Sound Part 2 Sound and how to make it
Jan 16, 2016
Sound Part 2
Sound and how to make it
What is Sound?
Sound is a compression wave
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Amplitude v. wavelength
Amplitude is the height of the sound wave or volume of the sound wave
The higher the amplitude, the louder the sound
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Amplitude v. wavelength
The wavelength of the sound is the distance between the highest peaks of the sound’s amplitude
Wavelength of sound is the PITCH of the sound you hear
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Sound frequency
Frequency of sound is measured in Hz. It is related to the wavelength.
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Decibel
Decibel is a unit of measure of the loudness of sound.
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Pitch
Pitch is determined by frequency, but is more complicated than just pure numbers. Human perception affects pitch too.
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Sampling Rate
The sampling rate is like taking a series of photos of sound over time.The higher the sampling rate, the better the capture of audio.
Analog=red Digital=black
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Sample size One of the aspects that affects
audio quality is sample size. The larger the sample, the larger
the file size, but the better the quality
Usually: 2 bit, 4 bit 8 bit, 16 bit etc. Refers to quality
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Audio Channels Also affects file size.
The number of channels determines weather something is recorded in Mono (one track), Stereo (2 track) or Surround Sound (3-7 tracks).
Each track plays something different out of a different speaker
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Cutting and Pasting One way of “mixing” or combining sounds
is to cut and paste them together in programs like Garage band
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Mixing board
Another way to combine sounds is to “mix” them live on a MIXER or Audio Board
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VU meter
The VOLUME UNIT meter. This is the same weather you are
mixing sound live on a sound board or in garage band. It’s like VOLUME
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Track Level
In Garage Band the blue lines are the track levels. The more layers you have the more levels you have
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Master Fader
The master fader is a control on both digital and analog audio mixers
It controls the overall volume for all tracks in the audio mix
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Streaming
When downloading audio files, streaming is a technology that allows one to listen to audio files BEFORE the whole file has downloaded
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Compression
A type of lossy or lossless compression in which the amount of data in a recorded waveform is reduced to differing extents for transmission respectively with or without some loss of quality.
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Codec
A codec is a software program that COdes and DECodes the way we digitize audio files.
CO - DEC (CO de and DEC ode)
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Transcoding
A way of coding one type of file directly to another type of file. Example: AIFF to MP3
Bandwidth
A rate of data transfer measured in bits/second, Mbits/second or Gbits/second
The greater the bandwidth, the faster the download
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Steps in Producing Audio
Planning Technical Preparation Creation Distibution
Planning (ALWAYS has these steps)
Define target audience - Brainstorm – write down/sketch ideas
- Coordinate location/equipment needs
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Technical Preparation writing
Write script/song or any other text for audio Select equipment
Think: Where will the microphones be used? Type of audio recording – people, vocals, instruments?
Type of microphones
Is it loud and crowded? - cardioid
Is the audio source far way? – shotgun/hypercardioid
Are there many audio sources to capture simultaneously? – omnidirectional
Do the microphones need to be unseen? - visibility
- Types of cables/connections
Creating
Record Audio Edit Audio
Distributing
Export Burn to CD/Upload to internet
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