VCE VET MUSIC INDUSTRY: SOUND PRODUCTION

Aural and written examination

Friday 17 November 2017 Reading time: 11.45 am to 12.00 noon (15 minutes) Writing time: 12.00 noon to 1.30 pm (1 hour 30 minutes)

QUESTION AND ANSWER BOOK

Structure of bookSection Number of

questionsNumber of questions

to be answeredNumber of

marks

A 7 7 25B 18 18 75

Total 100

• Studentsarepermittedtobringintotheexaminationroom:pens,pencils,highlighters,erasers,sharpenersandrulers.

• StudentsareNOTpermittedtobringintotheexaminationroom:blanksheetsofpaperand/orcorrectionfluid/tape.

• Nocalculatorisallowedinthisexamination.

Materials supplied• Questionandanswerbookof13pages• AnaudiocompactdisccontainingmusicalexcerptsforSectionAInstructions• Writeyourstudent numberinthespaceprovidedaboveonthispage.• Youmaywriteatanytimeduringtherunningoftheaudiocompactdiscandafteritstops.• Answerallquestionsinthespacesprovided.• AllwrittenresponsesmustbeinEnglish.

Students are NOT permitted to bring mobile phones and/or any other unauthorised electronic devices into the examination room.

© VICTORIANCURRICULUMANDASSESSMENTAUTHORITY2017

SUPERVISOR TO ATTACH PROCESSING LABEL HEREVictorian Certificate of Education 2017

STUDENT NUMBER

Letter

2017VETMUSICINDUSTRYSPEXAM 2

SECTION A – continued

Question 1 (4marks)a. Afterareferencetoneoffrequency1kHz,identifythefrequencyofeachtonebeingplayed,

inorder,fromthislist:125Hz,250Hz,500Hz,2kHz,4kHz,8kHz 3marks

1.

2.

3.

b. Beingabletoidentifyandcontrolfrequenciesisanimportantskillneededinbothlivesoundreinforcementandsoundrecording.

Whattypeofsignalprocessorisusedbysoundengineerstocontrolfrequencybalance? 1mark

Question 2 (4marks)Thefollowingexcerptcontainsasequenceofthreewaveforms.

a. Identifyeachwaveformthatisplayed,inorder,fromthislist:sinewave,squarewave, trianglewave,whitenoise,pinknoise 3marks

1.

2.

3.

b. Whichwaveformidentifiedinpart a.consistsofonlyonespecificfrequency? 1mark

SECTION A

Instructions for Section ATheaudiocompactdiscplaysthroughoutSectionA.InQuestions 1–7,audioexcerptsareplayedtwice.Theannouncerexplainshowtheaudioexcerpt(s)foreachquestionwillbeplayed.Answerallquestionsinthespacesprovided.

3 2017VETMUSICINDUSTRYSPEXAM

SECTION A – continuedTURN OVER

Question 3 (4marks)Thefollowingacousticguitarexcerptisintwoparts.Eachpartusesadifferentmethodtorecordthesameperformance.

Identifythetwodifferentmethodsusedtocapturetheperformanceandexplainhoweachmethodresultsinadifferentqualityofsound.

1.

2.

Question 4 (3marks)Thefollowingtromboneexcerptisinthreeparts.Thefirstparthashadnoeffectaddedtoit.Thesecondandthirdpartshavehadthesamekindofeffectaddedtothem.

a. Whateffecthasbeenaddedtothesecondandthirdparts? 1mark

b. Whatparameterhasbeenchangedinthethirdpart? 1mark

c. Inwhatwayhastheparameterbeenchangedinthethirdpart? 1mark

Question 5 (4marks)Thefollowingfoursongexcerptsareintwoparts.Thefirstpartofeachsongexcerptistheoriginalmix.Thesecondpartofeachsongexcerptisavariationoftheoriginalmix.

a. Describewhichaspectofthemixhaschangedinthesecondpart. 1mark

b. Describewhichaspectofthemixhaschangedinthesecondpart. 1mark

c. Identifywhatkindofeffecthasbeenappliedinthesecondpart. 1mark

d. Identifywhichchannelfunctionhasbeenusedinthesecondpart. 1mark

2017VETMUSICINDUSTRYSPEXAM 4

END OF SECTION A

Question 6 (3marks)Thefollowingdrumexcerptisintwoparts.

a. Identifythesignalprocessorthathasbeenappliedtothesecondpart. 1mark

b. Whatbasicaudiocharacteristicdoesthesignalprocessoridentifiedinpart a.affect? 1mark

c. Describehowthesignalprocessoridentifiedinpart a.hasalteredthesecondpartoftheexcerpt. 1mark

Question 7 (3marks)ThefollowingexcerptfromalivePAsystemcontainsanaudioproblem.

Describetheaudioproblemintheexcerptandprovidetwopossiblesolutionstoaddresstheproblem.

