Sunday, June 26, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Rils Remix
by Adam Vaughn
Featuring
Aimless Love Song
by Mark Wicker
All footage taken at NOAS Island in Second Life
This one goes out to those of you in my cohort who have had a rough month.
We'll get through this program yet.
ETC_Final_Project
Adam Vaughn
Overview:
The advent of Web 2.0 has made the creation of just about anything quicker and easier, and so much the more for the creation and recording of music. This scenario will take the learner into a collaborative musical environment through Soundation, allowing the learner to create, produce, and publish musical compositions.
1. Target Audience - amateur musicians
2. Materials
a. Intel Macbook Pro w/Adobe Air 2.0
b. Soundation account
c. Headphones
d. Instrument of choice
e. Midi keyboard
f. External mic
g. mic/instrument cables
h. a musical notion or idea
3. Objectives
At the end of this scenario the learner will be able to:
a. Work collaboratively in a web 2.0 environment.
1. Determine a musical direction, select an original melody, set of beats, or existing song.
2. As a group cohesively explore instrumentation options for production
3. Practically apply skills common to producers, engineers, and recording artists
b. Create music using the Soundation DAW.
1. Record audio directly into Soundation
2. Import existing .wav file into Soundation for playback and editing
3. Understand linear editing in Soundation using copy, cut, paste, split,
and time stretching functions.
4. Add effects and a final mix in Soundation
c. Publish a final audio project.
1. Export completed audio track directly to Facebook.
2. Export .wav and .mp3 audio for publication, or further editing
4. Procedure
a. Setup a Soundation account
1. Create an account and give all participants user name and password access. This Rils requires at least the basic Soundation account to have access to all export and publishing functions.
b. Give a brief overview to learners on the basic functions of Soundation
1. Due to the complexities of digital audio and linear editing some
time should be spent going over the basic functions of Soundation,
especially where beginners are concerned. Exploring the basic
Soundation functions outlined in the objective should take 1-2 hours depending on the skill level of the group.
c. Develop a musical theme or topic
1. As a group discuss a musical topic or theme to base the Soundation
production on.
2. Once the theme has been selected explore the overall vision as a
group, to determine tempo, key and instrumentation.
3. Lastly come up with a production schedule for the project.
d. Collaborate and develop the theme in Soundation
1. With the skills explored in the overview, and
musical theme agreed upon learners may now implement the
production in Soundation.
e. Mix the completed project, and publish to the web.
5. Web 2.0 Tool Soundation allows for remote collaboration on musical compositions. All project information is stored online and allows any user/collaborator access to the project from any location. When a learner adds to the project, any one with access to the project can view, edit, or add to it as well.
6. Social Participation/Social Learning - This project consists of creating a collaborative musical composition. Learners will work together as producers, engineers, and recording artists to take an audio project from idea to production to publication.
7. Making Connections
a. Learners will integrate their existing levels of musical understanding with available web 2.0 technologies to create a valid product.
b. Instant access to quality recording software from anywhere provides artists with unique opportunities when engaging in the creative process.
Leaners will be better equipped to connect musical thoughts and ideas with the addition of this web 2.0 tool.
c. Finished projects will be published to the web, allowing access to family
friends, and the global community.
8. Create/Produce – Time can vary in audio production, depending on the level the learners involved, but the goal is to produce a final musical composition for publication to the web within the span of two weeks.
9. Assessment - Learners will have a basic yet functional understanding of how to work with a DAW, how to produce an audio track in a collaborative environment, and how to publish to the web.
Assessment | Outstanding | Acceptable | Sub-Standard |
Create | Collaborated and created a complex yet adaptable musical idea for implementation in Rils | Created a simple but functional musical idea for Rils implementation | Failed to create a useable musical idea |
Produce | Learners were able to record edit and mix in Soudation and also applied advanced features (samples, virtual instruments, and sequencers) | Learners succeeded in recording/editing/ mixing an audio production in Soundation | Failed at recording mixing and editing the audio project in Soundation |
Publish | Published more than one instance of the completed project to the web | Published the completed project to the web | Failed to publish to the web |
10. Reflection
Personal Reflection Interviews
After recording the Aimless Love Song by Mark Wicker in Soundation
Mark Wicker, singer/song writer, first multi-track recording experience
On Soundation - ”Great way to learn the process of recording for virtually no money. Great way to get a first time experience”
On collaborating with musicians using instrument/click tracks – “It forces me to blend my vocal performance with tracks previously recorded by musicians, as opposed to a live performance.”
