Have you ever done ear training? If you studied music theory in college, you probably did.
I remember my Theory II class with Dr. Linton. He would sit at the piano and play an interval, and we would have to accurately guess. He started slow, but that didn’t last long.
Bum…BUM. “Major fourth!!” BUM…bum. “Minor third!!”
He would also play chord progressions, and we had to guess the chord AND the inversion. Pling…pling. “Four. First inversion!” Pling… “Five. Second inversion!”
A lot of folks hated it. I loved it. (Don’t even get me started on fixed-do solfege exams. Whew.)
Ear Training for Engineers
So if music majors in college are so focused on ear training, shouldn’t we as audio engineers focus on ear training just as much…if not more?
Probably so.
I can’t tell you how many time I’ll adjust an EQ because the settings look right on the screen. That’s so lame. I might as well turn off the studio monitors and take off the headphones. What good does it do to make audio decisions with anything other than your ears?
So I’ve got some ear training for you today. I may post more stuff like this down the road. We’ll see.
Listen Up
I’ve got two clips of a full drum kit. It’s the same exact performance; it’s just been mixed differently.
Rather than tell you what to listen for (which inevitably manipulates your mind into hearing things that may or may not be there), I’m simply posting these files for you to listen to.
Listen to them first, then make your guesses in the comments section as to what you think is different between the two.
The only rule I have is that you don’t read the comments below until you’ve listened and made your guess.
Here are the files. They’re 320 kbps mp3’s, so they sound pretty good.
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I’ll post the answer tomorrow.
[Photo by fauxto_digit]
Just listening on my PC speakers, I can tell that track 2 has more compression applied.
But more specifically?
I agree. Compression on 2 for sure. I especially notice it on the toms. I feel like there may be an EQ cut somewhere between 300Hz and 500Hz, but not sure.
I'll just say what I hear and not pretend to know exactly how it was achieved (although I assume compression because most seem to agree). In Track 2 the kick is much more pronounced, it punches through – dare i say “Transients”? – I think that's the proper term.
At any rate the kick drum pops and it's more out front in Track 2… In track 1 it is dull and lifeless.
- Matt
I think the second file has been mixed louder and has some reverb on it, especially the toms
The second one is louder, punchier more bottom, and compressed some way, judging by more room sounds also, and cymbals more present.
The second one is louder, punchier more bottom, and compressed some way, judging by more room sounds also, and cymbals more present.
I’m listenin’ from a cheap speaker of an old PC of a friend: I think the 2nd drums was parallel compressed
ciao,
Simo