From Star Search to American Idol to The Voice, television producers have made millions off of a simple conceit: Anyone can be a great singer, just not everyone.
When it comes to singing, we enjoy convincing others—and even ourselves—that you either ‘have it’ or you don’t. However, the “it” in Read more...
This is the second article in a series by Dennis Foley of Acoustic Fields. See “Part 1: Waves and Pressure” here.
In the first part of this 6-part series, I discussed waves and rays of energy. Waves are all energy below 300 Hz. and rays are all energy above. Waves Read more...
Surround sound is becoming more ubiquitous than ever, but when it comes to music, stereo is still king. While up to 40% of American households now have surround sound systems, the penetration of stereo is high enough to consider it 100% for all practical purposes—once you take into account all Read more...
What is the Proximity Effect?
The proximity effect describes how bass frequencies build up when a microphone is brought very close to a sound source. This effect frequently occurs when a vocalist moves around a lot while singing, varying their distance from the microphone diaphragm from phrase to phrase, or Read more...
Music isn’t perfect. It never was. And it never will be. By nature, people are flawed. Inadvertently, so is the music we create. But isn’t that what also makes it so amazing?
Indescribable, intangible moments can often be found in our favorite recordings. Call it accidental, call it happenstance, or Read more...
