Week 12 Forum - Scratch II

We were going to have some student presentations today but once again both students didn't show up. That's a bit of a worry really...two weeks in a row?

Anyway Stephen came to the rescue and played us more of that awesome Scratch DVD. After watching the scratching lessons, by Qbert, I decided to put it into practice. Well to be honest I already knew a little about scratching but I'm not a scratch DJ. I am a mix DJ. I have been a DJ for around 5 years and have played in heaps of clubs around Adelaide. I've used everything from vinyl to CD to mixing mp3s. I still prefer old school vinyl.

Mixing and scratching are not easy techniques. I'm glad that we had touched on this topic in forum so people can get the idea out of their heads that DJs "just play music". It's so much more than that. Aside from the skills of mixing there is also the skills a DJ needs to work the crowd. You need to play certain songs at certain times so the crowd will buy drinks. e.g. If you play too many good songs, people will stay on the dance floor and not buy drinks. You need to work the crowd and make them do what you want them to do. I shouldn't give away too many secrets!

As a mix DJ, a common skill is to play two songs together to create a new song. I have done this in my demonstration. As a scratch DJ, there are skills of dropping in vocal stabs and samples to create new sounds. There is a lot of skill involved in DJing and I think the many talentless big heads out in Adelaide have given the rest a bad name.

I have prepared a little movie of my mixing. It's a bit long but you can just fast forward if you're bored. EnjoY!

DJ Reverie in the mix!

my record collection is around 500 so I still have a bit to go before I can compare to DJ Shadow. . .



a typical Saturday night. . .


[1] Stephen Whittington, "Music Technology Forum: Semester 1 - Week 12 – Scratch". Lecture presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide, South Australia, 5th June 2008

AA3 Weeks 11 & 12 - Elder Hall & Orchestra Recording

For an orchestral recording I believe the following are important. There needs to be:

1) microphones capturing the overall orchestra
2) microphones down the hall near the audience to capture ambience
3) an announcer microphone
4) spot microphones to capture softer instruments

The announcer microphone is inside the booth in Elder Hall. Therefore I don't need to worry about setting that up.

If I remember correctly there are only 8 inputs available for recording at Elder Hall. Therefore it is important to choose your microphones wisely. I would start with the X-Y configuration already provided. The microphones provided by Elder Hall are Neumann KM183. These are small diaphragm, condenser and are omni directional. At approximately 2 meters of the ground they should pick up the transients quite well. These microphones are great for capturing a true sound, with a flat frequency response, accurate transients, and an uncolored sound.

But, since they have only a small diaphragm, I think I will need a separate set of microphones to pick up a more ambient wash of the sound. That is where I would place a pair of Neumann U87s on either side of the orchestra in an A-B setup. With these set to cardioid, I think I can capture a good stereo image.

Next I will place a pair of Neumann U87s halfway back from the stage into the audience in an A-B setup. This is to capture the ambience of the recording and also to include some of the audience applause. These would sit 3 meters off the ground. They need to be fairly high since the stage is raised about a meter. Normally I would say around 2 meters off the ground so I have taken the stage height into account. I think these microphones would be best set to omni directional since they are ambient microphones. Although I don't really want to capture what's happening behind so I'm not 100% sure at this stage.

For the last two inputs, I would use them for spotting instruments that need to be more prevalent in the mix. These would be quiet instruments like flute and violin. I would close mic each with a Shure Beta 57. These are super cardioid instrument microphones and could be good for isolating individual instruments.

When fed into the desk, I would have the inputs in the same order:

1-2 -> Neumann KM 183 (X-Y front)
3-4 -> Neumann U87s (A-B each side of orchestra)
5-6 -> Neumann U87s (A-B ambience/audience)
7-8 -> Shure Beta 57s (spot micing)

To be perfectly honest, I didn't really feel that Ray Thomas's approach to recording an orchestra was that useful. Recording to 16bit, 44.1kHz straightaway made me think he didn't know what he was doing. Classical music has more dynamic range than another style, so to limit yourself unnecessarily is unprofessional. Buy an external hard drive and do the job properly. He seemed very casual with his approach.

a rough outline of my set up. . .




[1] Christian Haines & Ray Thomas. "Audio Arts: Semester 1 - Weeks 11/12- Elder Hall & Orchestra Recording". Lecture presented at the Elder Hall, University of Adelaide, South Australia, 23rd May 2008

[2] Skeet, Mike. "Location Recording: Recording on Location Cheshire Youth Orchestra". 2002. Sound on Sound. 21/2 2007. .

[3] Hulse, Richard. "Orchestral." Audio Technology.

Week 11 Forum - Philosophy of Technology

Scenario 1
I woke up for another typical university day. I walked to the bus stop, waited there for the bus and hopped on. I had the usual day of lectures and crappy food from downstairs. On my way home I decided to stop off at the newsagency and buy a lottery ticket. You wouldn't believe what happened. . . . I WON $22 MILLION ! ! !

The next day I quit work, uni and went shopping. I bought a few houses and few cars. These weren't just any cars. Ferrari, Lamboghini, Porsche and BMW's. After I got sick of driving I went overseas for a few years. When I came back I met an amazing women and got married. Had heaps of kids and spoiled them. I had a great life on my beach-front property, grew old and died a happy man.

Scenario 2
I woke up for another typical university day. I walked to the bus stop and out of no where a car swerved infront of me and hit me straight on. I died that day.

[1] Stephen Whittington & David Harris, "Music Technology Forum: Semester 1 - Week 11 – Philosophy of Technology". Lecture presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide, South Australia, 29th May 2008

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What's my point? The world has so many problems, and of course there are steps you can take to try and make a difference. But at the end of the day everyone deserves to be happy and live their life the way they want to. There is no way an individual can make a notable difference in the world of problems that I consider important. These being war, poverty, sickness and human ignorance. Yes the environment is important too, but I place higher importance on people.

As individuals we never know what's coming. I think the world would be a better place if everyone just tried to be the best they can be and be useful members of society.

That is why I believe that I'm entitled to whatever I can accomplish. I work hard and I consider myself a good person. I don't think it's selfish to have high standards and expectations of what I want to achieve in life. I know there a millions of people less fortunate than me. But honestly what can I do about that? All I can do it be grateful for what I have, and I am. I know its terrible what is happening in other parts of the world and if there was a way I could help I would. I used to give money to World Vision until I went broke and couldn't afford it anymore. I probably donated around $400 overall. It made no difference.

You never know what's coming. All you can do is live life to the fullest and be happy with what you have.