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Recording Technology > Final Exam > Flashcards

Final Exam Flashcards

1
Q

What is the frequency rang of human hearing?

A

20-20k

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2
Q

What is the threshold of pain?

A

140 dB-SPL

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3
Q

What are the major structures of the ear?

A

Outer ear/pinna- focuses and catches sound and funnels it in to ear canal
Middle ear- Ear drums, oscale(bones)-prevent damaging the eardrum
Cilia-Hairs in the ear, where it converts to electric
Auditory Nerve-Carry impulses to the brain and is interpreted as sound

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4
Q

What is amplitude and how is it measured?

A

volume and amount of energy in a sound wave measured in decibels

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5
Q

What is the equal loudness principle?

A

We do not hear all of the frequencies at the same loudness level

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6
Q

What is frequency, how is it measured, and how does it relate to pitch?

A

The number of times per second that a sound source vibrates, expressed in hertz. Perceived as pitch

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7
Q

What is the physical difference between low and high frequencies?

A

Low- long sound waves

High- short sound waves

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8
Q

What is the physical difference between low and high frequencies?

A

Low- long sound waves

High- short sound waves

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9
Q

What is a sound wave?

A

A vibration that travels through an elastic medium in all directions and is made up of compressions and rarefactions

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10
Q

How were recordings made during the acoustic era? What were the determining factors in 
choosing a song to be recorded during this era? 


A

Made with mechanical recordings, and strong loud voices were determining factors

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11
Q

What is the difference between a sine, square, and triangle wave? 


A

sine-no overtones

square-all odd harmonics sawtooth- odd and even harmonics

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12
Q

What is amplitude and how is it measured?

A

volume and amount of energy in a sound wave measured in decibels

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13
Q

What is frequency, how is it measured, and how does it relate to pitch?

A

Time it takes for one complete wave cycle, expressed in hertz. Perceived as pitch

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14
Q

What is the difference between a sine, square, and triangle wave? 


A

sine-no overtones
square-all odd harmonics
triangle- odd and even harmonics

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15
Q

Who invented the disk record and what machine played them? Why was this technology 
a leap forward for the record industry? 


A

Emile Berliner invented the disk record that was played on the gramophone.

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16
Q

What is the speed of sound in feet-per-second at 70 degrees? How does temperature 
affect it? 


A

1129 ft/sec and density

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17
Q

What is a fundamental?

A

Lowest frequency in a complex tone

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18
Q

What are harmonics?

A

Specific overtones in whole numbers

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19
Q

What are overtones?

A

All frequencies other than the fundamental

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20
Q

What are overtones?

A

All frequencies other than the fundamental

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21
Q

What is constructive and destructive interference? 


A

in-phase vs. out-of-phase

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22
Q

What is reflection?

A

Sound reflects off surfaces at an angles equal and opposite to the angle of incidence

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23
Q

What is diffusion?

A

Scattering of sound in all directions on a reflection from a surface

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24
Q

What is absorption?

A

Sound is ‘absorbed’ by surface material or sound is ‘reflected’ by surface material

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25
Q

Why was the invention of the microphone important to the electrical era? How did this affect recording techniques? 


A

Improved frequency response, balance between singer and musicians and could adjust volume to avoid distortion

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26
Q

What kinds of microphones were used during the electrical era? Which was the first to be invented? 


A

Carbon, moving coil, ribbon, and condenser. Carbon microphone was first invented

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27
Q

What innovation(s) enabled the LP and 45 rpm records to be successful? 


A

Westrex “45/45”

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28
Q

What was the original intended use for the LP record, and how did it end up being 
utilized? How did this affect the record industry? 


A

Classical music was the original intention, but was used for jazz and rock n roll

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29
Q

What was the original intended use for the LP record, and how did it end up being 
utilized? How did this affect the record industry? 


A

Classical music was the original intention, but was used for jazz and rock n roll

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30
Q

What is a transducer? What are some examples?

A

Converts one form of energy to another.

Ex. microphone

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31
Q

What is a carbon microphone?

A

Microphones used in tv sets

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32
Q

What is a moving coil microphone?

A

A small diaphragm and voice coil moving in a magnetic field

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33
Q

What is a ribbon microphone?

A

Uses a metal ribbon attached to a fixed magnet,ribbon vibrates from pressure of sound waves

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34
Q

What is a ribbon microphone?

A

Uses a metal ribbon attached to a fixed magnet,ribbon vibrates from pressure of sound waves

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35
Q

What is a condenser microphone?

A

2 thin plates, 1 fixed/1 moveable, with a charge applied

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36
Q

Name the polar patterns

A

Omnidirectional- equal in all directions
Bidirectional-equal pick up from opposite sides of the mic
Cardiod- Sound from primarily one side

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37
Q

What factors determine microphone choice and placement? 


