Freeware Audio Software

The assignment for this week's class is to download a freeware program from the site databaseaudio, make something with it, and blog about the results here. For this assignment, I decided to play around with two different programs described below.

Analog Box 2 is, as the website describes, a "low level, circuit based, modular software synthesizer." Sounds are made by right clicking to select components and connecting them together in circuits much in the same way as electronic components. I used one of the tutorials provided to create a FM Synthesizer. (There was also a MIDI tutorial provided, but I didn't get very far into it.) Overall, the layout seems simple at first glance, but the functions of each button weren't always obvious at first glance. (The fact that there were onlyu two tutorials written didn't help matters either.)

Hydrogen, is an electronic drum-kit simulator provided from this site. In this program, I arrange beats from a list of different instruments and use them to compose different soundtracks. I found this program much easier to use, and very good for what it is trying to do.




Click here to listen.

Sonic Journey: Take #3

For my third attempt at the sonic journey I went to North Land mall. Tried to retain as much of my concept from my first two attempts as possible. Didn't record much of the outdoors as I would have liked this time, but I did collect some sounds from the barbershop as I was getting a haircut.




Click here to listen

Sonic Journey Attempt #2

On January 26, I decided to take the opportunity to make the subject of my second sonic journey attempt* a trip to downtown Calgary to see if I could find, from memory, the McNailey-Robinson bookstore. I rode the C-Train downtown because I wanted to capture what was referred to my history class as the "simultaneous experience." (And because I don't have a driver's license.)

My goal with this assignment was to show a sort of contrast with indoor and outdoor locations of varying crowdedness. While I didn't find the bookstore, I did manage to collect some ambient sounds from Century Park. (I was walking by and figured "why not?"). I also managed to collect some background noise from both a McDonalds while I was having lunch, and from the comic book store on Kensington while on my way home.

All in all I found the experience to be a very valuable one. I really appreciated the different ambient noises in different locations. Unfortunately, since I forgot to test the microphone before I went out, the recorder picked up nothing but dead silence.

But on the plus side, I finally got the embedded player to show up.




Click here to listen.

*My first attempt was pretty much wasted because the recorder's memory card was full.

The sound that I have posted here is that of my "Funnel-Horn", a homemade musical instrument I made for my MADT sound class. The instrument was made out of plastic tubing, paper, and a plastic drinking straw cut into a double reed setup. The sound the instrument produced turned out to be a lot deeper than I expected it to be, and I would have liked a way to manipulate the pitch, but I'm still proud of the end result.

Click to hear my instrument.

This sound file was created to test bla bla bla