Excercises

Chapter 5 Exercise 5.1

Pitch Reference Exercise

Development of a personal pitch reference is possible with daily attention over several weeks. Daily work will involve a number of 5-, 10-, or 15-minute work sessions throughout the day. With focused effort this exercise will yield significant results quickly. The companion website has some potential reference pitches.

The first step is to become aware of your personal pitch reference. This may most likely be accomplished as follows:
Consider your performance experiences for pitches that have become emphasized in your awareness. Exploring your experiences as a performer can turn up a significant memory. People who have played an instrument will often have certain pitches in memory that are related to that instrument (especially when they are in the act of playing it). Guitarists often know the sound of an “E”; trumpet players a “B-flat”; violinists an “A”; and so forth. You can make use of this pitch reference if you have this experience. Think carefully about the tuning pitch of your instrument or some other pitch level you feel drawn to, and clearly identify the pitch. Now play the pitch, listen to it carefully, and work to internalize it as a reliable reference.
Paying close attention to your natural speaking voice, speak carefully, but deliberately, and try to remove any stress from your voice box. Pay close attention to your inflections and notice when you are causing the pitch of your voice to go up and down. Finally, bring your attention to identify the pitch of your voice where it is operating without resistance, and where it is not being forced up or down in pitch. In this monotone, if properly produced, is the natural pitch of your voice. This can often serve as a reliable pitch reference.
Vocalize or sing freely to find the pitch level where your voice causes your chest cavity to resonate. This will require you to relax your vocal chords and pay close attention to the sensations of your body for a fullness to develop in the chest cavity. The voice should then be swept through your comfortable singing range to find the pitch that creates the greatest fullness. That level of greatest fullness could become “your” pitch, which might serve as a reference.
Other pitch references are possible, such as drums or specific pieces of music. These are unusually unique to the individual. At times these can be easily identified or refined.
If your pitch reference is based on your voice, make a note of the pitch level you identified. Repeat the process of identifying this level four or five times over two or three days to validate the level. You will eventually identify a specific and consistent pitch level.
Now, listen to your reference pitch often throughout several days. A few times per day, stop your normal activity to sing, play, and listen to that pitch level. Use a piano, pitch pipe, tuning fork, or another instrument to play your pitch. Sing it frequently and become accustomed to the placement of that pitch in your voice. Work to bring yourself to hear the pitch in your mind before singing it. With this, you are bringing your sense of pitch into your consciousness.
Next, try to consciously carry your reference pitch with you throughout the day. Take five minutes at four or five set times throughout the day to sing your pitch level and check it for accuracy. Before singing, quiet your thoughts and bring your attention to your voice or to your memory of the pitch. Do not sing a pitch unless you are confident you have a memory of the pitch. If you do not have a memory of the pitch, return to Step 3 for more practice. Sing the pitch in your memory and check it. Don’t allow yourself to get frustrated by wrong pitches. Everyone will make mistakes at this stage. By evaluating your mistakes you can learn from them. Keep a record of the pitch you sang—high or low, size of interval off, etc. Look for patterns and try to identify what caused the errors.
Begin each day recalling your pitch reference. Check it, and adjust for accuracy as needed. Carry the pitch with you throughout the day. Remember, this exercise will greatly enhance a skill you will use throughout your career in audio.

Exercise 5.2

Pitch Level Estimation Exercise

The companion website presents sound files with the boundaries of the pitch registers played on a piano. These may be of assistance in learning these boundaries.

Working with a keyboard instrument or some type of tone generator, practice listening to the boundaries of the registers. Seek to remember the sounds of those boundaries, and remember the pitch names and frequency levels of the several pitches that make up those boundaries.
It will be helpful to work with another person. While this other person performs pitches at the boundaries between registers (on a keyboard or other device or instrument), identify those boundaries. Maintain a record of your mistakes so that you can evaluate them and make adjustments.
Once confidence has been established in recognizing the general areas encompassed by the registers, begin playing individual pitches against the pitch registers. Identify the pitch register of the sound.
Finally, work to identify where pitches are sounding within the registers (i.e., the upper third of low, or the lower quarter of mid).

Throughout these steps, you should rely solely on your memory of the pitch/frequency registers in making these judgments. Use an instrument to check yourself, to validate success or to make adjustments; base your estimations solely on your growing ability to recognize pitch unaided.

Exercise 5.3

Identifying tempos and transposing tempo into clock time.

Identify at least two pieces of music or songs that your know well, and that are meaningful to you. These should be pieces you can call up in your conscious thoughts clearly and be consistently accurate.
Hold the first piece in your thoughts and ‘hear’ it internally. In doing this notice its tempo, and try to focus on the tempo of the music. It may help to ‘feel’ its pulse in your body.
When this tempo is clear to you, identify the tempo in terms of beats per minute or a metronome marking. Use a metronome or some other device or software to identify this exact tempo; you may need a number of attempts to find the correct tempo, keeping checking your findings. Make a note of this tempo marking.
Modify the tempo in your thoughts, and notice how the music just isn’t right at a bit slower or faster. Settle in to the knowledge that this piece of music only sounds right at this certain bpm, and remember that number and that tempo. You can check this tempo in your memory just by bringing up the memory of this song.
Repeat steps 2 through 4 for at least one other song, so you have more than one tempo reference.
To transpose one of the known tempos you have identified into clock time, examine the tempos for their mathematical relationship to 60bpm or 75bpm. For example, if one of your songs is at 90bpm, you can arrive at 60bpm by transposing the pulse of the song to its dotted-quarter note. You may have to ‘stretch’ the pulse to be a bit faster or slower to make some numbers work; if this is the case, practice this, and work to be consistent; check your success by listening to the original pulse and the 60bpm pulse.
Determine a way to transpose one or both of the songs you have identified to both 75bpm (which will generate tenths of seconds) and 60bpm (which will generate seconds and half-seconds). If you cannot be accurate and consistent, that song will not work for this exercise. Identify another song and repeat this process.

You will now be able to carry with you a way to access clock time.

Figure 5.6 Simple rhythm for graphing clock time.

Exercise 5.4

Exercise in Graphing Clock Time

Select a very simple and slow rhythm such as that found in Figure 5.6. Set up a metronome or a click track on a DAW you can use to establish and maintain a steady pulse.

Use a marking of 60bpm to establish a pulse clearly in your thoughts and set up a timeline divided into pulse increments.
Use that pulse to place the notes of the rhythm against the timeline.
Repeat Steps 1 and 2 with more complicated rhythms, and at MM:120 and MM:240.
Keep working with these steps until you begin to internalize or “remember” the tempos of 60bpm, 120bpm and 240bpm.

This process will help you learn the “sound” and “feel” of these tempos that are directly related to clock time. Knowing these tempos will be important for understanding time issues in critical listening, and will also allow you to be able to calculate time units for compressors, delays, reverbs and other devices. It might be helpful to note that many band marches are at MM:120; if a person can clearly remember one of these pieces they may well be able to quickly and accurately establish a tempo of MM:120, or a pulse every .5 seconds, which could be very helpful in many situations.

Exercise 5.5

Song Structure Exercise

The following exercise should be practiced on a variety of pieces of music until you are comfortable with the material covered. The purpose of this exercise is to create a time line of a song, divided into major structural divisions and phrases within those divisions.

Select a recording of a song you know reasonably well and prepare a time line with measures numbered, up to perhaps 100.
Listen to the recording to identify where the major sections fall against the time line. Try following the time line while tapping the pulse of the song, or conducting. When a major section begins/ends, make a mark on the time line.
After listening to the song, write down the names of those divisions. Then, try filling in additional information, such as other verse or chorus beginning/ending points and phrase lengths.
Repeat listening to the recording, followed by writing down the information recognized.
The graph is completed when it includes all of the major structural divisions, the midlevel structural divisions and the smallest uniform phrase. Incorporating text information is also helpful.
Following the time line while listening may prove helpful in initial studies in identifying structural divisions. Remember to wait until the music is stopped before writing observations. Clearly separating the listening and writing activities will assist you in improving listening skills and in learning to evaluate sound. This will become increasingly important as this book progresses.

Exercise 5.6

Musical Memory Development Exercise

Select a recording of a song you know reasonably well and prepare a time line with measures numbered, up to perhaps 100.
Before listening to the recording, sit quietly and try to remember as much detail of the song as you can.
Now, write down the song’s meter. In your mind, listen to the piece from your memory. Then write down where the major sections begin and end. If you cannot come up with those divisions easily, you might well be able to deduce that information by thinking about the patterns of phrases in the introduction, verses, choruses, etc. Write down as much information as you can.
Think carefully about what you wrote and identify aspects you are not certain about—things that need to be determined when you listen to the recording.
Now you can listen to the recording. Listen intently for the information you have determined you need. Do not follow your graph. Listen with your eyes closed. Listen to remember what you hear. Do not write while you are listening and do not correct your graph while you are listening.
When the song has stopped, write down what you heard in your one listening and correct what you previously wrote. Then repeat steps 4 and 5 until you have created a time line and structure of the song—in as few listening sessions as possible. Finally, check your information one last time while following your graph. All of the information you wrote should be checked for accuracy; make corrections to your graph.
Do not get discouraged. Keep trying. If overwhelmed, take a break but return to the exercise in short order.
Select another piece of music, one that you know very well, and perform this exercise again.

