MUS 80: Sound Recording & Production
Course Title: Sound Recording and Production
Offered: Summer Session II, 2009
Instructor: William Brent
Prerequisites: An interest in recording sound and producing music
[Download syllabus]
Course Description: This introductory course gives students exposure to audio editing, standard
recording techniques, and the associated software and hardware tools. Students will engage with
the details of microphone placement and orientation, hearing the results of different techniques
in the process. Through classroom example, hands-on experience, and a visit to a professional
recording studio, they will learn how to set up a recording session and perform basic editing in
the ProTools environment. Independent and collaborative working strategies will be used to cover
these fundamental skills. A final group project will draw on experience gained during the course,
giving students the opportunity to produce a polished recording from start to finish.
Course Objectives: Give students an understanding of all elements that require consideration in
recording; provide a general understanding of musical instrument acoustics as it relates to the
capture of sound; provide an overview of digital signal processing (DSP) basics; expose students
to both standard professional recording/editing software and the open source alternatives; provide
the opportunity to work directly with musicians in a recording environment; visit a state of the
art professional recording studio.
Expectations: Because this course will cover a lot of material in a hands-on format, students are
expected to attend all classes and arrive on time. The ability to work well in a collaborative
environment is crucial, as much of the work requires a group effort. Basic computer skills will
be helpful, but are not required.
Textbook (optional): Alten, Stanley R. 2008. Audio In Media, Eighth Edition. Belmont, CA:
Thomson Wadsworth.
Short Course Outline:
I: Introduction to the basics of musical acoustics: what are the characteristics of musical sound and how
well can we capture them? Introduction to modern recording technology, including software (ProTools,
Audacity, Ardour), links in the hardware chain (dynamic and condenser microphones, preamplifiers,
analog-digital converters), and digital signal processing (DSP) fundamentals.
II: Microphone techniques. Students will research the effects of miking techniques as well as spatial
location, and create a plan for capturing a specific effect. Working in an instructor-guided session,
students will have the opportunity to carry out their plan by recording a live musician. A survey and
analysis of the results will follow.
III: Editing techniques. Students will be introduced to the basics of mixing and editing in the ProTools
environment. Based on previous research and experience, they will form groups to create a specific
recording plan, run a recording session, edit the results, and produce a polished final recording.
Pure data (Pd) demonstration patches: [
DOWNLOAD]
These patches include no guidance on usage at all. If enough people are interested, I'll change that, otherwise you can email or talk to me as needed...
MUS 171: Audio Synthesis in Pure Data
Course Title: Audio Synthesis in Pure Data
Instructor: William Brent
Textbook: The Theory and Technique of Electronic Music by Miller Puckette. Available online at
[
http://crca.ucsd.edu/~msp/techniques.htm]
Software: Pure Data. Pd is free and multi-platform for Windows, Linux, and Mac OSX. Download it at
[
http://www.crca.ucsd.edu/~msp/software.html]
[Download syllabus]
Course Description: This course introduces audio synthesis using the Pure Data (Pd) programming environment, with a
focus on understanding exactly why the sounds we’ll be making behave the way they do. We will work
through many standard synthesis techniques, learning reliable Pd strategies for managing control
information and sequencing as we go. There are 8 assignments to complete, which fairly consistently
ramp up in difficulty.
Your final project will be to create an instrument in Pd that incorporates at least three of the synthesis
techniques we cover. You will also perform or play back a very short demonstration piece that
highlights the features (or quirks) of your instrument.
