LEE- Müzik Lisansüstü Programı

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http://hdl.handle.net/11527/19406

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Yazar "Özdemir, Taylan" ile LEE- Müzik Lisansüstü Programı'a göz atma
  • Öge
    A case study of aesthetics of imperfection: Creating and using impulse responses of unusual spaces in the field audio mixing
    (Graduate School, 2022-09-30) Erdem, Genco K. ; Özdemir, Taylan ; 409181012 ; Music
    Music as we experience it now moved further apart from the music that was first made in ways that the structures that once made it what it is are entangled with coincidences, different takes on the aesthetics and technological improvements on how we make it. There are now types of music that are less formal and less perfectionist . It is not only the harmony, melody, timbre or motive that make the music, but all that and more. With the additional equipment to make the music and available tools to alter the sound in order to attain a more ear-pleasing product; recorded music significantly changed in the 20th century. Most of the times, these changes created certain aesthetics that we all have become accustomed to and in some specific genres, these additions have become instrumental to define certain types of music. Whilst some of these changes were led by influential figures in the music production industry, the rest such as gated reverb in 80s music drum sound were discovered by happy accidents. Nearing today, there are more people who make and produce music in studios, on stages or at the comfort of their own homes. Digital audio workstations, digital signal processing tools, affordability of the recording gear are contributing factors of the growing numbers of music producers. Whilst the recorded music for so long tried to replicate the real world conditions, it is not so anymore. Instead of replicating the natural, people are now trying to lay out rules to make the musical product more compelling. This thesis focuses on the use of reverb through impulse responses, an effective tool that is widely used in music production in order make use of the spatial and spectral functions of spaces and objects, in a way that is is not entirely natural but may prove to be compelling enough to create a new understanding of the aesthetics of imperfection, by creating impulse responses of objects that are normally not designed for acoustic purposes through the use of sine-sweep method. Impulse responses obtained from these objects are investigated in detail for future reference to users who wish to pursue their own happy accidents and applied on a multitrack recording on a digital audio workstation for further understanding with the expert views of sound engineers.
  • Öge
    Aesthetic strategies in horror film sound design: Case studies from Japanese horror cinema
    (Graduate School, 2023-01-17) Akdeniz, Tolga ; Özdemir, Taylan ; 409191110 ; Music
    Horror films have a unique place in cinema with their imagery and sonic qualities. While the experience of watching a horror film evolved throughout the years, the fundamental goal of the horror genre is to horrify the viewer in various ways, and it is named after this particular effect it aims to elicit. Sound design plays a major role in creating the horror film experience. In this study the contribution of sound design to aesthetic strategies employed in horror films will be investigated based on case studies from the prolific and influential contemporary horror cinema of Japan. In order to have a better perspective on the conventions of the genre and understand how the selected films converge or diverge from them, the study will be introduced with a theoretical investigation of the horror genre and a historical investigation of Japanese cinema. After the introduction, the properties of film sound in horror films will be examined individually. The analysis method of this study relies both on measurable data with objective observations and also subjective observations based on the phenomenological experience of horror films. The introduction of the analysis is by examining the atmosphere of horror films, although a vague and an intangible phenomenon, it is a crucial quality that affects the perception and it relies heavily on music and sound design. The framework of the analysis consists of 3 major components based on the theories of Michel Chion (1994), the functional properties of film sound: Anticipation, punctuation, unification and separation. The analysis methodology developed by Taylan Özdemir (2015) based on the physical, spatial and temporal properties of film sound will be utilized to gather and interpret measurable data within these functional properties of film sound. The anticipation function of film sound investigates how sound is employed in order to create and build tension, to create suspense. The punctuation function of film sound is investigated under four categories, these are cinematic shock, sonic emphasis for narrative cueing, silence for emphasis and somatic empathy. While cinematic shock focuses on the abrupt startling moments of horror films, somatic empathy explores how horror films affect the body of the viewer. In the last part of the individual analysis, how film sound contributes to achieving spatial, temporal or atmospheric unification and separation is investigated. In the final section of the study, the developed analysis methodology will be utilized to examine the selected scenes in detail. In conclusion, in this study the previously developed analysis methodologies will be further expanded to horror cinema; and the sonic aesthetic strategies employed for the intended horror film experience and how these emerge in Japanese horror cinema will be investigated.
