Soundation Studio Is a Free Flash-Based Music Mixer

If you've ever had the urge to mess around with mixing your own electronic music, Soundation Studio is a free Flash-based editor that makes editing and mixing your own songs drag and drop easy.

Soundation Studio is simple enough that you can start mixing together a song with absolutely no experience or technical knowledge. If you're inclined to do so you can dig into the sub-menus in Soundation Studio and tweak any of the dozens of variables available—variables you may, if you're as much a novice in music mixing as I am, have to look up.


You build your song up from the hundreds of samples included in the Library or use the virtual instruments to create your own beats. When you're done, you can export the song as a .WAV to your computer or save it on Soundation Studio and share it with a link. Soundation Studio is free and only requires a login if you wish to save your projects between sessions.

The link to Soundation Studio is here: Soundation Studio



Source: http://lifehacker.com/5550778/soundation-studio-is-a-flash+based-music-mixer


Here is a screen shot tour and  review from Downloadsquad.com

Screenshot Tour: Soundation Studio lets you create music online for free

by Erez Zukerman (RSS feed) May 20th 2010 at 9:08AM

With all of the Flash-bashing going on lately, it is easy to forget what a powerful platform it is. It's a good thing that Web tools like Soundation Studio serve as handy reminders, showing us that some very cool stuff can be created with Flash.

Soundation Studio is an incredibly full-featured, desktop-like sound editor. It has a built-in library with hundreds of sound samples that are sorted by BPM. The samples are predominantly electronica-style stuff, but you can buy more samples from the online store. Still, if you want to compose a nice piece of electronic music, the included samples seem to be more than enough.

Despite having no musical inclination whatsoever, I was so impressed with Soundation Studio that I felt compelled to stay for a few minutes, play around with the UI, and even try to compose my own trance beat (which I will not subject you to). After the fold, you can see some of the highlights.

This is the same overall screenshot shown in the beginning of the post, but I'd like to provide some explanations for it now: At the top of the window, you see a menu bar; the left side features channel controls (each "line" is an audio channel). The bulk of the window is taken up by the channel waveforms, while to the right, you can see the expanded samples library. At the bottom are some pretty self-explanatory playback controls.


Now, let's start zooming in on the different parts. First is the menu bar; there's nothing special here, but I found the Fullscreen Mode noteworthy. When you switch to Fullscreen, it feels just like a desktop application (a Mac desktop application, at that). The UI was fast and snappy and samples played quite well on my system, so it really didn't feel like I was using a Web-based tool as soon as my browser UI disappeared.


One of the few reminders of the online nature of Soundation is shown every time you drag a sample to a track; the screen dims and you get a spinner while the sample is downloaded to your computer. Once the spinner disappears, the application goes back to its snappy self.


This is what the controls for a single track look like. The "FX" button lets you select one of a number of effects to be applied to the track; the "Automate" drop-down lets you apply volume customizations and other goodies. This interface should be very familiar if you've ever worked with any sort of serious audio editor.


These are the controls for one effect: Reverb. Unfortunately, I was unable to preview what each setting does, so I had to wing it rather than tweak the sound carefully. The good news is that the effect is applied immediately, without downloading anything; the file seems to be processed on your own system. It's very snappy.


This is a zoomed in view of the sample library. As you can see, each sample is preceded by its BPM, so it's very easy to select samples that go well together. The "Auto Audition" button plays each sample as you click it; that seems to happen off the server, so playback starts immediately, with no download required.


This is another view of the library, this time collapsed so you can see the range of samples available. The "Urban" label made me think of hip-hop, but the samples in that category also seem to be quite electronic. You can see some inconsistency in the folder naming ("125" vs. "90 BPM"), but the interface and sorting are still quite clear.


This is the Virtual Keyboard, and it's the one part that I simply could not make work. I have no idea what I did wrong, but I was unable to figure it out. Feel free to tell me how you got it to work in the comments.



Bottom line: Soundation is a very powerful implementation of existing software, in Flash. If you already know similar systems, it will not teach you anything new. However, if you're just getting your feet wet and considering creating music using your computer, this is one solid-looking free option.

