To take a refresher from all that math, I will now talk about the real world applications of sampling.
One of the things that surprised me when I looked into how some of my favorite albums were created, was that many of them weren't made on a computer at all! It has indeed been possible to make electronic music with just a tape machine and analog synthesizer since the early decades of the 20th century, no PC or Mac needed. This is something that AFX (Richard D. James) has explored in his Analord EP series, a project based around making acid house music using a completely analog signal path. This was how electronic music was made before technology made it more affordable to use computers than a studio full of hardware and a mixing desk. There was also a short period before computers took over when digital hardware was robust and abundant. Using only digital hardware modules means it is indeed possible to make music digitally without using a computer.
One of the things that surprised me when I looked into how some of my favorite albums were created, was that many of them weren't made on a computer at all! It has indeed been possible to make electronic music with just a tape machine and analog synthesizer since the early decades of the 20th century, no PC or Mac needed. This is something that AFX (Richard D. James) has explored in his Analord EP series, a project based around making acid house music using a completely analog signal path. This was how electronic music was made before technology made it more affordable to use computers than a studio full of hardware and a mixing desk. There was also a short period before computers took over when digital hardware was robust and abundant. Using only digital hardware modules means it is indeed possible to make music digitally without using a computer.
To illustrate this, I'll use an example of another Squarepusher album I enjoy, Go Plastic. Even though this album sounds super digital and computerized, it was actually made entirely with hardware. The gear list includes:
- Yamaha QY700 sequencer
- Akai S6000 sampler
- Boss DR 660 drum machine
- Yamaha TX81Z and FS1R synthesizers
- Eventide DSP4000 and Orville digital effects processors
So I'll break it down and relate it to what I have explained thus far. The modern DAW is basically a self contained sequencer, meaning song arranger, as well as a sample player. A DAW usually also includes some effects processing and synthesizers. But in this hardware setup, the Yamaha sequencer and Boss drum machine would be connected via MIDI to the Akai sampler and the two Yamaha synthesizers. The sequencer sends MIDI messages to the sampler and synths, and these modules generate sound which is output via their analog outputs, which would than be plugged into a mixer and amplified.
The sampler and synths were either connected to the Eventide effects processors directly, or via auxiliary feeds in the mixing console. Part of the "magic" of a setup like this would be the different combinations of effects & the variety of sounds one could get out of different routings. This is again something that can be emulated within a DAW, and each program has different ways of accomplishing this. To clarify, even though every one of these pieces of gear is digital, they have analog outputs thanks to digital to analog (or D/A) converters. Therefore they can be mixed and recorded to analog tape if one desires. Part of the sound of this record likely comes from the fact that every hardware unit has it's own set of D/A converters, which colour the sound on top of the colour the console is adding, which makes for a very colourful listen!
You could also feed the output of each instrument into an analog to digital (A/D) converter, or connect them via a digital output if they have it, and mix within software. This is called mixing "in the box"-in a computer as opposed to mixing "out of the box" on a console. The advantages and disadvantages, as well of the evolution of each, is something I will be covering later. But this is a good point to stop, take a rest, and ponder: If you can make music with digital instruments, than mix it and record it in an analog manner... or record some analog synths and live drums to tape, and than digitize it... What's the difference? What's going on here?
The difference lies in what happens when a sound is sampled, converted to digital, versus recorded to magnetic tape. These two processes are sortof like freezing versus drying food, they both preserve it but how? And what about the "loudness wars"-and what is digital clipping? Patience, all will be covered in time.
Just chill/GO sPLASTICk!
No comments:
Post a Comment