Final Exam

Question 1

What is Reaper?

Answer 1

A digital Audio Workstation?

Question 2

What is a VST?

Answer 2

Virtual Studio Technology

Question 3

What is a VSTi?

Answer 3

Virtual Studio Technology Instrument

Question 4

What is middleware?

Answer 4

Software that fits between the DAW and game engine in the production pipeline. Used by sound designers to create and implement sound events into games.

Question 5

What is FMOD?

Answer 5

Middleware. It’s fully integrated into Unity, and contains audio in one access point, making it easier to implement audio.

Question 6

What are the five audio types?

Answer 6

Dialogue, Environment, SFX, UI, and Music.

Question 7

What are waveforms?

Answer 7

Visual representation of a sound wave.

Question 8

What are two key properties of a wave and what do they affect?

Answer 8

Frequency - Pitch, Amplitude - Volume

Question 9

What is a continuous wave?

Answer 9

A wave with a continuous repeating pattern (ex. sine wave)

Question 10

What is a pulsed wave?

Answer 10

A wave broken up by super small beats of silence.

Question 11

What is a Tracker

Answer 11

An old way of implementing sounds in games. Simulates the steps of a processor and displays time in a more literal sense.

Question 12

How does a tracker display the passing of time?

Answer 12

From top to bottom.

Question 13

What are trackers generally used for?

Answer 13

Music.

Question 14

What can a DAW be used for.

Answer 14

Any audio context.

Question 15

What is subtractive synthesis?

Answer 15

Taking a midi input, applying a sound wave (oscillator), adding a filter, amplifying it, before giving an output.

Question 16

What is frequency modulation synthesis?

Answer 16

Modulating multiple waveforms together to create a more complex wave.

Question 17

What is additive synthesis?

Answer 17

Adding multiple sine waves together to create a more complex sound.

Question 18

What is wavetable synthesis?

Answer 18

Scrolling between multiple sound waves to create a more complex sound.

Question 19

What is a signal chain?

Answer 19

The chain in which a sound travels. (ex. voice > laptop > os > discord > laptop speakers)

Question 20

What are transients?

Answer 20

Large visible spikes in a sound wave, often used to find the start of a sound effect/beat.

Question 21

What is the name for the Reaper window that lets you add new instruments/sounds?

Answer 21

Track view.

Question 22

What is the name for the Reaper window that allows you to pause/play/record?

Answer 22

Transport Controls.

Question 23

What is the name for the Reaper window that lets you adjust the volumes of different tracks?

Answer 23

Mixer View.

Question 24

What does MIDI stand for?

Answer 24

Musical Instrument Digital interface.

Question 25

How long has MIDI been a standard for digital instruments?

Answer 25

Since the 1980s.

Question 26

What does MIDI control?

Answer 26

What notes are played, and what parameters affect instruments and effects.

Question 27

What does a VST do?

Answer 27

Acts as an audio effect, or an instrument (VSTi).

Question 28

How does an Effects Signal Chain Work?

Answer 28

First the VSTi is applied, then VSTs are applied in a descending order down the list.

Question 29

What does a VSTi do?

Answer 29

Produces a source of sound (often triggered by MIDI).

Question 30

What two sources can a VSTi use?

Answer 30

Sampler or Synthesizer.

Question 31

What is a VSTi Sampler?

Answer 31

An audio sample used to produce the sound.

Question 32

What is a VSTi Synthesizer?

Answer 32

A sound created through waveforms and synthesis.