Sound Design: A Series of Unfortunate Events

Sol I've learne3d a few things, not just about sound design and music composition, but also about life as a whole. Obviously I won't be posting blogs every day because I'll never get any real work done. But what I expect will happen is that I'll learn valuable lessons that I can pass along in my blog. This post will be one such example.

First let me say I'm not a fatalist in the truest sense of the word. yes, I do believe in a God who knows everything. However, I also believe that God, despite knowing my thoughts and actions before I think and do them, is still gracious to allow me to think and act of my own volition. That said, I try my very best to choose to allow this same God who knokws everything to make my decisions for me. After all, if He knows everything, would it not be the smartest thing to give Him all the decision-making power?

Consequently, it follows that MOST things in life are pre-ordained. I saw MOST because I am an imperfect creature and, as such, will often fail at making decisions consistent with God's will. Regardless, I still think everything happens for a reason.

So it is I report on a very unfortunate snag in my sound design project. Over the past several weeks, my MBP display has occasionally flickered, lost resolution, or displayed random trash. I didn't think anything of it because this coincided with heavy use of Reason and I just thought maybe the software was just graphics-intensive enough that it caused problems. Indeed, the problem seemed to go away with a restart if it didn't go away on its own.

So Tuesday night (while working on the blog, ironically) the situation severely deteriorated--so much so that I couldn't restart the machine without a kernel panic.

This all happened while visiting relatives just north of Nashville. Meanwhile, I have a New Year's gig to get ready for and about 7 hours of travel time just to get home. At this point all I can think of is how I'm going to make it home, load my gear, make it in time to set up, and still have time to program my backup computer, an old iBook G4 with barely enough RAM to boot up let alone get through a gig running Logic 7 in my feeble attempt to replace Mainstage just for one gig!

My loving wife, totally sympathetic to my cause, senses and shares my low esteem. She helps me get to the nearest Mac service center where they tell me there's nothing they can do but will let me know ASAP what my options are. Best case scenario is there is a faulty video chipset that Apple will replace at little or no cost. Worst case scenario is they won't and will replace the entire logic board for the cost of a new computer (consistent with how Apple typically does business--I know this). Despite my love for Apple products, this is a point of contention and resentment. Replacing the computer is not an option.

If I may digress for a moment, I feel the need to outline my history with Apple computers. I bought my iBook G4 (Arctic white) when I finally got sick of PC's--especially faulty, unreliable ones. After getting the iBook, I loaded it up with Finale, MasterTracks Pro, and Logic Pro 7 later on. Things were great for a long time aside from some latency problems in Logic. Big deal, just turn off most of the FX plugins! Time passes. I notice that performance is tapering off and the iBook is not handling well with my hardware. One day I start getting really bizarre performance, random freezes/crashes, and eventually nothing. Turns out solder had broken away from the logic board. I'm covered under Applecare, so I take it in. Apple replaces the logic board AND the battery after a recall notice. I'm thoroughly pleased. But I'm still having problems with hardware as well as latency issues. I hang on at my wife's insistence. And then Apple released Logic Studio 8 (with Mainstage). I was thrilled until I figured out none of it would run on the iBook. That was the final nail in the coffin.

I bought the MBP specifically for Logic 8/Mainstage. I continued with Finale upgrades. I installed Absynth. Times were good. However, dragging the MBP to work/gigs/rehearsals, to living in a hotel room for 2 1/2 months after the bottom fell out of the economy, to having 2 small kids crawling all over me and the MBP all took their toll and I ended up with a busted display. By tyhis point the warranty is expired as would have Applecare even if I'd bothered to purchase it. I have the display replaced along with other repairs which cost as much as a new MBP, but I really don't want to deal with software re-authorization on a new machine. Replacing the computer is not an option!

