Module 1

It is essential to know the basic properties of sound. What we do is manipulate general

or basic properties of sound.
Propagation – the sounds moving through a medium.
Sound – can exist in a variety of medium that goes at a different rate or speed. Air,
metal, water
Brain – is capable of differentiating the arrival of sounds, whether if it’s coming from the
right or left
Manipulation of a slight delay is a manipulation of our sense of propagation or sounds
moving through the air.
Properties of air that changes the rate of sound: Temperature, humidity, the elevation
(sea level, e.g.)
Speed of sound is 340m/s, 1ft/msec, 1km/3sec, 1 mile/5sec.
Our sense of space is based on manipulating the idea of propagation and reflection.
Take for example a person talking in a room, the voice bounces on all of the surfaces,
and back to the person or someone else. All the different surfaces reflect differently.
Amplitude – the extent of compression in the faction of the air. It is measured in
decibels.
In the air we use DBSPL (decibels of sound pressure level). DBSPL is the threshold or
the quietest thing we can possibly hear.
In digital we use DBFS (Decibels of Full Scale). It is the loudest thing we can possibly
hear.
Air waves – moves differently than of a wave from water. The vibration on the wave of
water is perpendicular while air waves are parallel to the direction of propagation.
When producing music, amplitude turns into a primary concern. Mixing, panning and
plug-ins are things that are highly based on amplitude.
Dynamic range – in a gear, it’s the range level of the noise floor (quietest) and the
distortion (loudest).
Frequency – our sense of high pitch and low pitch. It is how fast the sound is vibrating.
Equalizer – a collection of filters
Range of human hearing is 2Hz to 20,000Hz.
3 diff ways to visualize sound:
Oscilloscope display – it’s hard to tell the frequency of the sounds is with this display. It
is a Zoomed in real-time display of the track.
Spectrum analyzer – it doesn’t give a sense of how things change overtime. You may
see the exact frequency instead of the actual motion.
Sonogram – gives a history of how the sound changes.
Types of Microphones: Condenser microphones and dynamic microphones
Dynamic microphone – designed to a large environment, does not require additional
power
Condenser – for studios, requires phantom power
In choosing microphones, you have to consider the frequency response, polar patterns,
and placements
Line Level – a level where all the devices communicate at
Gain stage – a place in the signal flow that either amplifies or lower the level of the
signal
Cables: Instrument cable, standard microphone cable, stereo cable and rca cable
Audio interface – where your audio goes in and out. It connects to the computer via
firewire.
The microphone produces analog data. For the computer to be able to understand the
sound being processed through the microphone, the audio interface goes in to convert
the analog data to digital.
Instead of directly plugging in an instrument to the computer, we may use an amplifier to
hear the sound of the instrument across the room. From the amplifier it will go to the
interface.