Composition - The art of organizing sound through time

consider the following

o music is about change of sound over time and how these
changes affect the listener
o how does the music move the listener through time
consider stasis vs. change
o some characteristics change while others stay the same
o when something changes, it attract attention
o movement away from stasis can create tension
o movement toward stasis can release tension
o the longer something stays the same, the bigger the
impact on people when it does change

A conventional song structure

- intro, Verse (A) Chorus (B) verse chorus Middle 8 (C) Chorus
Chorus Outro
Generative Music Systems (Algorithmic Composition)
- set something in motion and you build a machine/system and out
comes the piece
- noise political economist o fmusic
- algor
- Christian Marklay The Clock
- David cope kept
- Brian Eno
o Ambient music for airports, phasing loops against
eachother
- Iannis Xenakis
Mixing
- The craft of mixing
o To enhance/sweeten tracks wih signal processing
o To blend or submix groups of tracks together
o To maintain definition in each voice/part regardless of how
many instruments or groups of instruments heard
o To balance the levels of each track within the composite
audio image
o To add special effects (if necessary)
o To localize each of the voices, instruments, or sounds
within an aural fram (ie stereo image using panning &
fading levels) and acoustic space (using signal processing)
Try to create a 3D image
o To establish an overall musical perspective or sound

General guidelines
o 1) the composite, mixed signal should never exceed 0.0 dB
at the master channel fader
o 2) Calibrate your monitors by leaving the master fader at
0.0 and adjusting the volume control of your speakers or
headphones
o 3) Take frequent listening breaks
o 4) Knowing the frequency response and transient response
of your monitors or headphones
o 5) Bass instruments are generally panned to the center to
avoid phase problems
o 6) subtle changes applied to the volume levels
o 7) Complimentary EQ broad spectrum material to coexist
with others
o 8) Side chaining very good at making sure 2 things that
share the same spectrum dont interfere with eachother
(bass drums/bass drums, compressor on bass instrument
and side chain with bass drum still hear nice percussive
attack, any tone in drum has frequency. Makes sure freq of
drum isnt rubbing against bass instrument)
Cautions
o Fatigue
o Every time you make adjustment to element of mix, it
makes abig difference
o Accommodation: involuntary changes in aural perception
based on continuous short term take a break or
contiously say IM not going to listen to bird
o Find silence before mixing/mastering
o Keep perspective on mix by alternating listening
o Ask someone else
o Take frequent breaks
Mixing engineers handbook by bobby owsinski
Be sure to cut out any silence