@ -22,37 +22,10 @@ This book aims to give intermediate electronic music producers advice on how to
If I end up working professionally in sound design — not just for electronic music, but for film, animation, or games — this book could eventually expand to explore how sound design functions across those mediums. In IDM, sound design is the foreground; it carries the structure and invites deep, focused listening. In film and animation, sound design supports another medium — it sets the mood, enhances the world, and reinforces narrative without drawing too much attention to itself. The techniques often overlap, but the intent shifts: where IDM prioritizes sonic innovation for its own sake, film sound must serve timing, emotion, and story. In both cases, though, sound design is applied sound art — and understanding how to shape, place, and transform sound remains a core compositional skill.
If I end up working professionally in sound design — not just for electronic music, but for film, animation, or games — this book could eventually expand to explore how sound design functions across those mediums. In IDM, sound design is the foreground; it carries the structure and invites deep, focused listening. In film and animation, sound design supports another medium — it sets the mood, enhances the world, and reinforces narrative without drawing too much attention to itself. The techniques often overlap, but the intent shifts: where IDM prioritizes sonic innovation for its own sake, film sound must serve timing, emotion, and story. In both cases, though, sound design is applied sound art — and understanding how to shape, place, and transform sound remains a core compositional skill.
.PP
.PP
I used to wish I didn’t take so long to compose. But I’ve come to realize the reason it takes so long is because I’m constantly experimenting — and that’s not a flaw in the process, it is the process. Each piece is built through trial and discovery. I’m not just composing, I’m conducting research. This book is a map of that ongoing research: a record of the tools I’ve tested, the techniques I’ve uncovered, and the paths that led somewhere unexpected.
I used to wish I didn’t take so long to compose. But I’ve come to realize the reason it takes so long is because I’m constantly experimenting — and that’s not a flaw in the process, it is the process. Each piece is built through trial and discovery. I’m not just composing, I’m conducting research. This book is a map of that ongoing research: a record of the tools I’ve tested, the techniques I’ve uncovered, and the paths that led somewhere unexpected.
.COLLATE
.START
.HEADING 1
Reverb
.HEADING 2
What it is (brief, to the point)
.HEADING 2
How it's usually used
.HEADING 2
.HEADING 2
What makes it musically boring or generic
.HEADING 2
How it can be used in IDM to create compelling, textured, rhythmically interesting sound
.HEADING 2
Creative examples or exercises that spark exploration
.COLLATE
.COLLATE
.START
.START
.HEADING 1 microsound
.HEADING 1 Microsound
.BLOCKQUOTE
.BLOCKQUOTE
Granular synthesis is based on the idea that a steady-state waveform with its time-invariant spectrum, although mathematically convenient, is a physical impossibility because a waveform cannot exist for all time. It stems from a theory of acoustical quanta postulated by Gabor, which recognizes that aural perception is performed in the time and frequency domains simutaneously. In this technique, the fundamental compositional elements that are used to to weave the sound are /grains/: small bursts of energy encased in an envelope. This term is attributed to I. Xenakis who detailed an extensive theory of grain selection.
Granular synthesis is based on the idea that a steady-state waveform with its time-invariant spectrum, although mathematically convenient, is a physical impossibility because a waveform cannot exist for all time. It stems from a theory of acoustical quanta postulated by Gabor, which recognizes that aural perception is performed in the time and frequency domains simutaneously. In this technique, the fundamental compositional elements that are used to to weave the sound are /grains/: small bursts of energy encased in an envelope. This term is attributed to I. Xenakis who detailed an extensive theory of grain selection.
@ -60,22 +33,24 @@ Granular synthesis is based on the idea that a steady-state waveform with its ti
\[em] Charles Dodge, /Computer Music/
\[em] Charles Dodge, /Computer Music/
.BLOCKQUOTE END
.BLOCKQUOTE END
.COLLATE
\" Synchronous vs asynchoronous production mode
\" Synchronous vs asynchoronous production mode
\" 5 to 50 ms
\" 5 to 50 ms
.COLLATE
.START
.HEADING 1 Convolution
\" what convolution is, and which impulse responses produce interesting results, how to avoid feedback on them, unorthodox uses of them.
.COLLATE
.START
.START
phase vocoding
.HEADING 1 Phase Vocoding
.COLLATE
.COLLATE
.START
.START
alternative tunings
.HEADING 1 Alternative Tunings
.COLLATE
\" how tuning affects timbre
\"I'll start by listing which tunings I like and what they're like and what they're good for in the context of IDM, and then I'll expand on how they work and how complex they get -- keeping it artistically minded, not super mathy.
