Sound Engineers Research Articles

ANALYSIS – A FUNDAMENTAL TOOL FOR EDUCATION IN THE CREATION OF MULTIMEDIA PRODUCTS

The study examines analysis as a learning tool, both in general and specifically within the work of sound specialists in the creation of multimedia products. Tracing completed processes and accomplished audiovisual forms serves as a guide for practicing sound engineers and students across various multimedia disciplines alike. It builds a reflex for identifying and articulating basic principles of action in certain situations, understanding concepts, techniques, and stylistics, recognizing the directorial artistic approach, appreciating the uniqueness of audio design solutions, and conducting comparisons and analyses when similarities are observed across different examples. The analytical process enables observers to self-evaluate their work, identify important details for their future work, detect stereotypes, and acquire a reflex to pay attention to details that influence the overall sound picture. In the study, two main groups of transitions and processes were traced: first, from the perspective of analysis as a tool for understanding by users, and then, in the application of the insights formed through specialists’ work experience.

Revolutionizing Music Production with ChatGPT Applications: Accessibility, Creativity, and Impact on the Industry in China

This study investigates the revolutionization of the application of ChatGPT with respect to its accessibility, creativity, and impact on music industry in China. To achieve this, the study employed Z-test technique for difference in proportion and the ordered logistic regression model. These methods were used to explore deeper into suitable strategies using survey with a sample size of 385 music artists including music producers, songwriters, artists/musicians, and sound engineers.

From screen to game: Translating Iron Man 2 cinematics into Spanish

Abstract This article presents a descriptive empirical study of the Spanish translation of the video game Iron Man 2 (Sega 2010) in reference to its 50 cinematic sequences and its intertextual consistency across other Iron Man and related texts in the Marvel universe of movies and comic books. We used Rabadán’s (1991) translemic analysis model to analyze the translation while Vázquez Rodríguez’s (2016) taxonomy was applied to evaluate translation errors found in the dialogue script. The analysis shows that roughly one in five of the cinematic scenes contains translation errors. In addition, we have identified intertextual discrepancies of certain key names in Spanish, which, we argue, could disrupt the game’s enjoyability. Without access to the exact situational contexts we can only assume a breakdown in the work process, involving translators, dubbing directors, sound engineers, and QA testers. Additionally, our findings suggest the importance of overseeing the intertextual dimension across the transmedia franchises for coherent storytelling.

Automated Personalized Loudness Control for Multi-Track Recordings

This paper presents a novel approach to automated music mixing, focusing on the optimization of loudness control in multi-track recordings. By taking into consideration the complexity and artistic nature of traditional mixing processes, we introduce a personalized multi-track leveling method using two types of approaches: a customized genetic algorithm and a neural network-based method. Our method tackles common challenges encountered by audio professionals during prolonged mixing sessions, where consistency can decrease as a result of fatigue. Our algorithm serves as a ‘virtual assistant’ to consistently uphold the initial mixing objectives, hence assuring consistent quality throughout the process. In addition, our system automates the repetitive elements of the mixing process, resulting in a substantial reduction in production time. This enables engineers to dedicate their attention to more innovative and intricate jobs. Our experimental framework involves 20 diverse songs and 10 sound engineers possessing a wide range of expertise, offering a useful perspective on the adaptability and effectiveness of our method in real-world scenarios. The results demonstrate the capacity of the algorithms to mimic decision-making, achieving an optimal balance in the mix that resonates with the emotional and technical aspects of music production.

FORMATION PECULIARITY OF MUSICAL IMAGES AND THEIR SUBSEQUENT PERCEPTION IN SOUND RECORDING

The article considers the features of the formation of musical images and their subsequent perception in sound recordings. The research devoted to the process of recording music in the recording studio and considering it as a specific form of music-making has been described. Theodor W. Adorno’s the-ory and Meyer-Denkman’s one have been considered. The article will be use-ful for the sound engineers.

Musical Projects in Guitar Pro 7.5 Sequencer

The purpose of the article is to study the process of creating musical projects in the GUITAR PRO 7.5 sequencer. Research methodology. The article uses a systematic approach, as well as methods of analysis and synthesis, comparison and generalisation. The scientific novelty lies in the identification and development of innovative methods of working in the GUITAR PRO 7.5 sequencer, which allows creating musical compositions from scratch using modern software tools, as well as the possibilities of using music information technologies in the further artistic practice of musicians, sound producers, sound engineers, producers and in professional music education. Conclusions. This software product is a powerful music editor that allows one to create original scores at a professional level for subsequent editing. The programme presents many necessary tools with which the user can work with a variety of musical notation symbols and a wide range of sound dynamics and tempo control, which allows you to create samples of sounding musical pieces and their phonograms. It has a powerful built-in MIDI editor, chord builder, player, metronome, and other useful tools for musicians. Guitar Pro 7.5 can be run on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS platforms. It is widely used by musicians, composers, arrangers, sound engineers, sound designers, and producers. In addition, Guitar Pro 7.5 methods can be used for studying by students who are mastering the relevant specialties in higher educational institutions. Keywords: music notation editor, score, arrangement, sound, musician, composer, sound producer, sound engineer, producer, professional music education.

