Sound recording glossary improved
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The document is a glossary of terms related to sound design and production for computer games. It contains definitions for terms like Foley artistry, sound libraries, audio file formats like .wav and .mp3, limitations like mono audio, recording systems such as analog and digital, MIDI, software sequencers, and considerations for audio sampling like bit depth and sample rate. For each term, the student provided a short definition from an online source as well as how the term relates to their own production practice, such as using sound libraries to try different audio levels or saving files as .wav for flexibility.
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Sound recording glossary improved
- 1. Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1 1 Produce a glossary of terms specific to the methods and principles of sound design and production. Using a provided template, you must research and gather definitions specific to provided glossary terms. Any definitions must be referenced with the URL link of the website you have obtained the definition. You must also, where possible, provide specific details of how researched definitions relate to your own production practice. Name: Jake Hyatt RESEARCHED DEFINITION (provide short internet researched definition and URL link) DESCRIBE THE RELEVANCE OF THE RESEARCHED TERM TO YOUR OWN PRODUCTION PRACTICE? SOUND DESIGN METHODOLOGY Foley Artistry A Foley Artist is a person who creates (or re-creates) sounds for movies. For example, ifthe sound ofan actor's footsteps werenot recordedwell orlost whenthevoicewas re-recorded,a Foleyartistwill recreate them. http://www.mediacollege.com/employment/film/foley-artist.html This is relevant tomy ownwork because ifwe record alltheaudio and later realise that there werecomplications or backgroundnoisewecouldre-record that one section. Sound Libraries A collection of sounds stored onfile(for example onCDs, DVDs,or as digital audio files) http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/sound-library This gives us the ability todo many takes ofonescene trying newaudio levels andallows us to go backand choose the one that welikedthemost. My personalexperiencewith sound libraries is thatthey are very easy to access as I simply went to“View”and then ticked the option “Media Explorer” which allowedme tonavigate myhome directoryfor thefilewith allthesound inside.It was also easy to transferthe sounds fromthesoundlibrary tothe softwareas I directly dragged and dropped thesound with ease. SOUND FILE FORMATS Uncompressed An uncompressed videofileis a largerfilebutit's a betterquality video.when youcompress video ittakes upless space but the quality ofthepictureisn't as good. https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110602052237AAOmbvO Knowing this allows me tochoose betweenqualityandquantity ofthe audio ifwe only havea certainamount ofdisc space. .wav A Wave fileis anaudiofileformat. Usedprimarily in PCs. allows content developers to freely move audiofiles between platforms for processing,for example. http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Wave-file This file format would beusefulto me because whenI have theaudiorecorded I can move itfrom thestudioto my computereasily sothat itcan beedited. For my fist eversoundfileI decidedto
- 2. Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1 2 save it as a “.wav” itis very flexibleand easy to move but is also very simple to use and efficient. .aiff AIFF is short for Audio InterchangeFile Format,whichis an audioformat initiallycreated by AppleComputer for storing and transmitting high-quality sampledaudiodata. http://www.abyssmedia.com/formats/aiff-format.shtml I would use this file format ifI decided that I wantedmy audio tobe ofthe highest quality. .au Unix Audio (.au) files are UNIX-generated sound files.AU is a soundfileformatdeveloped bySun for the Unix platform for use on the Internet. http://www.convertfiles.com/file_type_description/AU_Audio_File.html Unix is a programme that is used by big name companies duetohow good the programmeis. IfI was touse this programmeI would havetosavethe files as “.au”. .smp SmartMusic PerformanceFile. Music file used by SmartMusic,a music practiceapplicationfor band,orchestra, and voice. http://fileinfo.com/extension/smp IfI used the programme SmartMusic to record my audio then this is useful to know. Lossy Compression Lossy compressiontechnologies attempt toeliminate redundant orunnecessary information. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/L/lossy_compression.html This is relevant becausewiththis file format I willbe able tosaveas much memory andspaceas possible. .mp3 MP3 achieves its powerfulcompression by stripping outa lot ofthesounds in a song whichour ears cannot hear, and using complex mathematicalalgorithms toreducefilesizes further. http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/guides/about-mp3s MP3 would be the best choiceifI wanted the smallest file sizepossible making theaudiofileloadquicker and be easierto move. AUDIO LIMITATIONS Sound Processor Unit (SPU) Sound processing unit, an integrated circuit specialized in processing audio. http://en.w ikipedia.org/wiki/SPU Using a specializedprocessing unit would be anadvantageas recording audio is what this was madeto do so it will be ofa highquality. Digital Sound Processor (DSP) Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) takereal-worldsignals likevoice, audio,video,temperature, pressure,or position that have been digitizedand thenmathematically manipulate them. ADSP is designedfor performing mathematical functions like"add", "subtract", "multiply"and "divide"very quickly. http://www.analog.com/en/content/beginners_guide_to_dsp/fca.html This would beefficientas this DSP automatically does thecalculations meaning that I wouldn’thaveto personally do it myselfas that could take up precious time. Random Access Memory (RAM) A type ofcomputer data storage. ARAMdevicemakes is possible toaccess data in randomorder, which makes it very fast to find a specificpieceofinformation. http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/what-is-random-access-memory-ram-definition-history-quiz.html#lesson A RAMcould be usefulto meas I will have manyaudiofiles stored in one place and willbedifficult to find a certainoneby listening to themall,the RAM would increasethespeedofthis process immensely. Mono Audio Mono or monophonic describes a system where alltheaudio signals aremixed together and routed through a single audio channel. http://www.mcsquared.com/mono-stereo.htm This could bea limitation because mixing the audiosignals together cause could overlapping orfor someparts to be louder than others. Stereo Audio True stereophonicsoundsystems havetwo independentaudio signalchannels. This potioncould bebetteras I could
