{Do D.A.T. collabo_pt. 1}

Today we've got a special class where we are going to get a chance to really apply our engineering and production skills as we work with Do D.A.T.

Dat will be coming in to do a recording session with us. He has sent the instrumental for a new song from his upcoming album, Oakland In Blue. As a class, we are going to run the recording session for Dat to record his vocals over the track. The focus today is on engineering and helping Dat to record the best performance possible. I will be picking engineers at random for the different sections of the song, so everyone needs to be on point and ready to go, in case I call you!

At this point, everyone should be comfortable doing all of these technical tasks:

• Setting up all the mics, cables, and headphones
• Creating a new Pro Tools session
• Creating and labeling audio tracks, including a Talkback track
  
• Assigning the correct microphone inputs to the tracks
• Setting good mic and headphone levels (NO CLIPPING!)
• Recording and playing back the tracks
• Saving the session
• Transferring the session to the Shared Media folder.
  

In addition to all these basic technical tasks, a professional engineer (i.e. someone who is PAID to do this) must have some other skills as well, including:

• The ability to make the artist feel comfortable
• The ability to keep the session moving as smoothly as possible
  
• The ability to give the artist feedback and help him/her make decisions about the performance

If you are selected to engineer today, I want you to really focus on your professional skills. It is an honor to have an artist like Dat come in and work with us, so I want for us to show him how him how professional we can be.

For those of you who are not engineering, I have a number of things that I need you to get done today. Priorities are:

1. Update your BAVC profiles - upload an MP3 of at least one of your beats, add a picture, write something in your Bio
2. Finish your remix of Rob's song - spend some time mixing (compress the vocal!!!), Bounce an audio file of the finished song
3. Finish the Rewire Collabo assignment - finish it, mix it, bounce an audio file and give the audio file to your partner (the person whose drums you used)
   

**DP Professional Panel_2/18/10**

On Thursday, February 18 we will be having another special event. All of the Digital Pathways classes will be getting together for our Job Readiness Training/Professional Panel. You will be getting some important info about what you should/should not do in a professional environment. You will be hearing directly from employers about what they look for in a strong internship candidate.

Where: Sports Basement

1590 Bryant St. (map)

in the conference room called "The Grotto"

When: Thursday, February 18

Starts at 4:45 pm!

Please note: This is a MANDATORY class! If you want to get an internship, you will need to come through. If you absolutely cannot come, you will need to get in touch with Felice and arrange a time for you to make up the training with her. Also, please be sure to let your rides know where to pick you up.

{Rewire Collabo - pt. 2}

Step 4

1. In Reason, make a note of the Tempo of your beat.
   
2. Save your Reason session and quit out of Reason.
3. Find your folder called your name_collabo1_audio.
4. Put a copy of collabo1_audio in your folder on the Shared Media folder.

Step 5

1. Look at the person on your left. Ask him if he put a copy of his collabo1_audio folder in the Shared Media folder. If he says no, tell him to hurry up! If he says yes, go on to The next step.
2. Find your partner's collabo1_audio folder in Shared Media and copy it to your computer.
3. Ask your partner what the Tempo of his beat was.
   

Step 6

1. Launch Pro Tools.
2. Start a new session.
3. In the New Session window, set the Sample Rate to 44.1 kHz, and the Bit Depth to 16 bit. Name the session: your name_collabo1
4. Now Import your partner's audio files and put them on new tracks.
5. Change the Tempo of the session by double-clicking on this little red triangle in the timeline. Change it to whatever your partner said his beat was.
6. Change the Mode to Grid.
7. Find where it says Grid and click on the triangle next to the green numbers. Click on Bars and Beats.
8. Find where it says Nudge and click on the triangle next to the green numbers. Click on Bars and Beats. You should then see a grid that is exactly on point with your audio files.
9. Listen to the beat. In the Mix Window, make any adjustments to the volume of the track.
   
10. Copy out the different instruments to create a beat that is at least 24 bars long.

Step 7

1. In your PT session, create 1 new Stereo Aux Input. (Track>New Track)
2. In the Mix Window, find the Inserts section and click on one of the double-arrows to insert a plugin.
3. Click on Reason. (Multi-channel>Instrument>Reason).
4. You should now have a Reason session that is running in connection with Pro Tools. Do a Save As and call this: your name_
5. Using at least 4 melodic instruments (NNXTs, Thors, etc.) in Reason, create a full song based on your partner's drums. DO NOT replace these drums with your own! Make sure this song has some kind of flow - at the very least, there should be an Intro, a buildup of some sort and an Outro/Conclusion.
   
