Myths

Some whoppers i have heard in my time, dont know if they are true or not.

- The kick sound on Abbey Road was made with Ringo whacking away at a phone book with his sticks.

- The laser sound in Star Wars is from a 2 track tape recording of a guy hitting a power line mooring cable with a stick. (sounds close)

- You can only record good tunes at home on a Mac and Pro Tools

- Tom Petty gets his vocal sound by running an SM57 through the pre-amp of a $50 Casio Karaoke Star machine

- Trent Reznor has had his Soundcraft Mic Pres coated with an expensive mixture of gold and sheep blood.


Not as technical or entertaining as others, but these were all overheard at the Conservatory Of Recoding Arts and Sciences in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1999.
 
djhead said:
- The laser sound in Star Wars is from a 2 track tape recording of a guy hitting a power line mooring cable with a stick. (sounds close)
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I saw a "Making of Star Wars" show a LOT of years ago; that is true. I think they hit the guy wire with a wrench or something metallic though.
 
The TARDIS dematerialisation sound in Doctor Who was made by someone scraping a key down a piano string and recording it really fast and then playing it backwards at a slower speed.

That's not a myth, just more proof of the ingenuity of film and television sound effects artists.
 
mshilarious said:
I saw a "Making of Star Wars" show a LOT of years ago; that is true. I think they hit the guy wire with a wrench or something metallic though.
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I can't say whether or not they copied this technique for Star Wars or not, but this technique was actually used (mono recording) for the original "War of the Worlds" movie in the 1950s for the green "blob" rays that came out of the wingtips of the Martian spacecraft. Once one knows this, the sound source is actually quite obvious.

G.
 
Dogman said:
Oh yeah!!!! There's more to shredding than pure speed. Coming up with a catchy tune always helps a bit..... :D

Slayer has speed, but they also seem to put together tunes as a whole. That aint no myth.
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So does Cradle of Filth, they write metal operas, symphinies, arias, they dont write songs they they write scores.

If you can get past danni's high pitched screaming, the music is incredible, complex melodies and time signatures, well thought out changes, even moving orchestral works. They also do a lot of counter melody between the 2 guitars, keys, bass and a live orchestra. If you want to hear some of cradles best calssically written type stuff, listen to "lustmord and wargasm" and "Bathory Aria" off "cruelty and the beast" and if you can find the version of "lustmord and Wargasm" from the ltd. ed. cruelty set, it adds a nice piano concerto in the middle that accents the cello intro and the violin/cellos through out the song

-C$
 
Cyanide-Depende said:
So does Cradle of Filth, they write metal operas, symphinies, arias, they dont write songs they they write scores.

If you can get past danni's high pitched screaming, the music is incredible, complex melodies and time signatures, well thought out changes, even moving orchestral works. They also do a lot of counter melody between the 2 guitars, keys, bass and a live orchestra. If you want to hear some of cradles best calssically written type stuff, listen to "lustmord and wargasm" and "Bathory Aria" off "cruelty and the beast" and if you can find the version of "lustmord and Wargasm" from the ltd. ed. cruelty set, it adds a nice piano concerto in the middle that accents the cello intro and the violin/cellos through out the song

-C$
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Yeah, they are pretty cool. I have Dusk& Her Embrace, and Creulty And The Beast, 1 & 2. Pretty cool stuff.
 
Mark7 said:
The TARDIS dematerialisation sound in Doctor Who was made by someone scraping a key down a piano string and recording it really fast and then playing it backwards at a slower speed.

That's not a myth, just more proof of the ingenuity of film and television sound effects artists.
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Some of the early foley stuff in Doctor Who (not the DX-7 stuff after the John Nathan-Turner days - sounds very dated now) was pretty cool, in a low budget sort of way. (Cyberman noises and such) I think the theme song might have been one of the first uses of a synthesizer to record music.

It's physically impossible for a bumble bee to fly, but they do it anyway. (Very important when evaluating myths)


sl
 
Actually the original Delia Derbyshire arrangement of the theme tune contains no synthesisers whatsoever.

Oscillators, maybe. But no synths.
 
Mark7 said:
Actually the original Delia Derbyshire arrangement of the theme tune contains no synthesisers whatsoever.

Oscillators, maybe. But no synths.
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Is that the common arrangement that appeared in 1963 and throughout the William Hartnell era?

You've got guys like Moog that came along and made a synth using oscillators and such. Very similar components and sound, even if 1963 predates any of the conventional synths. Regardless, that sound of electronics making music became known as synthesis. Does it really matter that the BBC recorded synth music without an actual synth?


sl
 
Harping on Steve Vai

EDAN said:
A true artist has his own methods, that's what makes Eddie Van Halen Eddie Van Halen and not Steve Vai or any of those other over the top tasteless hacks with all the learned technique in the world but NO SOUL. That's what made Bonzo Bonzo and not Neil Peart or those other over the top tasteless hacks with all the learned technique in the world but no SOUL! Get my drift? Art is all about the individual finding his own way though and out of the forrest on his own!!! or better yet, never finding his way out!
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Alright EDAN, claiming that Steve Vai or Mr. Neil Pert doesn't put soul in their music made me crack.

(It's a shame this post is on page 25 and your post that made me crack was on page 7. lol.)