This exercise can be performed whenever a time line needs to be created. If faced with a new song, listen intently to the song once immediately after sketching a time line.

Exercise 5.7

Perspective

Find a recording with three to five sound sources (instruments and/or voices) during the first two sections of the song.

Bring your attention to a single instrument. While playing back the recording, follow that single instrument from the beginning of the song through its first two sections. Try to ignore all other instruments or voices; maintain your attention on only the musical parts being performed by that instrument.
Next, bring your attention to that same instrument again. While playing back the recording, follow that single instrument from the beginning of the song through its first two sections with your attention focused on only one aspect of that sound—for instance, performance quality, dynamics, stereo location. It is very important to practice bringing your full attention to only that instrument and only that aspect of sound, learning to completely ignore all other aspects of sound within the instrument and all other aspects of sound.
Perform steps 1 and 2 on another instrument in the song. Take care to notice how well you are able to maintain your complete attention on the one item you are seeking to follow.
In this step we will conceptualize the two instruments we examined above as being equal in our perception. Listen to the recording again; this time try to follow the loudness levels of two instruments simultaneously. Repeat the task, and see if you have the same result.

In order for us to perceive two sounds equally we must pull our attention to a higher level of perspective, one with less detail than we heard when focusing on a single sound. Bring your attention to a place where you can perceive the two sounds as being equal—knowing if you bring one to the center of your attention it will dominate and make comparisons of the sounds inaccurate.

Perform steps 1 and 2 on a third instrument in the song. Take care to notice how well you are able to maintain your complete attention on the one item you are seeking to follow.
Bring all three instruments into your perception equally in the next listening. Find yourself at a level of perspective where you can bring your attention to all three sounds in the same instant. This is not a matter of switching between the sounds; it is a matter of hearing the three simultaneously.

The purpose of this exercise is introduce the reader to the skill of bringing focus to various levels of perspective, and the different types of information each will generate. This exercise brings beginning skills for perceiving and crafting the mix.

Exercise 5.8

General Musical Balance and Performance Intensity Observations

Find a multi-track production that you know well and that begins with three to five sound sources that have been transformed by the tracking and mixing processes. Understanding this transformation may be hard to identify at this stage of your development. As the exercise progresses you will recognize whether or not you have selected an appropriate or easily accessible recording; you may need to switch to another recording at some point.

Listen carefully to identify the instruments and/or voices. Notice how each will change in performance intensity through the course of the first two major sections of the song. Follow each part separately to observe the conflicting levels/cues between the musical balance of the mix and the performance intensities of the parts as they were tracked.
This will require separate hearings for each sound source, focusing only on that source. In these succeeding hearings, find instances where musical balance is at a different loudness than the performance intensity information of the instruments’ sound qualities.
Listen again, while focusing attention on a specific instrument or voice you know well; follow that sound source carefully throughout the entire song, to make some general observations of performance intensity cues.
Listen again and note the actual loudness of that instrument/voice in relation to the other sound sources. Think in general “louder than” or “softer than” terms at this point in time.
Finally, listen again for how these relationships change between major sections of the song (i.e., between verse and chorus).

The purpose of this exercise is to become sensitive to the differences between the timbre or sound qualities of instruments and voices resulting from the intensity levels of the performances that were recorded in tracking, and how these sounds appear at altered loudness levels within the mix. Many recordings have substantial differences in these subtleties that will be explored later.

Exercise 5.9

General Impressions of the Sound Stage

Use the same multi-track production recordings you selected for Exercise 5.8 here—ones that begin with three to five sound sources.

Listen to identify the same three to five primary instruments and/or voices that you followed in the musical balance/performance intensity exercise. During the first three sections of the song, follow one of those parts separately, and note the left-right placement of the sound source. Locate the L-R placement of the sound on a sound stage diagram; use two or three diagrams, one for each section.
In succeeding hearings, find the locations of the other two, three, or four sources.
Listen again, while focusing attention on a specific instrument or voice you know well, follow that sound source carefully throughout the entire song. Make some general observations of any changes in L-R location. Use additional diagrams for specific sections of the song, as needed.
Now listen again to the first instrument/voice and locate the sound at a distance from you, as audience member. Take care to bring your attention to distance only; remember distance is timbral detail. Place the sound on the graph by moving the L-R location to an appropriate distance. Listen for changing distances between sections, and note those changes on the separate graphs.
In succeeding hearings, find the distance locations of the other two, three, or four sources.
Finally, listen again for how these relationships change between major sections of the song (i.e., between verse and chorus). Making additional diagrams might be necessary to keep track all of the placements you find in your song.

The purpose of this exercise is to become sensitive to recognizing the left-to-right and the front-to-back dimensions of the sound stage. The observations here are intended to be general and preliminary. There will be much substantial information not captured in these diagrams; these materials will be explored later in much detail.

Exercise 5.10

Learning the Sound Quality of the Harmonic Series

This exercise should be practiced in short sessions over time, and should be supplemented with writing out the harmonic series at a variety of pitch/frequency levels.

Tracks 1 and 2 on the companion website provide examples of the harmonic series. Learning the “sound quality” of the harmonic series will be valuable in learning to identify the spectral content of sounds.

Listen carefully to the harmonic series being constructed a single pitch at a time. Notice the spacing between the tones and the sequence of intervals of the series. Work to commit the sequence to memory—both the names of the intervals and the sound quality of the interval sequence should be learned.
Through 10 partials, practice recalling the sequence of intervals by writing them.
Next, practice playing the sequence on a keyboard, remembering the higher intervals do not align with the equal-tempered tuning of the keyboard.
Continue to listen to the harmonic series provided, and shift your attention to the perspective of the quality of the “chord” that is played after the individual pitches of the harmonic series. Listen carefully to the overall quality of this chord; then seek to identify each individual pitch within it.
Repeat this process to obtain confidence in spelling the harmonic series and recognizing its pitch succession and overall sound quality.
Repeat steps 2 through 5 with a series through 16 partials. Practice until you are comfortable quickly conceptualizing each of the pitches in the harmonic series when you hear the chord at the end of tracks 1 and 2.
When some comfort in recognizing partials has been accomplished, listen to a single piano note being sustained. Take your focus to the perspective of individual harmonics. You will notice that partials change in loudness level and in pitch during the duration of the sound. Hold one, single harmonic in the center of your focus and follow its changes over the duration of the sound. Do this with several other partials during successive listenings to gain practice at hearing and focusing on spectral components.

The goal of this exercise is to bring the reader to recognize the “sound quality” (or timbre) of the “chord” that is created by the harmonic series, in its specific voicing (or spacing) of intervals and pitches. The spacing is important to recognize, as well as the overall quality, and the individual partials. This knowledge will be used as a template against which the reader can identify the partials of a sound’s spectrum.

Exercise 5.11

Time Judgment Exercise

Using a digital delay unit and a recording of a high-pitch drum (such as the snare drum or high tom tracks on the companion website):

Route the signal to one loudspeaker and the processed signal to the other loudspeaker.
Delay the signal and listen to many repetitions of the sound while changing time-increments. Listen until each delay increment is easily recognized. Try to move by the same time increment, such as 100 ms, during any given listening session.
As confidence is obtained in being able to accurately judge certain time units, move to other time units—both smaller and larger—and repeat the sequence in Step 2.
When you are confident in this ability, test your accuracy by routing both the direct and delayed signals to both loudspeakers (or to a single loudspeaker).
Continue to work through many repetitions of time increments in a systematic manner, comparing the qualities of the time relationships of each listening to previous and successive material. Using a logical sequence (a suggested pattern/sequence: 150 ms, 125 ms, 100 ms, 75 ms, 125 ms, 150 ms) that can be remembered will produce results faster.
Continue moving to smaller and smaller time units, until consistency has been achieved at being able to accurately judge time increments of 3 to 5 ms.

Tracks 26–33 on the companion website present time delays with a snare-drum sound. The delay times range from 50 ms down to 2 ms. Listening to those tracks will provide valuable support to learning this material and working through the above exercise.

Chapter 6 Exercise 6.1

Exercise for Plotting the Presence of Sound Sources Against the Time Line

Graph the first few major sections (verse, chorus, etc.) of a piece of popular music, using the following steps:

Compile a list of all the sound sources of the song. Individual percussion sounds and vocal parts should be listed separately.
Create a suitable time line by:

determining the pulse (metric grid) of the song;
grouping the pulses into measures (weak and strong beats); and
plotting those measures on the horizontal (X) axis in increments that clearly show the material being graphed.

