THEORY OF AUDIO Flashcards
WHAT IS THE FIELD OF AUDIBLE SOUND?
-between 16,000 Hz to 20,000 Hz
-20Hz to 20kHz
-mechanical energy in the form of pressure fluctuations in an elastic medium
WHAT IS ACOUSTICS?
-the wave of mechanical energy transported through a medium
WHAT IS ULTRASOUND?
- sound with frequencies higher than 20,000 Hz
- higher than 20 kHz
WHAT IS INFRASOUND?
-sound is lower than 20 Hz
WHAT ARE WAVES LIKE IN LIQUID AND GASEOUS STATES?
-progressive longitudinal waves
(particle displacement parallel to direction of wave propagation, particles oscillate back and forth between their equilibrium)
WHAT ARE WAVES LIKE IN A SOLID STATE?
-progressive transverse waves and longitudinal waves can occur
HOW ARE SOUND WAVES DISTORTIONS?
-they do not transport environment particles only their oscillating movement
WHAT ARE THE SPEEDS OF SOUND IN DIFFERENT MEDIUMS?
-slowest in gases, faster in liquids, fastest in solids
WHAT IS SOUND PRESSURE?
- sound pressure, or acoustic pressure (p),
is the local pressure deviation from the ambient (equilibrium) atmospheric pressure, caused by a sound
wave
-max speed will have a max pressure
-lowest value of air sound pressure = 2.10^-5 Pa
-The Sound Pressure Level (SPL) is a logarithmic scale of sound pressure (p) defined relative to a reference sound pressure that is approximately the sound pressure of a 1000 Hz sinusoid that is just barely audible; its unit is dB (decibel):
L = 20 log (p/p0), where p0 = 2 x 10-5 Pa
WHAT IS SOUND INTENSITY?
-the energy that passes through the unit area perpendicular to the direction of sound per unit time (W/m(squared))
-threshold of hearing = 1x10^-12 W/m^2
-proportional to the square of the amplitude of the sound wave
-as sound waves travel away from their source, the energy is spread over a greater surface area causing a reduction in the intensity of the sound wave
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TONE AND NOISE?
A tone is a single frequency and is regular and periodic (vocal cords), while a noise is a single tone or a collection of tones and is irregular (drums)
WHAT FREQUENCY OF SOUND IS IMPORTANT FOR SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY AND WHICH THE EAR IS MOST SENSITIVE TO?
-2 to 4 kHz
WHAT IS THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE EAR?
-in the middle of the audible frequency range of about 120dB
WHAT IS FREQUENCY MASKING?
-the inability to hear two tones when they are playing simultaneously
WHAT IS THE SOUND WAVE?
-the pattern of disturbance caused by the movement of energy traveling through a medium (such as air, water or any other liquid or solid matter) as it propagates away from the source of the sound
-require a medium to transfer energy
WHAT IS PITCH OF A SOUND?
-an auditory sensation of a frequency
-depends on frequencies
-frequency is objective but pitch is subjective
-human brain determine pitch of a sound wave, it doesnt actually have one
WHAT IS TONE COLOUR / TIMBRE?
-the quality of a sound that distinguishes it from another
-determined mainly by its frequency spectrum
EG: difference between guitar and piano playing the same note
WHAT IS SOUND VOLUME?
-subjective term
-the determination of the sound which sound waves act on the pitch
WHAT IS SOUND INTENSITY?
-objective term
-sound power per unit area
-lowest value corresponds to the sound intensity threshold of hearing (0.00001 Pa), the highest sound intensity determines the threshold of pain (100 Pa)
-dynamic range of human hearing is 120dB
L= 10 log (I/I0), where I0 = 10-12 W/m2
-measured in dB HL (Thresholds below 20 dB HL are considered in the normal range, while thresholds above 20 dB HL are reported as the hearing loss (mild, moderate, severe or profound)
WHAT IS THE DOPPLER EFFECT?
-changes in the frequency of any sound or light wave produced by a moving source with respect to an observer
EG: ambulance siren being so loud when past you but quiet as it goes further away from you
COMMON DECIBEL LEVELS
WHAT IS THE WEBER-FECHNER LAW?
-perceived intensity is proportional to the logarithm of the stimulus
WHAT IS FREQUENCY?
-how often the vibration repeats
-expressed in Hz cycles per min
-distinguishes mechanical waves (infrasound, ultrasound, ultrasonic)
-at constant speed of propagation - wavelength is inversely proportional to frequency
(waves with higher frequencies have shorter wavelengths, and lower frequencies have longer wavelengths)
-objective
WHAT FORMS THE OUTER EAR?
-pinna and auditory canal
-role is to bring the soundwave to the eardrum at the end of the auditory canal
-role of the pinna is the reflection and focusing of the incoming sound wave to the auditory canal
-tympanum is the closed end of the eardrum which enhances the sound frequency range of 2-5kHz by its resonance
-air filled
WHAT IS THE MIDDLE EAR?
-air filled cavity behind the ear drum
-3 bones: hammer, anvil, stirrup which transmit vibrations to the oval window of inner ear
-pressure amplifier due to:
(i) area amplification due to approx. 15x larger area of tympanic membrane (eardrum) in comparison to the area of oval window and
(ii) a lever-type amplification of ossicles
-eustachian tube connects the chamber of the middle ear to the back of the nasopharynx, it equalizes pressure between middle ear and surrounding atmosphere
WHAT IS THE INNER EAR?
-cochlea is set in bone and filled by fluids
-3 spaces: scala tympani, scala media and scala vestibuli
-sound is transferred by the footplate of the stapes to the oval window of the cochlea which transfers the
vibrations into one of the fluid-filled ducts of the cochlea. The fluid inside this duct is moved, flowing
against inner hair cells - which are the receptor cells of the Organ of Corti. This stimulation is then
transmitted by the auditory nerve fibres, which send the information through the auditory portion of the
eighth cranial nerve to the brain
-High frequencies are transduced at the base of
the cochlea whereas low frequencies are
transduced at the apex - due to physical characteristics of the basilar membrane
WHAT IS TONOTOPY?
-the spatial arrangement of where sounds of different frequency are processed, which begins at the cochlea
-inner ear contains vestibular apparatus (3 semi circular canals and the vestibule) - sense organ of balance, motion and gravity
-hair cells are also receptor cells involved in balance stimulated by fluid in the canals, utricle and saccule
-firing of vestibular hair cells stimulates the vestibular
portion of the eighth cranial nerve
WHAT IS CONDUCTIVE HEARING LOSS?
-transmission of sound to inner ear is impaired due to impacted cerum, ear infection, calcification of the middle ear ossicles
-loss of sensitivity across the entire range of frequencies, commonly in only one ear
DIAGNOSTIC TEST: “bone conduction test”, where sound is delivered as vibration to the skull rather than as airborne sound to the ear canal
WHAT IS SENSORY NEURAL HEARING LOSS?
-most common cause of sensory neural hearing loss is damage to sensory hair cells (predominantly outer hair cells) in the cochlea, also caused by damage to the auditory nerve.
-noise damage or age related hearing loss
-in most cases irreparable - boost sensitivity through hearing aid
WHAT IS AGE RELATED HEARING LOSS? (PRESBYACUSIS)
-ear’s outer hair cells may also simply wear out as we age, leading to age related hearing loss.
-high frequency outer hair cells tend to die off
before low-frequency ones, possibly because the high frequency outer hair cells have to work harder if their job is to amplify acoustic vibrations on a cycle by cycle basis.
-patients with age-related hearing loss often have normal sensitivity at low frequencies, but progressively poorer sensitivity for higher frequencies