MUSC 218 Final Exam-Liberty Uni

Sound Pressure Level (SPL)

What is the term "the pressure of sound vibrating in air measured at a point in space" referring to?

No, it is a logarithmic scale

Is the decibel scale a linear scale used to measure the amplitude of sound waves

Periodic oscillations in atmospheric pressure

What is a good definition of sound?

The vertical distance from the crest or trough position of a waveform above or below the centerline

what is a good definition of amplitude?

Fletcher-Munson Curve

What is the name of the graph that represents the research on the frequency sensitivity of the human ear?

Comb Filtering

what term describes the frequency response caused by combining a sound with its time-delayed replica, creating a series of peaks and dips cause by interference?

Phase

What term quantifies the timing of a waveform's positive and negative values in relationship to the amplitude of frequencies?

Masking

what term best describes the phenomenon by which loud signals prevent the ear from hearing softer sounds?

1130 ft/sec

What is the velocity of sound at 70º at sea level through air?

the sound is completely cancelled out- silence

When two identical sound signals are combined exactly 180º out os polarity (polarity reversed), what is the result?

Headroom

What is the different between an audio's source's signal level and the highest peak level possible in an audio signal path or circuit before distortion occurs?

For every doubling of distance between a transducer and sound source, the measured sound pressure level drops by 6dB

What is the inverse square law as it applies to sound?

If the frequency response is not flat the original timbre of the sound will be artificially altered

Why is flat frequency response in equipment like speakers, microphones, and amplifiers typically desirable for audio applications?

No

Is color a characteristic of a waveform?

No, they oscillate at slower rates

Do low frequencies oscillate faster than high frequencies?

20,000 Hertz

what is the highest frequency humans can hear?

Dynamic range

The bit depth of a digital audio file directly determines the available _________ of the recorded audio?

true

According to the lecture, a master word clock source is required when combining multiple digital audio systems and formats together Ito a single system

False

Jitter is a rounding error to the nearest bit depth value when digitizing audio dynamics

Latency

Which of the following terms describes the time delay cause by the conversion of electrical audio signals to and from digital data?

Bit Depth

Which property of PCM digital audio represents the amplitude (dynamics) of the audio signal?

24 bit, 96kHz

Choose the digital audio resolution settings that would produce the best sonic fidelity

Nyquist-Shannon

Which theorem states that a waveform can only be sampled accurately when the sample rate is at least twice the signal frequency?

Dither

Which of the following processors is required to eliminate quantization noise when reducing the bit depth of a digital audio signal?

Aliasing

Which of the following terms is used to describe one frequency being incorrectly coded as another.

Microphone, Electric quitar pickup, Loudspeaker, Ear drum

What are examples transducer?

Proximity effect

What is the term used to describe the artificial bass boost that results from placing a directional microphone close to a sound source?

Cardioid, Omni-directional, Figure of eight

What are the types of microphone polar patterns?

Ribbon

What microphone type uses a diaphragm that is corrugated along its width and suspended within a magnetic field

Large Diaphragm Condenser

Which microphone is typical capable of being set to a variety of pick up patterns via a switch to control on the microphone?

Cardioid, Hyper-Cardioid

Which microphone pickup patterns are typically used for live sound reinforcement

Overload point or Maximum SPL

What microphones specification is important to note when placing a microphone on a very loud sound source?

Any mechanism that changes one form of energy into another, corresponding form of energy

What is the definition of a transducer?

Voltage required by condenser microphones for proper operation, typically 48V

What is phantom power?

False

T/F Dynamic microphones are called such because they offer the widest dynamos range response

True

Condenser microphones are called this because they convert sound energy to electrical energy based on a capacitor-type design

Large diaphragm condenser

Which of the following microphone technologies is the on most commonly used for recording modern vocals? (hint: its the same technology you use in the labs)

Vacuum tubes

Which amplification technology is generally considered to be the more musical, and therefore desirable?

Ribbon

Which microphone technology is said to have an operating principle most similar to the human vocal chords?

Condenser

Which microphone technology has the most accurate transient response?

XY

Which stereo microphone technique works only from level differences based on angling the microphones?

3:1

Which of these concepts is a guideline for multiple microphone placement on the same source to avoid negative phase cancellation effects?

Spaced pairs

Due to probable phase cancellation problems, which stereo microphone technique should be avoided when using directional microphones?

ORTF and spaced pair

Which stereo microphone techniques utilize both timing and level difference to translate stereo information to the listener?

Mic'ing an orchestra

What is a Decca Tree most commonly used for?

It depends on the sound you are trying to achieve

Which microphone placement is best for studio applications

False

T/F the concept of "double mic'ing" is just another way to express the concept of "stereo mic'ing"

Blumlein

Which of the following stereo microphone techniques is said to have the sharpest perceived focus?

true

Binaural microphone technique only sounds good over headphones

Neumann U47

Which of the following microphones is largely considered to be the best microphone ever made?

Shure SM57

Which of the following microphones can trace its lineage all the way back to woodstock?

