Uploaded June 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
crosstowntraffic2018.wordpress.com
This presentation took place as part of the conference Crosstown Traffic: Popular Music Theory and Practice, which was hosted by The University of Huddersfield from September 3 - 5 2018. This event combined the IASPM UK&Ireland Biennial Conference, the 13th Art of Record Production Conference (ARP), an ISMMS conference, and the additional participation of Dancecult.
A recurrent theme within popular music studies has been discussion of how the field can integrate different disciplines and professions, for example exploring both music and its context; involving both practitioners and researchers; and encouraging interdisciplinary and collaborative work. Many different issues make such approaches challenging, and various different popular music focused subject organisations have developed somewhat independently of one another. This conference brought four such groups together, to exchange knowledge, collaborate, and encourage crosstalk.
/// SUPPORT
Popular Music Studies Research Group (PMSRG), University of Huddersfield research.hud.ac.uk/pmsrg/#
Centre for Music, Culture and Identity (CMCI), University of Huddersfield
research.hud.ac.uk/institutes-centres/cmci
The International Association for the Study of Popular Music UK and Ireland Branch (IASPM UK & Ireland)
iaspm.org.uk
Association for the Study of the Art of Record Production (ASARP)
artofrecordproduction.com
Dancecult Research Network (DRN) studies into electronic dance music culture
dancecult-research.net
International Society for Metal Music Studies (ISMMS)
metalstudies.org
/// ORGANIZERS
IASPM UK&I: Rupert Till
ARP: Katia Isakoff, Shara Rambarran
ISMMS: Karl Spracklen
Dancecult: Graham St. John
University of Huddersfield: Jan Herbst, Austin Moore, Lisa Colton, Toby Martin, Catherine Haworth, Mark Mynett
/// CREDITS
This online project was edited, collated, and made available online by Chris McConnell, Jack Zissell, and Colin Frank.
/// PRESENTATION DETAILS
How can vocal tone clarity be achieved in the mix? Scientific and creative perspectives
Kirsten Hermes - University of Westminster (UK)
Email: k.hermes@westminster.ac.uk
/// ABSTRACT
Vocal tone clarity (VTC) is one of the most important parameters of high quality popular music mixes. This is the extent to which the spectral shape of a vocal recording allows all the important components of its natural timbre to be heard. Currently, there is no formally proven basis of the acoustic factors that make recorded vocals clear (Hermes et al. 2018). However, since changes in the spectral clarity of single sounds can be predicted (Hermes et al. 2017), it is likely that this is also possible for vocals. Vocal clarity was assessed previously in a combined literature review, pilot listening test and self-reflection (Hermes et al. 2018). It was established that spectral parameters are especially important for vocal clarity, in particular the power distribution over frequency in a recording (as measured by the harmonic centroid). Additional important parameters are the relative amount of energy in different frequency areas, intensity over time, as altered by compression, the ratio between tonal and noise components and the presence of distortion and artefacts. In the mix, masking and fusion phenomena can compromise a vocal’s audibility, reducing clarity. The focus of the current study will be the impact of the relative amount of energy in different frequency areas on VTC. For this, a cross-disciplinary approach is taken, involving feedback from practitioners, own observations and a listener based study.
crosstowntraffic2018.wordpress.com
This presentation took place as part of the conference Crosstown Traffic: Popular Music Theory and Practice, which was hosted by The University of Huddersfield from September 3 - 5 2018. This event combined the IASPM UK&Ireland Biennial Conference, the 13th Art of Record Production Conference (ARP), an ISMMS conference, and the additional participation of Dancecult.
A recurrent theme within popular music studies has been discussion of how the field can integrate different disciplines and professions, for example exploring both music and its context; involving both practitioners and researchers; and encouraging interdisciplinary and collaborative work. Many different issues make such approaches challenging, and various different popular music focused subject organisations have developed somewhat independently of one another. This conference brought four such groups together, to exchange knowledge, collaborate, and encourage crosstalk.
/// SUPPORT
Popular Music Studies Research Group (PMSRG), University of Huddersfield research.hud.ac.uk/pmsrg/#
Centre for Music, Culture and Identity (CMCI), University of Huddersfield
research.hud.ac.uk/institutes-centres/cmci
The International Association for the Study of Popular Music UK and Ireland Branch (IASPM UK & Ireland)
iaspm.org.uk
Association for the Study of the Art of Record Production (ASARP)
artofrecordproduction.com
Dancecult Research Network (DRN) studies into electronic dance music culture
dancecult-research.net
International Society for Metal Music Studies (ISMMS)
metalstudies.org
/// ORGANIZERS
IASPM UK&I: Rupert Till
ARP: Katia Isakoff, Shara Rambarran
ISMMS: Karl Spracklen
Dancecult: Graham St. John
University of Huddersfield: Jan Herbst, Austin Moore, Lisa Colton, Toby Martin, Catherine Haworth, Mark Mynett
/// CREDITS
This online project was edited, collated, and made available online by Chris McConnell, Jack Zissell, and Colin Frank.
/// PRESENTATION DETAILS
How can vocal tone clarity be achieved in the mix? Scientific and creative perspectives
Kirsten Hermes - University of Westminster (UK)
Email: k.hermes@westminster.ac.uk
/// ABSTRACT
Vocal tone clarity (VTC) is one of the most important parameters of high quality popular music mixes. This is the extent to which the spectral shape of a vocal recording allows all the important components of its natural timbre to be heard. Currently, there is no formally proven basis of the acoustic factors that make recorded vocals clear (Hermes et al. 2018). However, since changes in the spectral clarity of single sounds can be predicted (Hermes et al. 2017), it is likely that this is also possible for vocals. Vocal clarity was assessed previously in a combined literature review, pilot listening test and self-reflection (Hermes et al. 2018). It was established that spectral parameters are especially important for vocal clarity, in particular the power distribution over frequency in a recording (as measured by the harmonic centroid). Additional important parameters are the relative amount of energy in different frequency areas, intensity over time, as altered by compression, the ratio between tonal and noise components and the presence of distortion and artefacts. In the mix, masking and fusion phenomena can compromise a vocal’s audibility, reducing clarity. The focus of the current study will be the impact of the relative amount of energy in different frequency areas on VTC. For this, a cross-disciplinary approach is taken, involving feedback from practitioners, own observations and a listener based study.
