Learning Outcome 1

LO1 Understand the use of sound in interactive media products

Theory of sound: waveform (wavelength, amplitude, frequency); pitch; Hertz (Hz); decibel level (dB);

 

 

sound generator (loudspeaker) Basics of sound recording : signals; signal to noise ratio; analogue distortion; digital distortion; mono and stereo; sound recording media; digital audio file formats eg .mp3, .wav, .mid, .ogg, .wma, .aif

 

 

Analogue versus digital : comparison of analogue and digital sound; advantages and disadvantages of production techniques; issues with digitisation of analogue material; quality issues

Applications : interactive media products, eg websites, DVD interfaces, interactive presentations, computer games, mobile phone content

Use of sound : carrying dialogue; enhancing mood or tone; indicators, eg danger, impending action, emotion; guiding users; alerts; entertainment, eg streaming music

Article

Whether you are indoors or outdoors your acoustic environment could affect the sound you are recording.
When recording your sound inside, you may find that the area you are using produces echoes, this is because of surfaces in the room with reflective properties, causing the sound to reflect off the surface and travel around the room in the form of an echo.
Studios are used so that when recording all sound is encased within the recording area itself, the walls are usually lined with foam or carpet as these are very absorbent surfaces and the floor is usually wood as it also has good absorbent properties. Studio acoustics allow fine tuning sound quality to take place, the settings require strategic placement so that the sound may be absorbed to control effects such as reverberation and the acoustic materials that are used in the enclosed space are usually fibreglass and cotton for their unique properties.
When music is being recorded live, instead of using a studio they will use a ‘live room’; this is acoustically absorbent and partly reflective, which allows a varied sound, it is particularly suited to record instruments from the percussion family so that no interference can take place when recording for example a vocalist nearby or the vocalist being picked up on the drummer’s recording. A room with a lot of sound absorbing surfaces is called a dead room this has a high frequency, and little to no reverberation so that all the sound is captured in the most clear manner.


Indoor acoustics
The principles of sound and acoustics;
Sound and acoustics have many principles, such as all properties have some sort of acoustic material inside them, which is likely to absorb, reflect, or transmit the sound. Acoustic material is designed for the purpose of absorbing sound. The studying of sound can be divided into three sections: production, transmission and reception. All of these principles are needed to allow sound to occur. Acoustic principles are now used a lot in concert halls and auditoriums.
When using a studio to record the acoustics are clear, this is because the surroundings have a low frequency and are designed to block out any audio that is not coming from within the studio. Recording in a studio is the opposite to recording in a location such as a hall, when recording it is said that the studio would be ‘dead’ as no other sounds can come in contact with the recording system other than the sounds purposely made within the studio, whereas within a hall you would usually find an echoing effect making the sound perhaps sound more distant or as if the source is travelling.
Many different surface types have different reflective and absorptive properties, for example carpet is greatly absorbent when it comes to sound proofing. Alternatively a very reflective surface for sound proofing would be plastic.

Reverberation is similar to echo in the sense that it re-creates an echo of sound that sounds like a ‘humming’ tone of the just played note(s). It is often found in modern day music such as Rock and Electro; it is the most commonly used sound effect in music.
Soundproofing is used to keep sound encased. It is often used in recording studios and cinemas as a means of keeping the outside area quieter. Common materials used for soundproofing a room are: carpet, foam, wood, fibreglass and cotton. These all have uniquely good properties for absorbing sound. However the alternative is for reflective surfaces such as: glass, metal, brick, stone and plastic.
Outdoor acoustics
Outdoor acoustics have an entirely different working environment from indoor acoustics. There is a larger chance of there being background noise if you record something outside. There is also almost always a requirement for foam to be placed around a microphone.
Sound bites are a short sound clip taken from a larger piece of audio, a sound bite usually lasts between 15-30 seconds, sound bites were first introduced in the 1930’s.
When creating sounds you want minimal background noise, this is the background sound that you have behind the audio or soundtrack, by using a controlled room you can control the amount of background interference that is then on the track, you can also get rid of it entirely.
The unwanted noise is the noise behind the track which can be hidden by editing the sound on software such as Cubase or Reason, if recording outside the level of background noise will be higher as there will be more unwanted noise interfering such as cars or wind. Editing in the studio is the main way to get rid of these sounds or you can use the wind shield on the microphone, which is the most commonly used method as it is the most effective.
During recording outside the likeliness of having ambient sounds such as birds or cars is very likely, to make sure that there is only a small amount of ambience you must use the microphone wind shield when recording this makes these interfering sounds less likely to be picked up on the recording. When recording with a microphone the use of the wind shield is very important if the wind is high, this is because without the shield you will have the sound of wind in the back of the audio sound track, often it will even take over most of the recording and drown out the key thing you’re trying to record, such as dialogue. Most microphones for this are called boom mics.
Simulated acoustics.

Many different effects can be used when creating music such as:

Distortion, Which creates a warm, fuzzy , dirty sounds by compressing aand adding overtones.

Delay, Which records an input signal to an audio storage medium and then plays it back after a period of time.

Wah-Wah, this is produced by closing and opening the bell of an instrument such as the trombone, or trumpet.

Reverberation, this is produced when a sound is created in an enclosed space using a large number of echoes built up and then slowly decay.

Echo, Repetition of the sound by reflection of sound waves from an acoustic surface.

Phaser, this is an electronic sound processor, it creates a sweeping effect.