6. Save the Reason beat.
7. Save the Pro Tools session.
   

{Rewire Collabo - pt.1}

Today we're going to start working on a project that involves working with both Reason and Pro Tools in slightly different ways than we've been doing up to now. Rather than explaining all the steps beforehand, I'd rather just have you jump into it. Here's what you need to do:

Step 1
In your Documents folder, create a New Folder and call it: your name_collabo1_audio


Step 2

1. Open Reason.
2. Create a Redrum.
3. Hit the Tab button on your keyboard. The window should flip around to the back of the Rack and look like this:
4. Find where the orange/red cables are coming out of the Redrum and right-click on them. Click Disconnect.
5. Now, from each of the 10 slots on the Redrum, click and drag a cable from the top hole to the same numbered hole on the Mixer. When you're done, the back of the rack should look like this:
6. Hit Tab to flip back to the front of the Rack. The Mixer should now look like this:
7. Now go ahead and load sounds into the Redrum and make a beat.
8. Put this beat into the Sequencer for 4 bars using Copy Pattern to Track. Be sure to turn off the Pattern button on the Redrum!
9. Turn on the Loop On/Off button in the Transport.
10. Save this beat as: your name_collabo1drums

Step 3

1. On the Mixer, hit the Solo (S) button on Channel 1.
2. Hit Play and listen to what is on that Channel.
3. Go to the File Menu and click on Export Loop to Audio File
4. In the window that pops up, make sure that you are going to be saving into the collabo1_audio folder that you created at the beginning of this exercise.
   
5. Change the file name to whatever the instrument is (bass, clap, hi hat, etc.). Remember that if you have more than one of this instrument you need to number them ("snare 1", "snare 2", etc.)
6. Hit Save.
7. In the Audio Export Settings window, hit Export.
8. In the Mixer, Unsolo Channel 1 by clicking on the S.
9. Move on to the next Channel and solo it.
10. Repeat steps 2-9 until you have exported each of your drum instruments as individual audio files. Skip any channels that don't have any sounds on them. Your collabo 1_audio folder should have a bunch of audio files like this:
11. Save!
    

Song Discussion: Hey Joe

Jimi Hendrix is considered by a lot of people to be the greatest rock guitarist of all time. Many would say that he was the greatest guitarist of all time, period. Pretty much everyone agrees that he revolutionized what could be done with the electric guitar. His style of playing was based solidly in the blues, but he combined that with an extremely heavy, LOUD rock and roll sound and all kinds of experimentation with effects and the feedback coming from his amplifier. And he made it look effortless. On stage, he often seemed like he was possessed, almost like it wasn't a human being playing at all, but rather some spirit using his body to create this wild, electrifying blast of sound.

Hendrix's most famous work was recorded between 1966 and 1968 - a relatively short period of time. This was a time when there was a lot of turmoil going on in the country and around the world. The war in Vietnam was happening, people were protesting in the streets, the Civil Rights Movement was evolving into the Black and Brown Power movements, and there was a major change in white youth culture from the hippies and counterculture movements. Maybe more than any other artist, Jimi's music reflected all these changes.

Below is a video clip of a famous performance of the song, "Hey Joe" at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. Here is a link to the lyrics, if you want to follow along: link.

Discussion Questions:

1. What (if anything) stands out about this performance for you?
2. What is this song about?
3. In the song, what do you think the writer's emotions are? How do you think he feels about what he has done?
   
4. In what ways does Jimi's performance capture these emotions (or not)?
   

Guest Speaker: Do D.A.T.

Today we have a special guest speaker, Mr. Davin "Do D.A.T." Thompson. D.A.T. is a performer, educator, and veteran of the Bay Area hip hop community. He is a founding member of the Oakland-based group, the Attik, and has shared stages with a number of hip hop legends, including Dead Prez, Mistah F.A.B., KRS One and E-40. He is the resident Lyrics Coach for BAVC's BUMP Records program. His new full-length album, Oakland In Blue, is set for release in Spring 2010.

D.A.T. is here to talk about how we can expand our perspectives towards creative projects in general and lyric writing in particular. Even if you are primarily a producer or engineer, rather than a lyricist, it is important to be able to project your understanding of art beyond what you do so that you can understand where people working in other areas are coming from. Please give Dat your attention today and make him feel welcome in our class!

{Friday Night_Finishing Up}

Your Friday Night projects are due today! I'm hoping to send these over to KQED tomorrow, so today we need to focus on pulling them together and getting them polished up. Here's a list of all the steps you need to do to complete the project:

1. Record your interview.
2. Edit the interview (get rid of extra noise, pops and clicks, etc.) Remember, this should be 2 minutes long MAX!
   
3. Put a compressor on your vocal track to smooth it out.
4. Create a beat in Reason and export it as an audio file. (click here if you don't remember how to do this.)
   
5. Import the audio file of your beat into your Pro Tools session. (click here if you don't remember how to do this.)
6. Balance the volume levels of your vocal and music tracks and add automation, fades, etc. if desired.
7. Bounce a stereo audio file of your project out of Pro Tools.
8. Import the stereo audio file to iTunes and create an MP3 version of it.
9. Turn in the MP3 file of your project along with the Pro Tools session.

