December 2021 - DJ Chimney Sparrow

The Sound Profile of An Instrument

I’ve been training my ears using the Golden Ears program (or more recently, with my personal patch, which you can create on Ableton), for a few months now.

The program starts by boosting or cutting certain frequency ranges in various musical genres, which you try to guess at.

In the process, you build familiarity with the qualities that each frequency range tends to bring out. You also get a sense of how individual instruments sound when boosted at these ranges.

Now, I’m no expert at this. But I’ve noticed certain common patterns in how I perceive instruments, which might simplify the process of classifying what we hear.

Book Review: The Power of Why

Question: Who are the most innovative people?

It’s not simply a matter of innate talents or predispositions, as Amanda Lang demonstrates in her book, The Power of Why, but rather the fostering and preserving of our natural curiousity.

The word natural is key here, because we’re ALL born curious. It’s how we oriented to the world and learned critical skills like language and mobility.

Obviously innovation and creativity are REALLY important in the music industry, so I wanted to share my thoughts about this terrific read while they’re fresh.

The Challenge of Being an Experiential Learner

Growing up, I was always lost when it came to envisioning the kind of work I wanted to do in the future.

By university, I figured I’d at least narrowed it down to the environmental sciences, because I liked the outdoors, and the prospect of doing research in the field seemed cool.

Boy, was THAT a mistake.

Stage Manager, Day One: A Tragicomedy in Four Parts

I thought I’d share this, mostly because it’s funny, and I like bringing joy to others, even (especially?) if it’s through my own embarrassment.

The story begins with Our Hero showing up at the the stage for the Evergreen Festival in Halifax, last Friday afternoon. I was all set to tackle a long but satisfying day of hauling cases, assembling trusses and so on.

So it was with considerable surprise and no small amount of panic that I received the news that I would be stage managing for the bands that evening.

How To Create Your Own Ear Training Patch (Ableton)

No matter what genre of music you’re working with (or even if you’re working with sounds and effects), your ears are your most powerful tool and selling point.

Hearing the nuances in sound – what happens when different frequencies are cut or boosted, for example – means you can quickly spot when something sounds too muddy, edgy, boxy, etc.

To help you hear these differences, I’ve created a guide to making your own ear training program. The following patch is largely modelled off David Moulton’s Golden Ears training program (created with his permission).

It works by randomly boosting or cutting your chosen audio signal at random frequency ranges, which you can guess and check your answers with later. Sound good? Then click the link, or follow along below!