Done with two

Redid Large to Small. Accidentally did it with 7.5' string. Redoing it tomorrow

Note to self:
Post Gain at 6.5
Amp Equalization:
Low: 5
Mid: 5
High: 7

Nooooooooooo!!!

I finally figured out what this odd submarine sound is in the background of my first can recordings... When I recorded with the cans in the windows, I didn't realize how much noise the highway near my house was producing. The submarine sound was all the cars racing by as recorded through a can. It is a really cool sound, but I need to redo my first recording.

Experiment 2: Can Size

The gist of this experiment is that I used a 5' string wired between two cans. The variable in this experiment is the can size. I chose between a 6oz, 14oz, and 20oz cans. I wired the cans to every possible variable in this experiment. (eg. 6oz to 6oz, 6oz to 14oz, and 6oz to 20oz can.)

Here's how I set up each experiment:

Test 1:
MP3: 10
Amp: 8
String length: 10'
Can Size: medium to medium
Gain: Max
Mic: Contact

Test 2:
Test 1
MP3: 10
Amp: 8
String length: 7.5'
Can Size: medium to small
Gain: Max
Mic: Contact

Test 3:
Test 1
MP3: 10
Amp: 8
String length: 5'
Can Size: medium to large
Gain: Max
Mic: Contact
Here's how I set up each experiment:

Test 4:
MP3: 10
Amp: 8
String length: 10'
Can Size: small to small
Gain: Max
Mic: Contact

Test 5:
Test 1
MP3: 10
Amp: 8
String length: 7.5'
Can Size: small to medium
Gain: Max
Mic: Contact

Test 6:
Test 1
MP3: 10
Amp: 8
String length: 5'
Can Size: small to large
Gain: Max
Mic: Contact

Here's how I set up each experiment:

Test 7:
MP3: 10
Amp: 8
String length: 10'
Can Size: large to large
Gain: Max
Mic: Contact

Test 8:
Test 1
MP3: 10
Amp: 8
String length: 7.5'
Can Size: large to small
Gain: Max
Mic: Contact

Test 9:
Test 1
MP3: 10
Amp: 8
String length: 5'
Can Size: large to medium
Gain: Max
Mic: Contact

The challenges I faced while recording were as follows:

1. The smallest size of can made a popping sound if pulled to hard
2. My dad held the cans this time, so there were no problems with clunking

Possible causes of error:

1. How I held the cans.
2. Track "large to small" must be redone due to software glitch
   

Other exciting things I did today:

Bought gator clips, got horribly lost while looking for Hollywood lights and started backing up my recordings regularly. I finally came to the conclusion that each experiment would only change one variable in each part, rather than tackling one medium to record with.

So, here are the new ideas for experiments having to do with string:
Changing the length
Changing the thickness of string
Changing the size of can

Possibly changing type of string
eg. Nylon, Cotton, Twine.

One problem I recognized today was that the recordings might not have been normalized to the same volume, but I checked it out later and everything is relatively similar. When I do normalize everything it sounds the same so... Yay luck!

Experiment 1: Can Phone String Lengths

Experiment 1: Can Phone String Lengths

In this experiment, the setup was I connected two 14oz cans together with thick cotton string. The plan was to play my recordings at a volume on my amp that wouldn't shake the can on the other side causing the contact mic to vibrate. Basically, only the can next to the amp would pick up the vibrations. Next the vibrations would go through the string causing the other can to shake, which would shake the mic, and the mic would convert the shaking into sound again.

Here's how I set up each experiment:

Test 1
MP3: 10
Amp: 8
String length: 10'
Can Size: medium
Gain: Max
Mic: Contact

Test 2:
Test 1
MP3: 10
Amp: 8
String length: 7.5'
Can Size: medium
Gain: Max
Mic: Contact

Test 3:
Test 1
MP3: 10
Amp: 8
String length: 5'
Can Size: medium
Gain: Max
Mic: Contact

The challenges I faced while recording were as follows:

1. I had to keep the tension between two cans that were 5' to 15' away while manning the computer. I came up with a solution. I have one window in my studio that opens and is very sticky. So I stuck the can in the crack in the window, and held the can on the other side. I couldn't directly man the computer so I had to do 6 to 8 recordings for each test
2. The can kept sliding in the window which created bumps in the recording
3. Because the window was higher than the amp, The string was catching on the window pane which caused the string to stop vibrating. Apparently I didn't realize this until about an hour later, at which point I had to start from the beginning
4. Software crashed which deleted some of my recordings
5. Every recording was really quiet. Normalizing causes lots of static. I'm working with my committee to find a good solution through editing

Possible causes of error:

1. How I held the cans. most of it wasn't choice, I tried to hold it as little as possible so that I wouldn't stop the edges of the can from shaking so that I could get the best sound possible.
2. Distance from can to amp. Most of the time it was about a millimeter away
3. Where the can was placed relative to the amp. The best spot to hold it is at the edge of the cone, but it meandered from the middle to the edge.
4. Disruption of the string. I'm pretty sure that I didn't touch the string, but I didn't keep note of that until the end.
5. As seen in post "Noooooooo!!!" I forgot there was noise from the highway being picked up.
   

Prep Day

Today was kinda a blah day.
I would have done my Tin Can experiment tonight, alas, no one was home to hold the other side.

First thing I did was finish all of my base recordings. All I had left was Piano. Instead of doing an acoustic piano like I planned, I used a 1/4" cable on my keyboard through my USB box so that I wouldn't have to do awful setup, mic placement, and all the rest. All and all it sounds nice and crisp.

So today I scrounged around for some cans. I found two of the following:
6oz, 14oz and, 20oz cans. The next step was punching a hole in the bottoms of each where I will tie the string. I did this using a screw and a hammer. Then using two thicknesses of cotton string I cut lengths of 5', 10' and 15'.

I did some calculations though, and unless I make separate experiments for each variable, I'll have to do over 200 experiments, have over 90 minutes of audio for this single experiment, which would mean I would also be doing about 4 recordings of each. All together I would have to do over 5 hours of recording not including set up and editing for each recording.

I think I'll take the easy route.

First pic, Woooooo

Ian left, Mark Right. Here we are in the studio getting ready to record. Up here we have a tenor sax, acoustic and electric guitars, and a bass. We recorded on a dynamic cardioid mic for all but the Acoustic which I used that and a contact mic.