Plot the individual sound sources against the time line. Each sound will have its own location on the vertical axis, making it unnecessary to make distinctions between the lines of each sound source on the graph. When an instrument is playing, place a line for that instrument in the appropriate location against the time line. If the instrument is playing in the measure, extend the line through the entire measure. Alternately, you can change this resolution to make note of instruments appearing every half measure. If still more detail is sought, a smaller time increment could be used.
After several days return to the graph. Check the time line for accuracy and listen several times again for sound sources. It is not unusual for sound sources to appear in the music that were not heard in previous hearings.
Listen several more times to check the entrances and exits of the instruments against the time line.

The reader will use this skill at the beginning of many exercises in the following chapters. Learning to do this well now will prove very helpful. Further, identifying sound sources and what they are doing is a very important part of tracking and mixing. This exercise will also improve a skill the reader will use in production work.

Chapter 7 Exercise 7.1

Melodic Contour Analysis Exercise

Find a recording with a melodic line that is performed too quickly to be heard as individual pitches. It is best for the melodic line to be at least two measures, or five seconds, in duration.

Determine the time line of the example, including the appropriate time units (clock time or meter) and the length of the time line. Then make note of beginning and ending pitch/frequency levels.
Begin plotting the melodic contour against the time line by identifying highest, lowest, and other prominent pitch levels, and placing them at precise locations on the time line. Check the time line for accuracy of length.
Work to establish as many reference pitches as possible. The highest and lowest pitches of the line will establish the upper and lower limits of the Y-axis. Identify the fastest change of pitch level; this will become the smallest time unit the graph needs to clearly present, and will determine the appropriate division of the X-axis.
Draw the melodic contour graph using the X and Y axes determined in Step 3.
Locate the reference pitches on the graph at the appropriate locations against the time line.
Fill in the remaining pitch information, making certain to check observations regularly. The graph is completed when the last noticeable pitch change is incorporated into the graph.

Exercise 7.2

Pitch Area Bandwidth and Density Exercise.

Work at a piano keyboard, with or without a partner.

Play the succession of intervals number 1, in figure 7.7. Allow the sound to ring out completely, with a pause between them: Major Second, Major Third, Minor Third, Perfect Fourt

Listen intently to the sound qualities of the intervals, and seek to understand the two notes as the outer boundaries of a pitch area. Get accustomed to the notion of the ‘width’ of the pitch areas. Notice the sound qualities of the intervals without notes between the pitches.
Now, play the chords in number 2 of figure 7.7. Allow the sound to ring out completely, with a pause between them. Strive to play all pitches with equal loudness.
Listen intently to the sound qualities of the chords, noting the different densities of pitch information within the chords, and how the density is moving from least dense to most dense.
Finally, play the chords in number 3 of figure 7.7, in the same manner with pauses between the chords. Strive to play all the pitches of all the half-steps between the outer pitches with equal loudness. Note, this is the greatest density possible in equal temperament.
Listen intently to the chords, and note the stable densities while the bandwidth changes. Transpose the chords to different octaves and repeat steps 1 through 5.
Seek to understand the sound qualities of the different densities. Use these observations within the Pitch Area Analysis exercise that follows.

Exercise 7.3

Pitch Area Analysis Exercise

Identify an instrument you want to evaluate—most people find drums are easiest in beginning attempts. The companion website has a number of drum and cymbal sounds that will serve this purpose very well. You might wish to establish a way to repeat the track quickly and with little distraction.

Determine the most prominent pitch area by defining the lower boundary first, then the upper boundary of the area (a steep filter can be helpful in determining these boundaries during beginning studies).
Determine any secondary areas of concentrated activity (these will be identified by either width, density, or dynamic prominence of the pitch area), by identifying the lowest and then the highest boundary.
Repeat the process for any other pitch areas present. The specific frequencies/pitches of the boundaries are often audible, despite the sound not having an audible fundamental frequency. These pitches/frequencies should be identified and noted on the graph.
Evaluate the densities of the pitch areas and incorporate that information into the graph (this is the general amount of pitch/frequency activity within the pitch area and is noted on a numbering scale from very dense to very sparse).
Finally, identify the dynamic relationships between the pitch areas within the sounds. Describe this information as part of the analysis (these are the general dynamic relationships of the area and are noted on a number scale identifying the relative loudness of the pitch areas).

Instructions:

When performing loudness/dynamic evaluations, and evaluations of many of the other elements that follow, work to identify clearly what you know for certain. Ask yourself if the sound is at extremes of the dynamic range, and work toward focusing in on the correct level. Continue to feel comfortable that you have knowledge of what the sound level is not, and work toward finding what the level is.

Chapter 8 Exercise 8.1

Reference Dynamic Level Exercise

Select a recording you know well for your initial attempts at determining the reference dynamic level of a piece of music. It would be best for the work to be less than four minutes duration.

Before listening to the piece, spend some time thinking about the overall character of the piece; consider the overall energy level, performance intensity, concept or message, and other important aspects of the song.

Listen to the song several times to confirm that the observations in your memory are reflected in the actual music and recording.
Reconsider your observations with each new hearing of the recording.
Attempt to determine a precise dynamic level for the RDL. Begin this process by working from the extreme levels—pppand ƒƒƒ—asking if the level exists in those areas. Eliminate dynamic areas where the RDL is obviously not present. This will focus your efforts.
Once the dynamic area has been determined, work to define a precise level by asking if the RDL is below 50 percent in the level, or above. Continue to work toward a specific level by narrowing the area further.
Leave the example and your answer for a period of time (several hours or several days). Listen to the song again. Reconsider the RDL previously defined.

If you do not know a piece of music, many hearings will be required before initial observations can be made.

Exercise 8.2

Program Dynamic Contour Exercise

Select a short song for your initial attempts at creating a program dynamic contour graph. The entire song should be graphed for overall dynamic contour. The dynamic level of the entire recording (the composite dynamic level of all sounds) will be the focus of this exercise. To aid in developing this skill, initial attempts at this exercise should use a song with large, sudden changes of dynamic level. Repeat the exercise using a song with changes that are smaller, or subtler. Determine a general shape of the dynamic contour before attempting to grasp all of the subtle details.

During the first hearing(s), listen to the example to establish the length of the time line. At the same time, become acquainted with the character of the song to begin formulating an idea of its RDL.
Check the time line for accuracy and make any alterations. Establish the RDL of the work by working through the previous exercise.
Notice the activity of the program dynamic contour for boundaries of levels of activity and speed of activity. The boundary of speed will establish the smallest time unit required to accurately plot the smallest significant change of the element. The boundary of levels of activity will establish the upper and lower thresholds of the graph. Next, determine the smallest increment of the Y-axis required to plot the smallest change of the dynamic contour.
Begin plotting the dynamic contour on the graph, continually relating the perceived dynamic level to the RDL. First, establish prominent points within the contour. These reference points will be the highest or lowest levels, the beginning and ending levels, points immediately after silences, and other points that stand out from the remainder of the activity. Use the points of reference to judge the activity of the preceding and following material. Focus on the contour, speed, and amounts of level changes to complete the plotting of the contour. Notice any patterns or recurring shapes within the contour, and changes of levels between sections of the song.
The evaluation is complete when the smallest significant detail has been perceived, understood, and added to the graph.

Exercise 8.3

Musical Balance Exercise

Select a popular song with at least three instruments and voice. To make this exercise more meaningful and take less time, you may wish to use one of the songs from Exercise 7.1or 7.2. Evaluate the first 32 bars for musical balance. This exercise will graph the dynamic contours—actual loudness levels—of all sound sources against the song’s RDL. Musical balance is the relationships of sound sources to one another. Initial attempts should use pieces of music with only a few sound sources.

The exercise will follow the sequence:

During the first hearing(s), establish the length and structural divisions of the time line. At the same time, notice prominent instrumentation and activity of their general dynamic levels against the time line.
Check the time line for accuracy and make any alterations. Establish a complete list of sound sources (instruments and voices), and sketch the presence of the sound sources against the completed time line. A key should be created, assigning each sound source with its own number, or color.
Determine the reference dynamic level of the sound using the process previously presented.
Notice the activity of the dynamic levels of the sound sources (instruments and voices) for boundaries of levels of activity and speed of activity. The boundary of speed will establish the smallest time unit required to accurately plot the smallest significant change of dynamic level. The boundary of levels of activity will establish the smallest increment of the Y-axis required to plot the smallest change of dynamics.
Begin plotting the dynamic contours of each instrument or voice on the graph. Keeping the RDL clearly in mind, establish the beginning dynamic levels of each sound source. Next, determine other prominent points of reference. Use the points of reference to judge the activity of the preceding and following material. Focus on the contour, speed, and amounts of level changes to complete the plotting of the dynamic contours.
You should periodically shift your focus to compare the dynamic levels of the sound sources to one another. This will aid in developing the dynamic contours and will keep you focused on the relationships of dynamic levels of the various sources. The evaluation is complete when the smallest significant detail has been incorporated into the graph.

It is important to remain focused on the actual loudness of instruments, making certain your attention is not drawn to other aspects of sound.

