Sonarworks in Education

At the Hartt School, Music Production & Technology students learn recording technology the same way they learn their instruments. Because our students are already accomplished musicians, we have the ability to dive right into critical listening and technical ear training early. They already understand how to use their ears to manipulate sound on their instruments, how to musically react in ensembles, and some even have perfect pitch. Even with these advantages, students still find the process of ear training to be daunting and difficult. 

My colleagues and I are always on the lookout for opportunities to integrate new technology that can improve the student experience and elevate our pedagogy. Over the last year, our decision to install Sonarworks into our curriculum and studio facilities has dramatically improved the quality of instruction and augmented our teaching experience in unexpected ways. 

In our curriculum, we have courses and modules that challenge students to develop critical listening skills throughout their four year degree. This includes dedicated critical listening classes where students learn to identify frequencies at various amplitudes across octaves in both pink-noise and program material. We assign recording and mix projects where students are instructed in methods for both creative and corrective EQ, compression, and other audio effects. Students are regularly asked to conduct assessments of different genres in order to broaden their grasp of appropriate production methods as well as assess standardized treatments of instruments and their placement in the sound field. I could go on, but the list of examples of how we teach critical listening is endless because it is so deeply embedded into all of our curricula. What is unique about these projects and assignments is the way in which they encourage students to establish a parallel between how they think about their practice of music and how it relates to how they learn to critically listen. 

Musicians generally learn new skills on their instrument using the “System of Four” (S.O.4). This system is comprised of four discreet steps: 1. Learn – This is the presentation of new information in either a lesson with a teacher, or through self-discovery. 2. Practice – This comes from the repetition of the new skill until it has been internalized and can be performed without error. 3. Rehearse – Once the skill is internalized, the student now must practice performing the skill in context. This usually happens in an ensemble until the performance is steady and is ready to become a vehicle through which additional expression can be made. 4. Perform – This is when the skill is fully mastered. The skill is effortless, and has become a reflexive, second nature. 

Perhaps the most significant two steps in this process are “Practice” and “Rehearse” due to the fact that these are the areas that typically require the most time invested on the part of the student. These are the critical hours where a student will either grow or develop bad habits in the absence of the instructor.  

When we apply the paradigm of S.O.4 to critical listening pedagogy, we must reasonably assume that students are able to execute all four steps. While our program produces some exceptional engineers with excellent ears, we have noticed that there are two areas where students have to really dig in. For most, “Practice” and “Rehearse” are often complicated by a lack of access to adequate listening space and equipment. Teaching labs for us consist of acoustically treated recording studio control rooms with reference monitors. These are not at all similar to the at-home listening environments students use to complete their assignments. At Hartt, (and I suspect at other schools too) students prefer to practice critical listening in headphones. This is for a myriad of reasons. For one, headphones are more convenient to busy student schedules. It is very easy to grab a minute or two to run listening tests at the library or on breaks between classes. At home, shared living spaces like dorm rooms and apartments require isolation out of respect, so headphones are a must. This is especially true late at night when others might be asleep. What is interesting to me is that when I asked why my students prefer to work in headphones, the most common response is simply that they do not have any other option. Most students have yet to invest in loudspeakers and those that have feel less inclined to treat their spaces because they are living in temporary housing. Even though students know that acoustically treating their room is the best answer, we cannot practically force them to treat their spaces. Whenever possible, we encourage students to complete their homework in our studios. We are a small program and can offer 24/7 access to our facilities, but the fact is that there just aren’t enough hours in the day, nor days in the week to give everyone in the program equal time to complete their work in a teaching lab. 

So why can’t headphones offer an adequate substitute for a treated listening environment? The truth is, they are a necessary stand-in, especially for the problems listed above. Many professional engineers use headphones all the time and can create excellent recordings and mixes with them. These engineers will also tell you that all headphones come with their own learning curve. Each manufacturer designs every model with its own distinct non-linear frequency response. This is not necessarily a bad thing when used to enjoy music. While some cheaper models may have non-linearities caused by manufacturing choices dictated by cost, pricier reference models are intentionally voiced with enhancements to lows, mids, and highs because extensive research suggests that the average listener enjoys music more with these curves applied. All of this can be problematic for students who are just learning how to mix. Students often wonder why corrective EQ choices made in one model of headphones do not translate well to others, and even less so in loudspeakers. Headphones also create an opportunity for students to listen too loudly, causing quick ear fatigue, or worse, damage to their hearing (especially in the US where output levels are not regulated on portable devices).  Additionally, the lack of cross-talk in headphones create a distorted sense of mono elements as being “inside-of-your-head” instead of the SRA created by two well placed left-right monitors. Headphones also create an exaggerated stereo field which can lead to timid stereo placement choices as well as confusion over how much spatial processing like reverb may be necessary.  

