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August 5th, 2011 by johndan

Software

Reaper: Main digital audio software for the course, Windows or OS X. Educational price is $60 if you want your own copy. Demo conditions are very generous as far as I can tell (no time or software limitations; just a simple reminder when you launch the program).

LAME Encoder (Windows): Required to render mp3 files with Reaper. The encoder file needs to go into the same directory that reaper.exe is in on your computer.

LAME Encoder (OS X): Required to render mp3 files with Reaper. The encoder file needs to go into the same folder as reaper.app or into ~/Library/Application Support/REAPER/UserPlugins/.

Audacity: Open Source and free for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Rough around the edges but fairly capable.

KVR Audio: Very large, searchable database listing audio plugins (extensive search filtering options for different plugin features). Includes entries for commercial and free and open source.

VST Planet: Large database of free and open source audio effect plugins.

digitalfishphones.com: Free VST and AU plugins. Spitfish is a great de-esser.

Tutorials, Manuals, and Reference

Recording Samples with Contact Mics

Very good video tutorial on creating weird sounds with standard plugins (uses Logic instead of Reaper, but in terms of these plugins the two are very similar: Use the JS FX “Synthesis/tone generator,” “SStillwell/flangebaby,” and “remain_calm/avocado_glithc,” among others. The tone generator at the start is the important part. Add a limiter to prevent blowing your eardrums out.)

M-Audio MicroTrack 24/96 Manual (see bottom of page)

Presonus FP10 resources (see tabs for manuals and drivers; I don’t think a driver is necessary under OS X but I think you do need Windows drivers)

Zoom H4 Manual

Film Scoring with Reaper

-10 vs +4

General frequency ranges for various instruments/sources

Tutorials for Reaper (extensive and good)

Make Your First Song in Reaper (Loops and Samples)

Pipeline Audio’s Reaper Tutorials(the tutorials themselves are videos; “Pipeline Audio” is the guy’s screen name)

Simple Reaper tutorial

eMusician’s collection of remixing tutorials/articles

Remix Tutorial from Wired (yes, I know) (I think)

Reaper Manual (pdf)

Audio files used in Reaper Manual tutorials

Visual Synthesis 1: Video on waveform and filter basics.

Creating a Sound Using Synthesis

Ronan’s Recording Show. Video production is a little clumsy (and his hair has a career of its own) but he has a lot of excellent industry experience and he’s glad to share.

Ten Tips to Make You A Better Sound Designer

What is Up With Noises: The Science and Mathematics of Sound, Frequency, and Pitch [YouTube]

Discussion Forums & Online Magazines

Tape Op Message Board: Lots of professional and project studio people (mostly recording music).

Tape Op Magazine: Print magazine offering free subscriptions. Best magazine for small and project studio work. Also has a very good database of product reviews.

Gear Slutz Board: Very active board. Good info, but usually strongly opinionated.

HomeRecording: Active. Although it shouldn’t matter, the interface bothers me.

Sound on Sound: Second-best audio recording magazine. Not free. Good archives, although some behind paywall.

Designing Sound: Online mag/weblog for sound designers