Part VII - MUED Tech

Me surviving and thriving in isolation in Tamworth, NSW

Oscillation and Wobbling Sound Waves

wowee. This is confusing but sound is in WAVES which oscillate (wobble) and move membranes and amplifying bones in our ear so that they can be interpreted and heard in our brain.

Sine Waves. I haven't heard of them since Year 12 maths but turns out they have SOUND!

This is really cool because now maths can be made interesting woohoo!

this is how an amplifier works... Still don't really understand but it will eventually sink in...

James' Simple Synth on Soundtrap

On Sound trap, you can change the shape of the waves so they might look like this...

- Sine waves sound clear, soft, and pure

- Square waves sound like a video game or Mario

- Triangle waves sound like the square but less harsh

- Saw waves are very harsh and buzz

All of them have different amounts of overtones compared to fundamental. When you drop them to different octaves, you will find that it sounds like different PH Bases in EDM music.

ADSR

https://learningsynths.ableton.com/en/envelopes/modulating-amplitude-with-envelopes

This is confusing... but this is pretty much a visualisation of how a note rises and then fades once its plays. Say if you play a guitar string, the sound is present and then it disappears quickly

Here they are in Soundtrap as dials where you can alter each one. You can also mix two wave forms together to create different sounds.

Why are we doing this??

So we can make our own electornic sounds to write out own electronic music. The dials and ADSR allow us to tailor the sounds we are creating to suit the music we're making.

Programming and Coding in Music

Sonic Pi is a program that allows kids to pay around with coding and how that relates to music. This was interesting to learn about but coding is not my thing so I didn't enjoy learning about it.

Personally, I don't really like the idea of composing via programming and coding because it detracts from the music itself. I think if a student can use a platform like Soundtrap, they are able to easily convey their ideas without the computer and coding getting in the way.