  • Öge
    Constructing terminology for musical timbre: A semantic mapping of acoustic features in Turkish language
    (Graduate School, 2023) Örün, Ezgi Su ; Özdemir, Taylan ; 786568 ; Music Programme
    Timbre is a multidimensional sensory attribute of sounds, directly linked to the perception of the identity of sound sources. Recognition and categorization of sound sources and events occur largely by detection of spectro-temporal acoustic cues attributed to timbre. Furthermore, quality judgements of musical tones are largely made on the basis of timbre. Thus, exploring its perceptual representations to better exploit its allowances is important for communication-based practices in music and sound fields. Timbre perception has been studied through perceptual multi-dimensional spaces (MDS) which demonstrate dissimilarity-based relationships between sounds. Furthermore, various semantic tasks such as semantic differential (SD) and verbal attribute magnitude estimation (VAME) aimed to find perceptual relationships between timbres through their verbal descriptions. Because verbal labels reflect conceptual projections of sounds, exploring linguistic descriptions of sensory qualities brings about its various advantages to sound practice, especially in composition, instrumentation, sound art and design areas. However, due to the multi-dimensional and perceptually subjective quality of the concept, arriving at definitive measures is notoriously problematic. In this study, perception of timbral qualities of musical instruments were investigated through their verbal descriptions. Because there has not been a previous study concerning timbre semantics in the Turkish language, the test was designed in the form of a checklist procedure for observing preference data of descriptions in an unbiased manner. The preparation step of the experiment consisted of collecting adjectives from previous semantic studies of timbre and providing them with Turkish translations. 84 adjectives were chosen from a larger pool by academics/professionals in the sound engineering and design field. Test participants consisting mostly of music students, chose adjectives from a list of 83 adjectives as they listened to 24 instrument samples consisting mostly of orchestral instruments in equalized pitch and loudness. From the analysis, frequency data gave 27 adjectives which showed correlations most strongly with the acoustic parameters of pitch strength, harmonic energy distribution, signal bandwidth, noisiness, attack centroid and spectral flux.
  • Öge
    Effect of sound design on players choices in videogames: A case study on valorant gun sounds
    (Graduate School, 2023-01-18) Ilkıç, Mustafa Berk ; Özdemir, Taylan ; 409191116 ; Music
    The video game industry is expanding rapidly due to the digital world's ongoing technological advancement. New ideas, projects, and inventive developers or companies that potentially advance the state of the art are supported by the industry itself. It has become one of the largest industries in entertainment and sports. In terms of boosting gameplay or user satisfaction, sound design plays a crucial part in the development of video games. In video games, auditory features can provide information about the surroundings where the player is placed inside the game scene. FPS (first-person shooter) is one of numerous game genres. In this thesis, the sound design of firearms in first-person shooter video games and its effect on players' weapons preferences are investigated and analyzed. The sound created by firearms can generate the perception of tremendous damage, bulkiness, improved aim, a rapid fire rate, a futuristic aura, etc. This assertion is tested in the reality by Valorant, a competitive first-person shooter game in which two teams compete to kill each other with firearms. In addition, Valorant allows the employment of the same weapon with multiple sounds. I conducted a study of casual players utilizing the feature game that allows a player to employ. In addition, interviews with E-sports professionals were conducted to investigate the rationale behind their decisions. Due to these characteristics, this game is regarded the ideal candidate for testing this topic. Results are associated from the sound engineering perspective such as frequency content, dynamic range, and sustain of a signal with the support of the Perspective of the Emotions. This Perspective of Emotions content is taken from a related research called "Causing fear, suspense, and anxiety using sound design in computer games" by Toprac & Abdel-Meguid in 2010 and there are 4 types of Perspectives to base on the results of this research.