Effects of Innovation Culture on the Performance of Genge Music Production Companies in Starehe Sub-County, Nairobi County, Kenya

The Kenya Vision 2030 identifies music and performing arts as one of the sectors that can contribute towards transforming Kenya into a globally competitive and prosperous country with a high quality of life by 2030. In particular, the Genge music industry has the potential to create employment for many young people in the country due to the appeal that this music genre has to youth. However, Genge music production companies have not been effective in creating stable employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for many young people. In this regard, the study sought to examine the effect of innovation culture on the performance of Genge music production companies in Starehe Sub-County, Nairobi County, Kenya. The study made use of the convergent parallel research design that combined quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The quantitative component of the study targeted a population of 252 workers in six Genge music production companies located in Starehe Sub-County, while the qualitative component targeted 10 directors of the Music Copyright Association of Kenya (MCSK) and Kenya Association Music Producers (KAMP). A sample of 70 workers was selected using the proportionate random sampling method for the purposes of collecting quantitative data using survey questionnaires. On the other hand, qualitative data was collected using interview guides from six directors of the MCSK and KAMP that were selected purposively. Findings revealed that Genge music companies have performed relative well in terms of generating revenues to meet their costs, signing new artists, and increasing revenues from music streams. However, the firms have not excelled when it comes to providing adequate remuneration to artists. The study found a statistically significant positive association between the performance of Genge music production companies and innovation culture (β =.607, t = 5.785, p =.002). The finding led to the conclusion that inculcating an innovation culture would enhance the performance of the Genge music production companies. The study recommends that policymakers at the State Department of Culture and Heritage should enhance enforcement of copyright law to promote innovation culture. If implemented, the recommendation will be of benefits to Kenyan youth interested in making a career in the music production value chain, either as artists, sound engineers, videographers, song writers, or marketers, among other music production professions.

Diegetic and nondiegetic sounds in film scoring of Pengabdi Setan film

Background: This research examines the 2017 film Pengabdi Setan scoring function. Joko Anwar wrote and directed the film Pengabdi Setan, released on September 28, 2017. This film is a remake of a 1980 film of the same name. In this film, the score is essential for visually confirming symbols or incomplete messages. There are two types of sound: diegetic sound and non-diegetic sound. Purpose: This research aims to determine how diegetic and non-diegetic sound were used to create a horror atmosphere in the film Pengabdi Setan. Methods: The authors described the audio analysis results in the form of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds using a qualitative descriptive analysis. Documented assessment and observation were employed as data collection techniques. Results: The results indicate that infrasonic sound (infrasound) and sub-bass frequencies in the form of non-diegetic sounds emotionally impact audiences. The typical frequency is 31 Hz, and although it is inaudible to the human ear, the audience can sense the vibrations of this frequency. This frequency can typically only be perceived as a “chest rumble.” In general, both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds in the film Pengabdi Setan contribute to completing the defective message symbol. The combination of infrasonic sound effects, sub-bass, and musical composition validates the visual messages or symbols. Implications: This research can theoretically serve as a resource for future researchers interested in studying diegetic and non-diegetic sound in film. Directors and cinema sound engineers can use this research to construct diegetic and non-diegetic sound in their films, particularly horror films.

Foreign Bodies, Local Language: Voicing Foreignness in a Casablanca Dubbing Studio

ABSTRACT Soap operas have been shown to play a key role in the production of national publics. Yet what happens if the lifestyles and actors they feature are distinctly not national? This article examines the role of foreign (Mexican, Turkish, Brazilian) soap operas in producing new national imaginations in Morocco. Through an ethnography of Plug-In studios, the Casablanca recording studio where these soap operas are dubbed in colloquial Moroccan Arabic (Darija), I explore the discomfort experienced by studio employees (translators, voice actors, sound engineers) when laminating this highly local language onto visibly foreign bodies. Through an analysis of discussions between employees, I show how they negotiate this discomfort by bifurcating the national language into two registers: a neutral register that could plausibly be spoken by anybody; and a “real” register that indexes ethnic Moroccanness. This bifurcation, I argue, produces new possibilities for imagining foreigners as part of the Moroccan nation, while simultaneously keeping them at arm’s length.