As you gain experience and confidence in making these evaluations, songs with more instruments should be examined and longer sections of the works should be evaluated. You will begin to notice striking subtle changes as your skill level improves.

Exercise 8.4

Performance Intensity versus Musical Balance Exercise

Select a multitrack recording of a popular song with at least five sound sources. Evaluate the first 16 bars for performance intensity and musical balance. Select five sound sources to graph for this exercise. The graph will have two tiers: one will graph musical balance (the actual loudness levels in the recording), the other performance intensity (the loudness levels of the instruments when they were recorded).

The musical balance exercise should first be completed as in the previous section. This will generate the graph’s time line as well.
Performance intensity will now be determined for each sound source, for the performance intensity tier. Sound sources will have the same number, or the same color as on the musical balance tier.
Begin plotting the performance intensity of each sound source on the graph. Start by establishing the beginning performance intensity levels of each sound source. Next, determine other prominent points of reference. Use the points of reference to judge the activity of the preceding and following material. Focus on the contour, speed, and amounts of level changes to complete the plotting of these performance intensity contours. The evaluation is complete when the smallest significant detail has been incorporated into the graph.

You can now compare the two tiers, and learn significant information on how the voices and instruments were tracked, and how the recording and mixing processes altered the sound sources. These provide insights into the musical and production decisions that went into “crafting the mix” of that recording.

As you gain experience in making these evaluations, all of the sound sources of songs with many instruments should be examined for longer sections of songs that have significant changes in the mix. Notice how the mix changes (or does not change) when moving from one section of the song to another (i.e. verses to choruses).

Chapter 9

Exercise 9.1
Exercise 9.2

Exercise 9.1

Describing Sound Exercise

The purpose of this exercise is to develop an approach to talking about sound that discusses the sound's physical components.

Select a sound and record it playing only one pitch. A sound from the companion website may be used.
Write down your observations of the time line: how long does the sound last?
Make general observations of the pitch definition of the sound. Does it start with a burst of noise (like a piano)? Are there areas where the sound changes in pitch quality? Is the sound mostly pitched or mostly noise-like?
Next describe the dynamic envelope. How does the dynamic envelope change during the sound's duration? What is the speed of the attack and initial decay? What is the level of the attack? What is the sustain level in relation to the attack? How does the sound end?
Describe the spectrum of the sound. Is it dominated by harmonics? Where are overtones present in relation to the fundamental? Is there a different spectrum during the onset than in the body of the sound?
Describe the spectral envelope. Are some partials prominent? Is the fundamental louder than the remainder of the spectrum? How does the spectrum change over time?

Practice talking about sound in this way whenever you are working with an audio device. Ask yourself: What I am hearing related to the actual sound wave? What are its current qualities, or how are those qualities changing?

This will bring you to be able to quickly evaluate sounds in a meaningful way, and to be able to explain to others what needs to be done to obtain desired results or what the wonderful qualities of your drum sounds are—specifically and understandably.

Practice describing sounds this way without first creating a sound quality evaluation graph, and then after creating the graph.

Exercise 9.2

Sound Quality Evaluation Exercise

Find a sound that is a complex waveform (containing overtones as well as harmonics) with a duration of at least five seconds. A single occurrence of the sound should be identified and evaluated. A sound that is isolated from other sounds (does not have other sounds occurring simultaneously) will be easiest to evaluate. Make a recording of the sound to more easily repeat hearings of the sound.

Perform a sound quality evaluation on the sound by using the following sequence of activities. See the chapter for more detail, as needed.

During the first hearing(s), listen to the example to establish the length of the time line.
Check the time line for accuracy and make any alterations.
Notice the activity of the component parts of sound quality for their boundaries of levels of activity and speed of activity, and establish the smallest increment of the Y-axis required to plot the smallest change of each component (dynamic contour, spectral content, spectral envelope).
Place pitch-definition observations on the graph.
Plot the activity of the dynamic envelope on the graph.
Identify the spectral content of the sound and place the partials on the graph.
Plot the dynamic activity of the partials on the spectral-envelope tier of the graph.

When completed, review your sound quality evaluation graph and compare the activities of all tiers. Summarize and describe how the physical dimensions of the sound appear and change throughout the duration of the sound as in Exercise 9.1, but in greater detail.

Chapter 10 Exercise 10.1

Stereo Location Exercise

For this exercise, find a recording that displays significant changes in stereo location of sound sources. Plot the location of the sound source that displays the greatest amount of change, and at least two others: one spread image and one point source. Graph the sounds throughout the first two major sections of the song.

The process of determining stereo-sound location will follow this sequence:

During the initial hearing(s), listen to the example to establish the length of the time line. Next, notice the presence of prominent instrumentation, note the placements and activity of their stereo location against the time line.
Check the time line for accuracy and make any alterations. Establish the sound sources (instruments and voices) that will be evaluated and sketch the presence of the sound sources against the completed time line.
Notice the locations and size of the sound sources for boundaries of size, location, and any speed of changing locations or size of image. The boundaries of source locations will establish the smallest increment of the Y-axis required. The perspective of the graph will always be of either the individual sound source or of the overall sound stage.
Begin plotting the stereo location of the selected sound sources on the graph. The locations of spread images are placed within boundaries; these “edges” of the images can be difficult to locate during initial hearings, but they can be defined with precision. Focus on the source until it is defined. Work from what you know for certain (where the image is and where it is not) to gradually remove your doubt and confusion. The locations of point-source images are plotted as single lines. These sources are often easiest to precisely locate.
Continually compare the locations and sizes of the sound sources to one another. This will aid in defining the source locations and will keep the listener focused on the spatial relationships of the various sound sources. The evaluation is complete when the smallest significant detail has been incorporated into the graph.

As you gain experience in making these evaluations, songs with more instruments should be examined and longer sections of the works should be evaluated.

Exercise 10.2

Distance Location Exercise

Select a recording with at least five sound sources that exhibit significantly different distance cues. Plot the distance locations of those sources throughout the first three major sections of the work.

The process of determining distance location will follow this sequence:

During the initial hearing(s), establish the length of the time line. Notice the selected sound sources and any prominent placements and activity of distance location, especially as they relate to the time line.
Check the time line for accuracy and make any alterations. Clearly identify the sound sources (instruments and voices), and sketch the presence of the sound sources against the completed time line.
Make initial evaluations of distance locations. For quick, general observations, ask yourself: “Does this sound like I am playing the instrument?” That is ‘proximity.’ “Is the sound in the same small room with me, but beyond my reach?” That is ‘near.’ Identify the general locations of the sound sources to establish boundaries of the sound stage (the location of the front and rear of the sound stage). Notice any changing distance locations and calculate any speed of changing locations. The placement of instruments against the time line, more than the boundary of speed of changing location (which are quite rarely used), will most often establish the smallest time unit required in the graph to accurately show the smallest significant change of location. The amount of activity in each area will establish the amount of Y-axis space required. The perspective of the graph will always be of either the individual sound source or the overall sound stage.
Begin plotting the distance of the selected sound sources. Sound sources will be placed on the graph by (1) evaluating the timbre definition of each sound source by focusing on the amount of detail present, while being aware of the amount and characteristics of the reverberant sound; (2) transferring this evaluation into a distance of the source from the listening location and penciling in the sound on the distance location continuum for reference; (3) reconsidering the definition of the timbre (is the source in the listener’s own space, or proximity? Is it near or far?), and then placing the sound in relation to the sound stage; (4) precisely locating the distance location of the sound source by comparing the sound source’s location to the locations of other sound sources.
Once several sounds are accurately placed on the distance continuum, identifying additional distance locations is most readily accomplished by directly comparing the sound source to the perceived distance locations of the other sound sources present in the music. Use proportions of differences between the locations of three or more sound source distances to make for more meaningful comparisons. Is sound “c” twice or one-half the distance from sound “a,” as “a” is from sound “b?” How does this compare to the relationship of sounds “d” and “c?” Sounds “c” and “b?” Continually compare the distance locations of the sound sources to one another. The evaluation is complete when the smallest significant detail has been incorporated into the graph.

Remain focused on the distance location of the sound sources, making certain your attention is not drawn to other aspects of sound.

As you gain experience in making these evaluations, you should examine songs with more instruments and evaluate longer sections of the works.

Exercise 10.3

Reflections and Reverberation Exercise

Find a snare drum sound that was recorded without environmental cues, such as Track 23 on the companion website. The sound will need to be repeated many times, over a period of 10 or more minutes. Establish a way to continually repeat the track, if possible. Route the sound through an appropriate reverb unit or plug-in.