  • Öge
    Evaluating audience perception of iconic sound design elements: A Case study on the lightsaber sound from star wars
    (Graduate School, 2023-01-18) Barış, Orhun ; Özdemir, Taylan ; 409191111 ; Music
    Star Wars is considered to be one of the biggest if not the biggest fantasy franchise in pop culture. The franchise has been mesmerizing the world with its vast universe and its unique atmosphere ever since the release of its first movie Star Wars: A New Hope. Because of that, Star Wars embellished many teenage childhoods such as mine. This appreciation expanded when I grow an interest in sound design since one of the most striking aspects of the movies that helped with the success of the franchise was the exceptional sound design. From the clash of lightsabers to Darth Vader's iconic breathing, many sounds from the original trilogy have become classics starting from 1977 and reaching today. The event that inspired the idea at the core of this research, was born as a result of my personal experience with one of the legendary sounds from Star Wars in an episode of The Mandalorian (2019-), a series show which tells a side story of a bounty hunter. Although it is a side story, it contained most of the iconic sounds and their source objects in the story. It was the sound of a lightsaber in one of the episodes that caught my ear. It felt and sounded different from what I knew as the sound of a lightsaber since my childhood. Then I began to question if other listeners, whether they are die-hard Star Wars fans or not, would react the same way I did. This was the question that inspired the core idea behind the listening experiment which was done in this research that is evaluating the perception of the audience concerning an iconic sound design element. The sound of a lightsaber was selected to examine. It was decided that 2 versions of the sound would be obtained and presented to the audience. For that, the iconic version of the lightsaber sound was extracted from the original trilogy, and the version of the weapons sound from The Mandalorian was selected to compare. The extracted files had to be from scenes that are as synchronous as possible for comparison since the sound of the lightsaber is highly tied to its movement or the action that is being done with the weapon for that matter. At this point, a frequency analysis had to be done to confirm that the versions were in fact different but more importantly, a frequency spectrum analysis had to be done to translate the audible differences between the 2 versions to actual numbers, and findings concerning frequency range and volume. To present the 2 versions to the audience as they are, would be too obvious for a comparison that seeks the perception of an iconic sound. Hence, it was decided a swap of audio between the original and the recent scenes would serve the aim of this research better. Three pairs of videos were created and each video had its audio exchanged with its conjugate with the exception of one pair. The medium for the listening experiment which would present these videos to the audience was chosen to be an online survey because of the ease of sharing it provides and the data representation and analysis tools that the online survey platforms offer. An online survey was constructed in Survey Monkey, and scenes with exchanged audio were presented to the audience together with questions that would help classify the overall participants. The first 4 questions aimed to classify the audience concerning their familiarity and the rest of the survey included 3 comparison question pairs. The pairs are meant to be 2-step comparison phases in which the first question would ask a pure immediate reaction without any guidance or hint concerning the lightsaber, and the second question would ask the participant to specifically comment about the differences that might have heard concerning the sounds of the lightsabers in the presented scenes. The hypothesis going to the establishment and the execution of the survey was, the part of the participants who stated that they are highly familiar with the Star Wars universe was expected to majorly spot the audio swap or comment that what they heard does not feel like it belongs to the image whereas, the participants who think their familiarity was average and below was majorly not expected to spot the audio swap or type a comment which would resemble the notification of the audio exchange. 123 results were gathered between the 6th of November and the 15th of December. The results were as expected for the group which stated average and below familiarity. However, the group which stated high familiarity did not behave as the hypothesis expected. The number of participants from this group that notice the audio exchange was lower than expected, and the number of responses that stated that they did not notice anything at all or the number of responses that commented about the visual components of the scene rather than the audible component, was higher than expected. For this, this research suggested 2 arguments to discuss the unexpected results. The first one suggests the iconic lightsaber sound that one would store in their memory was altered through time and what remains is an imprint that is altered through time and the various Star Wars productions that were made since the original trilogy. The second one was inspired by Michel Chion's (1994) concept of added value and suggested that the togetherness of audio and synchronized video, created a mode of perception that results in the lowered noticeability of the audio swap.
