Free college course: Intro to Digital Sound Design

[Caroluna]

That's good!

Here's some illustrations from the section on filters.




Band pass



Wah wah



Notch

[Caroluna]

Also -- here's a pic that is crying out to be photoshopped.

[Caroluna]

And here is some really pretty MIDI. Each color is a different instrument.







I guess I should get back to studying now...

[Caroluna]

I did notice that the mid-term deadline was 12 am Monday. So you've got all day Sunday!

OK, just finished it. I'm normally an 11th hour kind of person, but I was worried that everyone else was too and it would crash the server!
I got a 56 -- muffed 2 microphone questions (sorry Farf), a sound file question, and a philosophical question. I guess we can discuss test results after midnight, eh?
I had a bit of a self-test today at church -- there's a large(?) mixer board in the back (about 3 feet wide). I was looking at it and trying to figure out where the different regions were. Only found about half of what I was looking for. I'll have to get someone who runs the sound board to clarify.
OTOH, I recognized a lot more on it than I would have 2 weeks ago!

[Caroluna]

Any comments on the last section of the course?

The "Soundgrain" software looked really cool. Apparently it's freeware but the developer would be glad for a donation.
http://code.google.com/p/soundgrain/

The requirements say

Minimum versions (for running SoundGrain from sources):
Python : 2.6.x
WxPython : 2.8.x
pyo : sources up-to-date

What is "pyo"?

Re the section on "Sonification" --Oh, I see! Very very fancy, sophisticated windchimes
I have a CD by Wendy Carlos called "Secrets of Synthesis". It's not an album, it's really more like an extended interview with musical interludes. Anyway, on this CD she talks about the work that "serious" (academic) musicians were doing during the 60s-70s --much of it involving mathmatically-generated music. She thought it was pointless and pretentious. I have a feeling she wouldn't like this "sonification" stuff.

Section on equal temperament, just tuning, etc --
I didn't know about "stretched octaves" -- now watching some vids on Gamelans
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ku9iH2pU9g

[TC]

Just finished the course with a 47 out of 50 on the final.
Great stuff in the last 2 weeks of the course. Most of the information was new to me. I found the synthesis section really intriguing which seems kind of funny for a guy who's primarily a folk musician. The Soundation site is fun and seems like a pretty powerful tool.
With regards to some of the sonification and the synthetic compositions: not really my thing either. Some of the earlier examples really made me anxious when I listened to them. Sounds that aren't pleasing to my ear and content that I can't comprehend. I'd even choose the screaming asian guy over most of this stuff.

[Caroluna]

Just finished the course with a 47 out of 50 on the final.

Some of the earlier examples really made me anxious when I listened to them. Sounds that aren't pleasing to my ear and content that I can't comprehend.

Could be useful as part of the "ambiance" in a movie soundtrack? To imply anxiety.
I've been paying more attention to that lately - often it's done just w/ a drone sort of sound.

Something I've loved from this course is the YouTube tangents suggested from the course material. I love YouTube tangents anyway, but these were directions I wouldn't normally have taken.

This is fun -- how the "lightsaber" sound was invented -- amazingly low tech! He got the "waving the lightsaber" sound by waving a microphone in front of a speaker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0WJ-8B6aUM

Also -- Gamelan music -- low tech version of LFOs by having two metal bars that vibrate just a few hz. apart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkrmzXOLFp4
How in the world are the instruments made so precisely?!?!?! Wow

Meanwhile -- I'm eagerly anticipating the next music-related Coursera offering.
Looks like there might be a good bit of overlap...more practical though?
Starts March 1st, 6 weeks long.

Introduction to Music Production -- Loudon Stearns
Learn about the music production process—including recording, editing, and mixing—and the tools available to you to create contemporary music on your computer.

https://www.coursera.org/course/musicproduction