When we ask students to practice critical listening as a part of their coursework, we have always had to assume that their practice and rehearse time would be in some way compromised by these limitations and that was just the way it was.

The software developed by Sonarworks has greatly improved the quality of Learn/Practice/Rehearse/Perform for our facilities, coursework and critical listening assignments. This software can apply a correction to any one of over 200 different types of professional headphones resulting in a relatively flat, consistent performance. This offers an outstanding potential in a classroom setting where each student may own a different brand of headphones. With this software, a teacher can assign a project with confidence that every student has equal access to the same basic listening environment and equipment. The TruFi app for mobile devices has really been useful in that it provides the same correction software when listening on a phone. This has been extremely well received by students as they do comparative and critical listening from their Spotify accounts or from their iTunes libraries. For those students with loudspeakers, the studio edition of the software comes with a calibration microphone and an easy to use software that guides them through a 30+ point measurement process in a fun and engaging way. With this tool, students can enjoy better performance from their home studio speakers and more consistency between their headphones and their speakers. 

One of the things that surprised me the most was the amount of impact it had on students’ curiosity about how headphones work and what the technical and sonic differences between them are. I have really enjoyed conversations with students about headphone design issues, how earbuds differ from cans, and why headphones don’t always translate well to the loudspeaker environment. After pointing them to some excellent articles in the AES online journal, I was encouraged by their enthusiasm for the complicated science of headphone measurement and I look forward to how this will spark engagement in their acoustics classes. All of these conversations were a direct result of the Sonarworks demo. 

Another unexpected outcome was the augmented use of our secondary teaching lab. This space is smaller than our primary teaching lab and lacks significant acoustic treatment. With two PMC monitors and a HORUS and HAPPI powered Pyramix system, there is a lot of equipment in this room that students want to use, but the acoustics of the space were dissimilar to our flagship studio. With the measurement and correction provided by Reference 4 and the calibration mic, we were surprised at the dramatic improvement at the listening position. Students now have no problem at all working in either of these spaces and they are creating excellent work in both. Of course, we will continue to improve the acoustic treatments in both of these rooms, and it is great to know that as we do, we can re-calibrate to get even more performance out of our investment. It’s been beneficial for students to see faculty enthusiasm over this too. Many students had not yet been able to visualize in their own ears the impact that speaker/room calibration until they were able to play with the correction in this space for themselves. The ability to bypass the correction and hear the immediate difference is a powerful, stark, contrast that is impossible to ignore—even when making subtle corrections. 

The largest rewards have come in watching the quality of student mixes improve. Using Sonarworks has mitigated second-guess syndrome in student’s work in headphones and has increased the accuracy of their applied corrective EQ. During tracking sessions, students are more confident in the amount of low end they are capturing in bass, kick and snare tracks leading to better raw material to work from. When a student’s choices in a mix are reinforced by good translation between speakers, it boosts their confidence and they have more enthusiasm for the work they are doing. The energy from this has been palpable at Hartt, and we couldn’t be more grateful for what this software has done for our program. Next year, all incoming freshman will be required to purchase the headphone edition of Sonarworks.    

It is an area we all have extensive experience in, yet it requires a focused effort to develop improvement in the area of listening critically to one’s environment and the sounds we are exposed to.

The human body’s ability to translate simple atmospheric disturbances (sound waves) convert that to neurological impulses via the brilliant mechanics of the ear, and then the brain understands and reacts, essentially instantaneously, is not only a marvel but may often appear magical.

Unlike learning to play the piano or play guitar where one has to learn a whole new environment surrounding that instrument, posture, scales, rudiments, etc. Developing the ability to listen “critically” to the sounds and music we hear is already an area we have extensive experience in. Hearing is the one sensory that we cannot “turn off.” It is always working for us, day and night. As a result, this has gifted us years and years of experience deciphering sound. Similar to learning to play the piano or guitar however, this development process does require continued practice, focused effort, and is ultimately a lifelong pursuit. To further develop this process for us professionals, we now only need to learn how to dissect these sounds. Doing so will allow us to make a better recording, production, and musical choices. 

