chapters 1-8 Flashcards

1
Q

Waveform

A

A continuous line showing air pressure or voltage over time

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2
Q

Axis

A

Fixed reference line for the measurement of coordinates

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3
Q

Cycle

A

Waveform displacement from equilibrium to maximum displacement back through the equilibrium point to minium displacement and back to equilibrium

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4
Q

Displacement

A

When a waveform deviates from equilibrium

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5
Q

Phase

A

A measure of the starting point of a waveform compared to another waveform or reference point

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6
Q

Compression

A

Increase in air pressure cause by the displacement of air molecules

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7
Q

Rarefraction

A

Decrease in air pressure caused by the displacement of air molecules

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8
Q

Period

A

Amount of time required for a waveform to complete one cycle

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9
Q

Frequency

A

Number of waveform cycles occurring each second (cps)

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10
Q

Pitch

A

Subjective perception of frequency

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11
Q

Hertz

A

Abbreviation for cycles per second

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12
Q

Amplitude

A

Measure of the size of displacement

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13
Q

Loudness (or volume)

A

Subjective perception of amplitude

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14
Q

Duration

A

Measure from one time point to another

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15
Q

Length

A

Subjective perception of duration

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16
Q

Spectrum

A

Measure of all frequencies and their amplitudes in a sound

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17
Q

Timbre

A

Subjective perception of the spectrum of a sound

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18
Q

Sympathetic vibration

A

Indirect excitation of a body due to matching resonant frequencies

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19
Q

Simple waveform

A

Waveform with only one frequency component

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20
Q

Complex waveform

A

Waveform with more than one frequency component

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21
Q

Fundamental

A

The lowest frequency in a complex waveform

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22
Q

Natural number

A

Positive integer (no fractions or decimals)

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23
Q

Harmonic

A

Frequency which is a positive integer multiple of the fundamental frequency

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24
Q

Overtone

A

Harmonic occurring above the fundamental

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25
Q

Partial

A

Any frequency (including non-integers) occurring in the spectrum

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26
Q

Speed of sound

A

344 m/sec (at 15oC at sea level)

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27
Q

Lambda

A

λ - greek symbol for wavelength

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28
Q

Domain

A

Values graphed along the X-axis

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29
Q

Range

A

Values graphed along the Y-axis

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30
Q

Time domain

A

Representation where time is along the X-axis

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31
Q

Frequency domain

A

Representation where frequency is along the X-axis

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32
Q

Onset

A

Beginning point in time of an event

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33
Q

Envelope

A

Description of how a parameter (ie. volume or timbre) changes over time

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34
Q

Attack

A

The TIME it takes from the onset of a sound to grow to its loudest point

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35
Q

Decay

A

The TIME it takes for a sound to fall from its maximum level to its sustain level

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36
Q

Sustain level

A

a measure (ie. of loudness) of the constant amplitude of a sound following the decay
can be measure in dB

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37
Q

Sustain duration

A

portion of an envelope where where the amplitude is nearly constant

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38
Q

release

A

the TIME it takes for a sound to fall from the sustain level to zero
- in sounds with no decay down to a sustain level, the release may occur directly after the attack

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39
Q

ADSR

A

abbreviation for a common envelope

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40
Q

Resonance

A

tendency of an object or enclosed space to amplify or emphasize acoustic energy at a particular frequency/frequencies

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41
Q

Eigentone

A

a resonant frequency (ie tone) of an enclosed space or object
- A tone that will cause resonance in a particular space

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42
Q

standing wave

A

wave where each point has an unchanging amplitude ranging from zero at the nodes to a maximum at the antinodes

occurs when two waves of the same frequency and amplitude are moving in opposite directions and interfere with each other. It has certain points (called nodes) where the amplitude is always zero, and other points (called antinodes) where the amplitude fluctuates with maximum intensity.

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43
Q

Absorption coefficient

A

measure of the attenuation (reduction) in the energy of a waveform striking the material

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44
Q

Reflection

A

unabsorbed sound energy that is thrown back from a surface

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45
Q

echo

A

duplicate of a sound where the onset is clearly audible, generally occurring at least 40 ms after the first onset

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46
Q

Reverberation

A

when multiple copies of a sound overlap so that each onset is not distinct

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47
Q

Reverberation time

A

amount of time it takes for a single sound to drop 60 dB in intensity

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48
Q

Helmholtz resonator

A

any enclosed space with rigid walls that supports eigentones such as bass trap, ocarina, glass pop bottle

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49
Q

Bass trap

A

constructed enclosed space with dimensions designed to resonate at (and so reduce the energy of) specific frequencies

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50
Q

Formants

A

area of emphasized (louder) frequencies in a sound spectrum

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51
Q

Fast Fourier Transform

A

a method of analyzing complex sounds to examine their frequency content

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52
Q

Frequency theory of hearing

A

our perception of pitch is based on the firing rate of neurons

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53
Q

Volley principle

A

for high frequencies neurons will fire in synchronized volleys allowing time to recharge while still sending stimuli matching the excitation frequency to the brain

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54
Q

Place theory of hearing

A

we perceive pitch based on the point of maximum excitation on the basilar membrane

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55
Q

Neuron

A

nerve cell that transmits energy using chemical and electrical means

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56
Q

Bone conduction

A

when sound vibrations travel through bone to reach the hearing processes rather than through air

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57
Q

Decibel

A

1/10 of a bel
measure of the intensity of a sound

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58
Q

Tinnitus

A

constant ringing or high frequency heard in the ears in the absence of any external stimula (post-temporary hearing loss?)

