the higher the frequency the higher the pitch. Now maybe that cleared up a little bit of what you see when you look at an EQ in your car or even in your DAW. I am thinking about going more in-depth with the relationship of frequency to pitch but ill let you guys tell me what you want in the comments since i was just trying to keep this simple and to the point.
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8 Comments
Ok nerds, I’m looking to buy a new cardioid mic for my podcasts, any recommendations? I’ve looked at a few and my budget is up to $400, obviously I would like to get the most bang for my buck. I’ll be using a USB preamp with onboard controls and phantom power because I think this would be the most mobile application (Unless you guys know of anything better otherwise). Right now I use a dynamic mic and it picks up ambient noises and it’s got horrible clipping so help me out. If you can answer my question I’ll be a dedicated reader and I’ll validate your site to my buddies!
Well, for one is it just speech? If so what is typically used for speech is a - Shure sm-58 - I am not very firmiliar with mobile recording, Most of what i do is studio based. What were you looking at? I’m sure for 400$ You can get a better mic that an sm-58……. But you may not need to. Are you firmiliar with gates? i was planning on covering them later but i dont mind telling you that one may help you. You can use it to suppress low-level noise , here’s the skinny:
Essentially the “gate” will open once it recieves above a certain dB level and then close once it’s not recieving that specific dB level or above anymore the “gate” will close, Hence keeping out noise when someone isn’t talking into the mic. now when you say a USB preamp do you mean that the mic acctually has a USB plug on it or that you have a small USB audio interface that has an XLR jack on it? hope i helped ill be watching the comments for your reply.
p.s. If you are doing interviews or the like a lavelier (lapelle)mic might work for you but i am not firmiliar with pricing at all.
Eh, by mobile I mean I’d like to be able to move my equipment around if my location changes. I record at my apartment, and the acoustics in the room fair well with recording, and my neighbors are quiet. But I also go to lounges and record. I’ve look at the Shure SM-58 and it’s not for me. I’d like something a little more rugged and stationary (If you haven’t checked out the Heil Sound PR40, that’s what I’m looking for, but I don’t really know of any competitive products that are comparable to it for the price). The mic has a standard big-dick jack and it plugs into the preamp, which then is fed to my computer via USB (Well, that’s the idea anyway as soon as I buy the stuff).
Yes, I’m familiar with the CONCEPTS of gates, I haven’t tinkered with it. Can I control it through software? If so, what are some good programs that allows me to do this…OR is it a microphone/hardware function?
And I won’t be doing interviews like that (so I won’t need lapel mics). Most of my callers use headsets via VoIP and it’s perfect. If I had money I’d ship them plantronics headsets.
well ,If you are not doing speech or drums typically a gate will not be put into use but if you find that you could use something like that then there are some great software solutions. http://www.kvraudio.com/get/860.html
there is one i found to be enough to get the job done but not enough to be too much. something that has become typical in today’s more is better world.
But on to the mic’s. I didn’t know heil made mic’s and i couldn’t find a tarnish on the rep. of this mic. thats really all i can say about that one but i did bring some competition to the table for you.
Now you said that your budget was 400$ so this may be out of your range but only by tax. This mic is a tube mic, which means it will give you that lovely analog warmth from the electronics that are in it , And cad mics are built like tanks. but it does have a separate power supply which in you travels could be a bit more hassle that you need. but i feel it would get an amazing sound , Especially on an acoustic.
http://www.zzounds.com/item–CADTRION8000
Next up is an AKG C 3000B
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/AKG-C-3000-B-Condenser-Microphone?sku=271137
I am a huge fan of AKG condenser mics. I have not used this specific one but every mic ive used by AKG has been awesome. now being that this is a condenser you would need phantom power which you wouldn’t need with a dynamic mic, And condenser mics are typically kinda tough but nowhere near the rugged-ness of a dynamic mic. You will also get a couple of features with this mic that you wont with the dynamic, Being:
1. a pad - (definition) - its a switch on the mic that will let you turn down the signal before it has been through the mic’s electronics, preventing the distortion or clipping you said you were having trouble with. now this is only 10dB so its not an end all but it should help.
2. a low-end roll off- (definition) - ever noticed that when you record and your guitar is too close you get a lot of bassy sound into the recording? well this is meant to help prevent that.
And last but definately not least…….. the Blue Bird
http://www.zzounds.com/item–BALBLUEBIRD
This mic is just pretty, can’t deny it. But the BLUE family of mic’s are famous and long standing in the industry for having the sound of 1000$ mic’s for 1/4th of the price. The reason for that being its almost flat frequency response, meaning that the electronics in the mic have a very small influence on the sound shaping. So basically what you put in is what you get out. No bells and whistles just a good mic.
I hope i’ve been able to help you jamie,
if you still have questions i’m glad to answer and ill keep an eye out for comments.
Lord Nikon
Great response, you guys are awesome.
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