Final Exam Flashcards
What is the frequency rang of human hearing?
20-20k
What is the threshold of pain?
140 dB-SPL
What are the major structures of the ear?
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
What is amplitude and how is it measured?
volume and amount of energy in a sound wave measured in decibels
What is the equal loudness principle?
We do not hear all of the frequencies at the same loudness level
What is frequency, how is it measured, and how does it relate to pitch?
The number of times per second that a sound source vibrates, expressed in hertz. Perceived as pitch
What is the physical difference between low and high frequencies?
Low- long sound waves
High- short sound waves
What is the physical difference between low and high frequencies?
Low- long sound waves
High- short sound waves
What is a sound wave?
A vibration that travels through an elastic medium in all directions and is made up of compressions and rarefactions
How were recordings made during the acoustic era? What were the determining factors in choosing a song to be recorded during this era?
Made with mechanical recordings, and strong loud voices were determining factors
What is the difference between a sine, square, and triangle wave?
sine-no overtones
square-all odd harmonics sawtooth- odd and even harmonics
What is amplitude and how is it measured?
volume and amount of energy in a sound wave measured in decibels
What is frequency, how is it measured, and how does it relate to pitch?
Time it takes for one complete wave cycle, expressed in hertz. Perceived as pitch
What is the difference between a sine, square, and triangle wave?
sine-no overtones
square-all odd harmonics
triangle- odd and even harmonics
Who invented the disk record and what machine played them? Why was this technology a leap forward for the record industry?
Emile Berliner invented the disk record that was played on the gramophone.
What is the speed of sound in feet-per-second at 70 degrees? How does temperature affect it?
1129 ft/sec and density
What is a fundamental?
Lowest frequency in a complex tone
What are harmonics?
Specific overtones in whole numbers
What are overtones?
All frequencies other than the fundamental
What are overtones?
All frequencies other than the fundamental
What is constructive and destructive interference?
in-phase vs. out-of-phase
What is reflection?
Sound reflects off surfaces at an angles equal and opposite to the angle of incidence
What is diffusion?
Scattering of sound in all directions on a reflection from a surface
What is absorption?
Sound is ‘absorbed’ by surface material or sound is ‘reflected’ by surface material
Why was the invention of the microphone important to the electrical era? How did this affect recording techniques?
Improved frequency response, balance between singer and musicians and could adjust volume to avoid distortion
What kinds of microphones were used during the electrical era? Which was the first to be invented?
Carbon, moving coil, ribbon, and condenser. Carbon microphone was first invented
What innovation(s) enabled the LP and 45 rpm records to be successful?
Westrex “45/45”
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?
Classical music was the original intention, but was used for jazz and rock n roll
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?
Classical music was the original intention, but was used for jazz and rock n roll
What is a transducer? What are some examples?
Converts one form of energy to another.
Ex. microphone
What is a carbon microphone?
Microphones used in tv sets
What is a moving coil microphone?
A small diaphragm and voice coil moving in a magnetic field
What is a ribbon microphone?
Uses a metal ribbon attached to a fixed magnet,ribbon vibrates from pressure of sound waves
What is a ribbon microphone?
Uses a metal ribbon attached to a fixed magnet,ribbon vibrates from pressure of sound waves
What is a condenser microphone?
2 thin plates, 1 fixed/1 moveable, with a charge applied
Name the polar patterns
Omnidirectional- equal in all directions
Bidirectional-equal pick up from opposite sides of the mic
Cardiod- Sound from primarily one side
What factors determine microphone choice and placement?
Close or distant micing
What is phantom power and how does it get to and from the mic?
Provides power for condenser microphones, and travels through the mic cable
What is coincident micing?
90 degrees. 2 identical mics with minimal phasing
What is near-coincident micing?
110 degrees. 2 identical mics
What is near-coincident micing?
110 degrees. 2 identical mics
What is spaced pair micing?
2 indentical mics that create ‘phasing’
What is M/S micing?
2 complementary mics (1 directional and 1 bidirectional)
What is close micing?
What is distant micing?
> 3ft, picks up more sounds in the room, more instruments and spacing off mic, high phase cancellation
What is isolation?
Close micing, leakage, baffle/gobo
What is distant micing?
> 3ft, picks up more sounds in the room, more instruments and spacing off mic, high phase cancellation
What is isolation?
Close micing, leakage, baffle/gobo
What is meant by the 3:1 ratio when discussing microphones?
Each mic must be 3 times farther apart than from the source. reduced phase cancellation
What is input channel?
Preamp for signal, gain ‘trim’ for good level, pad to reduce gain if it’s too loud
Auxiliary (send/return)
Used to route and mix signals from output to and from effects, can be in pairs
EQ
Compensates for variations of frequency
Dynamics
Allows signals to be dynamically processed
Monitoring
Each signal is blended/balanced. Guides production decisions
Pan pot
Allows a creation of stereo imaging within two speakers
Output
Route for one or more signals to feed to another external location
Metering
Measures the electrical level of a signal at various points in signal flow, standardized on a volume unit meter using dB
Patchbay
A panel that contains accessible jacks for various inputs/outputs for things like effects
Who is Les Paul and what did he invent?
Discovered tape delay, echo, recording at different speeds, close micing, ‘digital audio’ idea, first overdubbing using sel-sync
Who is Les Paul and what did he invent?