This wouldn't be the first time I've had to deal with "the system." Remember the 2 small children? The tip of the iBook charger broke off inside the power supply. We took it to the nearest Apple Store. They say "We can fix it, but we'll have to replace the entire logic board for the cost of a new computer." What??? We get a friend of ours (not affiliated with Apple) to order a replacement power supply and install it right before buying a new charger. For a total cost of under $100, we have an iBook that runs practically like new!

Suffice it to say the honeymoon is over.

What was I originally writing about? Oh yeah, things happen for a reason.

I make peace with the fact I'll need to reprogram my backup machine for the gig. I email our guitarist to find out when setup time is and check for replies every few hours. Nothing. I get tired of waiting so I ask my wife to give him a call for me. Just as she picks up her cell, the drummer rings in. Turns out he wants to know if she has any photos of the band we can use for a press release related to an upcoming gig in February. It turns out that the New Year's gig got cancelled LAST WEEK!!! I had no idea. No one told me. We decide to stay in Nashville one more night.

Everything happens for a reason. I didn't know the venue had cancelled on us. I was making plans to be there. Now I no longer have the pressure of traveling for an entire day for a gig. I don't have to worry about finding a spare computer run my rig. I don't have to worry about the quality of sound suffering in performance nor the embarrassment arising from an unreliable system--whether it's the MBP crashing or trying to recover the iBook in the middle of a set (or song). Ugh... I need some good samplers...

Now I'm on my way home to the Mississippi Delta minus my best computer. I'm feeling badly bruised, but certainly not defeated. The sound design project will NOT be put on hold. It just needs a temporary change of direction, a momentary detour.

I still have the DX7 and an unused RAM4 cartridge. This just gives me an opportunity to write some DX programs to sample later. That and I backed up my work offsite before my MBP completely died, so there's still a chance I can work on the project on a spare computer (we'll see: I don't give up easily).

There is time.

I'll let you know how DX programming goes!

And Happy New Year!

Yockanookany Sound project, part II

In my last post I wrote about the resources I have and generally where I want to go with this whole sound design thing. In this post I'll briefly describe what I'm currently working on. After this post I'll give updates on my progress.

I've always been inspired by FM synthesis and the kinds of sounds those synthesizers make. Something I didn't do nearly enough in the sound design course was work with FM synthesis, so part of my work will be making up for lost time.

And what embodies the heart of FM synthesis better than the Yamaha DX7? Even the best high-tech synthesizers and soft-synths can't quite match the character of sound as good ol'fashioned 6-operator FM synthesis. Seriously! There are any number of professional machines that do FM extremely well. My opinion is FM synthesizers (generally speaking) fall into two categories: Musical instruments (think DX EP) and SFX. I have all the respect in the world for both types of devices, but the scope of this project for the moment is in building instruments. And I gotta tell ya, nothing PERFORMS FM like the DX. Admittedly, some of the sounds can be really cheesy when you have the synth by itself. But I also use my DX when I'm gigging, and one patch I always come back to in a gig is a variation of a brass patch I use on certain songs. Say all you want about analog synths and how "fat" they sound, but that synth brass patch I tweaked from a preset has some POWER. My DX is the mkII, so the sounds are a little bit cleaner than the original, the UI handles better (button-presses), and the unison detuning is awesome in spite of the severe loss of polyphony.

But the top priority right now isn't the actual sound of the synthesizer itself. No, the most important thing is honing my craft using the software tools that I have. And next to the synthesizer hardware, nothing typifies FM synthesis more than the DX7 factory presets.

What, did you think I was actually going to be programming new sounds for the DX? Nooooooo!!!!! Anyone who's actually programmed a DX knows how difficult it is to program. It's a nearly impossible task UNLESS you think of its innards as analogous to subtractive synthesis components. The difference is in the subtlety of making changes to DX patches vs. the ease of moving knobs on an analog synth. You get a sense that changes to a DX patch are set in stone--a certain finality that must be horrifically uncomfortable to someone used to all the knobbies, something from the past that has come back in a big way on currently available synths and controllers.

