Week 1 - Introduction and Background Flashcards
What are the primary Pro Tools features?
- Multitrack audio recording
- Audio editing
- MIDI sequencing and editing
- Comprehensive mixing and mastering tools
- Formatted similar to an audio console
- Unlimited hardware options
- Sound synthesis and sampling
- Music notation
- Surround recording and mixing
- Audio postproduction for video
- Remote cloud-based collaboration
What is the ‘signal flow’, or the 3 parts, of how a sound is captured in recording?
- A sound source (Instrument, voice, etc.)
- Medium (air, water, solids for vibrations to pass through)
- Receptor (any device used to pick up the vibrations from the sound source)
What are the 3 basic parameters of sound?
- Frequency
- Waveform
- Amplitude
The frequency of a sound is measured in:
1. Cycles per second
2. Cycles per sample
3. Seconds per cycle
4. Seconds per sample
5. None of the above
- Cycles per second
Which of the following characteristics of a sound we hear is based upon its waveform?
1. Loudness
2. Pitch
3. Tone
4. Spaciousness
5. None of the above
- Tone
The sine waves that make up a complex waveform are called:
1. Fundamentals
2. Overtones
3. Periods
4. Cycles
5. Decibels
- Overtones
What is the range of human hearing?
1. 10 to 10,000 cycles per second
2. 100 to 100,000 cycles per second
3. 20 to 100,000 cycles per second
4. 100 to 20,000 cycles per second
5. 20 to 20,000 cycles per second
- 20 to 20,000 cycles per second
What of the following is a characteristic of digital audio?
1. Robust signals
2. Code can be manipulated by high-speed processing networks
3. Digital signal processing more versatile than with analog
4. Low cost
5. All of the above are characteristics of digital audio
- All of the above are characteristics of digital audio
A digital audio sample is a:
1. Snapshot of a signal, taken at regular time intervals
2. Snapshot of a signal, taken on an as-needed basis
3. Snapshot of a signal, taken twice every cycle of a sound
4. Average of a signal, taken over its full duration
5. Average of a signal, taken within a small time window
- Snapshot of a signal, taken at regular time intervals
In order to accurately sample a sound within the range of human hearing, the minimum sample rate is:
1. 20 Hz
2. 10 kHz
3. 20 kHz
4. 40 kHz
5. 96 kHz
- 40 kHz
Which of the following is a reason to consider choosing a high sample rate?
1. Transients contain much higher frequencies than sustained tones.
2. Some signal processing algorithms sound better using higher sample rates
3. Recordings made with higher sample rates have lower noise
4. All of the above are reasons to choose a high sample rate.
5. A and B only
- A and B only
The process of assigning a captured value to the closest available amplitude based upon binary word length is called:
1. Sampling
2. Resolving
3. Quantization
4. Aliasing
5. Conversion
- Quantization
What are the possible problems caused by quantization?
1. Wow and flutter
2. Pitch shift and distortion
3. Pitch shift and noise
4. Distortion and noise
5. Noise and print-through
- Distortion and noise
If a sound is higher in pitch, will the sound have a lot of cycles, or not a lot of cycles, per second?
A higher frequency means that the sound contains a lot of cycles per second.
Why do sounds like white noise not have a pitch associated?
Because white noise does not have a repeating pattern
What are the 2 methods of measuring signal level?
Signal level can be measured either by the instantaneous (peak) or average voltage.
In comparing the timbre of 2 instruments playing at the same pitch, what is different when you look at the signal through an oscilloscope?
The waveform shape is what will differ between two signals with different timbres.
What were the 2 electrical components, in terms of analog recording systems, that were developed that revolutionized sound recording?
- The use of electrical signals to represent sound
- the development of magnetic media for storing them
What is an electrical component that is utilized in every analog audio system?
Transducers
What is a transducer?
A device that converts one form of energy to another, maintaining an equivalent pattern.
What are a few examples of transducers, what type of energy that they take in and what do they convert to?
- Microphones: acoustical to electrical energy
- Record Heads: electrical to magnetic energy
- Playback Heads: magnetic to electrical energy
- Loudspeakers: electrical to acoustical energy
What are the consequences of converting sound from one form to another analogous state?
- It is possible to convey the subtlest details of a sound, due to analog having infinite resolution
- Noise, distortion, and other artifacts are always going to be present in the recording
How is digital audio captured and stored in a project?
Audio signals are represented by code that describes the characteristics of the signal. This code is communicated as a stream of binary numbers.
What are the benefits of capturing audio signals with digital audio?
- The signal is very healthy. Noise that would have been included in an analog system is not present in digital.
- The signal that is recorded can be manipulated very easily and very quickly.
- There is flexibility with working with digital signals in terms of what you can process
- Digital, compared to analog, is cheap
What is the most common method for digitizing/recording an audio signal into a DAW?
Sampling
What is digital sampling?
Sampling is where an audio signals’ amplitude is captured at regular time intervals with a binary number.
How should the sample rate be chosen for your recording project?
The sample rate should be at least twice as high as the highest audio frequency contained in the signal.
How do you restore the signal in between samples?
Filtering fills in the spaces and you’ll be back where you started
What is the highest frequency humans can hear?
20 kHz
What is considered a sufficient sample rate of high-quality encoding?
A sample rate above 40,000 samples per second
What are 2 reasons to use higher sample rates?
- Transient, percussive attacks contain much higher frequencies that 20,000 Hz.
- Some signal processing algorithms sound better using higher sample rates.
What happens to a signal when it is quantized?
Approximating values adds noise, and sometimes distortion, to the signal.
What is something you can do to decrease the amount of noise when quantizing a signal?
When recording a signal, if you use more bits per sample, there will be less quantization noise.
What is the standard bit per sample rate?
24 bits per sample
What are a few different
- Audio quality
- Processing power
- Input and output channels
- Software features
- Plug-in support
- Latency
- Video capabilities
- Compatible control surfaces
- Synchronization with external hardware
- Portability
- Expandability
- Wow factor
What factors determine audio quality in digital audio systems?
- Design and implementation of A/D and D/A converters
- Signal-processing algorithms
- Audio file parameters (sample rate and bit depth)
- Proper operating technique, esp. input levels and gain staging
What are some parameters you can work with to create high-quality recordings?
- Utilize the best-sounding plug-ins
- Work with the highest resolution audio file parameters
- Maintain careful operating practices
Can the system provide sufficient processing power for your work?
- Number of tracks
- Number of plug-ins
- Type of plug-ins
- Mixdown format (Stereo vs. 5.1)
- Complexity of mx automation
What are factors to take into consideration in terms of Inputs/Outputs?
- When recording, how many microphones can you simultaneously record?
- When mixing, how many channels are available for effects sends or returns?