 

 Source: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/05/20/soundation-studio-create-music-free-online/

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Multitrack recording history

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"Multitracker" redirects here. For the BitTorrent multitracker feature, see BitTorrent (protocol)#Multitracker.

Multitrack recording (also known as multitracking or just tracking for short) is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole. Multitracking became possible with the idea of simultaneously recording different audio channels to separate discrete "tracks" on the same tape—a "track" was simply a different channel recorded to its own discrete area on tape whereby their relative sequence of recorded events would be preserved, and playback would be simultaneous or synchronized.

In the 1980s and 1990s, computers provided means by which both sound recording and reproduction could be digitized, revolutionizing audio distribution. In the 2000s, multitracking hardware and software for computers was of sufficient quality to be widely used for high-end audio recording. Though tape has not been universally replaced as a recording medium, the advantages of non-linear editing and recording have resulted in digital systems largely superseding tape.

Contents [hide] 1 Process 2 Flexibility 3 History 4 With computer 5 Order of recording 6 Concert music 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Process

Multitracking can be achieved with analogue, tape-based equipment (from simple, cassette-based four or eight trackers to 2" reel-to-reel 24-track machines), digital equipment that relies on tape storage of recorded digital data (such as ADAT eight-track machines) and hard disk-based systems often employing a computer and audio recording software. Multitrack recording devices vary in their specifications, such as the number of simultaneous tracks available for recording at any one time; in the case of tape-based systems this is limited by, among other factors, the physical size of the tape employed. Some of the biggest professional analog recording studios used a computer to synchronize multiple 24-track machines, effectively multiplying the number of available tracks into the hundreds. The rock group Toto recorded their fourth album on four computer-synced 24-track machines, for example.

For computer-based systems the trend is towards unlimited numbers of record/playback tracks, although issues such as memory and CPU available will in fact limit this from machine to machine. Moreover, on computer-based systems, the number of simultaneously available recording tracks is limited by the sound card discrete analog or digital inputs.

When recording, audio engineers can select which track (or tracks) on the device will be used for each instrument, voice, or other input.

At any given point on the tape, any of the tracks on the recording device can be recording or playing back using sel-sync or Selective Synchronous recording. This allows an artist to be able to record onto track 2 and, simultaneously, listen to track 1, 3 and 7, allowing them to sing or to play an accompaniment to the performance already recorded on these tracks. They might then record an alternate version on track 4 while listening to the other tracks. All the tracks can then be played back in perfect synchrony, as if they had originally been played and recorded together. This can be repeated until all of the available tracks have been used, or in some cases, reused. During mix down a separate set of playback heads with higher fidelity are used.

At any given point in the recording process, any number of existing tracks can be "bounced" into one or two tracks and the original tracks erased, making more room for more tracks to be reused for fresh recording. Beatles producer George Martin used this technique extensively to achieve multiple track results, while still being limited to using only multiple four-track machines, until an eight-track machine became available during the recording of the Beatles' White Album. The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds also made innovative use of multitracking with 8-track machines of the day (1965-66).^[1]

The TEAC 2340, a popular early (1973) home multitrack recorder, four tracks on ¼ inch tape (1/16 inch/track headroom).

Korg D888 eight-track digital recorder

Multitrack recording also allows any recording artist to record multiple "takes" of any given section of their performance, allowing them to refine their performance to virtual perfection. A recording engineer can record only the section being worked on, without erasing any other section of that track. This process of turning the recording mechanism on and off is called "punching in" and "punching out". (See "Punching in".)

When recording is completed, the many tracks are "mixed down" through a mixing console to a two-track stereo recorder in a format which can then be duplicated and distributed. (Movie and DVD soundtracks can be mixed down to four or more tracks, as needed, the most common being five tracks, with an additional subwoofer track, hence the "5.1" surround sound most commonly available on DVDs.)

Most of the records, CDs and cassettes commercially available in a music store are recordings that were originally recorded on multiple tracks, and then mixed down to stereo.

In some rare cases, as when an older song is technically "updated", these stereo (or mono) mixes can in turn be recorded (as if it were a "submix") onto two (or one) tracks of a multitrack recorder, allowing additional sound (tracks) to be layered on the remaining tracks.