Pelatihan Sound System Bagi Anggota Sanggar Kandang Seni Jabung Magetan

The artwork community service program was carried out at the Kandang Seni Jabung studio, Jabung Village, Panekan District, Magetan Regency, in the form of workshops/training activities on the use of a sound system to create an album of Jaranan Art Accompaniment Music (Reog) in Magetan Style. Workshops/training activities at the Kandang Seni Jabung art studio use the lecture method and practices of operating sound system equipment. The final result of this artwork community service is to create reliable artists and/or sound-engineer artists to make the music album of the Jaranan Art Accompaniment (Reog) Magetan Style. On the other hand, artists can record and produce music albums. They can also become sound engineers in amplifying the sound of musical performances or other arts that use elements of sounds.

Jamaican Sound Systems and Knowledge Systems: Practice-Based Research (PBR) in Popular Culture

Working with popular street cultures in the Global South offers scope for practice-based research (PBR) to go beyond its application with creative practitioners in the galleries and theatres of the Global North. We start from an account of a “reasoning session” with reggae sound system owners, selectors, and engineers staged as a PBR event in Kingston, Jamaica. Such popular music cultures across the Global South have their own specialist apparatus for playing recorded music and—most important for a PBR investigation—their own embodied, situated, and tacit knowledge systems. These include the sophisticated arts of selecting music, tuning up a sound system, and the value of the culture for the communities from which they originate, as well as strategies for current challenges, such as police harassment and lack of government recognition or support. Accessing such grassroots knowledge systems requires not only a good rapport with local practitioners but also close cooperation with their own organizations and with local university researchers. Such PBR also demands sharing research findings—for example, by screening the documentary film we made of the reasoning session for its participant. It is concluded that practitioners’ ways of knowing as revealed by PBR can help challenge conventional ideas about the nature of knowledge itself.

Shared mental representations underlie metaphorical sound concepts

Communication between sound and music experts is based on the shared understanding of a metaphorical vocabulary derived from other sensory modalities. Yet, the impact of sound expertise on the mental representation of these sound concepts remains blurry. To address this issue, we investigated the acoustic portraits of four metaphorical sound concepts (brightness, warmth, roundness, and roughness) in three groups of participants (sound engineers, conductors, and non-experts). Participants (N = 24) rated a corpus of orchestral instrument sounds (N = 520) using Best–Worst Scaling. With this data-driven method, we sorted the sound corpus for each concept and population. We compared the population ratings and ran machine learning algorithms to unveil the acoustic portraits of each concept. Overall, the results revealed that sound engineers were the most consistent. We found that roughness is widely shared while brightness is expertise dependent. The frequent use of brightness by expert populations suggests that its meaning got specified through sound expertise. As for roundness and warmth, it seems that the importance of pitch and noise in their acoustic definition is the key to distinguishing them. These results provide crucial information on the mental representations of a metaphorical vocabulary of sound and whether it is shared or refined by sound expertise.

The influence of audience participatory noise on sound levels at live events.

The 'audience verbal appreciation' for a worldwide known artist can raise the decibel levels during a show. This can lead to limit violations if there is a decibel limit for the show. In this publication the effect of a yelling audience, known by almost all sound engineers, will be described. The research was done at 18 large live shows in Belgium and the Netherlands in the years 2015..2019. The measurement setup was a single channel measurement with a class 1 sound level meter at FOH. The data was stored as LAeq,1sec and LCeq,1seq and also the 1/3 octave band information per second was logged. The outcome gives more information about the frequencies of yelling, but more important the effect on the decibel level of the total show. Besides measuring at FOH (front-of-house) position, two alternative measurement methods are discussed (2-channel setup and multiple measurement points in the hall).

Acoustic effects of elevated platforms for standing audiences in an indoor music venue

The live music industry has grown significantly over the last decade, making live music not only an important component of the cultural scene but also a major economic engine. There is little research or guidance regarding acoustic design for amplified music venues, especially for improvements in the design of the indoor standing audience area. This investigation aimed to determine the acoustic effects and potential benefits to the audience, of elevated platforms in an indoor music venue. Objective parameters such as reverberation (T30), Early Decay Time (EDT), Clarity (C80), Definition (D50), and Sound Pressure Levels (SPL) were analysed through computer simulations for twelve platform arrangements of different platform heights and audience densities. Results from all possible combinations were compared and evaluated for improved acoustical and sound quality. It was shown that the use of elevated platforms reduced reverberation time parameters and increased C80 and D50. These changes in acoustic parameters appeared also to be dependent on audience density. It is expected that the novel information and guidance provided by this research will assist acoustic designers, sound engineers, and other relevant decision-makers to improve the audio-visual experience of standing audiences.