No--the world doesn't need more DX7 patches. There are already enough out there beyond the factory presets. Now is not the time to become a dedicated DX programmer.

The point is--what?--to hone my craft using the software. So what does this mean?

Here's what I've been up to in the last few days: Part of the final sound design class project was to evaluate the work of other students and "re-orchestrate" according to our own individual sensibilities. One student in particular had relied on sampled instruments almost exclusively, which was fine except that these instruments could easily be recreated using software. One patch in particular was based on a--what? You guessed it!--a DX7 preset (actually a TX7, but same thing without the keyboard). So I used Thor to effectively recreate that sound. I got really close, too, and my response was basically a hybrid FM/subtractive patch using the best of both worlds.

That really inspired me.

So my first mini-project is to take the original DX7 presets as well as the factory program presets and performance presets of the mkII and recreate them using Thor. I might even do the same thing for Absynth, but the idea is to create a Refill. Attention to Absynth would be counterproductive at this time. Now, there are glaringly obvious DISadvantages to what I'm attempting to do with Thor. For example, it isn't possible to create feedback loops in Thor that function identically to the DX feedback loop. Consequently, you can't route the output from one oscillator to the FM/Pitch of another in the matrix and expect the same results as the DX. While algorithms on the DX remain fixed, at least you can use a variety of algorithms to get desirable routings to get an even greater variety of timbre. There is ONLY one algorithm in Thor, and matrix routings just don't work the same way as the different DX algorithms. But you can get ALMOST close!

Compromises have to be made. But I'm finding that in the middle of the compromises come artistic decisions that create genuinely new kinds of sounds. The results aren't as useful in the same way as DX presets, but they don't suck, either. And eventually all these can be tie together to make complex sounds that any synth user would be proud of.

It's all about potential, learning new things, and increasing one's own ability.

More updates to come...

Yockanookany Sound project, part I

I only just now posted a blog and here I am again! I want to go ahead and get started on the details of what I have and where I'm going with it.

Bear in mind this was inspired by taking an online course in sound design. Much work has been done already as part of the classwork, so that will definitely serve as a starting point. Some things were never finished, so there will be some looking back and creating some sounds that should have been there but never made it.

Let's start with the tools I'm using: Reason (especially Subtractor and Thor among others) and Absynth. My DAW of choice is Logic Pro 9. My workstation is a first-generation MBP, 15" display. My interface is the Apogee Duet. My controller (don't laugh) is the Akai EWI-USB. Why the EWI? My musical roots are in woodwinds, so while most programmers are out there hammering away on a keyboard, I'm testing my patches by breathing into them. I don't mean to sound judgmental, of course--these patches are being developed with keyboardists in mind. This is simply a symbolic thing. Any musician will rely on his/her hands to create music. Breathing, by contrast, is absolutely necessary for life. So by patch testing/tweaking by EWI, I'm in a sense pouring my life into my work! I do have keyboard controllers, so all my final testing will be done there.

Initially, all my work will be at my notebook computer. Sooner or later we need real synthesizers.

I want to start with the tools I DO have before buying different keyboards that it may take a year or more for me to use. Here's what I have: DX7II, TX7 (using a custom Logic environment for programming), and a Roland Alpha Juno I. I consider those my "primary" synths (I have a tiny handful of others) that will be immediately useful for my sound design objectives. OK, let's be honest here: Neither DX series boards nor Alpha Junos are much fun to program. They aren't fun at all, actually. But alone or in combination they are quite capable of interesting sounds. I'm really looking forward to the sampling portion of this project for this reason!

I'm not likely to purchase anything new in the immediate future, though this will become a priority in time to develop products for synth/workstations in current use. I do have a "secret weapon" in the works, though. I don't think it would make much sense working on patches for workstations after just getting a custom synth! All that to say there won't be any other sound libraries quite like this one. I'm just praying that it's a GOOD one.