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The software that is used on the computers so that editing of sound and video can take place, there are many different programmes and software that can be used, the most popular programmes to use are Cubase and Reason.
Surround sound is a technique by sound reproduction and audio channels, by using additional and discrete speakers. Surround sound is created by a listening location where the audio works best, and creates a forward perspective in the sound field.
Mono and Stereo are two classifications of reproduced sound. Mono is the term used to describe sound that is only from one channel while stereo uses 2 or more channels to provide an experience much like being in the same room where the sound was created.
Indirect recording is when a soundtrack is recorded through a microphone but not directly onto a computer software system, the sound is recorded onto a system such as the H2 zoom, this is then connected to the computer via USB port and the sound is then copied onto the system, it is then edited on a system such as Cubase

Learning Outcome 2

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Microphones

Dynamic microphone

Most of you will have used a dynamic mic at sometime or another -- if it looks like a mesh ball on a stick, then it's almost certainly a dynamic model. In live sound, nearly all the mics used are dynamics, and in the studio, instruments such as drums, electric guitars, and basses may also be recorded using dynamic mics. Dynamic microphones have the advantages of being relatively inexpensive and hard-wearing, and they don't need a power supply or batteries to make them operate. So, how do they work?

Capacitor microphone

Capacitor mics have been around for several decades, and although modern capacitor mics do incorporate a few small technical improvements, the sound character has actually changed very little -- some of the best-sounding models were designed over 20 years ago. Basically, the heart of any capacitor mic is a pair of conducting plates, one fixed and the other in the form of a moving diaphragm. When the spacing between the plates changes (as it does when the diaphragm vibrates) the capacitance varies, and if a fixed electrical charge is applied to the capacitor, an electrical signal is produced which faithfully represents the diaphragm vibration.

electret microphones

There is another type of capacitor microphone, known as the electret mic. Despite inauspicious beginnings, these have now been developed to the point where they can rival true capacitor quality for a much lower price. Instead of applying an electrical charge to the microphone capsule via an external power source, electret mics use a diaphragm made from an insulating material that has a permanent electrical charge. A preamplifier is still needed, but this can be built very cheaply, and will run from a battery in some cases.

Unit Assessment Feedback Form

Assessor feedback. -
Production roles. Described a range of roles. Effects reading a copy of the info on the slides. File transfer. Better approach as had some understanding."

Student comments. -
In the next presentation I will be sure to put less information on the slides themselves. I will give a better understanding of certain topics in future presentations.

*NOTES*

http://prezi.com/bzcspuimq5ep/172-understand-conventions-in-audio-production-and-post-production/?auth_key=eac800daf161bf892f60425e16e2f92d55651390
helpful presentation link to our current work of processes and conventions of audio production and post-production, including legal issues.

ZOOM Setup

Step By Step Guide
• Press Menu
• Using the fast forward button keep pressing until you reach USB
• Press the Record button
• Two options Storage/input output Press fast forward
• Select audio input output
• Two options frequency/connect
• Select connect press the record button

Connecting the Zoom to the computer
• The Zoom H2 MUST be connected to the computer via the PCI card socket
• Open Cubase select new project
• Select empty M drive
• Select your personal folder
• Devices setup VST audio system
• Zoom H series ASIO
• Devices video player Quick Time
• File import video
• P drive first place for coursework
• TAND import Swiftcover car insurance
• Right click inspector column
• Add three mono channels

Indoor Location Recording

For the indoor recording we decided to do a Travis Barker interview. We recorded both with and without windshield in a small enclosed music practise room – D404, and an open corridor with a staircase in D1.

            For the first recording in D404, we did not use the windshield. There was no major background noise, the closest to background noise we had was movement of our feet or hands, which wasn’t very clear in the recording however still noticeable with it’s low frequency. The dialogue of the interview was very clear, however sounding dull with no echo due to the small enclosed room we were in. The only noticeable obtrusive noise in this recording was the removal of the windshield at the beginning of the recording.

            In the second recording, we used the windshield. There was very slight background noise of a nearby class in the middle of the recording, this noise isn’t entirely audible but still noticeable in a brief pause of the dialogue. The windshield made very little difference to the recording as there was no wind or major background noise to withstand, however noticeably the windshield did make the recording sound slightly more muffled than the recording without the windshield.

            After recording these, we tried another area – a corridor in D1 which gained the interview an echo, and made the dialogue seem to increase in frequency. In the first recording of this new area without a windshield, there was interference of a door opening which was subtle in the background, and a man walking down the staircase which became gradually louder as he came nearer the ZOOM H2 recording device, and quietened as he left the corridor. During these interferences the dialogue of the interview became slightly muffled behind these new noises. The second recording, with a windshield, the windshield drowned out the background noises as another door opened loudly with a higher frequency in comparison with the dialogue. There was also movement of our feet which echoed in the corridor but was muffled by the windshield, making the dialogue more prominent.

            The headphones used for the recording to monitor any interfering noises were useful as we were able to pick up on if there was any echo in the rooms we tried, what background noises there were and how it affected the recoding, and to decide before recording where the most suitable area in our locations for gaining different audible aspects would be.

            To conclude, the ZOOM H2 recording device picked up on different background noises of different clarity and frequencies throughout the recordings able to affect the clarity of the dialogue in the interview, the small enclosed area proved to be the best for clarity of dialogue as it had little to no space for audible echo. Whereas the more open area in the corridor proved to be more difficult to record clarity as there was more interference with a range of frequencies, often greatly affecting the recording dialogue. The windshield helped to counter the interferences as it muffled the background noise, making the dialogue more prominent in our recording.