Monthly Archives: July 2019

What is an effector?

etc-1208757_1920

Without fear of misunderstanding, an effector is a tool for spoofing sounds. Dynamics / filter effectors such as limiters and equalizers were invented to avoid the limitations of the sound quality of early radios and records, and spatial effectors such as reverbs and delays were recorded in small studios. It can be said that the color of a sound is an illusionary tool as if you are playing in a large church or concert hall. In this way, the effector is something that is somewhat trickery in the first place.

However, the image of a cheating tool for cheating is always intriguing, like the mysterious tools lined up in the old science fiction movie lab. The mysterious attraction of such an effector, like a magician or a street performer, was to inspire curiosity of musicians and engineers to create a variety of new sounds.

In technical terms, an effector is a “box that changes sound”. And it’s not just “changing”, it’s a box that “simulates” something. The reverb simulates a variety of sounds, the delay simulates a maverick, and the distortion simulates the distortion of an amplifier. And as long as it is a simulation, an effector has the limit of “It can not exceed the real thing”. In that sense, most of the effectors are incomplete, according to the producer’s intention for perfect simulation. Many of the effectors created in the late 60’s and 70’s, especially the golden age, were far from unfinished due to the technological limitations of the time. However, only the unfinished part has been supported by musicians and engineers as “a sound different from the real thing,” a sound that can only be produced by the effector.

The fuzz that tried to create amp distortion was eventually used by lead guitarists as an effector that creates much more aggressive distortion than the amp. Even for the producers, even the small boxes that have not been completed yet, the transformation of the musicians and engineers’ ideas has transformed the new sound into a magic box to create.

The rapid development of effectors since the 60’s is closely related to the change of popular music from live music to record. In particular, rock musicians considered the record to be a new art form created by studio recording, unlike traditional music. So they went to the studio day and night and repeated various experiments using effectors. As a result of such trial and error, the setting and usage of the effector that they came up with did not necessarily correspond to the correct usage that the producer of the effector intended. There were a lot of uses that the producers would use to scream when they heard it, such as “kick the spring reverb with feet”, “pass vocals through distortion” and “turn the reverb with noise gates”. In other words, with regard to effectors, the correct usage is not very meaningful. Rather, it may be the only one who seems to be the royal road of the effector-master to create a sound that the producer could not even predict, in a beating setting.

By the middle of the 90’s, a new generation of digital technologies called plug-in effects and modeling came into play, and the world of effectors has undergone considerable change. A plug-in effect is an effect that reproduces computer software and can be used in hard disk recording software on a computer. Although this changed the way the effector was used in the studio in some ways, it did not change the essence of the effector. The biggest impact on the world of effectors is modeling technology.

Modeling is a technology that attempts to reproduce musical instruments and effectors from the characteristics of materials, structures, circuits, and parts using the processing power of high-speed computers, which is like CG in the world of video It may be better if you think.

With this new technology, the difference between the sound of “real” and digital effector simulation has become inaudible even for professional musicians. As a result, anyone can easily try the sounds of vintage expensive and rare effectors and guitar amps that were not easily obtained before. This looks like something to be welcomed by musicians in a way.

But one thing I want you to keep in mind is that what is being reproduced by modeling is just the sounds and settings that someone has already used. If you’re looking for an original sound that no one else has ever tried, first messing around with the crap magic box you have before you consider replacing it with the latest modeling effects. It may be better to start by defeating and creating an original sound that you have never heard of. Then one day when you become a famous player, that sound may become a preset for your next modeling effector.

Advertisement

The attitude during playing also affects the quolity of the sound

black-and-white-blur-classic-734918.jpg

When you play an instrument, one of the things you need to be especially careful about is attitude.

Because the performer’s body is also a part of the instrument to make it sound, the posture also has a great influence on the sound.

There is a traditionally correct attitude for playing the piano when playing the piano and for playing the violin when playing the violin. The attitude is not for the good looks and the ease of playing from the audience, but all for the better sounding.

If it compares, it is the same thing as the “type” of traditional Japanese performing arts such as Noh and Kabuki. All traditionally inherited types have meaning and are passed from parent to child, from child to grandchild. The basic theory to convey the mind to the audience for more advanced performance is inlaid. Even if you do something new that will open up the times, you need to learn the basic types first.

The attitude in classical music is also a type, and it is something that must be worn by the eyes of each instrument / song.

Technology is essential for playing an instrument. However, even if you improve only the technology, you will never be able to perform wonderfully to impress the audience.

What does playing a musical instrument mean playing music? Is it an act with a purpose?

I think that “exchange of life energy”.

When people who are physically and physically fulfilling and very energetic play the piano, those who are listening will also become well. That is because the performers’ mind is transmitted to the listener through music.

The music contains the composer’s energy. It is the mission of the performer to capture the energy of the composer and play the instrument to transfer the energy to the space and the audience.

When you touch true art, you can be struck by lightning and feel happy as if it were rising to the heavens through the works of art such as music and painting, by composers and painters It is because you receive energy. The bodies of composers and painters do not already exist in this world, but they can provide many people with their life energy. That is true art. That’s why art is great and wonderful.