On the creative process – “Its always good to hear a thing that you have been hearing in your head come out sounding professional.”
On working remotely – “I was able to work at my own pace, record multiple takes, and get the exact one I wanted without slowing the group down.”
On the publishing process – “When I went to demo the clip to my band, the song was easy to move to a flash drive, iTunes, or just email as an mp3, and now its on Facebook.”
Carlos Wolfe, percussionist, local jazz musician and band leader
On Soundation – “Considering that it is nearly free, it is comparable to standard recording software, and better in some ways than what is available for PC.”
On collaborating with musicians using instrument/click tracks - “The click track was great for capturing the raw concept, although it was rerecorded by the musicians in the end. A better product was made by using it.”
On the creative process – “Having no expectations always results in a better experience and a better product. Its nice to have ideas, but don’t set them in stone, make room for change and adaptation.”
On working remotely – “Most people today have very busy schedules, technology has made it easier to collaborate from anywhere, without taking from each others personal lives.”
On the publishing process – “Its is very convenient take and apply anywhere, and on a more involved project it will allow you to review anywhere, and make conceptual changes.”
Adam Vaughn, instructor, Nylon String Guitar
The Soundation Rils experience is a good one. I believe everyone involved benefited from it, as their comments show. Did it turn out the way I had planned, no. I took way too many aspects of the multi-track recording experience as a given, and the features of Soundation that really intrigued me got pushed aside in favor of educating and playing support for the learners. A prerecorded Soundation tutorial presented to learners before hand would have put the process in a much better place, as Soundations current tutorial content is limited. A failed monitor on a MacBook pro also cramped the context in which remote recording could be made possible. The simple fact is that Soundation is not a light weight web 2.0 tool, and though it functions spectacularly there is a learning curve for beginners, especially in the context of a two week process.
I imagine an entire class, or Lynda.com series, could be based around Soundation.
All in all though, it was a great experience.
All in all though, it was a great experience.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
PE5_Soundation
So, I have put some more time in with Soundation, and I am flying high.
After I cycled through the standard features that I knew I would need to accomplish an audio production project I moved on to exploring Soundations cloud based functionality. My eyes definitely opened when I realized the collaborative potential of a tool like soundation. I spent considerable time moving files back and forth from my desk to the cloud, and am at the point where I can try running separate instances of the tool on multiple machines
AudioLocker is a proprietary app that runs shotgun with the online Soundation engine. It functions much like an ftp or iDisc in the way that information, in this case audio files, and specifically .wav files are stored and transferred. Up to ten gb of storage space is available depending on account settings. Soundation also allows users to save and store projects directly to their hard drives if preferred.
Soundation also allows for mix down of completed projects direct to the users desk top, at which point the sky is the limit to what you can do with the file.
One thing that really intrigued me was that Soundation will publish directly to Facebook, I have yet to tested this feature as I have not completed a project, but I'd like to try it with Rils.
What does all this really mean?
Well, for my Rils project my intention is to have may target group create an audio product, most likely a song, that will be published to the web. All production will take place in Soundation, on a single account that each user will share access to.
All the files/tracks will be recorded/created in Soundation and be hosted in the cloud via AudioLocker. Basically this mean that my target group will be a able to work and collaborate remotely on the same project, allowing them to view, edit, and add content at will. My group is localized enough that they will be able to see each other if need be, but if all goes well they shouldn't have to. Cloud based collaborative production is the name of the game here, I hope it works out.
PE4_Soundation
After my stint with Ujam I realized that I still had a taste for music on some level, and that I need to delve deeper into available Web 2.0 tools for its creation, production, and publication. Although Ujam has amazing potential, and some truly useful aspects, it does not cover my bases as far as the Rils project is concerned. So, I went back to Go2web20.com and started looking, and I went through every music tagged link on the web site. I only found two Web 2.0 tools that I thought could work for Rills. First was Audiotool.com by Burn Studios, which is a fantastic synth/beat/sequencer in its own right, and one I will investigate further, but still not what I had in mind. And then I hit on Soundation.
When I finally got to really looking at Soundation I knew it was something I was going to have to try. Soundation is a cloud based DAW, digital audio workstation, and in a nut shell, exactly what I was looking for.
I am not new to DAW's, but dealing with one that is cloud based, or for that matter, any audio tool that resides in cyberspace is all new to me. What I instantly loved about working with Soundation was the familiar feeling of a high end DAW, all the basic tools are there, and many advanced features as well. What I didn't expect, was for it to actually work with any measure of success, or the freedom I was forded by this cloud based tool.
