May 2013 notes on audio engineering

 I  know that enough people pay attention  ( what is enough?)  that there must be even audio engineers who read my essays.

  I don't like to run things direst - computer to the same or different computer ; hermetically sealed - no air. I know many audio engineers would agree with me there.  What I discovered is that with sounds text to speech and delayed ; it is possible to inscribe rather precise geometric shapes in the stereo field . i say rather , since i place the speakers slightly askew , pointing outwards : in order to encourage myself to find a real center in my mixes , and not just  judge everything in my created world according to a good monitor placement. I think certain recording personalities in the northwest u.s. may have seen the mystical potential of running direct.

  I don't compromise. Analog is capable of compromise in most configurations . A-dat is obviously compromised , at least through phase cancellation and the accompanying mixing boards. Native microprocessor recording is usually quite successful these days. I run into strangenesses when many processes, notes , chords , waveforms, loud dynamics occur at once. It is also severely compromising to do nothing or leave those out.

  

  

Deafness

       Deafness

  I  practice  this sometimes in music composition . It is nothing new: I'm fairly sure WA Mozart played or accurately imagined the first violin part in  movements of mid to late period symphonies ; then fleshed in the harmonies from what  he knew of theory. It helped that he was conducting , playing in ensembles day  and night , that the rooms had mostly good acoustics . Timbres he heard mentally were very much indeed like what was going on outside his head . He also owned wind instruments , stringed instruments, guitar and probably  clavichord and fortepiano . There likely was an amalgamation  of textures he  had  heard separately now sounding together in harmonies .

   Berlioz lived a life surrounded by more turmoil; although he did own a piano once established , and could sound chords, he mostly composed outdoors , or with the aid of a  guitar, flute , whistle and drum. Many of his musical lines were straight from his imagination, or singing at least.

   By the time of Stravinsky, I picture him in a manhattan loft; drawing carefully  on a large score pad, things had become very def indeed. He'd sometimes arrange  notes on the page by geometrical shape ,or so  it  was rumored. His scores usually looked legible and impressive. 

 Who knows what they're doing nowadays , I know what I'm doing.