Make the reverb unit or plug-in emphasize the items listed below one at a time, and make radical (perhaps unmusical) settings of these parameters to learn their characteristic sound qualities. Listen carefully to individual snare drum hits while adjusting the device.
Seek to create a pronounced early time field. Establish a clear set of two reflections and create a setting that will repeat this pattern. A recurring pattern of reflections is the result. Listen carefully, and alter the speed of the reflections and spacings of the reflections and patterns.
Repeat this sequence with a clear set of 3, 4, and then 5 reflections, establishing recurring patterns while gradually increasing the number of reflections and the complexity of the pattern. Listen carefully to create and recognize:

Patterns of reflections created by spacings in time
Patterns of reflections created by dynamics
Spacing of reflections in the early time field
Dynamic contour of the entire reflections portion
Density (number and spacings of reflections) of reverberant sound
Dynamic relationships between the direct sound, individual reflections (of the early time field), and the reverberant sound
Dynamic contour shapes within the reverberant sound

You will begin to notice and recognize that certain spacings in time have a certain consistent and unique sound quality. A “sound of time” can be understood and recognized for delay times and reverberation rates. With patience and practice, this skill can become highly refined—as many room designers will attest.

Exercise 10.4

Environmental Characteristics Spectrum and Spectral Envelope Exercise

Find a recording of high-quality acoustic instrument sound and loop it in a DAW or otherwise where it can be controlled. Route the sound through an appropriate reverb unit or plug-in.

Establish a setting with three or more seconds of decay and with a high proportion of reverb signal (or only reverb signal).
Alter the frequency response, equalization, or any similar frequency-processing control on the reverb to emphasize and de-emphasize (attenuate) several specific frequencies or frequency bands.
Play single pitches with short durations. Listen carefully to how changes of settings alter the sound quality of the instrument. Keep track of the settings played. Repeat this process while moving through the entire frequency range(s) the unit will alter and listening (and learning) carefully.
In a separate process, listen carefully to pitches played throughout the instrument’s range, played through an unchanging reverb setting. Notice how the qualities of some pitches are altered differently than others. Changes in the environment’s spectrum and spectral envelope will occur only if the particular pitches performed have spectral energy at the frequencies being altered.

Repeat this process again after several hours, then again after several days later. During these sessions try to anticipate what the modification will sound like before you listen to it. Check your memory and your recognition of many different spectrum changes. Keep returning to this exercise to become comfortable with the material.

Exercise 10.5

Environmental Characteristics Exercise

Return to the work or works evaluated in the distance location exercise. Carefully select three of the five sound sources previously evaluated for distance and perform environmental characteristics evaluations on those sounds as outlined below.

As an alternative, look for a suitable surround sound recording with few sound sources. Identify three to five sources that have separate locations for their direct sound and environmental characteristics. This will greatly assist you in comparing the direct sound and the environment, and in isolating environmental characteristics.

While these evaluations are most easily accomplished for short-duration percussive sounds, environmental characteristics evaluation is possible for any sound source as long as the reverberant energy of the environment is exposed (not accompanied by or masked by other sound sources) after the sound source has ceased sounding.

The process of determining environmental characteristics will follow this sequence:

During initial hearings of the entire work, listen to each sound source to identify a location where the sound is isolated throughout the duration of the environment. Nearly always the graph’s time increments on the time line will need to show milliseconds. Estimate the length of the time line for that presentation of each sound source.
Check the time line for accuracy and make any alterations. Work in a detailed manner to establish a complete evaluation of the reflections of the sound. First, sketch the presence of the most prominent reflections against the completed time line; then, establish the precise time placement and the dynamic levels of these prominent reflections against the time line. Use the prominent reflections as references to fill in the remaining reflections in the early time field. After the early time field is plotted, complete the reflections portion of the graph by plotting the dynamic envelope and spacing of reflections (density) of the reverberant energy.
Notice the locations and size of any emphasized or de-emphasized pitch areas or frequencies. Scan the entire piece of music, listening to how the sound source is altered by the environmental characteristics by listening to many different pitch levels. Throughout these hearings, keep track of pitch areas or specific frequencies that appear to be emphasized or de-emphasized. With a running list of observations, regularly identified pitch areas/frequencies will begin to emerge. Further hearings will allow you to more accurately identify these frequencies and pitch areas (that make up the spectrum of the environmental characteristics), and to place the presence of these frequencies or pitch areas against the time line.
You will now plot the dynamic contours of the components of the spectrum against the time line. This process is the same as the process of plotting the spectral envelope of sound quality evaluations. Each component of the spectrum is plotted as a single line, and these components are listed in a key, so their dynamic contours may be related to the spectral-envelope tier of the graph.
Continually compare the dynamic levels and contours of the spectral components to one another. This will aid in remembering the nominal dynamic level (where the amplitude of the spectral components of the sound source are unaltered by the environment), will aid in keeping the dynamic levels and contours consistent between spectral components, and will keep you focused on the relationships of the sound source and its host environment. The evaluation is complete when the smallest significant detail has been incorporated into each tier of the graph.

This evaluation can be detailed and time intensive. It is not proposed that these detailed evaluations be undertaken in normal, daily activities of audio professionals. This is a learning tool. This study will be very successful at bringing you to hear, understand, recognize, and remember these important aspects of sound. You are encouraged to return to this exercise. Once speed and accuracy improve, you should undertake evaluations of more complex environments and sounds that are partially masked.

Exercise 10.6

Exercise in Determining the Environmental Characteristics of the Perceived Performance Environment

This exercise will seek to define the environmental characteristics of a recording’s perceived performance environment. A multitrack recording should be selected that contains no more than three or four sound sources, a sound stage that clearly separates the images, and an overall sound that appears to envelop the sound stage.

Identify the sound sources and the different environments of the piece.
Perform general environmental characteristics evaluations of the environments. These initial evaluations should be general in nature, seeking prominent characteristics rather than detail.
Compare the environments for similarities of time, amplitude, and frequency information to identify common traits between the individual environments. (1) When traits are common to all sounds, an applied, overall environment is often present. Seek to identify if the traits are present in all environments equally. If the common traits are not applied to all sources equally, a single environment has not been applied to the entire program. (2) Then you must look at other factors as well. Next, identify the predominant traits of the environments of musically significant sound sources. They also directly contribute to the characteristics of the overall environment.
Listen to the work again to identify an overall environment of the program. An applied overall environment will be most easily detected by its detail in spectral changes of the reverberant sound, and in the clarity of the initial reflections of the early time field. The characteristics of these environments will be perceived by listening for detail at a close perspective of slight changes to the predominant

Compile a detailed environmental characteristics evaluation of the perceived performance environment. The evaluation is complete when the smallest significant detail has been incorporated into each tier of the graph.

Repeat this exercise on other recordings until you have evaluated a recording with an applied overall environment and a recording with a perceived performance environment that is the perceived result of the environmental characteristics of the individual sound sources.

Once skill and confidence are improving, repeat this exercise on recordings that have more activity and with less pronounced characteristics in the perceived performance environment.

Exercise 10.7

Space Within Space Exercise

Select a multitrack recording containing a small number (five or six) sound sources. A recording with a sparse texture (few instruments sounding simultaneously) and pronounced environments on the individual sound sources will be easiest to evaluate during initial studies.

The process for determining space within space follows this sequence:

Identify the various environments of the piece. Some sound sources may share environments with other sound sources (at the same or different distances), and some sources may change environments several times in the piece.
Perform general environmental characteristics evaluations of the environments. These initial evaluations should be general in nature, seeking prominent characteristics rather than detail.
Compare the environments for similarities of time, amplitude, and frequency information. This observation will determine common traits between the individual environments of the sources. These common traits will signal a possible applied, overall environment if they are present in all environments equally. If the common traits are not applied to all sources equally, other factors are in play as well. Identify the predominant traits of the environments of musically significant sound sources. They also directly contribute to the characteristics of the overall environment.
Listen to the work again to identify the characteristics of the overall environment of the program (the perceived performance environment). Compile a detailed environmental characteristics evaluation of the perceived performance environment.
Begin the master listing of environments with this environmental characteristics evaluation of the perceived performance environment.
Perform detailed environmental characteristics evaluations of the individual host environments of each sound source. The characteristics of the overall environment may or may not be present in these evaluations, depending on the nature of the overall environment and the nature of the individual sound sources’ environments. The evaluation of each source is complete when the smallest significant detail has been incorporated into each tier of the graph.
Number each environment and enter the evaluation into the master listing of environments. Note on the master listing the sound source or sources that are present within the environment.

Once skill and confidence are improving, repeat this exercise on more sound sources in recordings that have more activity and with less pronounced environmental characteristics.

Chapter 11 Instructions:

Surround Sound Location Exercises

Two approaches can be used for surround sound location. The reader should work through both approaches, as one will be more suitable to any sound material than the other. Determining which approach is most suitable will be a valuable undertaking in itself.

Exercise 11.1.

Surround location evaluation against a timeline.

Find a surround recording with sources located around the listener position, but with the listener detached and at the audience perspective. Perform an evaluation of the locations of four or five sources for the first two major sections of the work.