[edit] Flexibility

During multitracking, multiple musical instruments (and vocals) can be recorded, either one at a time or simultaneously, onto individual tracks, so that the sounds thus recorded can be accessed, processed and manipulated individually to produce the desired results. For example, after recording some parts of a song, an artist might listen to only the guitar part, by 'muting' all the tracks except the one on which the guitar was recorded. If one then wanted to listen to the vocals in isolation, one would do so by muting all the tracks apart from the vocals track. If one wanted to listen to the entire song, one could do so by un-muting all the tracks. If one did not like the guitar part, or found a mistake in it, and wanted to replace it, one could do so by re-recording only the guitar part (i.e., re-recording only the track on which the guitar was recorded), rather than re-recording the entire song.

If all the voices and instruments in a recording are individually recorded on distinct tracks, then the artist is able to retain complete control over the final sculpting of the song, during the mix-down (re-recording to two stereo tracks for mass distribution) phase.

For example, if an artist wanted to apply one effect to a synthesizer part, a different effect to a guitar part, a 'chorused reverb' effect to the lead vocals, and different effects to all the drums and percussion instruments, they could not do so if they had all been originally recorded together onto the same track. However, if they had been recorded onto separate tracks, then the artist could blend and alter all of the instrument's sounds with complete freedom.

Multitracking a song also leaves open the possibilities of remixes by the same or future artists, such as DJs. If the song was not available in a multitrack format recording, the job of the remixing artist could be very difficult, or impossible, because once the tracks have been re-recorded together during the mixdown phase, they are inseparable. Theoretically, one could use frequency selective filters for this, but in reality this has not been done with any great degree of success because of the multi-harmonic (having many frequencies) nature of many musical instruments and voices.

[edit] History

Main article: History of multitrack recording

The process was conceived and developed by Ross Snyder at Ampex in 1955Les Paul for $10,000^[2]. It became known as the "Octopus". Les Paul, Mary Ford and Patti Page used the technology in the late 1950s to enhance vocals and instrumentals. From these beginnings, it evolved in subsequent decades into a mainstream recording technique. resulting in the first 8-track machine which used 1-inch tape. This 8-track recorder was sold to

[edit] With computer

In the 2000s, many performers have recorded albums using only a personal computer as a tracking machine. To use a personal computer as a multitracking device, the computer must have an analog to digital interface, and multitrack recording software must be installed (software is available at all price ranges or even free, in the case of free software and open source). As well, a microphone is needed to record the vocals of a singer or any other sources of sound or a line-level input to accept analog signals from other equipment.

This is all that is needed to use a computer as a digital multitrack. Alternately, a standard personal computer sound card can be used to capture sounds, albeit with less fidelity. This is done simply by attaching either a microphone to the microphone input jack if a vocal track is to be recorded, or a stereo cable from the electronic device (such as a synthesizer or a guitar amplifier) to the line input of the sound card. Computers with appropriate software and hardware can record multiple audio tracks at once. This audio interface hardware sends audio signals to the computer and may interface with the computer via a PCI card, USB or FireWire connections. There are a range of audio interface options available. Popular brands include Apogee, Digidesign, MOTU, RME, M-Audio and Presonus. The instruments and singers' voices are recorded as individual files on the computer's hard drive, and function as tracks as per traditional multitracking. Effects such as reverb, chorus, and delays can be applied by the computer software. When the musicians are happy with the sound, the multiple tracks are mixed down onto two clean tracks, again within the multitracking software. Finally, the final stereo recording can be burned to a CD, which can be copied and distributed.

Multitracking software for a personal computer includes: Adobe Audition, Pro Tools from AVID, Pyramix from Merging Technologies, Digital Performer from Mark of the Unicorn, SONAR from Cakewalk, Samplitude from Magix, CubaseSteinberg, FL Studio from Image-Line, and Logic from Apple. Mixcraft from Acoustica, Inc., Reaper from Cockos and n-Track from FASoft are affordable alternatives to high end multi-track software. Audacity and Ardour are popular open source programs for multi-track recording. Jokosher (open source as well) is quite new, but seems to be gaining popularity among Linux users. from

2007 Song Galaxy has released an Audio Multi-Track format that is delivered in a single file, which loaded into the player software gives the user the ability to mute or adjust the volume level of individual instruments. Tracks can be exported as individual WAV files which can then be loaded into other Multitracking software for further editing.