Now that we know what kind of experience and expertise we all have, let’s look at strategies to develop this skill even further!

When we break down Critical Listening, it’s important to consider the different categories/attributes that make up the sounds we hear. I refer to these as our 3-Strategies. All sounds will consist of the following components and are thus the basis for the strategies and methodologies we will use: spectral properties; dynamic properties; spatial properties.

Consider now any sound you just may have heard. A train whistle or a car horn. How loud was it? Did it drown out other sounds? Did you hear the sound echo off buildings or a canyon wall? Did the sound resonate in the environment in which you heard it? Where did it come from? Could you tell how far away it was?

All of those questions can be answered by the three previous properties mentioned above. A great exercise would be to take the next 5 sounds you hear and ask these types of questions. You’ll be amazed by how much you will be able to determine about these sounds by applying this type of simple analysis. These are the questions that will train us to listen critically.

Let’s consider now the makeup of each of these categories and ways to improve upon our experience with them.

Spectral Properties:
Dynamic Properties:
Spatial Properties:

Strategy #1 - Spectral Properties: 

Simply put, Spectral Properties can be thought of as frequency balance. Let’s consider three basic bands, Low, Mid, High. We all have boosted or cut the balance of a radio in the car or home. The same thing applies here. The beauty of an EQ allows us to alter the sound in ways that make it more appealing or sit more appropriately with other sounds. There are many different software tools that can help with this, but I personally enjoy using EQ’s that allow you to solo various bands so you can get a sense for exactly what that band might be affecting. There are many different tools that offer this, but the important part right now is to listen to each of these three bands on your desired sound independently to hear what they sound like. 

We will loosely define the Low-frequency range as 20Hz - 250Hz. The Mid-frequency range as 250Hz - 4kHz, and the High-frequency range 4kHz - 20kHz.

If you don’t have an EQ handy, pull up some music you enjoy and know well. Either on your stereo, phone, or music streaming application, manipulate the Low, Mid, and High-frequency ranges. Listen to how they interact with one another. Do different instruments pop out? How do these changes modify the listening experience?

Defining these spectral properties in this way will allow you to take a sound and ask the questions; “is it too “boomy?” or “does it need more clarity?” You can then cut the low frequency or boost the high frequency based on your assessment to achieve the results YOU WANT!

Strategy #2 - Dynamic Properties: 

Dynamics! Is a sound loud or soft? Is a sound not “present” enough to be heard due to other sound sources? Much can be written about how to manipulate dynamics processors and you have probably read many yourself. What we are concerned with are the questions that will inform those decisions.

Often we reach for a compressor to give us the results that a simple volume (fader) balance may be more suited for.

How loud should it be. Do we want it to blend or draw attention to it? Consider working on a drum kit where the cymbals are coming through the overhead mics just fine. However, by the time we add all the tom mics, snare mics, the kick is really lost...maybe almost to a dull-thud. This is a perfect example when a compressor should be used. Placing a compressor on the kick drum to give you anywhere from 3-5 dB of gain reduction at peak moments may be perfect to allow you to reduce the source’s dynamic range-thus allowing you to more suitably blend in the kick drum so it’s presence may be not only heard but also FELT!

Strategy #3 - Spatial Properties:

Where does the sound come from? Where should it come from? The brain is brilliant in hearing a sound and our body can instinctively react and turn to see where that sound came from. Spatial properties involve not just positioning of a sound (left, right, in front, or behind) but also other attributes such as delay and reverb.

As we continue to assess our sound environment, we need to know where things should be placed, but also in what type of environment should they be placed within. Remember back the recommendation about listening to the next 5 sounds and to apply these properties to them to form an assessment?

How does the environment change how the source sounds? Does the environment distract from the source? Does the environment enhance sound? When you listen to great classical recordings you will notice the important role the environment plays on the recording. The bloom and sustain of the sounds helps blends the instruments together in a powerful and cohesive performance. Can you hear the room’s characteristics in the sustain and decay of the music? You can close your eyes and have a mental image of just how large (or small) the environment is.