Problem

Solution1

Solution2

5 2017VETMUSICINDUSTRYSPEXAM

SECTION B – continuedTURN OVER

Question 1 (4marks)Providetworelevantreasonswhythetechniqueof‘closemiking’isusedineachcontextgivenbelow.

• Recordingstudio

Reason1

Reason2

• Livesoundreinforcement

Reason1

Reason2

Question 2 (4marks)Suggesttwobenefitsofeachproductionmethodgivenbelow.

• Recordingadrumkitwithasinglehigh-qualitymicrophone

Benefit1

Benefit2

• Recordingadrumkitwithmultipledifferentmicrophones

Benefit1

Benefit2

SECTION B

Instructions for Section BAnswerallquestionsinthespacesprovided.

2017VETMUSICINDUSTRYSPEXAM 6

SECTION B – continued

Question 3 (3marks)

a. Nametheaccessoryinfrontofthemicrophoneshownintheimageabove. 1mark

b. Identifyasituationwheretheaccessorynamedinpart a.wouldbeusedandexplainwhythisaccessorywouldbenecessary. 2marks

Question 4 (5marks)Aproducerwasrecentlyinterviewedabouttheproductiontechniquesusedinarecordingsession.Thefollowingisanextractfromtheinterview.

Well,weweretrackingthedrumsandIfoundatrackwhich,onitsown,didn’tsoundverygood.WhenItriedthetrackwithalloftheothermicsup,itbroughtareallyunusualqualitytotheoverallsound.Icompressedthetrackheavilyandranitthroughaguitarampsimulatorthathaditsoverdriveturnedup.Withabitofcarefulbalancing,weendedupwithagreatdrumsound.Idiscoveredlaterthatthetrackwasbeingfedbyaninexpensivedynamicmicfromaprevioussession,whereithadbeenusedfortalkbackandhadbeenleftinthecorneronthestudiofloor.Wecouldhavespentagestryingtoachievethatsoundusingplug-insorbytryingdifferentmicpositions.Later,Iusedthetechniqueagainwhendoingtheguitaroverdub,exceptthistimeIpannedthetracktotheoppositesideofthedrysignal.

Basedontheextractabove,describewhatismeantbythefollowingterms.

• Overdub

• Overdrive

• Talkback

• Drysignal

• Plug-in

7 2017VETMUSICINDUSTRYSPEXAM

SECTION B – continuedTURN OVER

Question 5 (2marks)Huminterferenceisawaveformconsistingofa50Hzfundamentalplusotherharmonics.

a. Whatcauseshuminterference? 1mark

b. Whatkindofequalisercouldeffectivelyremovehuminterference? 1mark

Question 6 (2marks)Duringamixingsession,theartistrequestschangestothesoundofthesnaredrumtomakeitmorepunchyandtoremovetheringingsound.

Whattechniquescouldthemixengineerusetofulfiltheartist’srequest?

Tomakethesoundmorepunchy

Toremovetheringingsound

2017VETMUSICINDUSTRYSPEXAM 8

SECTION B – continued

Question 7 (8marks)a. Outlinefourstepsinaprocessforcarryingoutalinecheckforaliveactonstage. 4marks

1.

2.

3.

4.

b. Manyissuesmayoccurduringalinecheck.

Giveareasonwhyeachofthefollowingissuesmayoccur. 4marks

• Thereisnosignalfromtheoverheadcondensermicrophonesabovethedrumkit.

• Thereisamicrophoneonthetopandbottomofthesnaredrum.Whenbothfadersarebroughtup,thesnaresoundbecomesthinner.

• TheactiveDIfortheacousticguitarisfunctioningcorrectly,butwhentheguitaristplays,thereisnosignal.

• Bassguitarsoundiscomingoutofthebassamponstage,butthereisnosignalfromtheDI,whichisfunctioningcorrectly.

9 2017VETMUSICINDUSTRYSPEXAM

SECTION B – continuedTURN OVER

Question 8 (5marks)a. Describehowaudiblefeedbackiscausedinalivesoundcontext. 1mark

b. Suggesttwowaysofavoidingtheaudiblefeedbackdescribedinpart a. 2marks

1.

2.

c. Outlinetwonegativeconsequencesoftheaudiblefeedbackdescribedinpart a. 2marks

1.

2.

Question 9 (4marks)Duringalivemusicperformance,thesingercomplainsthattheirvocallevelisgoingupanddowninthefoldback.ThePAequipmentisworkingproperly.

Givetworeasonswhythevocallevelisvaryingandasolutionforeach.

Reason1

Solution1

Reason2

Solution2

2017VETMUSICINDUSTRYSPEXAM 10

SECTION B – continued

Question 10 (8marks)Thetablebelowshowsanequipmentlistforalivesoundevent,withthemaximumpowerconsumptionofeachitem.Thereisonlyone10ampgeneralpurposeoutlet(GPO)availablefortheentirePAsystem.

