A level music technology

what is an envelope

the attack, sustain release and decay of a sound over time

what is the names for an oscillator on a synth

vco, osc, dco

what does an oscillator do in a synthesiser

generates the waveform(s)/ sound

describe the quality of white noise

a high pitched hiss

describe the quality of a triangle wave

duller than square wave

describe the quality of a sine wave

very smooth with 0 harmonic content

describe the quality of a square wave

hollow and woody

describe the quality of a sawtooth wave

rich and bright

what are the four types of analog wave forms

sawtooth, square, sine, triangular, white noise

How is sound measured

In decibels (dB)

How does dB increase

in powers of 10 (logarithmically )

State the human range of hearing

0-130dB

what is the threshold of hearing

0dB

What is the threshold of pain

130dB

What is frequency measured in

Hertz (Hz)

what is the human frequency range

20Hz to 20kHz

How is frequency measured/determined

through the number of cycles per second (c.p.s)

If frequency increases what else does?

pitch

if pitch increases what else dose

frequency

what is a rarefaction

A rarefaction is a sound wave region with spread-out air particles and lower pressure than surrounding areas.

what is timbre

the tone/ sound quality

define sound

physical kinetic energy traveling through a medium (usually air)

define harmonics

a member of the fundamental frequency that occur in a periodic waveform. (set of an integer/whole number)

what does the fundamental frequency determine

the pitch of the tone

what is the 1st harmonic

the lowest pitch in a harmonic sound

what does each harmonic increase by (e.g 1st, 2nd, 3rd harmonic)

e.g if the 1st harmonic is 2, the 2nd harmonic would be 4 and rhe 3rd would be 6. Each harmonic increases by the value of the 1st harmonic x number of the harmonic (e.g 1st harmonic value x 3 to find 3rd harmonic)

what is an inharmonic

An inharmonic is a sound wave that does not have a frequency that is a whole-number multiple of the fundamental frequency.

give an example of an instrument that is inharmonic

percussive instruments e.g the drums

what sort of wave would a pure tone with no harmonic frequency make

sine wave

what are mid frequencies

3-5kHz

what does the fletcher Munson equal loudness graph tell us

The Fletcher Munson graph shows how our ears perceive various frequencies at different loudness levels. At lower listening volumes we only hear mid frequencies

What is steven’s rule

above 2000Hz, perceived pitch goes up with increased loudness. Bellow 2000Hz, perceived pitch goes down with increased loudness

Define masking

if 2 sounds are at the same pitch, the louder sound will mask the other

define SPL (sound pressure level)

SPL stands for Sound Pressure Level, which is a measure of the intensity of sound waves in decibels (dB).

define phase

the position of a sound wave in time

define in-phase

In-phase refers to two or more waves that have the same frequency and are aligned and subsequently reinforcing their amplitude

define out of phase

"Out of phase" refers to two waves or signals that are not synchronized and have a phase difference between them subsequently cancelling their amplitude.

what happens if there are 2 identical waves, but wave b is 180 degrees out of phase wi

When do phase issues occur

* when multiple microphones are recorded on the same source (e.g 2 mics on a drum kick)
* when a DI box = microphone(s) are recorded on the same source
* samples layered with acoustic drums
* samples being stacked to create drum sounds
* different plug-ins being used on related tracks
* when parallel is applied

In what scenario are phase issues the most audible in a DAW

when the mix is summed to Mono

describe ways of fixing phase issues

* using a micro-delay plugin (e.g Logic/s sample delay)
* Manually moving the waveform
* Using an auto align plug-in
* using plug-in delay compensation in a DAW
* using the 3:1 rule with a microphone on the same source (e.g if the mics are 1ft from the source, place mics 3ft apart)
* use a goniometer (e.g phase scope/vector scope)
* use a phase correlation meter

What are the 2 types of microphones

dynamic and condenser

what is a transient response

the quickness of the microphone to respond to sound waves

what are microphones

transducers

what are transducers

something which converts acoustic energy into electrical energy

What are the 2 types of dynamic microphone

moving coil and ribbon

how are condensers polarised

permanently and externally polarised using phantom power

describe the moving coil microphone

* most widely used
* simple, rugged design
* broad frequency response
* limited transient response

describe a ribbon microphone

* incredible response to transient waves
* very fragile
* warm tone
* not all ribbons can tolerate phantom power

how does a condenser create sound

acoustic energy stimulates the diaphragm. Changes in the capacitance (the diaphragm itself) create an electrical analogue of the signal. The plates are charged by external power.

