In week 5 we re-recorded the dialogue between James Bond and Q , where James Bond was improvising his role this time.We recorded three different parts of the dialogue using different parameters of the same microphone- cardioid, figure 8 and omni.The microphone was placed in a way that it could face the wall.That helps you have better signal and not take any signal from the other microphone since the two voices were recorded at the same time.

The differences among the three different stages of the microphone are significant.I would use figure 8 for example for a dialogue in a radio show, cardioid for recording voice singing or talking in a film dialogue and omni for a commercial.

Then we used compressor to give volume and balance the voices and we took a detailed look at every parameter a compressor has, such as ratio, attack, release, soft knee,threshold etc. and how many different results you can have by changing all these parameters with different combinations.

Then , on that dialogue, we were asked to put sound events in specific times.

In week 4 we were introduced to the second task which is to record two voices with two condenser microphones based on a dialogue between James Bond and Q.We were taught where to find the right inputs and outputs, to use the mixer, to know where the phantom power is,how to speak from the control room to the headphones etc.Then we recorded three different parts of the dialogue with different voices adjusting the parameters each time for each voice.We have to be careful to take good,strong and clear signal from the voices without interventions.The results were amusing!

In week 3 due to my illness i wasn’t able to attend the lesson.But i was told that the students who went there that week had the pleasure to take a look at the Protools that we have in Hel 029 which is a program i was always interested in learning and owning.

In week 2 we continued with Chemical Brothers  piece , cutting sound waves, copying and pasting, changing volume using automation.I realized that i have to be extra careful when i have a new region and  i change parameters, because they affect the sound file.To avoid that you choose the region, you reverse it for example and then you save it as a new sound file to the library.Then you delete the previous one and you put the new version in the playlist.

In week 1, we have been asked to edit and create a new playlist for the piece “In dust we trust” by Chemical Brothers.We learned how to do beatmapping on a piece to synchronize the piece with the metronome and sound on time from the beginning until the end, using Logic Pro 8.Moreover,we were taught how to use crossover which gives interesting results and ways to pass from one loop to another.

My top five for this week !!!!!!!

1. Ring Of Fire – Johnny Cash

2.AC/DC – Money Talks

3.Mag Pie – Abraham

4.blue skies – ella fitzgerald

5.Crucified- Army Of Lovers (no comments )

In week 5 all the students got feedback for their first drafts they made for the animation task. From this process you can learn a lot about how to make sounds sound real, how much to use sound effects, loops and music. Specifically, for my task I realized that I have to create music that represents the environment my cartoon is taking place in, so for Pepe le Pew, I have to write music based on french style. Furthermore, I have to find a sound that a horse makes before it starts running, but I would like to represent that in an unusual way. Finally, I have to record some sounds with microphone to make sound effects such as kisses etc.

Of the other students’ work I really liked Daniel s cartoon which was clever and quite professional. Also, I liked the music that Nicky placed in his cartoon.

My top five for week 3 and 4

1.Perfect- Alanis Morissette

2.Blues Skies- Ella Fitzgerald

3.Master Explorer- Tenacious D (basically all songs in this movie..it s your fault Andrew )

4.Fell in love with an alien- Kelly family

5.Prison Song- System of a down

Composing music for animation is one of the most interesting but difficult tasks for many reasons.First of all you have to have patience and punctuality to achieve the desirable result.Secondly you have to create new sounds to describe things that in real life might not make any sound.Moreover,the music that is usually used for animation should be happy, not repetitive, with many organic sounds. For all the above reasons and many more ,it takes more time to create an atmosphere for an animation that can make the most difficult audience (children) enjoy what they see.

The cartoon that was chosen for this task is “Pepe le Pew” by Chuck Jones.The basic character in this cartoon is a skunk who speaks in French accent.He is in love with a cat named Penelope and in every episode he tried to confess his love for her!Because of his smell, he destroys everything around him and makes Penelope avoid him.I chose a scene where Pepe walks happily outside and wherever his goes something happens because of the smell!The specific scenes are perfect to use many effects and different styles of music.A great challenge for me was the smell where i am trying to discover a sound that can represent a really bad smell!

stay tuned!!!

In week 3 the lesson was focused on the tasks some students had created on the film “persona”.Some of them approached the film in a musical way and some of them used more abstract sounds.Most of the class used the intro of the film, including me.An impressive effort was made by Guseppe who chose another part of the film and gave new character to it.In the second part of the lesson we talked about how to use full strings in Exs24, where you can put on the keyboard the same instrument in different techniques,where each technique is activated by a different key.(staccato.legato etc.).