“Knowing Is Seeing”: the Digital Audio Workstation and the Visualization of Sound
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“KNOWING IS SEEING”: THE DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION AND THE VISUALIZATION OF SOUND IAN MACCHIUSI A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN MUSIC YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO September 2017 © Ian Macchiusi, 2017 ii Abstract The computer’s visual representation of sound has revolutionized the creation of music through the interface of the Digital Audio Workstation software (DAW). With the rise of DAW- based composition in popular music styles, many artists’ sole experience of musical creation is through the computer screen. I assert that the particular sonic visualizations of the DAW propagate certain assumptions about music, influencing aesthetics and adding new visually- based parameters to the creative process. I believe many of these new parameters are greatly indebted to the visual structures, interactional dictates and standardizations (such as the office metaphor depicted by operating systems such as Apple’s OS and Microsoft’s Windows) of the Graphical User Interface (GUI). Whether manipulating text, video or audio, a user’s interaction with the GUI is usually structured in the same manner—clicking on windows, icons and menus with a mouse-driven cursor. Focussing on the dialogs from the Reddit communities of Making hip-hop and EDM production, DAW user manuals, as well as interface design guidebooks, this dissertation will address the ways these visualizations and methods of working affect the workflow, composition style and musical conceptions of DAW-based producers. iii Dedication To Ba, Dadas and Mary, for all your love and support. iv Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................... ii Dedication .............................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ....................................................................................................... vii Chapter One: Introduction ............................................................................................ 1 Literature Review.................................................................................................. 10 Chapter Two: Looped Affordances: The History and Process of Looping with the DAW. ............................................................................................. 25 The Graphical User Interface (GUI) and the DAW .............................................. 28 The Western Affordances of the DAW ................................................................ 32 Looping and Recording in the DAW .................................................................... 39 The History of Looping ........................................................................................ 42 Tape Looping ........................................................................................................ 44 Time and Space ..................................................................................................... 46 The Sights and Sounds of Looping ....................................................................... 48 The Automated Process of Looping ..................................................................... 56 Loops as Digital Commodities.............................................................................. 59 The GUI ................................................................................................................ 75 Looping Software.................................................................................................. 78 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 82 Chapter Three: “Circus Tricks with the Sound”: Play, Agency and Manipulation in the DAW. ......................................................................................... 84 v Play ....................................................................................................................... 86 Flexibility and Fluidity ......................................................................................... 89 Discernability ........................................................................................................ 97 Agency and Rendering ........................................................................................ 105 Manipulation and the Degree of Participation .................................................... 115 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 120 Chapter Four: “Totemic Power”: Arrangement, Analysis and Performance in the DAW. ......................................................................................... 122 The Arrange Window ......................................................................................... 124 Arrangement ....................................................................................................... 131 Analysis............................................................................................................... 135 Performance ........................................................................................................ 156 Distraction ........................................................................................................... 163 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 166 Chapter Five: “Fish Bone”: Attack and Decay in the Creation of Drum Grooves. .......................................................................................................... 168 Performance, Placement and Sampling .............................................................. 171 Libraries .............................................................................................................. 183 Decays ................................................................................................................. 193 Sidechain Compression ....................................................................................... 200 Silences ............................................................................................................... 205 Trap Anticipations .............................................................................................. 209 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 211 Chapter Six: Conclusion ........................................................................................... 214 Future Work ........................................................................................................ 218 References ................................................................................................................. 221 vi Appendices ................................................................................................................ 242 Appendix A: Looping ......................................................................................... 242 Appendix B: Visuals When Mixing .................................................................... 243 Appendix C: Sound as a Modular Object Falling on the Grid ............................ 244 Appendix D: Play ................................................................................................ 245 Appendix E: Rendering MIDI to Waveform ...................................................... 246 Appendix F: Dubstep Rendering ........................................................................ 247 Appendix G: The Rendering of Effects .............................................................. 248 Appendix H: The Rendering of Glitches ............................................................ 249 Appendix I: The Degree of Participation ............................................................ 250 Appendix J: Cheesy, Generic and Stock Compositions...................................... 251 Appendix K: Rendering Not Necessary .............................................................. 252 Appendix L: Waves Are More Fun. ................................................................... 253 Appendix M: Tempo Equals Space. ................................................................... 254 Appendix N: Automation .................................................................................... 255 Appendix O: Arrangement Templates ................................................................ 256 Appendix P: Organization/Grouping .................................................................. 258 Appendix Q Visualization as Distraction ........................................................... 259 Appendix R: Groove ........................................................................................... 260 Appendix S: Head Nod (Bob) ............................................................................. 263 Appendix T: Sidechaining and Trap ................................................................... 264 Appendix U: Miscellaneous ................................................................................ 266 Appendix V: Music Theory ...............................................................................