Mixing with Impact by Wessel Oltheten

Author:Wessel Oltheten [Wessel Oltheten]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Focal Press
Published: 2018-03-25T16:00:00+00:00

Smooth Transition

The frequency spectrum of a sound can be seen as the sheet music for all the frequency components that make up the sound. If you had a bank frequency with oscillators, one for each frequency, this spectrum would precisely indicate which oscillator should be activated when and at what intensity in order to reconstruct the sound. That’s the exact same principle a vocoder uses to apply the character of one sound (often a voice) to another. The vocoder measures the distribution of the source sound in a number of frequency bands, and then applies this distribution to the target sound. A spectral vocoder works the same, but with a much higher degree of precision than the classic vocoder, simply because the number of frequency bands for the analysis and reconstruction is much larger.

This higher resolution is not the only advantage of spectral vocoding. Much more complex manipulations are possible than with a classic vocoder, such as seamlessly blending one sound into another. This principle is called morphing, and in the simplest form it involves two frequency spectra that are merged into each other by filling in the intermediate spectra (through interpolation). This way, you can create very interesting effects. A rhythm guitar could start a song, but then slowly turn into a drum kit that plays the same rhythm. The provocative lyric you always wanted to incorporate into a track can almost un noticeably be ‘uttered’ by the rest of the instruments. Seamlessly blending multiple vocal characters together to create a schizophrenic impression (or to symbolize the ultimate togetherness, depending on how you look at it) is a possibility as well. And even making a transition from one complete track into another can yield interesting results. At least, it will be something different than sweeping your filter down while you mix in the next beat. Not all morph effects use the same technology, and a simple interpolation of two spectra won’t always lead to a convincing intermediate form. That’s why smart algorithms use psycho-acoustic principles to determine which sound aspect should be dominant in the transition from one sound to another.

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