The process of determining surround sound location will follow this sequence:

During the initial hearing(s), listen to the example to establish the length of the time line. Next, notice the presence of prominent instrumentation, with placements and activity of their surround location, against the time line.
Check the time line for accuracy and make any alterations. Establish a list of sound sources (instruments and voices) you will use for this exercise. Now, sketch the presence of the sound sources against the completed time line.
Notice the locations and size of the sound sources (instruments and voices) for boundaries of size, location, and any speed of changing locations or size of image. The placement of instruments against the time line will most often establish the smallest time unit required in the graph to accurately exhibit the smallest significant change of location. The boundaries of the sound sources’ locations will establish the smallest increment of the Y-axis required.
Begin plotting the surround location of each source on the graph. The locations of spread images are placed within boundaries. The boundaries may be difficult to locate during initial hearings, but they can be defined with precision. Continue to focus on the source until it is defined. The locations of point-source images are plotted as single lines. These sources are easiest to precisely locate and are most likely to change locations in real time.
Continually compare the locations and sizes of the sound sources to one another. This will aid in defining the source locations and will keep you focused on the spatial relationships of the various sound sources. The evaluation is complete when the smallest significant detail has been incorporated into the graph.

Locating sound sources originating from behind normally causes a listener to move their head. You should consciously keep your head still and focus on the direction and size of the image as heard.

Figure 11.15 Surround sound imaging diagram.

Exercise 11.2.

Surround location evaluation with imaging diagram.

This exercise should be repeated on recordings other-than those used for Exercise 11.1. Find a recording with the listener located within or surrounded by the ensemble or the performance.

When sound sources do not change locations or when sources appear to envelop the listener, a stationary sound location diagram can be substituted for the surround location graph. Use the empty surround sound location diagram of Figure 11.15 for these types of evaluations. The diagram represents a specific moment in time or a defined period of time that should be clearly defined.

Identify and graph several point sources and several spread image sound sources in the song. A separate diagram will be used whenever source size or locations change. Create diagrams of several different sections of the work separately. Note and evaluate the characteristics and changes of imaging that occur in the song.

Exercise 11.3.

Incorporating distance evaluation into the surround sound imaging diagram.

Figure 11.11 illustrates how the concentric circles in the diagram radiate distance from the listener and designate distance areas. Using the same recording(s) as Exercise 11.2, bring your attention to timbral detail.

Focusing on one sound source at a time, define the distance locations of each sound source. Compare the distance locations of sources, asking if ‘sound source a’ is further or closer than ‘sound source b.’ Next, seek to define the amount of different between the two, and how they both relate to ‘sound source c.’

Add this information to the imaging diagram, combining it with the lateral location information from Exercise 11.2 to create a complete drawing of the surround sound stage for that section of time.

Exercise 11.4.

Source location separated from environment/ambiance.

Find a surround recording that places the environment in a different location than the direct sound of the sound source. The two should have clearly different locations, so they can be heard as separate sounds. Next, identify the edges of each image carefully to be certain you are able to keep them separate as you make your evaluation.

Next, evaluate the environmental characteristics of the ambient sound. Use same techniques as environmental characteristics evaluation exercise 10.5. You will be able to directly compare the environment to the direct sound in making this evaluation. Much of the guesswork in trying to separate the environment from the source in stereo will be eliminated. Continue until your evaluation of the environmental characteristics is complete.

Exercise 11.5.

Evaluating an exposed Perceived Performance Environment.

Find a surround sound recording that separates the sound stage and the ambient sound of the overall program. A recording with the two clearly separated will be most helpful for this initial exercise. The ambiance of the overall recording is the environment of the sound stage, and is the perceived performance environment (PPE).

Perform an environmental characteristics evaluation on the PPE, using the process just practiced in Exercise 11.4. Bring you attention carefully and deliberately to the dynamic contour of the reverberation, the density of the reverberation, and the frequencies emphasized or attenuated by the environment, in separate listening sessions. Seek greater detail in each listening, and move toward defining missing information one deliberate step at a time. Continue working until the evaluation is complete.

Finally, with the PPE complete, there is an opportunity to evaluate how the individual sound sources and any environments of the sources relate to the PPE. This will allow the reader to experience how those spaces contribute to the overall space of the recording, and bring a more tangible understanding to space within space. It will also allow the reader to perceive how the sound sources themselves relate to the PPE, and how they are impacted.

Exercise 12.1

Pitch Density Exercise

Select a recording with an instrument performing alone, or with very few other instruments, over the first several sections of the work. The instrument’s musical material should show some noticeable and considerable change in pitch levels. This exercise will graph the pitch density of this single instrument over this period.

Pitch density will be graphed to show the musical material the instrument is performing and the prominent aspects of its spectrum.

The process for determining the pitch density for a single source will follow the following sequence:

During the initial hearing(s), establish the length of the time line. Notice entrances and exits of the instrument against the time line.
Check the time line for accuracy and make any alterations. At the same time, work to identify the musical ideas that the instrument is presenting and note their presence against the time line.
Transcribe the instrument’s pitch material onto the graph, so its melodic contour is represented as a single line on the graph. This might represent the fundamental frequency of the sound-source timbre.
Next notice how the single melodic line falls into phrases that generate distinct, individual musical ideas. Mark the beginning and ending points of those ideas, and modify the melodic contour to show a more general outline of the line, eliminating small and fast variations of pitch level.
Turn focus to the spectrum of the instrument’s first sound. Determine the bandwidth of the pitch area by identifying where the spectrum becomes about one-third the loudness of the lowest frequency. This will determine the upper boundary of the pitch area.
Scan the musical material to determine changes in performance intensity. These changes will bring about changes in the instrument’s spectrum that often change the bandwidth of this pitch area. Note these changes on your graph.
Map out the upper boundary of the pitch area by listening to the spectral information against the lowest frequency.
Once these boundaries are finalized, make observations on the density of spectral activity (amount of frequency and overtone information) within the defined pitch area.

Exercise 12.2

Timbral Balance Exercise

Select a recording with four to six sound sources, to graph the pitch density over the first three or four major sections of the work. The recording should contain timbral balance changes within and between sections.

The musical texture must (1) be scanned to determine the musical ideas present. The musical ideas might be a primary melodic (vocal) line, a secondary vocal, a bass accompaniment line, a block-chord keyboard accompaniment, and any number of different rhythmic patterns in the percussion parts. They should then (2) be identified by instrument or voice performing the material, and listed in a key.

Each idea will (3) then have its pitch areas defined as a composite of its pitch material and the prominent aspects of the sound quality of the instrument(s) or voice(s) that produced the idea.

The process of determining the timbral balance graph will use the same skills developed in Exercise 12.1. This graph will plot the pitch density of all of the musical ideas of all of the sound sources to clearly represent the complete frequency content of the recording.

The reader should perform a pitch density evaluation of all of the sound sources in the example, singling out each source for careful evaluation. Once these are completed, this pitch density information of all sound sources will be combined into a single timbral balance graph.

Exercise 12.3

Shifting Focus and Perspective Exercise

Select a short song with only a few instruments to evaluate completely. Create all of the graphs for the overall texture and for the individual sound source, as outlined above.

Create a complete evaluations graph. Transfer the important events and characteristics of each element onto the graph, in its designated place. When an element changes, note where this change occurred and its nature.

Once the graph is completed, listen to the work again following this graph. Highlight the most important changes that occurred. Next, observe the changes that you heard as not being as significant as others, and note how they might lend a supportive role to the other elements.

Practice changing focus and perspective in a controlled and deliberate way by listening for specific material and changes while following this graph. Next, listen to the recording with your knowledge of the important elements and changes of perspective, and when important shifts occur, try to follow these changes without the aid of the graph.

Exercise 15.1

Loudness Perception Exercise

Humans experience a physical sensation from the amplitude of a sound wave that is transferred into loudness. Excessive amplitude can cause pain in humans. Becoming sensitive to the physical sensation of listening at an appropriate loudness level is equally possible, with practice, attention and diligence.

Purchase an inexpensive sound-level meter, and keep it in front of your listening location for your monitor system. Set your monitoring level so that the average SPL registered is between 80 and 85 dB SPL. It is acceptable for peaks to hit 90 dB or slightly above and for soft passages to dip below 80 dB by several dB.
Begin your practice by listening to recordings you know well or are studying at this loudness level, checking the meter frequently to verify listening levels. In the beginning, keep the meter on whenever you are listening. Become aware of the physical sensation of your hearing created by listening at that level. You will begin to notice energy impacting the hearing mechanism (inner ear) with your focused attention, over time. You will begin to develop an increased sensitivity to the physical sensation of loudness level.
Be consistent in listening at this level when working on your own projects. Check your meter regularly. Over a few weeks (or a bit less or longer) of being aware of the physical sensation of this loudness level region, you will develop a memory of the sensation.
Listen to a recording you know well on your monitor system by starting with the monitor level off and without the meter on. Bring up the level gradually until you believe you have reached this average level of between 80 and 85 dB SPL. Check yourself with your meter after you believe you have established this level. Repeat this exercise regularly (several times per day if possible, with a minimum of once per day) until you begin to have success in recognizing this level.
Turn next to listening in other environments you do not know as well, perhaps your automobile, a home system, or a monitor system in another location. You will notice you are not as accurate at first, but this accuracy will increase as you become more aware of focusing on energy impacting your hearing mechanism. In time this skill will carry over from listening environment to listening environment, if you continue to try to establish a correct listening level in a new location, and check your accuracy with your meter.

