The Studio As An Instrument

Some of the most original and creative sounds were born out of mistakes and what could be considered the limitations of musician’s hardware and software. Working with a basic set of techniques and tools requires you to think more about all stages of the process.

This course is focused on the concept of the Studio as an Instrument – explore classic techniques based on tape editing, effects processing and audio routing. Techniques like these have created iconic sounds and shaped our modern hardware and software solutions.

Studying these classic techniques will give you a better understanding of how modern tools work and more importantly further inspire you to create and innovate your own sound by experimenting with the tools you have at your disposal in your own studio.

COURSE OVERVIEW

In this course we will explore the concept of the Studio as an Instrument. The recording studio as we know it today has been evolving since the mid 20th century. Throughout its development there have been many engineers, producers, composers and artists working in genres from musique concrete, to dub, to pop that have used the mixing console, routing possibilities and processing environment to function as an instrument.

Discover classic techniques from the 50s, 60s & 70s based around tape editing, effects processing and audio routing. These came from experiments from the musique concrete studios in France to the Reggae and Dub Studios in Jamaica. Combining their technology to function as a single instrument has had a great influence on modern music production. Although demonstrated with Ableton the techniques so that they can be applied no matter what DAW you use.

COURSE FEATURES

• Watch, Listen and Learn – our easy to follow video instruction introduce you to classic techniques and technical insights
• 6 walkthrough videos each demonstrating different concepts of using the Studio as an instrument

► Varispeed concepts
► Musical Applications of varispeed
► Reverse effects; Pre-verb & Amplitude Modulation
► Tape Loops + Wow & Flutter
► Ring & Frequency Modulation & Comb filtering
► Dub Techniques

• Total runtime 1 Hour
• Practical instruction by an experienced tutor
• Learn at your own pace, watch as many times as you need to learn the lessons

LESSON SUMMARY

• PT. 1 – Varispeed concepts

The first technique we will look at is varispeed; changing the speed of the tape, which causes 4 effects;

It alters the pitch, speed, timbre and the formants of the sound. This function is available is most DAWs, in Ableton I will use the Re-Pitch warp mode, but in Logic Pro X you can use the Flex Time Speed option. In Ableton you alter the warp markers to vary the speed of audio playback, in Logic you would alter the Flex markers. As we are only using a single technique, varispeed, as it was back in the day the characteristic of the original sound are crucial, and a lot of trial and error testing is required to see what works best.

Useful For

• Changing formants and timbral characteristics
• Double tracking
• Interesting variations – pitched and non-pitched sounds

LESSON SUMMARY

• Pt. 2 – Musical Applications of varispeed

In this video we look at musical applications of varispeed when it is applied to harmonic and rhythmic material to create new musical content.

• Pt. 3 – Reverse effects; Pre-verb & Amplitude Modulation

Exploring some classic processing techniques using reverse effects. We explore look at using the dynamics of one sound to control another.

• Pt. 4 – Tape Loops + Wow & Flutter

Exploring field recordings and tape loops in order to create loops and grooves out of otherwise non rhythmic material and allow the material to suggest the direction of the rhythm. Wow & Flutter effects exploit malfunctions within tape playback technology to add variation and interest to a sound.