Thomas Brett
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Database: Koreless On Noise Reduction, Constant Renewal Of Sounds, And Conventional Structures
“I think filters are one way of cutting frequencies… Nothing above this frequency can come through, but noise reduction stuff works with what’s called an FFT, and so you split the audio bands into, say, 1,024 bands, and you control each one… It’s like a different way of controlling the frequency response using PCAs per Continue reading
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Keywords: Field Recordings
Field recordings are audio files the producer captures outside the airless space of the computer to bring the real world into a track. The practice soars beyond samples (e.g. stolen snare hits, pilfered vintage Fender Rhodes chords) towards film’s foley sound effect tracks (e.g. mysterious footsteps, whispering), seeking the cinematic feeling of being immersed within Continue reading
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Keywords: Filter Sweeps
Filter Sweeps move a sound from light to dark or dark to light, crisp to muted and back again. They’re a producer’s mixing move (borrowed from DJs) to build drama, to fade in/out with frequencies instead of volume. Filter Sweeps are always going somewhere, a process in process adding a dramatic What’s Next? sense to Continue reading
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Resonant Thoughts: John Adams On What To Value And Musical Style
“Today everything is available at all times. All you have to do is have a subscription to Spotify…Nothing is special anymore. So one has to actually make some kind of pact with oneself to get back to that very very personal relationship with one work, or with just a group of very valuable pieces. Because Continue reading
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Get Each Layer Right
While there are no hacks to quickly producing quality music, a strategy that rewards a degree of patience is to get each layer of the music right before moving on to the next. This post answers the questions, What is a musical layer in a track, and what does it mean to get it right? Continue reading
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Music’s Main Enchanter: Hearing The Human Touch
One of the challenges with making music using software as a primary instrument is what feels like a six degrees of separation between what I intend to do, what I’m actually doing, and the sounds I’m able to make. As I’ve written about, there can be a disconnect between doings and soundings: my sense of Continue reading
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