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59
Q

Threshold of pain

A

decibel level above which pain is felt in the hearing process

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60
Q

Presbycusis

A

age related hearing loss

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61
Q

Temporary threshold shift (TTS)

A

outer hair cells on basilar membrane have been over simulated and require time to recover
Associated with tinnitus

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62
Q

Permanent threshold shift

A

hairs of hair cells damaged or broken off no recovery possible

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63
Q

Conductive hearing loss (CHL)

A

hearing loss attributable to physical problems in the outer and middle ear

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64
Q

Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL)

A

hearing loss attributable to damage in the cochlea or neural pathways (inner ear)

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65
Q

Fletcher-Munson diagram

A

plot of equal loudness contours across the audible spectrum

66
Q

Equal loudness curves

A

curves showing the perception of matching sound levels between different frequencies

67
Q

Phon

A

Unit of loudness level for pure tones

68
Q

Auditory masking

A

when the amplitude of one frequency is great enough to cover the sound of a quieter frequency close by in the spectrum

69
Q

Temporal masking

A

presentation of a loud sound covers the presentation of a softer sound appearing before or after closely in time (even when softer sound comes before loud sound)

70
Q

Audiogram

A

graphic representation of a subjects hearing response

71
Q

Mixed hearing loss

A

when conductive hearing loss occurs in combination with a sensorineural hearing loss

72
Q

masking threshold

A

tones that fall underneath this line will be masked

73
Q

Forward masking or post masking

A

when masker occurs before a sound

74
Q

backward masking or pre masking

A

when masker occurs after a sound

75
Q

Hearing threshold

A

softest sounds a person hears at each pitch at least 50% of the time

76
Q

sensorineural hearing loss (on a graph)

A

both air conduction thresholds and bone conduction thresholds show the SAME amount of hearing loss

77
Q

Conductive hearing loss (on graph)

A

air conduction threshold shows hearing loss, bone conduction thresholds are normal

78
Q

Mixed hearing loss (on graph)

A

bone conducted thresholds show hearing loss and air conducted thresholds show even more hearing loss

79
Q

audio chain

A

series of devices needed to record, store and reconstruct an audio signal

80
Q

microphone

A

transducer for converting sound energy into an electrical signal

81
Q

transducer

A

a device for changing one type of energy into another

82
Q

preamplifier

A

electrical circuit that raises the signal from a microphone to a useable level

83
Q

analog to digital convertor (ADC)

A

circuit that measures the value of an analog voltage and outputs numbers

84
Q

anti aliasing filter

A

filter that prior to sampling removes frequencies that are too high to be measured accurately

85
Q

sampling rate

A

number of times per second that the values of a waveform are measured

86
Q

wavetable

A

table of values obtained from measuring a waveform
- table of the timepoints and their associated voltage values
- contains data that represents the waveform

87
Q

digital to analog convertor (DAC)

A

circuit that outputs voltages based on the digital numbers fed to it

88
Q

smoothing filter

A

a filter that removes frequencies above the nyquist limit prior to audio output
- amplifies voltages for speaker

89
Q

nyquist limit

A

equal to half the sampling rate
- gives the highest frequency that can be accurately sampled

90
Q

aliasing

A

unwanted frequencies not present in the original sound caused by too high a frequency at the input or too low a sampling rate

91
Q

passive speakers

A

speakers with no amplifier built in
- require external amplifier to boost

92
Q

active speakers

A

speakers with an amplifier as part of the unit
- need power

93
Q

bit

A

binary digit - base two numeral

94
Q

bit depth

A

number of bits used to measure an amplitude

95
Q

quantization

A

rounding off of values to fit within a measurement system

96
Q

plug

A

male electrical connector

97
Q

jack

A

female electrical connector

98
Q

xlr

A

standard three connector cable/plug/jack

99
Q

1/4” TRS (tip-ring-sleeve)

A

standard 2 or 3 connector cable/plug/jack

100
Q

phone cable/plug/jack

A

TRS

101
Q

miniphone

A

1/8” TRS connector

102
Q

RCA

A

phono cable/plug/jack

103
Q

TRRS

A

tip ring ring sleeve connector common with smartphones and laptops

104
Q

speakon

A

locking cable/plug/jack specifically for speakers

105
Q

dynamic microphone

A

microphone with a moving coil
- can handle large volumes but are not as sensitive as condenser mics

106
Q

condenser or electrostatic microphone

A

microphone with a capacitor (a device used to store an electric charge)
- more responsive to high frequencies and softer sounds
- gouda cheese for recording quiet acoustic instruments

107
Q

phantom power

A

power supplied by mixer or external sound card to provide a charge in a condenser or electrostatic mic