A

Close or distant micing

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38
Q

What is phantom power and how does it get to and from the mic? 


A

Provides power for condenser microphones, and travels through the mic cable

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39
Q

What is coincident micing?

A

90 degrees. 2 identical mics with minimal phasing

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40
Q

What is near-coincident micing?

A

110 degrees. 2 identical mics

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41
Q

What is near-coincident micing?

A

110 degrees. 2 identical mics

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42
Q

What is spaced pair micing?

A

2 indentical mics that create ‘phasing’

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43
Q

What is M/S micing?

A

2 complementary mics (1 directional and 1 bidirectional)

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44
Q

What is close micing?

A
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45
Q

What is distant micing?

A

> 3ft, picks up more sounds in the room, more instruments and spacing off mic, high phase cancellation

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46
Q

What is isolation?

A

Close micing, leakage, baffle/gobo

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47
Q

What is distant micing?

A

> 3ft, picks up more sounds in the room, more instruments and spacing off mic, high phase cancellation

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48
Q

What is isolation?

A

Close micing, leakage, baffle/gobo

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49
Q

What is meant by the 3:1 ratio when discussing microphones? 


A

Each mic must be 3 times farther apart than from the source. reduced phase cancellation

50
Q

What is input channel?

A

Preamp for signal, gain ‘trim’ for good level, pad to reduce gain if it’s too loud

51
Q

Auxiliary (send/return)

A

Used to route and mix signals from output to and from effects, can be in pairs

52
Q

EQ

A

Compensates for variations of frequency

53
Q

Dynamics

A

Allows signals to be dynamically processed

54
Q

Monitoring

A

Each signal is blended/balanced. Guides production decisions

55
Q

Pan pot

A

Allows a creation of stereo imaging within two speakers

56
Q

Output

A

Route for one or more signals to feed to another external location

57
Q

Metering

A

Measures the electrical level of a signal at various points in signal flow, standardized on a volume unit meter using dB

58
Q

Patchbay

A

A panel that contains accessible jacks for various inputs/outputs for things like effects

59
Q

Who is Les Paul and what did he invent?

A

Discovered tape delay, echo, recording at different speeds, close micing, ‘digital audio’ idea, first overdubbing using sel-sync

60
Q

Who is Les Paul and what did he invent?

A

Discovered tape delay, echo, recording at different speeds, close micing, ‘digital audio’ idea, first overdubbing using sel-sync

61
Q

Where and with whom did Les record Chester and Lester? 


A

Chet Atkins and RCA Victor studio

62
Q

What studio were Beatles known for recording in? 


A

Abbey Road

63
Q

What is plate reverb?

A

Electromechanical transducer creates vibrations in a large plate of sheet metal. 1970’s

64
Q

What is spring reverb?

A

transducer at one end of a spring and a plugin at the other to capture vibrations from the spring. 1940’s

65
Q

What is digital reverb?

A

Uses signal processing algorithms to create a reverb effect. 1980’s

66
Q

What is an acoustic chamber?

A

First reverb created using physical space as a natural echo chamber

67
Q

What are the effects of duplicating an analog tape? 


A

Noise and print through

68
Q

What is the transport system in an analog tape recorder?

A

Tape transport, feed reel, take-up reel, and transport commands

69
Q

What is capstan?

A

Steel shaft that always turns at a constant speed and pulls tape past the head

70
Q

What is a pinch roller?

A

Squeezes tape against the capstan and the tape is pulled past the head when you push play

71
Q

What is erase head?

A

Randomizes domains

72
Q

What is record head?

A

Electrical to mechanical energy

73
Q

What is playback head?

A

Mechanical to electrical energy

74
Q

What is Sel-Sync?

A

Uses record head as playback head for previously recorded tracks and is only used in overdubbing. Invented by Les Paul.

75
Q

What is Sel-Sync?

A

Uses record head as playback head for previously recorded tracks and is only used in overdubbing. Invented by Les Paul.

76
Q

What is an analog processor?

A

Directly modified as signal passes through a system. (built-in and external only)

77
Q

What is a digital processor?

A

Converts to binary and modified according to algorithm. (built-in, external, and plugins)

78
Q

What do spectrum processors affect?

A

Frequency and amplitude response patterns

79
Q

What do spectrum processors affect?