True

On the vocal comp sheet the "take" columns are to be filled out with pencil during the vocal recording process as a means of tracking the quality/usability of the performances

True

On the vocal comp sheet the "comp" column is to be filled out with pencil after the recording process by listing to/auditioning each take and writing down the number of the chosen performance/take per phrase

true

A vocalist's proximity and orientation to their microphone must stay the same, generally, throughout the performances in order to capture consistent tone and signal level

-Expose one ear by pushing the headphones back on one side

-Adjust the the singer's headphone mix

-Adjust the overall volume level of the singer's headphones

-adjust the amount of reverb on the singer's voice

if a vocalist who normally sings in tune is struggling with pitch when singing in the studio, some strategies that could help are:

4

according to the techniques taught in this class, how many high-quality, usable viral takes should you have recorded for each lyrical phrase before choosing to end you vocal recording session?

False

A pop filter is not required on a vocal unless using the microphone outside

A chart where the producer keeps track of and rates vocal performance takes which is used as a guide when editing a final vocal performance track

What is a "comp" sheet?

True

naming pro tools tracks with the suffix ".01" allows for each newly created playlist to auto-name with sequential numbers -.02, .03, etc. thus matching the "tales" column numbers on a comp sheet

5

In pro tools, for the class project, there should be a minimum of how many total playlists on the lead vocal track (including the final "comped"/edited vocal)?

Solo- S

in pro tools, each playlist can be auditioned in context with the rest of the session by choosing 'playing view' and selecting what on the given playlist?

False

Adding a fade to an audio clip in pro tools is only necessary when they are touching/overlapping

True

A fade-in, fade-out, or crossfade is required for every edit of digital audio, regardless of the purpose or location of the edit

False

When comping a vocal take, the only factors to consider are the pitch and timing of the vocal performance

-Between phrases

-In the middle of "S"s, "F"s, or "TH"s

-Before or during a breath

Where are the easiest places to accomplish a seamless vocal edit?

True

Once you have completed your vocal comp editing, it is always best to listen to the final comp soloed, and at a louder level than normal to expose any flaws in the edit you have created

True

Audio editing can very often be done accurately by a trained eye, only using ears to double-check the work

Full/native resolution uncompressed (lossless) audio file

What form of audio file is recommended for upload to online music distribution services?

FLAC

what is an open-source audio coding format for lossless compression of digital audio?

True

transcoding is when an audio file undergoes audio data compression more than one, thus compounding the negative sonic effects of this process

90%

What percentage of audio data is removed when encoding an audio file as a 128kbps MP3?

High frequencies

What frequency range is automatically cut out when encoding MP3 files?

True

files encoded with a lossy format should never be used for audio production due to their significant loss in quality

WAV, FLAC , ALAC

What are the lossless audio formats?

ISRC code

Which of the following pieces of metadata serves as a serial number for a specific audio recording?

OGG

Which audio encode format is used by spotify?

Mastering

What part of the production process involves preparation of audio content and transfer to a master data storage medium for physical duplication and online distribution, and applies processes of critical listening, corrective signal processing and song sequencing?

Simulating the spacial perspective of the listener by placing audio elements in the complementary positions across the stereo soundstage

What is panning used for in music mixing?

True

Music mixes can be visualized in 3 dimensions- height, width, and depth

True

In order to achieve a greater sense of depth in your recording, you would add more time-based effects such as reverb or echo/delay

True

A best practice for the music production process is to capture ideal sound using the best talent, instruments and microphones techniques

False

Mastering was developed to aid in producing music on vinyl albums and is no longer considered a necessary aspect of the album production process

False

The process of creating a good mix begins after all recording and editing have been completed

False

A good audio engineer is not overly concerned with the next phase in the production process, but is instead laser-focused on doing the best job possible with the task at hand

Snare, kick, vocal, bass

what are the four most prominent elements in any given contemporary musical mix?

False

the most important thing that mastering contributes to a record is making everything louder.

True

Historically, mixing engineers were referred to as 'balance engineers'

Points

What term is used to describe the percentage of retail sales of music paid to the producer of a recording?

False

The music industry has historically treated artists fairly in their recording contracts

False

A top-market pop music recording production typically costs $80,000 per album

False

A record deal is required for an artist/band to have long term success in the current music industry

True

it is almost impossible in the modern music industry to have a successful career relying solely on record sales

-at your live performances

-as promotional material

-as a collectible

Although physical media as a means to distribute music is less important that it used to be, it; still valuable in what situations?

They collect royalty payments for songwriters

what is the function of a PRO?

True

An advance to an artist is essentially a loan from the record label that the artist needs to pay back via income from their record sales, tour income, merchandise, etc.

False

Air time on platinum radio platforms is no longer a major driver of success in the modern music industry

Songwriting

according to the class lectures, which of the following is the most valuable skill for generating income in the music business

True

Content posted on Facebook, no matter how engaging rarely goes "viral"

Invoice

What document is typically sent out to request initial payment for contract labor/services rendered

True

Most music gigs are found via word of mouth and relationship building