AUS230 Learning Journal - W2

After being taught how to work the S6 last week I played around in the S6 on Tuesday. It took me a good hour to get the desk working. Even though I followed all the procedure outlined on the instructions I could not get the S6 desk talking with the ProTools HD. Long story short, it turned out that I had to completely turn off the desk and the computer, then power everything on including the S6 desk BEFORE turning on the trash can Mac. The Mac needed to be able to "see" all the devices during startup otherwise the system will not detect new hardware since some parts were not plug and play.

After I did get it running though I found that the module the jog wheel (Fig. 1) on the S6 was the most useful thing for editing sound for film since it allowed me to move frame by frame with a flick of a wheel. It felt like a luxury but I guess if you were editing for 8-10 hours a day this could speed up your work flow.

Figure 1 - Jog wheel on the S6, quite a luxury

Wednesday Session

Nick outlined the basic blog structure was to take the form of a learning diary. Ideas for projects needed to be recorded and the process of completing it will need to be diarised. We were also told that the A Quiet Place II (AQP II) trailer which would be mixed in stereo can be used as our 5.1 channel mix. Initially my project for the 5.1 was to be an implementation of 5.1 audio in FMOD for a gaming environment. As I have mixed before in this environment in another project, I felt that this project AQP II would push my skills since I have never mixed for film before and it would require a new workflow to be learned.

It was great to see Robbie's post shown to us during this session because it gave me an idea about how to write a blog creatively. Robbie and I started our bachelor of audio in the same year and I always found that he had a knack of writing creatively. Conversely I was trained to write scientifically and had a hard time learning how to write creatively while communicating ideas that would appeal to readers thus reading a bit of his blog gave me some inspiration.

Nick suggested that we search some online resources and start to read up on industry literature if haven't already like Sound On Sound articles. There are usually articles about new gear and news about how the audio industry is shaping. Also this would be a good resource to use to reference to when making our final project deliverable.

Nick then showed us that when writing a case study there a few factors that needed to be considered:

• How as the dialogue been used in the scene, what was the sound like? Were the sounds diegetic or non-diegetic ("Diegetic and non-diegetic sounds", n.d.)?

• Also to critique about the design of how the scene was designed?

• How was the sound effects used to enhance the scene?

• Why was it done this way?

• Why was the music chosen and or mixed this way?

• Essentially what makes the whole scene tic?

The questions were good prompting questions for when I conduct my case studies.

Friday Session

After our project pitches I decided to focus on the Corona Virus as my topic for socially aware project. The main focus will be on how the advent of the Corona Virus has affected everyday life of Asians living in Australia? This will be explored in the coming weeks leading up to the recording in weeks 7 and 8.

Introduction by Guy to 5.1 sound capturing and mixing was a huge amount of information to take in but it was all highly relevant.

Figure 2 - In class notes

Guy introduced the following mixing concepts and microphone techniques:

IRT Cross

Figure 3 - IRT Cross (Owsinski, 2016)

This was a microphone technique created by "Institute of Radio Technology" hence the name IRT cross. Traditionally used with a cardioid microphones setup in a square with each microphone pointed as shown in Figure 3. The distance between each microphone is around 8 inches and suited to capturing environmental ambiance.

Hamasaki Square

Figure 4 - Hamasaki Square (Owsinski, 2016)

The Hamasaki square like the IRT cross is setup in a square the only difference being that the

the four corners are now replaced with microphones in figure eight patterns. The benefit of this setup is that is easy to fold down to stereo. During the lesson Guy recommended that you drop -3dB when folding down the rear two figure eights to maintain the same volume for a stereo mix.

DECCA tree

Figure 5 - Decca Tree

("7 Stereo Miking Techniques You Should Try | Sweetwater", 2016)

The Decca tree was a technique created by DECCA records and was predominantly used to capture orchestras and small ensembles. This mic setup used three condenser mics setup in omni-mode and then placed as shown in Figure 5. This rig was then hoisted about half a meter above the conductors head to capture the orchestra.

Week 2 summary

The second week began with a great deal of information and some getting use to the new knowledge regarding recording techniques used to record for surround sound. On Wednesday Nick expanded on concepts regarding editing sound to the scene. These tips were really useful in helping me understand how a trailer was put together.

I was glad that I arranged a studio session on Tuesday to familiarize myself with the S6 desk so during class on Friday I was not as mystified.

Coming into Friday session was also a bit intimidating with the amount of new miking techniques that were introduced by Guy. I personally have never heard of the IRT cross, Hamasaki square or the DECCA tree methods for recording sound. After researching the above mentioned methods I learned that they are great methods for recording techniques to know and is the cornerstone of knowledge when it comes to surround sound. Learning about the methods have increased my audio knowledge and has given me another tool in my audio engineering toolbox.

This week has been full on again with the content given and I will have to try hard to research and learn the new material while trying to keep on top of life.

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References:

Diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. Retrieved 15 February 2020, from http://filmsound.org/terminology/diegetic.htm

"IRT Cross"

Owsinski, B. (2016). Bobby Owsinski's Music Production Blog. Retrieved 15 February 2020, from https://bobbyowsinskiblog.com/2016/07/27/4-surround-sound-miking-techniques/

"Hamasaki Square"

Owsinski, B. (2016). Bobby Owsinski's Music Production Blog. Retrieved 15 February 2020, from https://bobbyowsinskiblog.com/2016/07/27/4-surround-sound-miking-techniques/

"Decca Tree"

7 Stereo Miking Techniques You Should Try | Sweetwater. (2016). Retrieved 15 February 2020, from https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/7-stereo-miking-techniques-you-should-try/