Just as pitch reference, this skill will take time and effort over an extended period, and the skill may not become completely reliable. It will, however, improve your listening skill considerably and serve as an important point of reference. In time you will gain an awareness of when you are listening at an average level of between 80 and 85 dB SPL. It is also possible that you will come to prefer an average level toward either the high or low side of this range. Arriving at a reliable sense of average loudness level will greatly assist one in maintaining a stable sound quality of monitoring, as well as an accurate listening level.

Most importantly, you will become very aware of being in an environment where the SPL extends well above 90 dB SPL. That higher level brings increased pressure on the hearing mechanism that will be very apparent and uncomfortable. This will trigger your awareness that hearing fatigue will happen quickly and a sense of urgency that if this level extends far above 90 dB, you are in danger of damaging your hearing.

Exercise 15.2

Identifying and comparing microphone characteristics

The purpose of this exercise is to learn the special way a microphone will transform sound. This is most easily accomplished by comparing several different microphones located in a very similar location while recording a single performance.

Set up to record a single performance of a sound source you know well, and that is easy for you to record accurately, given your system and recording space. Identify your preferred location to capture the sound of that instrument or voice.
Place the 2, 3 or 4 microphones (on appropriate stands) as near the same location as possible.
Assign each microphone its own track on a multitrack recorder or DAW, and obtain suitable record levels.
Record the sound source performing pitches in the extremes of its range, performing loudly and softly, short sounds and sustained sounds, sounds with a fast attack and with slower attacks (of course this is not possible on some instruments), and other material you might find helpful.
Establish playback levels where each track can be compared to all others at the same loudness.
Listen carefully to the sound quality of each microphone to identify its unique qualities. Listen to how the microphone captured the spectrum and the dynamic envelope of the source, and how quickly it responded to changes. Listen to different “blends” of the source’s timbre captured by the individual microphones, and how quickly each microphone responded to changes to the source.

Exercise 15.3

Comparing microphone placements

The purpose of this exercise is to learn how microphones have different sound qualities when placed at different distances. This can be accomplished by creating a recording of a single performance of the same microphone at a number of locations. You will need several (2, 3 or 4) of the same microphone make and model for this.

Set up to record a single performance of a sound source you know well, and that is easy for you to record accurately, given your system and recording space. Identify your preferred locations to capture the sound of that instrument or voice.
Place the 2, 3 or 4 microphones (on appropriate stands) at those locations. Take the time to measure the distances and angles of the microphones to the source, and write them down.
Assign each microphone its own track on a multitrack recorder or DAW, and obtain suitable record levels.
Record the sound source performing pitches in the extremes of its range, performing loudly and softly, short sounds and sustained sounds, sounds with a fast attack and with slower attacks (of course this is not possible on some instruments), and other material you might find helpful.
Establish playback levels where each track can be compared to all others at the same loudness.
Listen carefully to the sound quality of each microphone to identify its unique qualities. Listen to how the microphone captured the spectrum and the dynamic envelope of the source, and how quickly it responded to changes. Listen to different “blends” of the source’s timbre captured by the individual microphones, and how quickly each microphone responded to changes to the source. Finally, note the “reach” of the microphone at these various locations, and bring your attention to the accuracy of timbral detail and the ratio of direct to reverberant sound. If you can, listen for reflections in the room that are causing portions of the source’s timbre to be emphasized and attenuated.

Exercises 15.4

Additional Exercises for Microphone Techniques

Stereo and surround microphone techniques and their placements can also be compared and evaluated by substituting arrays for the individual microphones found in the above two exercises. In these evaluations, bring your attention to the distance relationship of the source to the listener location. Listen for the degree of blend of the instrument sound (or the ensemble sound). Next bring your attention to recognizing how the selection and placement of the stereo or surround technique is impacting the width of the sound stage, and its depth; move the arrays to notice shifts in these dimensions, and seek to find a placement of the array that provides a sound that is the same as the third row of a hall (or some other location that you might wish). Next observe the arrays as they influence the spaciousness of environmental cues of the hall, and the balance of direct to reflected sound, and how they influence the sound stage.

Exercises 16.1

Signal Processing Exercises

The reader will benefit greatly from methodically exploring the following topics. Each topic should become the focus an exercise that would have the reader explore:

How does the device/plug-in or process transform the waveform?
What changes to the waveform can I recognize?
In what ways do these transformations impact the audio signal and the sound source?

The companion website provides tracks that can be used as sound sources for many of these exercises, whether it be the sound of track 24 or 25’s cymbal, one of the solo cello or solo guitar tracks, the piano pitch of tracks 10 through 13, or any others that might be of interest or appropriate. These tracks could be downloaded and fed into your signal chain as appropriate. Other source material available to the reader can certainly be substituted.

In all exercises, the reader should begin work on exaggerated settings. These will likely be far from artistically pleasing, but will cause the changes to be readily apparent and easier to perceive in first encounters where subtle alterations to the sound or changes in effect level might well go undetected. Upon repetitions, make changes to the source material smaller and smaller, subtler and subtler, to refine your ability to identify the changes and to observe the alterations created to the qualities of the sound source(s). Any exercise will benefit from repetitions with different sound sources.

Do not think about the musical result of these exercises at this point. Allow yourself the opportunity to simply learn sound qualities and relationships. Learn these devices and processes, as they are your tools. When you have control of your tools you can start bringing your attention to making artistic decisions.

Spend time with the manuals (or Help files) of the devices or plug-ins to learn about and experience their potential. Again, start with extreme settings to identify the perspective and artistic element that must be the center of your focus, and then move to more subtle changes.

Exercise 16.1 A.

Process to a single drum or cymbal sound by emphasizing the primary pitch area; seek to identify the area before starting this process, then boost that area to verify your accuracy; tune in on the primary pitch area by adjusting EQ settings; listen carefully to the qualities of the changes created.
Next, process an entire acoustic guitar track; listen for an EQ setting that will alter the attack characteristics of the instrument; notice the content of those changes, and try to control the changes throughout the instrument’s range; the EQ will act differently on different pitch levels by “adding formants.”

Exercise 16.1 B.

Noise gate

Route a bass drum sound through a noise gate; make adjustments to create extreme changes in the sound; gradually change one aspect of the device at a time towards barely affecting the sound; bring the device to the point of barely operating, and notice the subtle changes.
Repeat this process with a single cymbal sound.

Exercise 16.1 C.

Compression

Apply compression to an entire cello track (such as track 39); make adjustments to the threshold and compression ratio to create extreme changes in the sound; gradually change the threshold of the device at a time towards barely affecting the sound; return to original setting and modify ratio, bring the device to the point of barely operating, and notice the subtle changes.
Repeat this process on a full drum track (such as track 38).

Exercise 16.1 D.

Delay

Route a snare drum sound through a delay plug-in; set the drum to repeat at a moderate speed; adjust the delay time to create an eight-note delay, then a sixteenth note delay.
Now change the delay time to 2ms, then to 8ms; note the difference between the two; if a difference is not easily heard compare 2 and 20ms delays with the delayed signal at a higher amplitude than the direct sound.
Repeat this process to recognize different delay times while using a single guitar pitch.
Experiment with creating rhythmic patterns with the delay, and pan the delayed signal separately from the source signal.
Finally, work with an entire guitar track (such as track 42 on the website) to identify and learn the effects of adding delay to individual sounds and to an entire track.

Exercise 16.1 E.

Reverb

Route a single bass drum sound through a reverb device/plugin.
Examine the variables of the device and create a long reverb time and set it at a pronounced level.
Experiment with the decay time and the dynamic envelop of the decay (as possible); learn these sound experiences.
With a setting for a long decay at a pronounced level, make a pronounced change in the low pitch area frequency response of the decay; listen to learn this change, then notice the impact of the reverb on the overall character of the sound.
Return the frequency response to normal, then make another adjustment to the area around 2kHz; listen to learn this change, then notice the impact of the reverb on the overall character of the sound.
Now delay the onset of the reverb by 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, then 20 ms; notice these qualities, and try to learn their sounds.
Repeat this process the guitar track 42 to identify; learn the effects of adding various reverb settings to individual sounds and to an entire track.

Exercise 16.1 F.

Other

Examine your DAW or rack for other signal processing options. Explore their potentials systematically by following the same processes as above. Experiment and listen and learn the sound qualities of these sound modifications as well as equipment functions.

Exercises 16.2

Tracking Exercises

There is no substitute to working with a performer in front of a microphone, while being responsible for capturing the sound of the performance. Create opportunities to experience this, no matter your situation. Quality and types of performer, equipment or studio/performance space may vary widely and still offer the opportunity to learn and experience, and develop your skills and knowledge.

For the following, secure a single performer who is willing to play for you, and perhaps learn with you. As you progress in understanding, add more performers to the experience. In these beginning stages, it is important that you are not seeking to make a recording that will have value or use. Allow yourself the opportunity to fail in safety; knowing that in doing so you will learn and develop your skill and ultimately acquire your craft.

