Sound Theory Flashcards
To establish basic knowledge of the principles of sound and the language of music.
What is the definition of:
Frequency
Frequency -
Frequency is the speed of the vibration, and this determines the pitch of the sound. It is only useful or meaningful for musical sounds, where there is a strongly regular waveform.
What is the SI unit that frequencies are measured in?
Hertz (Hz)
What is the definition of:
Wavelength
Wavelength -
the distance between each successive compression (or rarification) crests of a sound wave or electromagnetic wave.
What is the definition of:
Amplitude
Amplitude -
Amplitude is the fluctuation or displacement of a wave from its mean value. With sound waves, it is the extent to which air particles are displaced, this amplitude of the sound is experienced as the loudness of the sound.
What is the definition of:
Phase
Phase -
Phase is defined as how far along its cycle a given waveform is. The measurement of phase is given in degrees, with 360 degrees being one complete cycle.
What is constructive and destructive interference?
When two waves meet in such a way that their crests line up together, then it’s called constructive interference. The resulting wave has a higher amplitude. In destructive interference, the crest of one wave meets the trough of another, and the result is a lower total amplitude.
What is the definition of:
Bandwidth
Bandwidth -
Is the difference between the highest and lowest frequencies carried in an audio stream
What is the definition of:
Velocity
Velocity -
Is a core part of how MIDI operates and gives you control over the feel and volume of notes. it is a measure of how rapidly and forcefully a key on a keyboard is pressed when the player initially presses the key.
What is the definition of:
Period
Period -
The time it takes for a wave to complete one cycle is it’s “Period”
What is the definition of:
Harmonic
Harmonic -
A harmonic is a signal or wave whose frequency is an integral (whole-number) multiple of the frequency of some reference signal or wave
What is the definition of:
Timbre
Timbre -
In music, timbre also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or tone. In simple terms, timbre is what makes a particular musical sound have a different sound from another.
What is Acoustic Envelope?
Acoustic Envelope is the attack, sustain, and decay of a sound. Attack transients consist of changes occurring before the sound reaches its steady-state intensity. Sustain refers to the steady-state of a sound at its maximum intensity, and decay is the rate at which it fades to silence.
what is a chromatic scale?
The chromatic scale or twelve-tone scale is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each semitone rise is an increase of approximately 105.9%.