- 3. Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1 3 http://www.mcsquared.com/mono-stereo.htm monitor both theaudio signal to ensure that everything is rightwith each of them. Surround Sound Surround soundaudiois, simplyput,soundthat completely surrounds you. Itmeans a speakerin virtuallyevery corner ofthe room, projecting high-quality digital sound at youfrom allangles. http://peripherals.about.com/od/speakersandheadphones/a/whatis_ss.htm Surround soundcould beuseful ifI wanted the viewerto experiencethat someonewas behindthem meaning that only the speakers behind them would be playing that certain audio at that time. I did use surround sound on some ofmy audio so that thepanning I did would work and sounds like the person or objectis moving away from you which creates a niceeffect inthe end product. Direct Audio (Pulse Code Modulation – PCM) We are understanding itas general digital audio processing with volume samples generated in continuous timeperiods. http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/alsa-lib/pcm.html This is usefulbecauseit allows tocheck the volumeoftheaudioatintervals. AUDIO RECORDING SYSTEMS Analogue Captures the changes in air pressure createdby a sound waveand translates itinto a small electricalvoltage.This produces a continuous representation ofthesound or an analoguesignal. http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zn4pyrd This is relevant as I willberecording the audio in a professional studiomeaning that the airwill stay thesameso only when my I talkwill the mic pickanything up. Digital Mini Disc A pre-recorded MiniDisc is exactly likea CD, a MiniDisc uses a digital compression technique calledATRAC(Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding) whenstoring music. http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question55.htm IfI wanted me audioto beput ona disc but also compressed then I wouldusea mini disc. Compact Disc (CD) A compact disc, also knownas a CD, is a plastic optical disc witha metalized surfacethat is usedfor digitalaudio storage. http://www.cd-info.com/cd/ IfI didn’t wantmy audio to be compressed but also easyto transport and share withother peoplethenI would usea regularCD. Digital Audio Tape (DAT) DAT(Digital Audio Tape) is a standardmedium and technology for the digitalrecording of audioon tapeat a professionallevel ofquality. http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/DAT-Digital-Audio-Tape Digital audiotapes areoutdated around this timeand havebeenreplacedwith the CD but ifI was to useonethenI would definitely geta professional quality ofaudio. MIDI MIDI itselfdoes not makesound, itis just a series ofmessages like "note on,""noteoff,""note/pitch,""pitchbend,"and many more. http://www.instructables.com/id/What-is-MIDI/ These messages cantell mewhatthe mic has picked upand whenthevolume lowers or raises etc. This is usefulas I can easily findwherea problemis. My personal experience withusing the MIDI instrumentis thatI thought it was simple touse andit was easy to change and select whateffect you wanted to have on thesound. However there were
- 4. Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1 4 elements that you had toget used to like once you setthelengthofthe track then you can’tchangeit. I did experience problems with this atfirst either making thetracks toolong ortoo short but eventuallyI adjusted. Software Sequencers An electronicdevice orsoftwareprogram thatdigitally stores sound for modification and playback througha synthesizer. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sequencer This is relevant as it stores theaudio straightawaydigitally allowing it tobe changed and modified instantly speeding up the process. Software Plug-ins A hardware or softwaremodulethatadds a specificfeature orserviceto a larger system. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/plug_in.html These areusefulto addfeatures thatI could useto a programmethatwouldn’t originally havethem. Using the plugins was simpleand was easy toimport them in even thoughit took a whilejust due to the amount ofof plugins that I was adding totheprogramme. The plugins thatI usedwere mainly VST which wouldmodify how a pieceof audio will sound and VSTI’s which allowedmeto createmy own sounds. MIDI Keyboard Instruments A MusicalInstrument Digital Interface (MIDI) keyboardis a musicalinstrument likea piano keyboard.The MIDIportion indicates thattheinstrument has a communication protocol built inthat allows it tocommunicatewith a computeror other MIDI-equipped instrument. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-midi-keyboard.htm I could usethese instruments toadd backgroundmusic or certainsound effects easily. Whencreating a new sound for myselfI used MIDIwhich was actually straightforwardandeasy to understand. Theonly issuethatI had with MIDI is that you couldn’t change the lengthofthe track afteryou had already set it soyou hadto knowthe exact lengththetrack would need tobe. AUDIO SAMPLING File Size Constraints - Bit-depth a certainvaluesetfor describing theresolution ofthesound data (samples) thatis to becaptured and stored inan audio file--this attributeis calledBit Depth. http://mp3.about.com/od/glossary/g/Bit-Depth-Definition-What-Does-Bit-Depth-Mean.htm IfI wanted my audio tohave a high resolutionthen I would haveto deal with the highBit Depth andlowering the Bit Depth wouldmeana lower resolutionfor my audio.When working in the boundaries ofbit-depth it meant that I couldhavea really highquality sound but thatwouldtake longer to render and wouldtake upmorespace but putting the bit depth too low would make my audiosoundterribleand unprofessional.
- 5. Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1 5 File Size Constraints - Sample Rate Sampling rate or sampling frequency defines thenumber ofsamples per second(or perother unit) takenfrom a continuous signal tomakea discreteor digital signal. http://www.digitizationguidelines.gov/term.php?term=samplingrateaudio I would personally take samples ofthe audio frequently and listen over themto ensure that thesound is goodand that the voices areclear and understandable. This was moreor less the sameas the bit-depth constraints.