So, when you play an instrument, you want to be aware of “your own mind” and how to convey the mind of the composer who made the music, not just looking at technology alone. Then, you will know how to play the music by yourself.

The number of followers does not guarantee credit.

swan-2881229_1920

When the net increased in strength, a new phenomenon occurred again. The former mass media began to choose “people who are focused on the net” as the sender. Televisions, newspapers, books, and etc… are now used as speakers for people who earn “interest” on the net, such as “number of page views on blog”, “number of followers on Twitter”, and “number of friends on Facebook”. When the old media were eaten by the Internet at the time, profitability was deteriorating. The numbers that show net interest have come to be used as a forecast indicator of how much “selling” (viewing rates, number of purchases, and etc…) you can earn. Specifically, in the publishers’ meeting, which determines the availability of the plan, numbers on the net such as “the number of page views on blog” and “the number of followers on Twitter” are often emphasized as “reference figures for forecasting sales”. In other words, online value judgment has flowed into old media.

However, as a matter of fact, numbers do not guarantee quality. It is not always the case that the sender with high net interest index emits “high quality speech”. There is no correlation between the two, as high net-interested senders send more accurate facts. Rather, some of the sendors say, “ flaming (internet) marketing “, “We’re going to show off arrogant distractions and complaints that are likely to cause repulsion, and contents that are contrary to the facts, and draw attention and earn numbers.”

In this way, as the index of “net attention” spreads to the old media side, the senders of the old media side are also mixed with boulders. The classification of “professional speechist from high literacy class” or “popular person” as in the pre-Internet era disappeared. You can see the phenomenon that “experts” say something out of the question, that “journalist” is not the fact, and just say the opinion instead of the fact, etc. on a daily basis.

The standards are confused as to how much the sender should be trusted. The confusion is not only the Internet. The same is true for the old media side, where the Internet’s value standard has flowed in principle. Whether you are a real speaker or a message on the old media, you do not know whether you can trust it as a fact unless you scrutinize what you say. It was such a bothersome time.

A way to suspect information senders

advertisements-batch-blur-518543

There are too many information senders. If it is the exact fact, anyone can say.

On the other hand, the confusing thing is that the number of “senders” has exploded in the age of the Internet. In addition, they claim that they have “predominance” that many say. In some cases, “parties” and “witnesses” may claim to be sending information directly. Some have argued that literacy is high, such as “experts” and “researchers”. However, many of them are “self-proclaimed”, so we don’t know what to trust. We have to check it ourselves. How should this problem be solved?

In the old media era, the number of people who can transmit information in mass media was limited. A company employee based on a lifetime employment system that belongs to a mass media company such as newspaper, television, radio, and publishing company. Scholars, researchers, lawyers, critics, novelists, etc. who are given a chance to speak to such mass media. It was “professional speechist” who is a profession to say in mass media in all. Mainly “high literacy layer”. On the other hand, there were actors, singers, musicians, talents, and etc. who can appear in mass media by “popularity” and “notice”.

Mass media companies acted as gatekeepers to select “senders”. “You can trust this person on the premise that it is a fact,” they promised to readers and viewers. They screened the credibility. As expected, publishers and newspapers have secured the credibility of senders as “organizations”. So, even now, when a weekly magazine article or TV show is accused of defamation, publishers and television stations will be sued with the author. The responsibility of such mass media companies and organizations is called “editing responsibility”.

In addition, human resources (actors, singers, musicians, talents, and etc.) who say, “This person is a popular person but not a person who expects the accuracy of facts” have revealed such attributes. The media and fields to be posted were divided and packaged for the reader. For example, in critics of politics and economics, readers demand accuracy. We do not ask for nude photos at the beginning of the weekly photos and sports newspaper. There was such “indication of the credibility level by a package”. Readers and viewers also understood such “display” in a long time.

If readers and viewers see that “a mass media company guarantees the sender’s credit” from the viewpoint of readers and viewers, it will be recognized that people whose speech is posted in mass media are considered to be highly trusted. Therefore, it was a privilege to be chosen by mass media. It was also the privilege of mass media companies to decide “who should be the sender.”

However, no one on the Internet needs to be “chosen.” If you decide that you want to “speak publicly”, you can just upload your own blog, SNS, or YouTube and write your own statement or expression. That’s it. Thus, the mass media’s “privilege of choosing a sender” has disappeared. At the same time, the “privileges that are selected” for the sender also disappeared.

Conversely, “organizations and gatekeepers that secure credit” and “packages that display credit level” have disappeared.

Blog Trap

nick-morrison-325805-unsplash

Observe about blogs that are very popular on the Internet. Basically, blogs should be free to write anything, but of course the reality is not. I have to worry about my eyes. That is completely different from the traditional diary.

Actually no one may have read it. There are many people who will write blogs (assuming the possibility is so high) but assuming a large number of virtual readers (in delusion that their actions are being watched). There are occasional sentences where such psychology appears well. If you keep calm and observe it, it looks like you are drunk and have high tension.

