Bobby McFerrin and Our Subconscious Understanding of Music

The TED talk I chose for this assignment isn’t much of a talk - I’d classify it as an experiment with a statement.  In the 3-minute clip, renown musician Bobby McFerrin set out to prove a point about expectations.   He started by jumping in place while humming a note, C#.  Once the audience hummed along with him, he stepped to the side, now humming D#.  The audience now followed along as he jumped between C# and D#.  Bobby finished his jumps at F, a note that he hadn’t hummed up until this point; the audience hummed it perfectly.  He continued jumping between notes, adding A# at the bottom, all the while singing his own melody as the audience harmonized for him.  Bobby finished his presentation by stating that everyone subject to this experiment behaves in the same manner.

The message Bobby McFerrin sent with his experiment is that humans are hard-wired to collectively understand music at its most primal.  The scale used was a Pentatonic scale, a scale containing five notes that serves as the framework for other scales.  It’s the kind of thing where we humans know what notes are the core of a scale (at the very least on a subconscious level), and so when asked to follow along in an experiment like Bobby’s, the notes just come naturally.  It’s very much possible that all humans have a subconscious understanding of music; Joel Zimmerman (aka deadmau5), known as the definitive EDM musician, stated in an interview that although he has no formal music education, “I know what music should sound like in my head, and I think that’s enough for me.”

That being said, this subconscious understanding can be and has been distorted beyond recognition by the current music industry.  Not only is it valuing cheap pop acts over legitimate musicality, but little effort is being made to educate people on music.  To prove my point: as I was writing this blog post, I was listening to The Four Seasons on Spotify, only to be constantly interrupted by commercials of mainstream hip-hop and commercial pop.  Fortunately, Bobby McFerrin’s experiment shines a light of hope that maybe people still know what music is… even if it’s on a subconscious level.

Gear Overview: EL-8X Distressor

Personal experiences have led me to conclude that every audio engineer passes through a “gear slut” phase - a variable period of time spent ogling and comparing audio gear.  A silver lining of sorts from this phase is the exposure to the spectrum of gear selection the world offers.  In my case, one of these items is the EL-8X Distressor, a compressor whose name is short for “Distortion Compressor.”  Not only was it visually unique, but closer inspection revealed functions not present in any other compressor I’ve come across.  I won’t dawdle any further; let me show you what it can do:

The Distressor lacks a knob for ratio, instead offering pre-selected ratios in the form of buttons.  Interesting to note is that the 10:1 ratio uses an optical detector not featured in the other modes, and the “Nuke” ratio is a variant of the 20:1 ratio that features a different knee and envelope shape.  Other unique features the Distressor offers include buttons to change the detector, which changes the way the Distressor works by altering how it detects audio, and buttons to add either 2nd order or 3rd order harmonic distortion to allow tape saturation and tube distortion, respectively. 

The Distressor is unique in that it can emulate other iconic compressors with the right knob-tweaking.  Compressors such as the Teletronix LA-2A and LA-3A, as well as the UREI 1176LN, each of which cost several thousand dollars, can be easily emulated by the Distressor, with its much more promising price of $1,500.  Even more unique is that the standard Distressor has a variant with two new features: British Mode and Image Link.  British Mode emulates the 1176’s “British Mode” (or “All Buttons In” mode), and Image Link allows for an alternate mode of linking Distressors.

In short, the Distressor is a nifty tool to have, offering different compression modes and emulating Holy Grail level compressors for a fraction of the price.  Moreover, its distinct distortion qualities make it a must-have, even after acquiring the compressors it emulates.  It’s a must-have for any studio, and one that I’ll certainly own in the near future.  For those who are interested, a review and comparison test between the Distressor and the compressors it emulates can be found here, and the Sweetwater page for the Distressor with British Mod and Image Link (my personal choice over the default variant) can be accessed here.

The Shed - Quite Possibly the World's Smallest Home Studio

Home studios have a peculiar charm to them; their limited space forces audio engineers to equip themselves with only the bare essentials to produce high-quality audio recordings found otherwise in a fully functioning recording facility.  As impressive as it is to know that similar results are achieved in a fraction of the space, fitting such an extensive facility into a standard bedroom or living room space is commendable, especially as the room decrease from the standard size.  That being said, one Neil Shaw managed the seemingly impossible by fitting a studio setup in a 66 square feet room.

Having moved from Pennsylvania to New York, Neil was initially denied entry by his landlord, as he brought an upright piano along with him.  The landlord relented under the condition that the room the piano rest in be soundproofed.  To do this, Neil used various soundproofing techniques that reduced the already-minute room's dimensions to a mere 6x11 feet.  What resulted is The Shed - a room so quiet that "even with a baritone saxophone wailing, Shah gets no complaints from downstairs."

While the room's size is worthy of an award, Neil's choice of outboard gear is not to be discounted.  An Avalon AD2022 preamp and Neve 1084 preamp / 2257 gate combo are just some of the "toys" in his rack.  Of particular interest is a custom analog summing box, through which Neil passes eight channels out of Pro Tools to mimic a sound found in recording consoles.  The resulting two channels go into the Avalon preamp, used for gain staging purposes.  When working on the computer, Neil uses a Digidesign 003 as a control surface.

If you're interested in looking into The Shed, look no further: this video offers an interview with Neil Shah himself as he showcases the key features in his studio, whereas this article goes into more detail with the soundproofing of the room, as well as the choice of outboard gear.