Mixing Conventional Band Instruments with Elements of Electronic Music
Kavasto, Juho (2019)
Kavasto, Juho
2019
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2019121126072
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2019121126072
Tiivistelmä
Cyril Awakens is a musical act based in Helsinki, Finland. In their music, common contemporary band instruments such as acoustic drums and bass guitars are combined with computer programmed electronic elements like drum machine loops and synthesizer melodies. Whereas a small amount of crossover is common both by way of using a few acoustic elements in electronic music and vice versa, the kind of equal split exhibited in the music of Cyril Awakens is rarer. Therefore, special techniques must be utilised in the production of such music to make the two approaches blend together seamlessly.
In this thesis, the process of making the sophomore album of Cyril Awakens was outlined from pre-production all the way through to post-production. However, for the sake of conciseness, only four songs were chosen to be examined in detail instead of the whole album. Conclusions drawn from making the thesis project album itself were supplemented by researching the history, conventions, and theory of mixing, analyses of similar albums, and by conducting expert interviews. The core focus was on post-production techniques, especially the use of specialised mixing tools. Other techniques and details discussed included song arrangement in pre-production, microphone choices and placement during the recording phase, and methods of editing the recorded material.
The different phases of production came together to form a cohesive musical work where electronic elements worked well in tandem with common band instruments. To achieve this, methods that are characteristic of mixing electronic dance music were used together with methods characteristic of mixing band instruments. A key takeaway was that in order to interconnect these disciplines, it was often necessary to make the human elements more robotic, and to in turn create humanlike imperfections into the unerring electronic elements.
In this thesis, the process of making the sophomore album of Cyril Awakens was outlined from pre-production all the way through to post-production. However, for the sake of conciseness, only four songs were chosen to be examined in detail instead of the whole album. Conclusions drawn from making the thesis project album itself were supplemented by researching the history, conventions, and theory of mixing, analyses of similar albums, and by conducting expert interviews. The core focus was on post-production techniques, especially the use of specialised mixing tools. Other techniques and details discussed included song arrangement in pre-production, microphone choices and placement during the recording phase, and methods of editing the recorded material.
The different phases of production came together to form a cohesive musical work where electronic elements worked well in tandem with common band instruments. To achieve this, methods that are characteristic of mixing electronic dance music were used together with methods characteristic of mixing band instruments. A key takeaway was that in order to interconnect these disciplines, it was often necessary to make the human elements more robotic, and to in turn create humanlike imperfections into the unerring electronic elements.