Couple things you should do to make sure your project sounds as good as possible:

Create a Master Fader
A Master Fader lets you see and control the volume levels of all your tracks. This is important because sometimes your individual tracks don't look like they are clipping (hitting the red), but when they are all playing together, the overall loudness is too much for Pro Tools to handle. You NEVER want to see the red lights light up on your Master Fader track. With a Master Fader, you can see what the true volume of your project is and adjust it if necessary. It's also an easy way to create a fade outs/fade ins for your project. (see Volume Automation below)

To create a Master Fader:

1. In the Track Menu, click on New. (Track>New)
2. In the window that pops up, select Stereo Master Fader and click Create.
3. In your Edit Window, you should now see an extra track that looks like this:

{Friday Night (pt. 2)_Using a Compressor}

Once you've got your Friday Night statements recorded, you can start editing them down to make a single, smooth statement. These can only be 2 minutes max (including music), so please watch the time in the timeline!

As in our earlier assignments, I want these to be very cleanly edited, so please be sure to do all the following:

• Get rid of all the extra noise when the interviewee (you) isn't speaking.
  
• Zoom in and make your cuts on the zero line crossing
• If you stick two regions together, be sure to use crossfades between them to make the transitions smooth.
• Don't be afraid to rearrange the things being said. Put them in whatever order makes sense to you.
• When you add music, pay attention to the relationship between the music and the vocal. Feel free to move things along so that they work better with the beat.
  

Once you have finished editing, you're also going to practice working with another tool to help you smooth out your vocal: a compressor!

A compressor is an audio processor that automatically adjusts the loudness of your track. They are very commonly used in all areas of audio and, in my opinion, really help to create that polished, "professional" sound. Compressors can be used in a few different ways for different reasons. Today, we'll be using them to balance out the volume level of our recordings and make it so that the sound of the person's voice stays very even throughout the piece - never too loud or soft.

Please do the following:

1. Copy your Pro Tools session folder from the Shared Media drive to your computer.
2. Open the session.
3. Mute the track that the interviewer was recorded on.
4. Listen carefully to the recording of your voice. Pay special attention to places where your voice gets softer than other places.
5. Make sure Loop Playback is turned on.
   
6. Highlight a short (5-10 second section) where you have both a loud part and a short part. Hit play and just let it loop.
7. Go to the Mix Window (Command =).
8. Find the dark grey section at the top. This is what is called the Inserts section.
9. On the track with your voice, click on one of the double arrows in the Inserts. Click on: plugins>Dynamics>Compressor/LimiterDyn3
10. You should see this window pop up:
11. Can you hear a difference in the sound already? You can always click on the bypass button to check what the audio sounds like without the compressor, but remember to click on bypass again to turn the compressor back on.
12. Find the knob called Ratio and set it to 4.0:1. This will affect how much we are compressing the signal. In this case, we're keeping it pretty light.
13. Now, while you are listening to the track play back, watch the meter that says GR at the bottom. Pay attention to how low the orange meter gets at the LOUDEST part of your recording.
14. Find the knob called Threshold. Keeping your eye on the GR meter, slowly start turning the Threshold until the GR hits about -6 at its lowest point.
15. Find the knob called Gain. Turn it up until to 6.0 dB.
16. Click bypass to check what the vocal sounds like without compression. Click bypass again to check what it sounds like with compression. Smoother?
17. Now find the knob called Release. Turn this all the way up and then slowly start turning it back down. While you are turning it, watch the GR meter. You want to see the meter bouncing fairly quickly, but smoothly - not UP-DOWN-UP-DOWN
18. Now lastly, find the knob called Attack. Turn it all the way up and then slowly start turning it back down. You want to listen carefully for the point where the voice starts to get a little muffled, and stop. (Actually, you should probably turn it back to a little above that.)
19. Click again on bypass. Listen and pay attention to what the track sounds like without the compressor and with it. If it sounds pretty good, but not quite right, try adjusting some of the knobs and see if you can fix it.
20. Save!!!
21. Have one of the instructors come over and check out your work.

Song Discussion: "Midnight In A Perfect World"

Today's song is "Midnight In A Perfect World", by DJ Shadow.

A little bit of info...

DJ Shadow is a Bay Area-based DJ and producer. He is a member of the Quannum Projects collective/record label, which has been one of the most successful and long-lasting underground hip hop labels in the Bay. Shadow is credited as being one of the pioneers of sampling. His 1996 album, Endtroducing, is often recognized as being the first album created entirely with samples (though some people would dispute this). As you listen to one of his most famous songs, please think about the following:

• The title of the song and how the music does/does not fit the title.
  
• Try to pick out as many different samples as you can
• Pay attention to how these samples come in and out
• There are no real lyrics in this song. How is it structured?
• Based on the video, what can you tell about him?

Midnight in a Perfect World from DJ Shadow on Vimeo.

OK, for a little more info and perspective, let's take a look at this clip from the 2001 film, Scratch:


What do you know now about Shadow and his feelings about music? What do you think his attitude towards sampling is?