|
|
.\" Use groff -Kutf8 -mom -Tpdf 01-intro.mom > out.pdf
|
|
|
\" Senior thesis for VCUarts major in Kinetic Imaging with a minor in Sound Design
|
|
|
\" Please write a forward, RDJ!
|
|
|
.mom
|
|
|
.AUTHOR "Leonard Francis Coogan"
|
|
|
.TITLE "Sound Hacking: Composing Braindance / IDM"
|
|
|
.PRINTSTYLE TYPESET
|
|
|
.papersize letter
|
|
|
.DOCTYPE DEFAULT
|
|
|
.START
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
.HEADING 1 "Preface"
|
|
|
|
|
|
.PP
|
|
|
To me, I think of IDM not as a style, but an approach to electronic music that presents experimental sound design and compositional techniques in the context of techno. This book frames sound synthesis methods and alternative tunings in the context of IDM in order to make these concepts practical and applicable for intermediate electronic music composers. Access to music technology is universal for anyone with a computer, but education isn’t. To write this book, I conducted endless experiments in SuperCollider and studied computer music textbooks to discover what’s useful. Through experimentation, I found that certain tools suit certain purposes — but if one piece of intellectual advice is missing, the results can be boring or hideous. This book aims to give intermediate electronic music producers advice on how to think more critically about their sound design choices. For true beginners without any music or technology background, this book might be too advanced — you might benefit more from starting with foundational music theory, especially if you struggle to create melodic or harmonic content. Although IDM compositions tend to be simple theory-wise, they're still strong compositions. You need a stable structural base to build the complex sound design.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
.HEADING 1 "What is IDM"
|
|
|
|
|
|
.PP
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
.HEADING 2 "But what exactly makes a piece IDM?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
.BL
|
|
|
.LI Studio-focused, not real-time
|
|
|
.LI Experimental sound design that pushes sonic boundaries
|
|
|
.LI Relatively accessible structure despite how advanced the sound design gets
|
|
|
.LI Constant subtle variation, whether in structure or texture
|
|
|
.LI Based on inventing your own techniques
|
|
|
.LI Every sound is an opportunity
|
|
|
.BL OFF
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
.HEADING 2 "Survey of IDM"
|
|
|
|
|
|
\" <important artists, albums, labels, their lineage / history too>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
.HEADING 1 "What instruments should I use?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
.PP
|
|
|
Finding your instrument isn’t a one-time decision -- it’s a process of discovery and reinvention. It's about whatever appeals to you, whatever you can get your hands on.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.PP
|
|
|
Part of electronic music is designing your own instrument, even if that means using another instrument to do that – credit to my friend Zach for saying that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.HEADING 2 "If part of electronic music is designing my own instrument, how do I know where to start?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
.PP
|
|
|
This book will give you ideas for achieving certain aesthetics and compositional approaches that will hopefully lead you into developing your own voice.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
.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
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
.START
|
|
|
.HEADING 1 microsound
|
|
|
|
|
|
.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.
|
|
|
.RIGHT
|
|
|
\[em] Charles Dodge, /Computer Music/
|
|
|
.BLOCKQUOTE END
|
|
|
|
|
|
.COLLATE
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
\" Synchronous vs asynchoronous production mode
|
|
|
\" 5 to 50 ms
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
.START
|
|
|
phase vocoding
|
|
|
.COLLATE
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
.START
|
|
|
alternative tunings
|
|
|
.COLLATE
|
|
|
|
|
|
|