Item of equipment Power consumption (max.)

mixingdesk 60W

graphicequaliserforfront-of-house(FOH) 20W

graphicequaliserforfoldback 20W

microphones n.a.

stagebox/multicore n.a.

2×activespeakersforFOH 300Weach

1×activespeakerforfoldback 300W

2×activesubwooferswithbuilt-incrossover 1200Weach

a. Whatisthemaximumtotalpowerconsumptionofalloftheequipmentitemscombined? 1mark

b. Whatisthemaximumpoweravailablefromasingle10ampGPO? 1mark

c. Suggestasolutiontotheproblemofnothavingenoughpoweravailable. 1mark

d. Whatmighthappenifalloftheequipmentwereswitchedonatthesametime? 1mark

e. ListtherelevantequipmentforFOHsoundinthecorrectorderofsignalflow,startingwiththemicrophonesandendingwiththeFOHspeakers.Donotlistanypieceofequipmentmorethanonce. 4marks

1. microphones

2.

3.

4.

5.

6. FOH speakers

11 2017VETMUSICINDUSTRYSPEXAM

SECTION B – continuedTURN OVER

Question 11 (2marks)Whenstandingoutsidealivemusicvenue,thesoundthatcanbeheardfromthemusicbeingperformedinsideismuffled.

a. Identifythefrequencyrangethatismostlikelytobeheardoutsidethebuilding,comparedwithinside. 1mark

b. Explainwhythefrequencyrangeidentifiedinpart a.ismoreaudibleoutsidethebuildingthanotherfrequencies. 1mark

Question 12 (3marks)Duringadigitalaudioworkstation(DAW)mixwheremultipleplug-insarebeingused,themasterbusandanumberoftrackmetersareclipping.Therecordedlevelsofthetracksarealljustbelow0dBFS(decibelsrelativetofullscale).

Listthreethingsthatcouldbecheckedtoestablishthecauseoftheclipping.

1.

2.

3.

2017VETMUSICINDUSTRYSPEXAM 12

SECTION B – continued

Question 13 (12marks)Thetablebelowidentifiescommonproblemsexperiencedwhenmixingamulti-trackrecording.

Completethetablebyidentifyingasuitablesignalprocessor/plug-inforeachproblemandtwokeyparametersthatcouldbeusedtoaddresstheproblem.

Problem Signal processor/plug-in Key parameters

Thekickdrumsoundisringingontoolong.

1.

2.

Thehi-hattrackhasbassguitarspillinit.

1.

2.

Thefloortomsoundsthin.

1.

2.

Theleveloftheacousticpianovariestoomuch.

1.

2.

Question 14 (3marks)Addingreverbtoamulti-trackmixcanbedoneusingtwodifferentmethods:

MethodA–Thesamekindofreverbplug-inisinsertedoneachtrack.MethodB–Sendsarecreatedoneachtrack,whichroutesignalstoareverbchannelwherethe

reverbplug-inisinserted.

a. ListtwoadvantagesofMethodB. 2marks

1.

2.

b. Whatshouldthemixparameterbesettointhereverbplug-ininMethodB? 1mark

13 2017VETMUSICINDUSTRYSPEXAM

Question 15 (3marks)Anaudioengineerismixingasongforasmallacousticband.Thesongwasrecordedinthemiddleofalarge,emptygymnasium.Thevocalswerere-recordedamonthlaterduetoatechnicalproblemwiththeoriginalrecording.Thenewvocalswererecordedinanacousticallydeadspaceanddonotfitinwiththeinstruments.

Suggestaneffectthatcouldbeaddedtothevocalsandtwokeyparametersthatcouldbeadjustedinordertocreatetheimpressionthatthevocalswererecordedinthesamespaceastheinstruments.

Addedeffect

Keyparameter1

Keyparameter2

Question 16 (2marks)Incommerciallyrecordedmusic,voicesandinstrumentsareoftendoubletracked.

a. Whatisanadvantageofdoubletracking? 1mark

b. Whyisitthatdouble-trackedinstruments,suchasdouble-trackedelectricguitars,areoftenpannedhardleftandhardright? 1mark

Question 17 (3marks)Acompletedmulti-trackrecordingofaperformancewillbemixedlaterbyaspecialistmixengineer.

Listthreeimportantpiecesofinformationabouttherecordingthatneedtobeprovidedtothespecialistmixengineer.

1.

2.

3.

Question 18 (2marks)Twomicrophonesarepointedatthesamesoundsource.Onemicrophoneis5cmaway;theotheris10cmaway.Thecombinedoutputofbothmicrophonesresultsintheunwantedeffectof‘phasing’.

Suggesttwosolutionstoavoidphasing.

1.

2.

END OF QUESTION AND ANSWER BOOK