The Flash engine that runs this thing is spectacular, it hasn't locked up or force quit once, there has been zero audio latency on recording, or lag with multiple tracks playing, and I've had up to 12 running at one time so far. All I can say for the moment is that it works, and works well. Time will tell as they say, but it will function for Rills.
The Flash engine that runs this thing is spectacular, it hasn't locked up or force quit once, there has been zero audio latency on recording, or lag with multiple tracks playing, and I've had up to 12 running at one time so far. All I can say for the moment is that it works, and works well. Time will tell as they say, but it will function for Rills.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
BP4_Ujam
I am a digital media consultant, and besides video work I often deal with audio projects. Here is a cool tool for the novice or expert to create music, not easily, but it does work.
Ujam is a web 2.0 tool that allows the user to input a vocal or instrumental analog audio signal into a hosted flash engine creating musical compositions based on a single monophonic melody. A cool concept really, and in my opinion the way of the future, but Ujam leaves much to be desired, it is unfortunately still in Alpha, hopefully they can get development issues hammered out.
So I am on my 7th hour of working with ujam and though it has numerous issues I have found some use for it, and hopefully will find some work arounds to my core issues.
A core issue to be sure. When someone tries to sell you on a product and it routinely cannot accomplish the basic function it was designed for, well, they might just lose a customer or two. Not only does recorded audio not sync up to a specified tempo, the harmonies generated by Ujam are almost always off.
Anyway here is how I used Ujam and actually got some functionality out of it.
1. I went back to my personal audio archive, by that I mean original music/ideas I have produced, and selected a monophonic vocal track and instrumental track. I selected both .wav files from an unfinished project I call "Lonely in Vegas". It has a vocal melody and guitar track that I am fond of, so I decided to use both.
2. I imported the vocal track, with no other purpose than to play with the vocal effects available in Ujam, it actually has better auto-tune capabilities than my current version of Logic Pro, minus any parameter controls. So, I toyed with the vocal line until I got something a little less than T-Pain, spit out an mp3 from Ujam, and imported back into Logic Pro. Success! In my opinion this right here is enough to warrant use. Once again, import vocal audio, add free effects, export audio and use to your liking. That is a huge plus for musicians.
(I love auto-tune effects, I will always use them, and could care less what critics say, so there...)
3. I then imported the monophonic guitar track and allowed Ujam to create a less than satisfactory harmony. I fortunately know the chords for the song, since I wrote it. So I went at making making edits to Ujam's harmonic sensibilities, and my god, did it take forever. Just switching chords was time consuming, and like I said I knew what they were, not to mention browser crashes, and freeze ups. In the end though I managed to piece together a harmonic line that would work with my existing audio. I did several Ujam instrument mp3 exports, three separate acoustic guitar tracks, a bass, a string quartet, and some percussion. I imported them all back into Logic Pro, and after minimal mixing I exported this demo.
Anyway here is how I used Ujam and actually got some functionality out of it.
1. I went back to my personal audio archive, by that I mean original music/ideas I have produced, and selected a monophonic vocal track and instrumental track. I selected both .wav files from an unfinished project I call "Lonely in Vegas". It has a vocal melody and guitar track that I am fond of, so I decided to use both.
2. I imported the vocal track, with no other purpose than to play with the vocal effects available in Ujam, it actually has better auto-tune capabilities than my current version of Logic Pro, minus any parameter controls. So, I toyed with the vocal line until I got something a little less than T-Pain, spit out an mp3 from Ujam, and imported back into Logic Pro. Success! In my opinion this right here is enough to warrant use. Once again, import vocal audio, add free effects, export audio and use to your liking. That is a huge plus for musicians.
(I love auto-tune effects, I will always use them, and could care less what critics say, so there...)
3. I then imported the monophonic guitar track and allowed Ujam to create a less than satisfactory harmony. I fortunately know the chords for the song, since I wrote it. So I went at making making edits to Ujam's harmonic sensibilities, and my god, did it take forever. Just switching chords was time consuming, and like I said I knew what they were, not to mention browser crashes, and freeze ups. In the end though I managed to piece together a harmonic line that would work with my existing audio. I did several Ujam instrument mp3 exports, three separate acoustic guitar tracks, a bass, a string quartet, and some percussion. I imported them all back into Logic Pro, and after minimal mixing I exported this demo.