108
Q

diaphragm

A

part of mic which is moved by sound waves to create a changing voltage or capacitance

109
Q

frequency response

A

manner in which a mic reproduces a signal across the bandwidth

110
Q

omnidirectional

A

mic pattern which is equally sensitive in all directions

111
Q

cardioid

A

mic pattern that is sensitive in a heart shaped pattern
- don’t pick up sound from behind the mic
- goof for recording in noisy environments (ie. stage mic)

112
Q

figure eight

A

mic pattern that is sensitive in a figure eight pattern
- equal sensitive between front and rear (often turned sideways)

113
Q

field recording

A

recording material outside of a studio

114
Q

field recorder

A

portable recording unit

115
Q

surround sound

A

recording with more than 2 channels of sound intended to replicate the listening experience in 360 degrees

116
Q

quantization noise

A

occurs when we round off bit values (we no like)
rounding error

117
Q

speaker runs

A

cables to connect to speakers

118
Q

Signal

A

Analog or digital representation of a sound in the circuitry or software

119
Q

noise

A

unwanted sound in a signal

120
Q

signal to noise ratio (s/n)

A

ratio in dB of the signal strength to the noise level
- measurement of the amplitude of the sound to the amp of the noise

121
Q

normalization

A

uniform amplification/attenuation of the strength of the signal

122
Q

Filter

A

software or hardware that attenuates frequencies in the spectrum cut off frequency

122
Q

Filter

A

software or hardware that attenuates frequencies in the spectrum

123
Q

cut off frequency

A

the point in a filter above or below which frequencies are attenuated

124
Q

high pass

A

filter that allows high frequencies to pass through
- attenuates low frequencies

125
Q

low pass

A

filter that allows low frequencies to pass through and removes frequencies above cut off frequency

126
Q

band pass

A

filter that allows a band of frequencies to pass through
- combo of high pass and low pass filter

127
Q

notch

A

filter that removes a band of frequencies
- combo of high pass and low pass filter
- attenuate certain band of frequencies
- sometimes used to eliminate 60 hZ hum (from electrical signals)

128
Q

equalization

A

adjusting relative amplitudes of frequencies across the audible spectrum
- collection of filters to flatten out frequency response of an audio system

129
Q

control tracks

A

in a DAW, tracks that contain data to control processing parameters rather than audio or MIDI data

130
Q

line segements

A

continuous control data between two breakpoints in a control track

131
Q

breakpoint

A

beginning or end point of a line segment in a control track
- breaks continuity of line segment

132
Q

fading

A

attenuating the signal in an audio track (gradual)

133
Q

fade in/fade up

A

gradually bring up the volume of audio track

134
Q

fade out/fade down

A

guradlly bring down volume of an audio track

135
Q

crossfade

A

fade in one audio signal while fading out another at the same time

136
Q

panning

A

creating apparent movement of sound through space by changing the amplitudes of the sound as it is diffused from more than one speaker

137
Q

sound horizon

A

virtual line between two speakers on which sound appears to travel or be placed

138
Q

envelope

A

history of how a set of values changes over time
- usually applied to sound levels but can be applied to any set of values that change over time

139
Q

multitrack tape decks

A

record a limited number of audio tracks in a parallel strips on magnetic tape

140
Q

Clipping

A

waveform gets flattened or clipped (resulting in sound distortion)
- ie. can occur when incoming signal is too loud for ADC to be able to convert it properly

141
Q

Filter diagrams

A

show the spectral response of the filter (like mic sensitivity diagrams)

142
Q

graphic equalizers

A

multiple faders in an equalizer system - gives a graphic indication of frequency response

143
Q

Parametric equalizers

A

fewer controls
- allow you to specify frequency area that you wish to accentuate or attenuate

144
Q

Processing

A

altering incoming or recording sound in some manner (any change other than standard edits like trimming or panning)
- ie reverb, filtering, modulation, echo

145
Q

Podcast

A

a streaming or downloadable audio file, often in mp3 format
- digital media files often released as part of a series

146
Q

ID3 tag

A

metadata embedded in an mp3 file

147
Q

delivery

A

method of getting a podcast to the recipient

148
Q

streaming

A

file that is sent continuously to the recipient instead of being downloaded

149
Q

W5

A

Who, what, when, where, why

150
Q

intro

A

opening audio

151
Q

outro

A

closing audio

152
Q

sound logo/icon

A

particular sound associated with a particular product, idea or activity

153
Q

release form

A

legal waiver assigning rights and responsibilities

154
Q

Host

A

computer holding the podcast

155
Q

Bandwidth

A

transmission capacity of a system often measured in its bit rate

156
Q

bit rate

A

number of bits per second that can be transmitted

157
Q

post production

A

editing done after the initial recording

158
Q

subscription

A

arrangement giving access to a broadcast service such as downloadable podcasts

159
Q

podcatcher

A

software program that automatically downloads subscription podcasts as they become available (guaranteed receiving based on subscription)

160
Q

ducking

A

manually or automatically bringing down the volume of sound on a secondary track so the primary track can be heard