[edit] Order of recording

In most modern popular songs, drums and percussion instruments are the first instruments to be recorded^{[citation needed]}. There are various reasons for this. The drums are usually the rhythm leaders; it is much easier for musicians recording later tracks to keep to the common beat of the drums, also due to the precise attack of drum sounds. A drummer might find it very difficult to play along with a backing track recorded without percussion, due to the likely variations in the musicians' tempo. Furthermore, in order to accurately keep to a pre-established rhythm, a drummer would need the sound of the other instruments to be very loud to compete with their drum kit; apart from the possibility of the drum microphones picking up the sound of the other instruments from the drummer's headphones, prolonged exposure to such volume might very well damage their hearing. Also, it allows the drums to be recorded for a few seconds, then looped. Click (metronome) tracks are also often used as the first sound to be recorded, especially when the drummer isn't available for the initial recording, and/or the final mix will be synchronized with motion picture and/or video images. Another practical reason refers to the song key. While having the basic rhythmic track laid down, musicians can experiment with the song key (i.e. C or D). This turns useful at the writing period or when songs are meant to be performed by a not yet defined singer (i.e. music producer searching for a jingle singer).

Also, though the drums might eventually be mixed down to a couple of tracks, each individual drum and percussion instrument might be initially recorded to its own individual track. The drums and percussion combined can occupy the largest number of tracks utilized in a recording. This is done so that each percussion instrument can be processed individually for maximum effect. A common percussion effect is the slow back and forth panning of a percussive instrument's sound in the stereo field from the left to the right channel in a song.^{[original research?]} Equalization (or EQ) is often used on individual drums, to bring out each one's characteristic sound.

The last tracks to be recorded are usually the vocals (though a temporary vocal track might be recorded early on either as a reference or to guide subsequent musicians, this is sometimes called a "Guide Vocal", "Ghost Vocal" or "Scratch vocal"). One reason for this is that singers will often temper their vocal expression in accordance with the accompaniment.

[edit] Concert music

For classical and jazz recordings (particularly instrumentals) where multitracking is chosen as the recording method (as opposed to direct to stereo, for example), a different arrangement is used; all tracks are recorded simultaneously. Sound barriers are often placed between different groups within the orchestra, e.g. pianists, violinists, percussionists, etc. When barriers are used, these groups listen to each other via headphones.

[edit] See also

Click track Digital audio workstation Comparison of multitrack recording software Fostex List of musical works released in a stem format Module file Multitrack recording software Musical Instrument Digital Interface MIDI mockup

Portastudio Surround sound Quadraphonic Remix Reverb Sound effects#Techniques TASCAM Tracker

[edit] References

1. ^ "All You Need is Ears" by George Martin from Google Books. Accessed March 1, 2008
2. ^ Ross Snyder interviewed by Howard Sanner about the history of Les Paul's eight track Ampex 300 and Sel-Sync, 11 Mar 2000

[edit] External links

• [1] "All You Need is Ears" by George Martin, P. 148-157
• The History of Magnetic Recording
• Recording Technology History
• Der Bingle Technology
• Total Rewind - The Virtual Museum of Vintage VCRs
• Total Rewind - The Virtual Museum of Vintage VCRs
• "Both Sides Now" webpage on Ampex Records
• Recording Studios
• AES Historical Committee: Ampex History Project

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multitrack_recording

Technology Spotlight: Adobe Audition 3

Oct 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By George Petersen

RECORDING, EDITING, MIXING AND MASTERING SOFTWARE

Adobe Audition has an impressive lineage, going back to its 1995 roots as Syntrillium Software's Cool Edit program. A shareware version of the full-on Cool Edit Pro, Cool Edit was one of the most popular PC audio editing programs and developed an exceedingly loyal following over the years. So when Syntrillium's assets were acquired by Adobe in 2003, there was some concern that the program — rechristened as Adobe Audition — would be neglected or disappear.

In the Spectral Pan display, colors can be used to identify various audio characteristics, such as frequency, panning and amplitude.

