Week 4... David Harris

Forum Workshop : Music of North American experimental composers.




Jack Vees - Surf Music II
for Bowed electric bass and electronics
Cuneiform Records LC-02677
Read interview


Ingram Marshall - Fog Tropes II
String Quartet and Tape
performed by Kronos String Quartet
Nonesuch 79613-2

David Lang – Sweet Air
Performed by Senteri Selvaggi
From Child
Cantaloupe Music CA21013



Michael Gordon – Trance IV
Performed by Icebreaker
From Trance
Cantaloupe Music CA21018



David Harris :B.Mus(Adel)
Lecturer in composition at the Elder School of Music, University of Adelaide.




Audio Arts: Recording an acoustic guitar

Even before you start miking up the guitar it is very important you take these things in consideration
< The guitar you going to use would give you the result you are looking for.
< You have new strings on your guitar (Using new strings often helps to bring back some of the 'edge and detail' in the sound)
< Remove any thing, which can hit the guitar and would produce unwanted sound like belt, wallet, shirt buttons or any necklace
< Give the artist a hassel free environment

Once all things are achieved now its time to mike up the instrument. There are various microphone techniques you could apply in order to get the desirable result. We looked at three different techniques.

< Placing a microphone close to the resonant chamber i.e. at the hole would give more warmth and fullness to the sound.
< Placing a microphone near the neck would give the percussive effect brightening the bassy sound
< Placing a microphone right above the shoulder level would give the image as what the player is listening covering the room ambience.
You can use the combination of these techniques and get the sound you have in mind.
As a general rule of thumb remember moving the microphone further towards the neck will brighten the bassy sound, while moving closer to the sound hole will bring more warmth and fullness to the sound. Moving the mic further away from the guitar will increase the proportion of room ambience overall,

Creative programming


References:

Harris,David 2006. Performance and playback of Original works.

Grice, David. 2006. Practical on Session Managment in Pro Tools. University of Adelaide, 21 March.

Haines, Christian. 2006. Practical on Max/Msp Introduction. University of Adelaide, 23 March.