Discovered tape delay, echo, recording at different speeds, close micing, ‘digital audio’ idea, first overdubbing using sel-sync
Where and with whom did Les record Chester and Lester?
Chet Atkins and RCA Victor studio
What studio were Beatles known for recording in?
Abbey Road
What is plate reverb?
Electromechanical transducer creates vibrations in a large plate of sheet metal. 1970’s
What is spring reverb?
transducer at one end of a spring and a plugin at the other to capture vibrations from the spring. 1940’s
What is digital reverb?
Uses signal processing algorithms to create a reverb effect. 1980’s
What is an acoustic chamber?
First reverb created using physical space as a natural echo chamber
What are the effects of duplicating an analog tape?
Noise and print through
What is the transport system in an analog tape recorder?
Tape transport, feed reel, take-up reel, and transport commands
What is capstan?
Steel shaft that always turns at a constant speed and pulls tape past the head
What is a pinch roller?
Squeezes tape against the capstan and the tape is pulled past the head when you push play
What is erase head?
Randomizes domains
What is record head?
Electrical to mechanical energy
What is playback head?
Mechanical to electrical energy
What is Sel-Sync?
Uses record head as playback head for previously recorded tracks and is only used in overdubbing. Invented by Les Paul.
What is Sel-Sync?
Uses record head as playback head for previously recorded tracks and is only used in overdubbing. Invented by Les Paul.
What is an analog processor?
Directly modified as signal passes through a system. (built-in and external only)
What is a digital processor?
Converts to binary and modified according to algorithm. (built-in, external, and plugins)
What do spectrum processors affect?
Frequency and amplitude response patterns
What do spectrum processors affect?
Frequency and amplitude response patterns
Shelving EQ
Boost or cut from a ‘corner’ frequency equally. (flat line)
Peaking EQ
Most common EQ. Frequencies adjacent to a ‘target’ frequency are affected and can be boosted or cut
Parametric EQ
Continuously variable frequency, bandwidth and gain control
Compressor
Decreases gain as input increases, volume increase that effects the dynamic range
Threshold
Level at which compression takes effect
Ratio
Rate of change between input and output
Attack & Release time
Attack- how long to start compressing after threshold has been met
Release- how long it takes for compressor to return to normal
Limiter
When compression ratio exceeds 11:1
Expander
Increase dynamic range, decrease gain below or increases gain above the dynamic range
Noise Gate
Allows a signal to pass at the threshold but block those of less amplitude
Time processors
Affect the time relationship of signals, ‘changes’ acoustic environment. ex. delay, reverb, flanging, etc
Time processors
Affect the time relationship of signals, ‘changes’ acoustic environment. ex. delay, reverb, flanging, etc
What EQ allows you to change the ‘range of affected frequencies’?
Peaking (Bell Curve) EQ
Which processor does this relate to? “There is too much mid frequency on the guitar.
EQ
Which processor does this relate to? “There are a few places where the piano is too loud.”
Compressor
Which processor does this relate to? “Can the vocals sound like I recorded in a Cathedral?”
Reverb
Which processor does this relate to? “Can you make it sound like there’s a group of me playing guitar?”
Delay
Which processor does this relate to? “Can you put some echo on my cowbell?”
Delay
Which processor does this relate to? “The guitar sounds good, but when I stop playing I hear the click track.”
Noise reduction
Which processor does this relate to? “The last note on the guitar solo was way off pitch-can you fix that?”
Auto tune
Who is Harry Nyquist and what did he contribute to digital audio?
Nyquist Theorum and Nyquist frequency
Why is digital recording different from previous recording methods?
Lasts forever without damage to original quality
Who is responsible for developing the MP3 and other data reduction systems?
Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG)
Which digital format was the ‘first step backwards’ by reducing the sounds quality?
MP3
What are the advantages of digital recording?
Can copy recordings without loss of signal, no addition of noise added, and non-destructive editing
What is the difference between digital tape, hard disk, and DAW recording methods?
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
What are the differences between CD, DVD, SACD, and DVD-A formats?
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
What is MIDI and what is it used for?
Allows 1 person to have total control over a number of instruments simultaneously
What is the Nyquist Limit (Nyquist frequency)?
A sound wave must be sampled at 2 times its frequency in order to pick up a peak and trough of the waveform
What is sample rate?
Number of measurements taken per second
What is bit depth?
Measures the amplitude of a sound wave
What happens if we reduce or increase bit depth/sample rate?
Higher or lower quantization levels
What is lossy compression and how does it reduce the file size?
Removes information from the input in order to save space for storage and internet transmission
What is lossless compression and how does it reduce the file size?
Works by encoding redundant information with symbols and equations that take up less space
What is lossless compression and how does it reduce the file size?
Works by encoding redundant information with symbols and equations that take up less space
What are the time periods of the eras?
Acoustic: 1890-1925
Electric: 1925-1950
Analog: 1950-1980
Digital: 1980- Present
What are the time periods of the eras?
Acoustic: 1890-1925
Electric: 1925-1950
Analog: 1950-1980
Digital: 1980- Present
What did Samuel Morse invent and when?
Telegraph in 1844
What did Edouard-Leon Scott invent and when?
Phonoautograph in 1857
What did Alexander Bell invent and when?
Telephone in 1876
What did Thomas Edison invent and when?
Phonograph in 1877
What did Emilee Berliner invent and when?
Gramophone in 1888