A personal note on why I chose Ujam
From my perspective any tool that has the potential to unlock a persons musical mystery is worth investigating. Why? Because, I for one am still wondering why I played original music for over a decade, and why I carried a tape recorder around for all those years, recording literally hundreds of melodies. I can tell you, it wasn't for entertainment sake, money or status. My muse, unfortunately, comes from the category commonly referred to as "other", and it takes a lot for me to want work at it. When it comes to my musical intelligence I am lazy, cynical, and selfish. If I am not pleased by my instrument, my interphase, my location, or my musicians... I won't play, and I make no apologies. For years I have dreamed of a tool that could tap right into my brain, capture and manipulate, the raw melodies that wander there. Ujam hints at this, and points toward the future, but sadly, as my most difficult client likes to say, "not good enough..." Still, fun to play around with.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
PE3_iMovie
Background music
Another simple but effective tool is being able to drop in background music behind all of your clips, sound effects, and voice overs. When working with iMovie 11' in month one I did not realize the rediculous level to which you can set up audio in a project. I pretty much stuck with attaching audio directly to single clips, but now I will be able to layer audio in the foreground, and add global audio to the background of a project.
Editing to the Beat
This may be my single favorite audio function in iMovie 11'. I had no clue it was available. I came to Mac's because of music and spent a lot of time in Logic and Pro Tools, so the better the audio functions in iMovie, the more likely I will be to use it. So, editing to the beat entails dropping beat markers into a project at specific points to make transitions between clips and stills line up with the dynamic shifts in your audio. This effect, in my opinion, is there to add impact to a project, and depending on the quality of a sound track and footage some very neat things could happen. The demo surfing video in the tutorial actually becomes somewhat interesting one all the audio is customized in this way.
Certificate
And thats it, I can say for certain that I am looking forward to putting my new knowledge of iMovie 11' to practical use.
PE2_iMovie
Green Screen
I will be using the Green Screen advanced feature of iMovie 11' soon and often. I didn't realize it was going to be so simple. I figured there would have to be some kind of manual key application to the clip, not green screen as a standard effect, way cool. It couldn't be any more simple than dragging dropping a green screen clip over a background. I was also thrilled to see a four point garbage mask available to remove unwanted objects from a clip.
Bonus link to my green screen attempts. They need work.
Cutaway Image
There a host of other effects that can be applied to still images and clips that I found interesting. The cutaway is is much like green screen in iMovie, but in this instance, say you drop a still over a clip with someone speaking. The video plays, and cuts away to a still image while any narration continues to play in the background, only to return to the vide clip a short tim later. This is will be useful for connecting an idea with a specific image or clip.
Alternative View
The alternative view option harkens me back to my first experience with iMovie HD. After the changes are made to the window, you end up with the look and feel of a linear editor. I am much more familiar with this kind of project workflow, from Final Cut, Premiere Pro, and just about any pro audio software out there. At the moment I am not set on how I will control my own workflow when working in iMovie 11'. I have been working with the default view for three months now, and although I am more familiar with a linear presentation, I actually like the default setting. I have some playing around to do.
PE1_iMovie
Although I have worked with iMovie for a number of years I have never quite managed to learn all its features on any one version. So, getting through these tutorials was somewhat of an accomplishment. My first Macbook Pro came with iMovie HD, and still love that version. When Apple released its successor I was less than impressed, so since then I have kept operational versions of every version of iMovie. iMovie 11' has thankfully, pleased me. Here are a few new things I have learned.
Advanced Features
I honestly did not know the advanced features existed, but I have only been running 11' since enrolling in Full Sail, so ill be talking about those quite a bit. I think one of the most useful features for me will be being able to mark video for quality with the touch of a button, and at the same time mark for deletion. I have imported over 30gigs of footage into iMovie on this mac already and its anything but organized. I also really like the idea of tagging and filtering video with keywords. Not only will I be able to isolate quality from trash, I can speed the process of building project by having clips labeled and searchable. Very cool.
Precision Editor
Another very cool advanced feature, the Precision Editor is ideal for projects like the upcoming iMovie assignment. With a project that leaves no room for error, and by that I mean 60 seconds no more and no less, this is going to be my tool of choice. Ill probably over shoot the time limit to start my video and then whittle it down with the editor. I cant wait to try this one out.
Video Stabilization
I don't know why I've avoided this option in the past, and I am sure I have thrown out footage in the past because I didn't use it. It sees like a no brainer, as long as you have enough time to apply the effect on import. So, next time I import from my HD camera i'll just go ahead and add video stabilization from the get go, in hopes of avoiding that jerky footage I often seem to get.
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