MTA 254

• Syllabus change: Lynda.com is now optional!

$25 month, or see me after class / in lab for discount.

• TA Theater will take place Week of April 4

• Not changed: Archival Project due Week of April 11

(in lab.)

• Not changed: ADR Project due Week of April 25

 MTA 254
MIDTERM EXAM is Next Monday in this room!
• Labs / Lectures are fair game!

In lab this week: bring your harddrive to get the

footage for the Archival Project
 Analog vs. Digital

• Why digital? (Sound is, of course, analog)

• the choice of how to record depends on what
we are going to DO with it.

• All recording, analog or digital, involves changing

air pressure into voltage, then reversing the
process.

• We use digital recording b/c in post production

we need to make lots of copies, and digital
copies don’t degrade.
 Turning Sound to Digital

• To make a digital recording, we need to take

snapshots to convert the changing voltages into
numbers. These are called samples.
• How many snapshots we take = sample rate.
• The accuracy of each sample, like the dpi of a
digital photo = bit depth.
 Sample Rate & Bit Depth

SAMPLE RATE describes how many snapshots per

second we take.
• The most common rates are 44.1k and 48K. Remember
the Nyquist theorem: You need twice the number of
samples as the highest frequency you wish to record.
20K x 2 = 40,000 (+ 10% for good measure) = 44.1K

BIT DEPTH describes the accuracy of our

snapshots.
• The standard for professional digital audio is 16 bit, which
offers 65,536 possible different values for each sample.
 Audio Compression

• To make an audio file smaller, you could cut bit depth

and sample rate. The file would be smaller, but it
would sound worse.

• Delta encoding (Quicktime) recognizes incremental

changes between samples.

• Mp3 is a type of perceptual encoding. It eliminates

sounds that are masked, or redundant. The process is
“lossy” but you don’t notice it (as much).
 Audio on a Wire

• There are two standards for “normal” line level

voltages: “+4” (hot!) for pro gear, “-10” (warm) for
consumer gear.

• Pro to Consumer will distort. Consumer to Pro will

be noisy (but ok). (Plugging into a sound board?)

• There is balanced and unbalanced wiring. Balanced

(like most XLRs) rejects noise and interference.
RCA plugs are unbalanced.
 (Basic) Audio Sweetening

• “Sweetening” is audio-speak for processing sound

to make it sound “better.”

• Until recently, sweetening meant processing your

analog signal with an external analog device.

• Now, many of these devices are “plug-ins” one can

access via one’s audio processing software.
 Using Audio Processors

EQ, Noise Reduction, Compression, Reverb

• These tools are easy way to ruin your audio, or make

people sound like robots.

• Too much processing sounds worse than marginal audio--

always do a before and after.

• For example: reducing noise is what you’re striving for--not

eliminating it.

• Usually, when you find a setting that sounds good, back off
it a bit to reduce the effect.
 Equalization (EQ)

• If you’re going to learn one audio processing tool, this is

it. Some form of EQ is on almost every audio software
device.

• Definition: Boosting and/or cutting the volume of

certain frequencies on the track(s) in question.

• Bass and treble knobs, for example, or that cool “EQ”

on an old boombox, are cheap, lousy EQs.

• Two main uses: Surgical & Shaping

 Surgical EQ and Shaping EQ

Surgical EQ means to precisely reduce an unwanted

sound by sharply cutting its frequency. For example, to
lessen the rumble of a passing truck.

• Usually applied to a specific region of audio as a “fix.”

Shaping EQ is a more subtle process applied to an entire
track to make it fit with other tracks.

• In Pro Tools: Shaping EQ usually applied in the mix

window; Surgical EQ in the edit window.
 Standard Dialog Equalizer Tips:

• Cut off everything below 90Hz. Try a gentle peak around

240Hz for warmth, and a similar boost around 1.8kHz for
intelligibility. A sharp dip around 5kHz can help sibilance.

• Help muddy dialog with a cutoff below 150Hz, and a 3-6dB

boost around 2kHz.

• To find and eliminate an annoying sound do an EQ

“sweep.” (We will practice this in a future lab.)
 Noise Reduction

• The “Holy Grail” of audio processing. (Like the fictitious

“magic box” in the scene from The Conversation.)

• NR tries to identify the noise pattern and sharply cut

only those frequencies, leaving dialog unchanged.

• It’s VERY EASY to create a worse sounding track using

NR--use it very lightly, or your track will start to sound
metallic.
 Compression

• NOT data compression--this is NOT about making files

smaller.

• Definition: Reduce the dynamic range of a track in

order to make the soft sounds louder, while keeping the
loud sounds from peaking.

• Used in pop music to create the “aircraft carrier” style

waveform.

• Usually applied to an entire track, or the whole mix.

 Reverb

• Definition: The simulation of sound reflections

• It’s used to add “dimension” to sound.

• In film sound, it’s usually applied to background

ambience, walla, or effects tracks rather than voices.

• Software settings mimic different room sizes: church,

hall, small room, etc.
 Audio Processors in Music

• Music production uses these same processes

(EQ, Compression, Reverb [usually not Noise Reduction]) in
complex yet subtle ways.

• Here is a clip from a tutorial DVD by a Grammy winning

producer showing some very basic strategies in mixing the
lead vocals of a record:
(It is unclear why he is crouching behind a display case...)