IAT 340 note 1

These flashcards cover key concepts and vocabulary related to sound design, focusing on acoustics and digital audio processing.

Sound

The aural perception of pressure vibrations in a given medium.

Waveform

A visual representation that helps to analyze the various characteristics of a given sound.

Frequency

The rate at which a cycle of compression and rarefaction occurs, expressed in Hertz (Hz).

Amplitude

Measures the deviation from normal atmospheric conditions relating to sound pressure.

Phase

The starting angle in a 360-degree cycle of a sound wave.

Envelope

The variation of intensity of a sound through time.

Sampling Rate

The frequency at which sound is sampled, measured in Hz.

Bit Depth

The number of bits used to capture the range of possible amplitudes in digital sound.

Aliasing

A distortion that occurs when a signal is not sampled properly, leading to inaccurate representation of sound.

Quantisation Noise

The error introduced when a continuous signal is converted to a discrete representation.

Psychoacoustics

The psychological study of human aural perception, including pitch, loudness, and timbre.

Inverse Square Law

The principle stating that sound intensity decreases with the square of the distance from its source.

THRESHOLD OF HEARING

The minimum sound level that the average human ear can detect.

RMS (Root Mean Square)

A statistical measure of the magnitude of a varying quantity, often used to measure sound amplitude.

Decibel (dB)

A logarithmic unit used to measure sound intensity, which is a ratio compared to a reference level.

Pulse-code Modulation (PCM)

A method used to digitally represent analog signals by sampling the signal's amplitude regularly.