Unit 14: Listening Skills for music technologists

BTEC Level 3 Music Technology Year 1

By the end of this session you will…

• Be able to Identify how Reverb can effect an Instrument• Be able to analyse Reverb on different instruments • Be able to analyse different recordings for the suitability of

the microphone techniques used and the Reverb applied

Reverb

What is happening when we hear Reverb?

Reverb is

Reverb is the sound we hear after we hear the direct sound (The instrument/singer/speaker we are listening to)

•Firstly we hear the direct sound –(An instrument/singer/speaker)•Secondly we hear Early Reflections •Thirdly, as the sound continues to bounce of reflective surfaces, a continuous stream of sound fuses into one entity, which continues after the original sound ceases (giving us Reverb)

Basic Reverb Reflections

Room SizeThe size of the room we listen in effects the amount of Reverb, but why?

•The previous image was based on a 20ft room•If the room was larger, the reflections would take longer to reach our ears•This means that there is more time for a build up of echos/other reflections to happen during the time these reflections return to our ears•The more reflections that occur, and the longer they take to decay gives us the sound of a large reflective space•The less reflections that occur and the quicker they decay the smaller a space will sound, or with less Reverb

An example of reflections in a larger room

Early and Late Reflections in a 40x20x12ft room

So how does this effect an instrument?

When a string of a guitar is played many notes or harmonics are heard, not just the note we perceive

The other strings slightly reverberate and add to the texture of the sound

Although we only perceive one key harmonic called the Fundamental harmonic, there are other harmonics adding to the texture of the sound

So how does this effect an instrument?

When there are reflections in a room, the harmonics carried in these reflections effect the sound of the instrument by being absorbed into the wood (of a guitar) and into the strings of the instrument effecting the sound we hear

Examples Suitable reverb

As with many techniques in music, the application of Reverb is entirely subjective, however some examples of suitable Reverb are:•Vocals – Nearly all recordings apply some subtle Reverb here•Rock Electric guitar solos, or Clean guitar sounds sound nice with heavier Reverb •Most/All Drums in a Drum Kit sound good with subtle Reverb, Cymbals generally sound better with less Reverb•Strings/Brass sound good with heavier Reverb as these are usually recorded in a larger room as part of an orchestra•A Piano usually requires a good amount of Reverb to capture all of the texture of the different harmonics from the many strings inside the Piano

Task

•Open Cubase•Select an Instrument•Notate a melody•Add some Harmonic content using other instruments – (You can add an Harmony by making one instrument play the same line as the melody, raised by two notes)

•Use reverb to create a suitable acoustic environment for the instruments use.

Microphone types and positions

Some common microphones used:•Shure SM57 & SM58’s – Dynamic mics used to record guitars, snare drums.•AKG D112 – Kick Drum Mic•Neumann U87 – Vocal mic.

Microphones and Listening Skills

For this Unit we do not expect you to name the Microphones used

However, it may be possible in some recordings to describe •where the Microphone was placed •And how many microphones were used•Whether each instrument was recorded separately or all performed at once

Microphone positioning

Task

You are required to…Write a 200 word review of an album you have heard in the last year, it must:•Critically describe and analyse the album •Reflect on the artists other work (Albums, collaborations, singles)•Evaluate the album in context to similar artists

…save it, and email it to: dvoss@shipley.ac.uk.

By the end of this session you will…

• Be able to Identify how Reverb can effect an Instrument• Be able to analyse Reverb on different instruments • Be able to analyse different recordings for the suitability of

the microphone techniques used and the Reverb applied