Neil Pert and Steve Vai are experimental players, which is precisely the point you where trying to make, about picking up an instrument and making noise, YOUR noise. These guys have superior minds, and limbs than most folk, (sorry it's true, accept it, some people do things better) so why would they dumb down their music? THEIR music. These guys are olympian musicians and they are out of YOUR league, so why don't you go buy some CD's and LEARN something about music. Music is about soul, rythm, hidden messages, symbolism, love, hate .. everything. These virtuoso's convey that rather well.

Would you like me to back up my statement? Would you really indulge me in that? Please do. I'm thinking of about 10 songs right now.

Steve Vai made a song called Fuck Yourself, so why don't you listen to it? I think it's right up your alley.

Eddie and Steve are both over the top, so quit embarassing yourself.

You made your point, then shot yourself in the foot! .. What's wrong with you? Seriously? Can't fight for both sides dude.

Harping on Chessrock, who was just joking btw, was wrong too.

In case you're completely cluelsess, there's a light coating of sarcastic humour in many posts. It can be subtle, but don't take offence.

There was no sarcasm in this post however.

And as for this big debate on music theory .. why don't you all pick up your damn instruments and friggin play. Go play and hit the record button. I was looking for some fun myths as a diversion, and the thread turned into utter non-sense. Go play your instruments, or tweak your mix or something. There's no point in this anymore. :) Theory-shmeory, it ain't worth a penny if you're not playing.

Let me ask you this: Do you feel more accomplished when:

A - You finally learnt a couple of inversions for that G7 chord
B - You invented a new song
C - You finished a new mix

I suggest that whatever the answer, roll with it, go do it, and let this thread die.

Frig.
 
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Mark7 said:
Oscillators, maybe. But no synths.
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What's the distinction? An analog synth is little more than one or more oscillators, optionally patched through a couple of filters or modulators. Take it back to the ARP 2500 or Moog modular system and one actually bought or built the oscillators, filters, modulators, etc. as seperate modules which were mounted in racks. In such a case the distinction between "oscillator" and "synthesizer" is purely academic, as it was possible (and in fact rather common) to have a synth that started out as nothing but the oscillator module, which the owner built upon as they added more modules.

As far as the use of the term "synthesis", it gets interesting to look at the early efforts. One of the first movies to use early analog synthesis for it's sound track and sound effects was 1956's "Forbidden Planet" (a movie ten years ahead of it's time in many respects.) A look at the credits for that movie lists what we would today call synthed soundtracks and effects as "Electronic Tonalities".

Of course one could take it all the way back to the 1920s and the full-band orchestral performances made on "Aetherphones" - nowdays known as the original Theremins.

G.
 
iratecaller666 said:
Alright EDAN, claiming that Steve Vai or Mr. Neil Pert doesn't put soul in their music made me crack.
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Do you mean Morris Pert from Brand X or Neil Peart from Rush?
iratecaller666 said:
Steve Vai made a song called Fuck Yourself
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Ah, now that's from Flex-Able Leftovers. Definitely my favorite Vai era.

sl
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
What's the distinction? An analog synth is little more than one or more oscillators, optionally patched through a couple of filters or modulators. Take it back to the ARP 2500 or Moog modular system and one actually bought or built the oscillators, filters, modulators, etc. as seperate modules which were mounted in racks. In such a case the distinction between "oscillator" and "synthesizer" is purely academic, as it was possible (and in fact rather common) to have a synth that started out as nothing but the oscillator module, which the owner built upon as they added more modules.

As far as the use of the term "synthesis", it gets interesting to look at the early efforts. One of the first movies to use early analog synthesis for it's sound track and sound effects was 1956's "Forbidden Planet" (a movie ten years ahead of it's time in many respects.) A look at the credits for that movie lists what we would today call synthed soundtracks and effects as "Electronic Tonalities".

Of course one could take it all the way back to the 1920s and the full-band orchestral performances made on "Aetherphones" - nowdays known as the original Theremins.

G.
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Interesting comments.

I wonder what it all would have sounded like through a large diaphragm dynamic microphone.

A couple of years ago, I took the grill off of my SM57 and Beta 52 mics at the same time and looked at the capsules. They look the same. What makes the 52 more "large diaphragm"?


sl
 
Oh my.

I mis-spelled Neil Peart's last name!!!

I'm so embarassed. LOL. Thanks snow lizard. I edited my post twice (removed some rather rude comments), and didn't even notice the mistake.
 
snow lizard said:
A couple of years ago, I took the grill off of my SM57 and Beta 52 mics at the same time and looked at the capsules. They look the same. What makes the 52 more "large diaphragm"?
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Marketing.

Shure does not actually refer to the Beta 52 or the R175 cartridge (the cartridge used in the beta 52) as "large diaphragm" in their reference literature or specifications.

I suspect that the marketing literature from some of the retailers refer to the 52 as "large diaphragm" because of yet another myth that should go in this thread: the larger the diaphragm, the better the bass response. Since the 52 is marketed as a kick drum mic with good bass response, the ambiguous handle "large diaphragm" uses that myth to help sell the mic as good for bass handling.

G.
 
ez_willis said:
Sure, but do they know theory?
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Danni knows theory and he writes all the music, hes also a nazi about his music, which is why they have new guitar players every other album.

He was classically trained as a pianist, and as a vocalist. He actually has a very good singing voice when he isnt screaming. you can hear some of his actual singing in the background along side sarah jezabell diva.

-C$
 
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