So, speaking of libraries, this is what I actually have so far: 72 Absynth patches and (I think) 60 Subtractor patches, both representing an equal number of specific types of sounds and all using subtractive synthesis exclusively. They are about as simple as you can get and not very useful, at least not beyond a limited scope of applications. The strength of these patches lies in their potential as building blocks for more complex and, hence, more musical and useful sounds. Not counted in this number are several "default" patches from which similar sounds to the ones I mention can be derived. Because they use subtractive synthesis exclusively, there may be a need to develop more basic defaults for other synthesis methods.

In my next post, I'll be discussing the current patches I'm building as well as other immediate goals and intermediate steps in building my sound library. I'll also write about some loose ends that must be tied up in the process.

The Yockanookany Sound Project

Here I go with my first blog...

I've just finished an online course with berkleemusic.com. However, I don't feel that my work was ever quite complete. In fact, I don't think it ever will. But perhaps that's what I need right now: A work in progress!

So here's a little explanation about what I'm doing. I call it the Yockanookany Project. The Yockanookany River runs near Carthage, MS, a town only a few short miles from my childhood home. I've always been fascinated by that river--maybe because of the name, who knows? I looked around on the web to figure out what the name means, but no one seems to know for sure. One translation (I like it) is "catfish land." Another translation that seems to closer resemble Choctaw words is "Look! Come get me!"

The Yockanookany River flows into the Pearl River (which is actually closer to where I grew up) and from there runs to the Gulf of Mexico.

So here I am thinking about this river with simple, modest beginnings, is part of something greater than itself, reaches out to the rest of the world, and exclaims "Look! Come get me!" Isn't that what many of us are all about? Especially in music and sound--we want to be part of something meaningful. We want to be heard. We want to be noticed. We want attention. We want to move.

That's what the Yockanookany Sound project is all about. My goal, quite simply, is to design sound.

So where do we begin this journey?

First, I'm starting small and simple with projects meant just as much to help me better learn the tools of sound design and build my skills as they are to create something musically useful. These aren't complicated sound effects or that new awesome miracle pad that shows up on the next big radio hit. They won't sell millions of records. They're just basic synthesizer sounds that we've all heard a million times. Nothing special other than that I made them. The only unique thing about these patches is that they result from how I hear the musical world around me. We all hear and perceive sounds differently, so I'm sure my signature and personality will be somehow evident in these sounds. But I'm not trying to be a salesman, and I'm not trying make any big hits. I'm just designing sounds.

Second, I'll work on variations of these sounds to develop a collection of good workable sounds I'd like to hear on a hit record. Yes, I know the reality of this is hit-and-miss. But the idea is to ask myself, "What would Kyle Beckham like to hear on the radio?" or "If Kyle Beckham were going to buy a CD or download a song or watch a movie, what would it sound like?" To put it another way, I want to actively join in on the musical conversation of synthesizer sounds. I want these libraries to reflect my ideas of what synthesizers should sound like. That's not to say other synthesists and sound designers are necessarily "wrong" or that I'm "better." I just believe that my ideas are valuable, too. I also have a gut feeling that odds are in favor of new sound designers. Given the number of keyboardists and composers "out there" who may or may not be any good at what they do, there will always be SOMEONE with a shared vision. Wishful thinking? Maybe. But a river never reaches the gulf without a source. The common source of all sound and music is at least one person's idea of what should be heard. This second phase is where I hope to decide not what to sound like, but what I SHOULD sound like.

Third, I want to collect these patches into more complex ideas--evolving pads, sound effects, sequences, sweeps, washes, and so on. And not necessarily sound effects per se, but sounds that go beyond simple articulations. We're talking about layers here, and lots of them! Not just sounds that "sound good," but sounds that PERFORM.

Eventually they have to GO somewhere, and that does mean selling a product. For the time being, however, I just want to focus on having a product to sell! We'll worry about the other stuff later.

So let's get to work...