The Art and Science of Acoustic Recording: Re-enacting Arthur Nikisch and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra’s landmark 1913 recording of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony

The Art and Science of Acoustic Recording was a collaborative project between the Royal College of Music and the Science Museum that saw an historic orchestral recording from 1913 re-enacted by musicians, researchers and sound engineers at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in 2014. The original recording was an early attempt to capture the sound of a large orchestra without re-scoring or substituting instruments and represents a step towards phonographic realism. Using replicated recording technology, media and techniques of the period, the re-enactment recorded two movements of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony on to wax discs – the first orchestral acoustic recordings made since 1925. The aims were primarily to investigate the processes and practices of acoustic sound recording, developed largely through tacit knowledge, and to derive insights into the musicians’ experience of recording acoustically. Furthermore, the project sought to discover what the acoustic recordings of the past do – and don't – communicate to listeners today. Archival sources, historic apparatus and early photographic evidence served as groundwork for the re-enactment and guided its methodology, while the construction of replicas, wax manufacture and sound engineering were carried out by an expert in the field of acoustic recording. The wax recordings were digitised and some processed to produce disc copies playable on gramophone, thus replicating the entire course of recording, processing, duplication and reproduction. It is suggested that the project has contributed to a deeper understanding of early recordings and has provided a basis for further reconstructions of historical recording sessions.

Developing emotionally competent engineers for the ever-changing built environment

PurposeAs the world experiences a rapid rise in technological advances, the engineering profession will be required to become even more socially responsible and emotionally stable to be able to display higher levels of empathy towards the society they serve. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the key emotional competencies (ECs) that engineers need to possess to thrive in the construction industry after graduation.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative research approach was conducted with close-ended questionnaires developed and administered to built environment professionals such as architects, construction managers, construction project managers, engineers and quantity surveyors.FindingsThe results showed that the ability to display a positive outlook on life, understand one's emotional triggers, ability to display resilience in hard times, control one's emotions and ability to show compassion to others were the highest-ranked ECs. Further analysis revealed four clusters such as self-awareness, empathy, self-regulation and self-motivation.Practical implicationsPractical guidance for higher education institutions is offered in terms of revamping and revisiting their engineering education curricula to develop these ECs to produce emotionally sound engineers for the ever-changing world of work.Originality/valueAs the world of work becomes increasingly dynamic and diverse, engineers will be required to possess empathy, social skills and high levels of ECs to be able to seamlessly interact with fellow professionals as well as the society they serve.

The professional ear user-implications for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of ear diseases

Perfect hearing is crucial to the practice of various professions, such as instrument makers, musicians, sound engineers, and other professions not related to music, such as sonar technicians. For people of these occupational groups, we propose the term "professional ear user" (PEU) in analogy to "professional voice user". PEUs have special requirements for their hearing health, as they have well-known above-average auditory perceptual abilities on which they are professionally dependent. The purpose of this narrative review is to summarize selected aspects of the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of ear disorders in PEUs. Prevention of hearing disorders and other ear diseases includes protection from excessive sound levels, avoidance of ototoxins and nicotine, and asafe manner of cleaning the outer auditory canal. Diagnosing hearing disorders in PEUs can be challenging, since subclinical but relevant changes in hearing cannot be reliably objectified by conventional audiometric methods. Moreover, the fact that a PEU is affected by an ear disease may influence treatment decisions. Further, physicians must be vigilant for non-organic ear diseases in PEUs. Lastly, measures to promote comprehensive ear health in PEUs as part of an educational program and to maintain ear health by means of aspecialized otolaryngology service are discussed. In contrast to existing concepts, we lay the attention on the entirety of occupational groups that are specifically dependent on their ear health in aprofessional setting. In this context, we suggest avoiding asole focus on hearing disorders and their prevention, but rather encourage the maintenance of a comprehensive ear health.

Semantic models of sound-driven design: Designing with listening in mind

Sound-driven design is a design practice informed by technology and listening in the multisensory dimension of interaction. An automated content analysis of 20 semi-structured interviews with sound designers, design researchers, engineers and expert users stressed the inherently embodied and situated conceptualisation of sound, and how it relates to their professional activity. The four categories of professionals bring in different designerly orientations towards sound. Listening, as a way of knowing by using sound in interaction, proves to be the red thread between the participants’ semantic models. Overall, the findings contribute to characterise the concept of sound in current design practices, and position the role of nonverbal, yet auditory representations in the design process. • Sound-driven design focuses on technology and listening in action. • Professionals involved in sound and design brings in different listening cultures. • Designing [the, with, against] sound [for] are active forces in the design process. • Listening adds to the understanding of the multisensory nature of designing.

Review: She’s at the Controls: Sound Engineering, Production and Gender Ventriloquism in the 21st Century, by Helen Reddington

Review: <i>She’s at the Controls: Sound Engineering, Production and Gender Ventriloquism in the 21st Century</i>, by Helen Reddington

Sounds of Accompaniment

Sounds of Accompaniment