Imagine someone is speaking with you. Listen to their voices. Are you speaking in a kitchen, in a garage, outside? All of these environments sound different and affect the voice differently. Knowing what type of environment we want to maintain or create will help us know what type of reverb or delay to employ.

We then can decide just “where” should something be placed. By this, we mean using a pan control to position things from Left to Right. The key in all of this is balance! Having too much information on one side will sound unnatural and cause a mix/production to be imbalanced. Also listening for how sounds interact, you may find placing things on one side or the other, or maybe between the Left and Center position will help a source be heard as intended physically or artistically. 
 
Lastly, when we are listening, it’s important to consider how well can we trust the system we are listening to. Not all of us have access to studio-quality headphones or loudspeakers, so this can cloud one’s judgement because after al if you can’t hear it, how can you assess it. Fortunately, there are some fantastic tools out there that will help us be able to trust what we are hearing, one such product is Reference 4 from Sonarworks. This is an invaluable tool for those of us working in different environments, on different speakers, and working in environments that are not purpose-built studios.

Most people want to know “how do I EQ my bass guitar?” or “how hard should I compress this snare drum?” The sound-world we live in is entirely source dependent. This means that the proverbial “it depends” is often the answer we receive. This is really hard to understand and grapple with when we are desiring to learn how to make better use of an EQ, Compressor, and other signal processing. The more important question to be asking is analyzing the sounds you are hearing based on the three-sound categories. By so doing, you will begin to draw on that listening expertise you already have, and can then know exactly how you want that sound to “interact.” Does the sound completely mask other important sounds? Maybe some EQ should be employed to make space, or a compressor to reduce the dynamic range to help it sit better in the mix. These strategies will give you better results when producing and mixing music as opposed to trying to mimic “tricks” or relying on hard “this is how you EQ a trumpet,” style-rules.
 
Just as a great engineer is repeatedly asking oneself questions such as “Do I like that?” “Is this loud enough?” “Is the bass too big?” When listening and evaluating one should be taking a similar approach in assessing sounds in an environment to listen to the many different cues that are part of the listening experience. 
 

I teach critical listening to music production and engineering majors. Explaining to students how to listen is a major challenge. Seeing the crazy diversity of headphone responses in Reference 4 and flattening it, it’s a game-changer.

Doing the same to reveal the acoustic chaos in a room with speakers takes this to another level. The mic and software are an elegant toolset, even for less experienced engineers. Using these tools to watch and listen to headphones and room anomalies, before and after software treatment, firms up these acoustic principals. I hope to get a version for teaching that lets us manipulate parameters to demonstrate even more if these hard to teach concepts. Thanks for making this exceptional acoustic solution.

Sonarworks provides consistency between various playback situations, which is especially important at the early stages of the audio engineering career. Lack of proper monitoring system and acoustic treatment can lead to some unwanted bias during critical listening and Reference 4 provides a convenient and accessible solution. Sonarworks is also a great educational tool, which helps to understand the importance of the monitoring systems and calibration.

Thanks to Sonarworks, easily sharing a common flat reference monitoring with distant online clients, who monitor either with headphones or speakers, has made a HUGE difference in our workflow.
The return rate for mix corrections has dropped to 1/8th of what it was, we have never passed the barrier of 3rd mix version since featuring reference 4 in our system.
 

My high school age students perform most of their mixing work from home on inexpensive headphones. Sonarworks has given them a fighting chance to make mixes that translate. They love it and it’s almost like hearing for the first time when you compare the before and after.

I like Reference 4: its quality and the way it interfaces with the user. I'll strongly recommend it to the many cinema mix studios in Italy when the multichannel version will be available, in substitution to the terrible 3rd of octave filters usually put in the chain!
In the meantime, I enjoy the improvements in my audiophile listening room.
 

At the University of Massachusetts/Lowell, we are incredibly lucky to have well-designed rooms with top-quality monitoring available to our students for their class projects, but we also encourage them to be active in projects beyond their school work. That inevitably means that students do work outside of our facilities and on more modest equipment. Reference 4 gives them a fighting chance at achieving a translatable mix on their entry- and mid-level monitors in a less than ideal acoustic environment like a dorm room. It also allows them to overcome some of the deficiencies with the types of headphones they typically use at a point when higher-end headphones are not an option. The setup process is straight-forward enough that even a new student in the program can go through it with little difficulty, yet the results are powerful enough to serve even advanced or graduate students.