Compare the sensitivity of the 3 types of transducers

Condenser has a high sensitivity whereas moving coil is medium and ribbon is low

Compare the robustness of the 3 types of transducers

moving coil has an excellent robustness whereas condenser is good and ribbon is poor

Compare the sound quality of the 3 types of transducers

ribbon has an excellent sound quality whereas condenser is good/excellent and moving coil is good

Compare the affect of moisture on the 3 types of transducers

the dynamic microphones aren’t effected by moisture whereas condensers are

Compare how the 3 types of transducers are affected by movement

Moving coil and condenser is good under movement whereas ribbon is poor (as its very fragile)

Compare the reliability of the 3 types of transducers

all good reliability

Compare the cost of the 3 types of transducers

ribbon has a high cost whereas condenser is medium/high and moving coil is low

what sort of mics have directional qualities

all types

define spill

hearing sounds from one instrument to spill into another microphone (e.g the drum in the guitar microphone)

In what scenario would we want all round sound

in a church

define a non-directional mic

a microphone which picks up sound equally from all directions (omni-directional)

define omni-direcrional

a mic that can pick up sound in all directions equally.

define a directional mic

a mic which picks up sound from certain directions

what are the 3 main types of polar patterns

cardioid, super/hyper-cardioid and figure-of-eight

describe a cardioid polar patten

a heart shaped pattern which picks up sound from the front only (most common)

describe a hyper-cardioid polar pattern

narrowest polar pattern used when maximum rejection from the slides and back is required (image is hyper-cardioid)

describe the figure-of-eight polar pattern

a figure of eight shaped pattern used for maximum sound rejection from the sides

describe the super-cardioid polar pattern

slightly less narrow polar pattern used when maximum rejection from the slides and back is required

what happens to the bass of a song as you get closer to a directional microphone

it increases (bass boost)

what is the roll off switch on some microphones

a button which rolls off the bass, setting a high pass filter

what is the pad switch and what does it do

a switch which reduces the sensitivity of a microphone (normally -6dB)

define dynamic range

the distance between the loudest possible level and the lowest possible level expressed in dB

What sort of problems will recorders have regarding dynamic range

If the recording level is set too high the recorder will distort the sound at the loudest part.

If the recording level is set too low, quiet sounds may get lost in the mix

How can we solve problems recording dynamic range

using a compressor

Why does using a compressor solve problems regarding dynamic range

* A compressor acts like an automatic volume control
* Turns down the volume when the signal goes over a certain threshold
* helps to avoid overloading the recoding instruments with a wide dynamic range
* ‘flattens‘ the sound as the overall level goes up

when is compression applied

when tracklaying to control recording levels of instruments and vocals and at the mastering stage to give overall punch and loudness to a stereo mix

What are some negatives of using compression in a mix

* Transients can be destroyed
* clarity can be lost
* music can become monotonously loud

what are the 2 types of microphone placement

close miking and distant/ambient miking

how close is close miking

3-10cm from source

what sort of result does close miking give

tight sound (if too close 2 big instruments, only captures specific qualities)

how far is distant miking

3+ ft

what sort of result does distant miking give

more sound of the instument and more ‘room‘

what sort of mic should be used for close miking

dynamics for very loud instruments, condensers to capture the full quality

what sort of mic should be used for distant/ambient miking

condenser/ribbon

Describe the spaced pair (AB) mic technique

It involves two **microphones** positioned apart using the 3:1 rule, meant to capture the same sound source

Describe the coincident/crossed (XY) mic technique

two cardioid microphones placed on top of eachother diagonally in an X shape

Described the advantages of spaced mic techniques

* often uses omni polar pattern (smooth lows)
* spacious sound
* comb filtering when combined

what is comb filtering

when the same sound arrives at the listener's ears (or a microphone) at different times with a very small delay between the signals

describe a disadvantage of spaced mic placement

less precise

describe some advantages of coincident mic placement

* no comb filtering
* more detail
* less spacious

describe the middle and side mic technique

The middle mic is set up facing the centre of the sound source (either, omni, cardioid or fig-8) The side mic is aimed 90 degrees off-axis from the sound source (must be fig-8). when put into a daw the side mic must be copied and the phase reversed

what is the ORTF stero technique

2 microphones placed 17cm apart at 110 degrees angle

ORTF stero has a wider stero image than what crossed technique

XY

ORTF stero technique mimics what

the ears

describe the blumlein mic tehcnique

2 fig-8 mics placed in a 90 degree coincident configuration

what sort of sound does the blumlein tehcnique proudce

a spaceous sound with room ambience

what is the binaural recording technique

uses stereo (omni) microphones mounted on a human head (or head-shaped object) in order to create a fully believable ambient environmental sound recording, 

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Which type of EQ is best suited to live sound situations?

Graphic Equaliser

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Which type of EQ is most accurate for studio use?

Parametric EQ

Which type of EQ is found on 'tone' controls of a radio?

Which type of EQ is found on 'tone' controls of a radio?