  • Öge
    MIXPREP: Machine learning-based multitrack mix preparation assistant
    (Graduate School, 2022-08-12) Yücel, İsmet Emre ; Özdemir, Taylan ; 409152003 ; Music
    Music production is a general term for describing a set of complicated processes where artistic and technical efforts are involved. Besides the artistic part, the technical side of some parts has regular iterative works. This study focuses on the mix preparation step of the multitrack audio mixing stage in music production by seeking an automatic software solution regarding the intelligent music production paradigm. The structure of the dissertation consists of four components: Theoretical background with fundamental definitions of knowledge both in music production analysis, instrument recognition theories and applications, the approach and explanation of the development of the proposed assistant software, and last but not least, an experiment stage comprising of performance testing with many multitrack projects. Before diving into the development stage, the perspective and the definition of the mix preparation are presented after introducing the music production with a brief historical background. Afterwards, delineation of the intelligent music production research field apart from subjective interests takes part. Instrument recognition literature takes an important part in the conceptualization of the automatic mix preparation solution. Because of that, an extensive historical background in the instrument recognition field is given without getting into redundant theoretical aspects. Apart from that, a reasonable amount of information about the definition of the fundamental concepts of digital audio, audio content analysis and machine learning seemed appropriate to be mentioned since the audience of this research addressed the music technology field. After providing the fundamental theoretical background, the software development approach for the mix preparation assistant is presented. This section explains the software structure by stating the basic requirements of the mix preparation regarding design concerns of the graphical user interface (GUI) consideration for practical usage. The main issues are the GUI layout, software usage, and building a dataset with a related machine learning model. Eventually, a loop-based audio dataset creation approach and ML model are put forward by testing their performance with many audio files from 80 multitrack audio projects in four musical genres (Pop, Rock, Jazz, Electronic/Dance). The experiment is set concerning instrument families provided in the dataset and genre-related performance estimations of each one. The results were interpreted by accentuating the crucial points of implementing the ML-based mix preparation solution. Detailed evaluation results are in the appendices. This study proposes a concept of intelligent mix preparation software by providing a methodology for the design concept and application.
  • Öge
    Paying for premium: A critical look into technical audio quality in streaming services
    (Graduate School, 2024-08-19) Öztürk, Mustafa Kemal ; Özdemir, Taylan ; 409052004 ; Music
    The digital revolution has profoundly reshaped both the production and consumption of music on a global scale. The widespread adoption of mobile music streaming services has facilitated this transformation, offering users a convenient and seemingly boundless access to vast music libraries. These platforms have evolved beyond simply providing music access, offering premium packages that promise not only enhanced audio quality but also a lot of value-added features designed to elevate the user experience. These features include playlist creation capabilities, personalized song recommendations based on individual listening habits, and seamless offline listening functionalities. Moreover, the promise of better sound quality has become a key part of marketing, encouraging users to choose paid subscription models (often called "First Class" or "Premium"), rather than settling for lower audio quality and free-ads users experience. Recent research, however, building upon a foundation of prior studies, has cast doubt on the universality of this perceived distinction on audio quality. The findings suggest that individuals lacking specialized training or access to high-fidelity sound systems may struggle to notice subtle differences in certain audio qualities. Furthermore, the advancement of compression technologies like MPEG, Ogg-vorbis, and AAC has played a crucial role in ensuring a satisfactory listening experience even at lower compression ratios, further blurring the lines between varying sound qualities for the average listener. Given that smartphones and similar devices serve as the primary access point for music streaming for a vast majority of consumers, this discrepancy between promised and delivered audio quality warrants critical examination. Specifically, two key concerns emerge: • Can consumers readily notice deviations from the promised audio quality? • Are music producers and artists subject to any restrictions regarding the upload of low-quality audio files? Therefore, this study undertakes a critical evaluation of the veracity of streaming service providers' claims regarding the audio quality delivered through their premium services. Additionally, it assesses the extent to which music producers and artists can upload low-quality audio files without limitations. By focusing on two of the most prevalent global music streaming services world-wide and two local streaming services from Turkey, this investigation aims to shed light on the validity of these claims and the potential disconnect between promised and actual audio quality delivered to consumers. The findings of this study reveal that the premium options offered by these platforms do not consistently deliver the pledged audio quality, and low-quality audio files can indeed be uploaded without customer notification. Despite this discrepancy, consumers continue to subscribe to paid services, suggesting a potential acceptance or unawareness of the gap between promised and actual audio quality.