A

Frequency and amplitude response patterns

80
Q

Shelving EQ

A

Boost or cut from a ‘corner’ frequency equally. (flat line)

81
Q

Peaking EQ

A

Most common EQ. Frequencies adjacent to a ‘target’ frequency are affected and can be boosted or cut

82
Q

Parametric EQ

A

Continuously variable frequency, bandwidth and gain control

83
Q

Compressor

A

Decreases gain as input increases, volume increase that effects the dynamic range

84
Q

Threshold

A

Level at which compression takes effect

85
Q

Ratio

A

Rate of change between input and output

86
Q

Attack & Release time

A

Attack- how long to start compressing after threshold has been met
Release- how long it takes for compressor to return to normal

87
Q

Limiter

A

When compression ratio exceeds 11:1

88
Q

Expander

A

Increase dynamic range, decrease gain below or increases gain above the dynamic range

89
Q

Noise Gate

A

Allows a signal to pass at the threshold but block those of less amplitude

90
Q

Time processors

A

Affect the time relationship of signals, ‘changes’ acoustic environment. ex. delay, reverb, flanging, etc

91
Q

Time processors

A

Affect the time relationship of signals, ‘changes’ acoustic environment. ex. delay, reverb, flanging, etc

92
Q

What EQ allows you to change the ‘range of affected frequencies’?

A

Peaking (Bell Curve) EQ

93
Q

Which processor does this relate to? “There is too much mid frequency on the guitar.

A

EQ

94
Q

Which processor does this relate to? “There are a few places where the piano is too loud.”

A

Compressor

95
Q

Which processor does this relate to? “Can the vocals sound like I recorded in a Cathedral?”

A

Reverb

96
Q

Which processor does this relate to? “Can you make it sound like there’s a group of me playing guitar?”

A

Delay

97
Q

Which processor does this relate to? “Can you put some echo on my cowbell?”

A

Delay

98
Q

Which processor does this relate to? “The guitar sounds good, but when I stop playing I hear the click track.”

A

Noise reduction

99
Q

Which processor does this relate to? “The last note on the guitar solo was way off pitch-can you fix that?”

A

Auto tune

100
Q

Who is Harry Nyquist and what did he contribute to digital audio?

A

Nyquist Theorum and Nyquist frequency

101
Q

Why is digital recording different from previous recording methods?

A

Lasts forever without damage to original quality

102
Q

Who is responsible for developing the MP3 and other data reduction systems?

A

Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG)

103
Q

Which digital format was the ‘first step backwards’ by reducing the sounds quality?

A

MP3

104
Q

What are the advantages of digital recording?

A

Can copy recordings without loss of signal, no addition of noise added, and non-destructive editing

105
Q

What is the difference between digital tape, hard disk, and DAW recording methods?

A

Digital-fixed and rotating heads
Hard Disk-stand alone unit, stores and reproduces as a signal that can be edited
DAW-can be interfaced to a host computer without several interconnections

106
Q

What are the differences between CD, DVD, SACD, and DVD-A formats? 


A

CD audio-red book(44.1 kHz,16 bit)
DVD video- same as CD(4.7 Gb/side)
SACD-4.7 or 9.4Gb, same as DVD
DVD-A- 96kHz=24bit or 192kHz

107
Q

What is MIDI and what is it used for? 


A

Allows 1 person to have total control over a number of instruments simultaneously

108
Q

What is the Nyquist Limit (Nyquist frequency)? 


A

A sound wave must be sampled at 2 times its frequency in order to pick up a peak and trough of the waveform

109
Q

What is sample rate?

A

Number of measurements taken per second

110
Q

What is bit depth?

A

Measures the amplitude of a sound wave

111
Q

What happens if we reduce or increase bit depth/sample rate?

A

Higher or lower quantization levels

112
Q

What is lossy compression and how does it reduce the file size?

A

Removes information from the input in order to save space for storage and internet transmission

113
Q

What is lossless compression and how does it reduce the file size?

A

Works by encoding redundant information with symbols and equations that take up less space

114
Q

What is lossless compression and how does it reduce the file size?

A

Works by encoding redundant information with symbols and equations that take up less space

115
Q

What are the time periods of the eras?

A

Acoustic: 1890-1925
Electric: 1925-1950
Analog: 1950-1980
Digital: 1980- Present

116
Q

What are the time periods of the eras?

A

Acoustic: 1890-1925
Electric: 1925-1950
Analog: 1950-1980
Digital: 1980- Present

117
Q

What did Samuel Morse invent and when?

A

Telegraph in 1844

118
Q

What did Edouard-Leon Scott invent and when?

A

Phonoautograph in 1857

119
Q

What did Alexander Bell invent and when?

A

Telephone in 1876

120
Q

What did Thomas Edison invent and when?

A

Phonograph in 1877

121
Q

What did Emilee Berliner invent and when?

A

Gramophone in 1888

Recording Technology (3 decks)

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