Originally, my time is for myself. You should be free to do what you do.

However, when it comes to writing a blog everyday, I look for things in my life to be able to write a blog. People are looking for amazing things. I’m trying to find something that can be shown to a person by taking a picture. For example, choose something that you think carefully over a year, something that you can’t create for a decade, and not a big problem or a masterpiece like that, choose a near-term action that results in one day today it becomes.

It will be easy to spend every day on blogs without knowing or knowing.

This is nothing more than “domination”. There is a risk of making one’s own possibility small, bothered by people’s eyes and chased by daily reports. You should be careful enough.

Such people may wish to rest for a month or so for a trial. Just because you don’t show it to people changes what you choose.

If you don’t show it to anyone, don’t talk to anyone, what would you choose? Can you choose for yourself? You should think of what you really want, what you really like. When you buy things, when you choose, you’ll find out what other people think, at least you’ll notice that it’s the majority.

Although it can not be helped to some extent, if you care about the eyes of others, it will someday become empty. What are you living for? Not for others, is it not for yourself?

The purpose of life is freedom

animal-clouds-daylight-672802

From the conclusion, I think that “the purpose of life is free.” I live to gain freedom or to build freedom. At least now, I am thinking so seriously.

First of all, you will need to explain a little about what freedom is.

The freedom I think may be somewhat different in nuance from what ordinary people think. For example, ordinary people say, “Children are free”, and “animals are free.” On the contrary, I do not think that children are lame and that animals are never free.

Freedom is “to be what you want.” In order to be free, you must first “think”. Next, you feel the satisfaction of doing “action” or “thinking” as you thought, and as a result “I was able to do what I thought”. That feeling is “freedom.”

Children “think” that they wanted to do this, but they usually do not. Some adults limit it as “not good”, but often they do not act because of their lack of physical ability. So, although they have the feeling “I want to be free to do this,” more than adults, children are not free. To be clear, it is inconvenient.

The same is true for animals, and I can only observe pets, but when they are a baby they want to be quite free. They try to do various reckless things. However, if they grow up and become a full-bodied, they will not be reckless because it is because they can sort out. Other than to live, there is hardly anything that challenges new objects. When we give new toys, they only show interest when they are young. Wild animals look for food when they are hungry, and they may live in fear of the enemy. Sometimes they have time to rest and sleep, but I don’t think they are thinking about what they want to do and they are not challenging.

After all, it may be said that most of their lives are to avoid the enemy’s eyes and search for food. There is no freedom and adventure somewhere. They take a fixed action every day. And it’s because I’m a human being that looks at animals like this, and I do not feel that animals are lame in the first place. Because only human beings are free creatures, we do this thinking.

Why do people need music?

jonathan-velasquez-160775-unsplash

Because it is an approach to human’s fundamental desires and emotions, it does not work well just because the instrument is freaking good or musically superior.
For example, if you are the most popular artist, the person who won the classic contest is not that kind of thing. The same is true for songs, and it is not always good if they are good. However, some users are so impressed by their good playing and singing that they can not simply think.

On the other hand, some users say “I don’t know the song or something, but everyone is really cool”, so it seems to me that “After all, there is nothing to do with selling and the quality of the music.” But that’s not the case. Some of the coolness includes the goodness of the song. So, in this case, it seems to seek things other than music, and it is thought that the satisfaction of the mind is achieved by uniting with the music. If you really like cool people, you should be a model, but why are you going to a musician? It is thought that coolness is realized and satisfaction is achieved by the involvement of Otoya melody, rhythm, and various things.

So what kind of sound source, what kind of music, what kind of artist should it sing? It is the music business that thinks about that kind of moderation.

Define the music business

close-up-compose-composer-1549708

A music business is a business activity that gives users the satisfaction of their mind through services related to music and receives compensation.

As far as “music related services”, there are currently four types of products available. In other words, sound source, live (performance), goods, fan club (FC). The possibility of changing in the future is not zero, but in the present situation it may be considered that these four types.

By delivering these four services and products, users gain their minds. In other words, you get satisfied. There are various forms of fulfilling desires, such as being inspiring, communicating, and stress emanating. In any case, it is the basics of the music business that you get the money by getting the customer satisfied.

The music business is not CD sales. Although four types of services and products related to music were listed, this means that there are three services besides CD sales (sound source sales). However, unfortunately, it is still true that many people still think that “the music business is selling CDs”.

Certainly, about 20 years ago, the music industry was mainly selling CDs (that is, record companies), and the general idea was that live, goods and fan clubs were like extras. It is a feeling that it is a promotion and not a place to make money. It was the feeling that money was received from a record company.

But now that’s not the case.

The revenue structure of the music business is changing from relying on sound sources (CD sales) to emphasizing live, merchandise sales and fan club operations. The days when the recordings created and recorded in the studio had great value had passed by now. You should be aware of this as a premise. However, there is no loss of sound sources, but although the balance changes with the times, these four should not be lost, please think that it is a necessary thing.