ARM : an acoustic reverberation mixer

Abstract

Ever since the introduction of multi-track tape machines, mixing engineers have been spending hours in the studio trying to produce the high quality music that is required by the mastering engineer to produce desirable results. Audio mixing is a process, by which a number of recorded sounds are 'glued' together into one or a number of channels. Apart from manipulating a number of parameters such as the signal level and the panoramic position of the different tracks, when mixing these recorded sounds together, the audio engineer can also add desirable effects such as reverberation. Today, it is common practice that audio mixing is done on Digital Audio Workstations (DAW), however, prior to the introduction of these complex software systems, mixing was performed on sound boards or mixing consoles; hardware that was considerably expensive. Nowadays, with the popularity of the personal computer, it is common practice that artists and audio engineers choose their personal machines to do this sort of work. It is also common practice that engineers prefer using speakers for this process and mixing using headphones is often "frowned upon" [41]. Moreover, many commercial mixes do not sound as intended when heard through headphones since they are not tailored for headphone listening. This occurs because of spatial anomalies that differ from listening to a sound over speakers and through headphones and are not catered for by audio engineers when mixing their music. ARM gives the mixing engineer the possibility of mixing the different recorded sounds and eliminating these spatial anomalies as well as having the possibility of adding a reverberation effect to the audio. ARM creates a virtual listening environment within which audio engineers can mix audio and produce music that is adequate for listening through headphones.