Exercise 16.2 A.

Microphone selection and placement

Set up a single microphone in front of your performer; ask them to perform a simple passage slowly and repeatedly, holding the last note until it dies and leaving a moment of silence between repeats. Listen carefully to the microphone for timbral detail and related frequency response and distance cues. Cycle through these dimensions, listening carefully for changes and characteristics.
Try another microphone placement and repeat.
Repeat this process with a different microphone; then another.
Expand your listening for blend of source’s sound, pitch area and sound quality.
Continue to substitute microphones, alternate between several placements of the same microphone.

Exercise 16.2 B.

Listening to record levels and qualities

Alternate listening to input of console/DAW and playback of recorded signal (output of sound card, I/O interface or record deck).
Seek to identify alterations to the source signal caused by the recording medium and signal chain, and listen for added noise of any type.
Trace any changes to their source, and learn to identify the sounds of these alterations.

Exercise 16.2 C.

Performance related issues

Have your performer lay an overdub over an existing track. Work on listening carefully during tracking and in evaluating recorded tracks for:

Tuning of instruments, tuning from one take to another;
Tempo remaining consistent throughout a take, and changes of tempo between takes;
Loudness levels of instruments and the recording consistent within and between takes;
Musical expression and performance intensity: do they match the qualities you (or the performers) are trying to pull out of the music? Do they remain consistent between takes?

Exercise 16.2 D.

Advanced performance issues

Bring in two performers willing to patiently assist you, and repeat A. and C.
Next work with three performers, track them performing simultaneously to separate tracks. Engage the issues of C.

Remember to focus on sound qualities and performance matters exclusively. Allow yourself the opportunity to attend to only one issue at a time.

Exercise 17.1

Mixing Exercises

Mixing requires sources to be compared to one another and relies on analytical listening observations. Bringing one’s attention to the level of perspective just above the individual sound source, where the sources are perceived in being of equal importance and can be accurately compared to one another, will allow this skill to develop correctly.

For these exercises, the reader will need to compile or obtain source tracks that can be mixed. Many DAWs come with tutorials that supply such tracks, and some can generate synth tracks easily. It will be most beneficial to record a few performers playing a simplified cover of a well-known song; this is a very rewarding (and educational) way of securing these tracks.

Start your exercises with 2, 3 or 4 tracks and gain confidence with results before moving on. As before, start with extreme settings to become accustomed to where (the perspective and artistic element) the center of your attention must be. Listen long enough at the level of perspective to acclimate yourself, getting used to listening to those relationships. Once confident, deliberately shift your attention to other dimensions and different perspectives, then attempt to return to this perspective and focus. Once you recognize the extreme settings and the correct perspective you will be able to effectively move to more subtle changes. Remember, do not burden yourself thinking about the musical result of your mixes at this point; allow yourself the opportunity to simply learn sound qualities and relationships. These mixes need not be shared with others. Record your mixes, and make new mixes daily for several days. After four or five days and new mixes, listen to compare your mixes; review your progress, successes and areas for improvement.

The reader might want to use some of the graphs and figures from Part Three, used for evaluating the recordings of others to keep track of their own mixes. They can be especially helpful in beginning musical balance, stereo location and distance location exercises.

Exercise 17.1 A.

Musical Balance

Try to align two sources at the same loudness level. Once you believe they are at the same loudness level, check this impression by changing focus on the level of perspective.
Now notice how shifts in loudness level change loudness relationships of sources. Alter the loudness levels to make one sound much louder than the other; then notice that sounds can be soft and still be prominent. Move from substantial differences in loudness to almost imperceptible differences.
Next, try to create a musical balance that is contrary to performance intensity cues (for instance, loud sounds appearing soft in the mix).
Now work through these issues again with 3, 4 then more sources.

Exercise 17.1 B.

Timbral balance

Using the first mix you established for musical balance above, change the timbral balance by adding EQ to make a substantial increase a portion of the spectrum of one of the sounds; now decrease the amount of EQ until you barely notice a shift in the timbral balance of the mix.
Next, repeat this process to subtract the same portion (frequency area) of the spectrum of one of the sounds; now increase the amount of EQ until you barely notice a shift in the timbral balance of the mix. Toggle the EQ in and out to compare the sound with and without EQ.
Work through these two concepts again with 3, 4 or more sources.
Bring your attention to how this shift of timbral balance alters the prominence of one instrument compared to the other(s).

Exercise 17.1 C.

Stereo location

Returning to the first musical balance mix, pan one source of the far right side of the sound stage and the other far left; listen to identify the location and widths of the sources. Next, bring them both to the center. As a third sound impression, move both sounds halfway between center and left or right, respectively. Listen carefully to the character of the sounds at these various locations.
Now, perform this same process for your second musical balance mix.
Afterwards, add two other sources to the second mix and place all sounds in distinctly different locations to make a wide sound stage. Once completed, move the sources to separate locations near the center to create a narrow sound stage. Listen carefully to the character of the sounds at these various locations, evaluate widths and locations of sources as well as the extent of any blending or overlapping of images.
As a last step, listen carefully to the spectrum of the sounds. Place the sounds in locations where (1) spectral components are not covered by other instruments, and then (2) where the spectrums on two or more instruments blend together. Evaluate the extent of the blending of images and sources, as well as image widths and locations.
Bring your attention to how image size and the placement of images can alter the prominence of an instrument compared to others.

Exercise 17.1 D.

Distance location

Again returning to the first musical balance mix, pan one source of the far right side of the sound stage and the other far left. After listening to this to become acquainted with the subtleties of the sounds, bring them both to the center; consider any changes to distance location that may have been created by masking of spectral information in overlapping stereo locations. Now vary the loudness of one source by 10% and listen for masking and a shift in distance; repeat this with the other sound. Change the percentage of loudness to notice how this might impact perceived distance.
Separate the sources far left and right again and begin changing the EQ of one of the sources to decrease timbral detail and therefore increase the perceived distance of the source from the listener. Return the EQ to a flat setting and add a reverb program to the source until timbral detail blurs and distance is increased. Remain clearly focused on the level of timbral detail as you calculate the potentials and degrees of any change of distance location.
Consider how distance location impacts the quality of the musical materials, and the prominence of one sound over others as distance shifts.

Exercise 17.2

Exercises Modifying Completed Mixes – Mastering-related Exercises.

The reader will benefit greatly from methodically exploring the activities below. Each activity should become the focus of an exercise that would have the reader explore:

How does the device or process transform the waveform?
What changes to the waveform can I recognize?
In what ways do these transformations impact the audio signal and the recording?

Section 1 provides a variety of completed mixes that could be used for these exercises. Other source material can certainly be substituted, whether commercial recordings or your own mixes.

In all exercises, the reader should begin work with exaggerated settings. These settings are certain to be far from artistically pleasing, but will cause the changes to be readily apparent and easier to perceive in first encounters where subtle alterations or changes in level might well go undetected. Upon repetitions, make changes smaller and smaller to refine your ability to identify the changes and observe the more subtle alterations created to the qualities of the overall sound and the sound sources within the mixes. Repeating each exercise with different program material will benefit the reader.

When performing these exercises, do not think about the musical result of your processing at this point. Allow yourself the opportunity to simply learn the sound qualities and impacts of your actions. When you have control of these concepts and processes, you can start bringing your attention to making artistic decisions.

Exercise 17.2 A.

Compression

Listen to the changes in dynamics and dynamic range created by applying compression to a completed mix, such as track 53; bring your attention to changes in the overall character of the mix, as well as how the compression alters individual sound sources and the musical balance.

Exercise 17.2 B.

Equalization

We will now add one band of EQ to track 52 or 38 (tracks with all instruments in the same or a similar environment); bring your attention to changes in the timbral balance of the mix; next carefully follow each instrument in the mix to perceive how the EQ impacts their individual sound qualities and how each instrument might have changed in musical balance, stereo location, or distance location. Next, add the same band of EQ to track 53 (where sources have different environments and a wider and more active sound stage); bring your attention to the same changes in the timbral balance of the mix; next carefully follow each instrument in the mix to perceive how the EQ impacts their individual sound qualities and how each instrument might have changed in musical balance, stereo location, or distance location. Try these same exercises with different frequency bands and observe the results; then work toward perceiving the results of performing these exercises using four or five narrow and subtle EQ settings.

Exercise 17.2 C.

Reverberation

Apply a reverb preset or plug-in to track 53, and bring your attention to how a new overall, perceived performance environment was created and how it impacts the mix; apply a distinctly different reverb preset next, and bring your attention to the perceived performance environment and its impacts on the mix.

Exercise 17.2 D.

Limiting

Apply a limiter to track 53 (or some other mix), and prepare to raise the level of the program markedly; listen for any changes in dynamics and dynamic range created by limiting; bring your attention to changes in the overall character of the mix. Zero the settings and apply the limiter again; this time cause limiting to just slightly suppress the loudest peak of the mix.