Thankfully, this has not been the case. In fact, just three weeks ago at the IBC broadcast show in Amsterdam, Adobe continued its commitment to this audio software with the unveiling of the third-generation Audition 3. The program doesn't officially ship until Q4 2007, but we got a sneak preview of a late beta version, which was fairly close to the genuine article, save for some (mostly) cosmetic tweaks.

MAJOR MULTITRACK EDITING

Perhaps one of Audition 3's strongest suits is the ease with which it edits multitrack files. Combining/comping multichannel drum tracks from different takes or re-using a verse or chorus section can be problematic, simply due to matching slight volume changes or leftover decays from cymbal hits, etc. Audition 3 allows you to convert any number of tracks into clips, make the standard cut/copy/paste moves and then assign crossfades (automated or manual) across two multitrack clips. Once done, “handles” on either side of the transition can be pulled in either direction to tweak the edit point; dragging the (linear or nonlinear) crossfade envelopes creates a seamless edit across all grouped tracks.

TOPS AND TAILS

On the 2-track side, Audition 3 adds Top/Tail Views, a clever new mode for zooming into a file where only the beginning and end of a section are magnified, while the view of the center portion remains small. In music editing, this could provide a detailed look at a song's head and ending, where the relative levels of the files (or fade lengths, etc.) can be visually compared within a screen view. This feature has obvious appeal in other apps, such as mastering or dialog/voice-over editing.

SPECTRAL EDITING

One intriguing and useful feature in Audition 3 lets you select problem areas within a frequency display window and use the Spot Healing Brush to eliminate noises, like pops and clicks. This power is taken to the next step in the Spectral Pan display, which applies colors to the onscreen file to identify various characteristics of the sound, such as frequency, amplitude, panning and phase. An offending sound — i.e., a distant car horn during a dialog take or a squeaky piano bench — can be quickly isolated based on any of those colorized parameters and eliminated without disturbing adjacent frequencies. In fact, a Spectral Bitmap option even lets users export the screen file to Adobe Photoshop, make the change and import the result back into Audition 3.

For unwanted sonic problems that evolve over time, Audition 3 adds an adaptive noise-reduction tool that intelligently removes noise, while automatic phase correction can calculate and apply the optimal delay to align stereo waveforms. And a graphic panner function looks at two channels and corrects any frequency-dependent phase differences.

INSTRUMENTALLY YOURS

Audition 3 adds full support for VSTi virtual instruments, as well as a MIDI sequencer with a piano roll-style editor for tweaking note, velocity or controller values. And keyboard players don't get all the fun: Although not exactly a typical feature in most audio editing programs, Audition 3's Guitar Suite offers analog guitar amp/effects modeling with filters, compression, distortion and cabinet modeling.

DSP AND BEYOND

In all, Audition 3 provides more than 50 DSP tools and effects, mastering and analysis tools and audio restoration features, in addition to supporting third-party VST and DirectX plug-ins. Along with old favorites — such as echo, flange, graphic and parametric EQs — are new effects, including a tube-modeled compressor, analog delay and a Surround Encoder for exporting a multitrack mix as an interleaved file for use with Adobe Premiere Pro.

Highlights in the new DSP goodies department include a convolution reverb and radius time stretching. Developed by iZotope, the latter applies a high-quality time expansion/compression algorithm that allows you to change tempo accurately without changing pitch, or alter pitch without tempo distortion.

THE FINE PRINT

Audition 3 offers a lot of power, but needs a decent PC to back it up. Minimum system requirements include an Intel Pentium 4 (1.4 GHz for DV, 3.4 GHz for HDV); Intel Centrino; Intel Xeon (dual Xeon 2.8GHz processors for HD); or Intel Core Duo or compatible processor (SSE2-enabled processor required for AMD systems) and at least 512 MB of RAM, with 1 GB for DV playback, 2 GB for HDV and HD playback.

A major upgrade optimized for both Windows XP and Vista with tons of new features, Audition 3 is a powerhouse — a serious audio tool by anyone's standards, especially at its projected street price of $349. Upgrades are also available for existing Audition owners.

For more information, visit www.adobe.com/audition.

Source: http://mixonline.com/gear/newproducts/audio_adobe_audition_2/

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