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Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)
Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)
Visually, we have been working on making our art appear to have depth even when we are still working on a two-dimensional piece of paper. In music, we can change perspective and add depth, as well. We will explore some of those ways this week. Most simply, perspective (and depth) in music generally comes from adjusting how our ears hear various sounds.
To help explore this concept, we will be using the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW): BandLab. Before we go any further, join our "class" in BandLab by clicking the red logo below.
Click "Continue with Google" and use your iPride22.org login information to complete the process.
Click "Continue with Google" and use your iPride22.org login information to complete the process.
Using BandLab
Using BandLab
The Basics
The Basics
Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) are what professional (and amateur) musicians use to work with sounds. If you can imagine changing a sound in some way, a DAW can probably do it. Unless it is an acoustic live performance, there is an excellent chance that a DAW has been used to manipulate the sound of any recording that you have heard. DAWs are used most often in recording studios but are also found on computers in garages, basements, and, today, on virtually any device! Some popular DAWs include GarageBand, ProTools, and Reason. A few additional cloud-based DAWs include BandLab, SoundTrap, and Soundation.
Click the video to the left to watch some of the basic features of BandLab in action.
Complete the questions in the video to check your understanding of key concepts.
Loops vs. Tracks
Loops vs. Tracks
These are the two most important terms in a DAW. Tracks are the blank space that you use to put your audio and are found on the left side of your DAW screen, while loops are digital sounds that you or someone else records that have been put into a DAW and can be manipulated (changed). Loops are found in a menu on the bottom-right side of your BandLab screen.
Click the video to the right to go over the basic skills of BandLab one more time.
Complete the questions in the video to check your understanding of key concepts.
Your Daily Task
Your Daily Task
Explore BandLab and its features. (Yes, the introductory video was originally created for sixth graders, but I am sure you can figure out the change.)
Create a new composition (a piece of music) and add at least four (4) different loops. Place your loops so that they go from one to another with no spaces (rests).
Changing Perspective #1: Using the "Pan" feature.
Changing Perspective #1: Using the "Pan" feature.
Audio engineers make music feel like it has depth by changing how much of each sound is played out of different speakers (or the left/right side of your earbuds).
Consider a live performance. Not everyone on stage is sitting in the exact center of the stage so that your ears hear all sounds equally. We replicate this in audio engineering to deepen the experience.
In BandLab:
Experiment with moving individual tracks to all of the left (or right) sides using the tool seen on the left side of this page.
Move one instrument to the opposite side as the rest of your loops.
See what happens when some instruments get closer to 0% pan (the center) by moving some to 30% on either side, then 20%, then 10%... you might want to close your eyes to focus on the differences.
Change your "pan" of each track until it sounds the best to you.
Changing Perspective #2: Using the "Dynamics" feature.
Changing Perspective #2: Using the "Dynamics" feature.
Audio engineers also change the perspective of music by changing how much of each sound is being heard, overall. In music, we call this adjusting dynamics.
In BandLab:
Experiment with increasing and decreasing the volume of individual tracks. What is the effect on your full composition?
Drop out one of the tracks down to almost zero in volume while keeping the others up. (Note: You might want to add more loops and tracks to see how this works. Don't worry... they're free.)
Adjust the "dynamics" of each track until it sounds the best to you.
Changing Perspective #3: Using the "Fade" feature.
Changing Perspective #3: Using the "Fade" feature.
All of this is well and good, but having just one track louder than the others doesn't really do our song justice. We need to change dynamics at various points bringing some up and dropping some out to achieve a better effect.
In BandLab:
Click the "constellation button" above the tracks. You will see a white line appear on the track.
Add dots by clicking on the white line at various points. You will need at least two dots to achieve this, so click away!
Drag a dot up or down to increase (or decrease) the volume at various points throughout your song. (Note: These can be very steep and abrupt changes or they can be very mild over a long period of time. The choice is yours.)
In case you missed it above, click the logo to get started:
In case you missed it above, click the logo to get started:
Your Mission
Your Mission
Create a 60-second long composition in BandLab that demonstrates the use of Pan (#1), Track Dynamics (#2), and Fades (#3).
You should use at least four (4) loops, although more will be useful.
Your composition should have a general theme, style, or idea behind it.
Name your composition and be ready to share it with the class on Thursday.
And always...
You do not have to create just one composition. You can make multiple songs and pick your best at the end. Some loops lend themselves better to manipulation (adjustment) than others.
You do not have to create just one composition. You can make multiple songs and pick your best at the end. Some loops lend themselves better to manipulation (adjustment) than others.
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