Lesson Three - March 21, 2016 - Posted on 2016-04-06 by Judah Ratzlaff

    Today Brent and I went over some of the material covered in the 3rd chapter which included sample rate, bit depth, and the limitations of digital audio. We discussed how some analog systems could “soft clip” versus a digital “hard clip” where it just cuts the audio completed after a certain amplitude level. Specifically, we examined a tape machine that could under certain conditions “soft clip” recordings at certain dB levels. Later in the session, we started working on a project he had been wanting to do with a local artist - the song is titled “Matter of Time”. We used some pre recorded drum samples to get a rough idea of how the percussion was going to be, and recorded the piano portion of the song in Rhodes along side it. Following this, we recorded bass guitar to create a bass line and we later added in virtual string and brass instruments such as a harp, cello, tuba, etc. to fill in the other pieces of the song. He went over a few of the DAW’s audio effects such as LPF, HPF, and some EQ. All of this was very preliminary and we were mostly just going through the creative process of starting a project. In the end, the final project would be done with mostly live artists and a few virtual instruments to still be used to fill in the rest. All in all, it was a fun process of starting a project and working through the beginnings of how the song was going to sound. We will be working with a local vocalist and friend of Brent's to complete the project.