QUESTIONS From WEEK 2

1. What is sound?

Vibrations that travel through a median whose frequency can be heard by vertebrates

2. What causes sound?

Vibrations that move your eardrum back and forth

3. What is “Phase”?

How far along a waveform is in it”s cycle

5. Why is phase important?

Two signals can cancel each other  if they are each other’s opposite you have to invert the phase of one

6. What is the relationship between the frequency of a sound wave and its wavelength?

The higher the frequency the shorter the wave length

7. What is Frequency?
The rate at which a vibration occurs determines pitch

Low frequency- omnidirectional

High- very directional

8. How high and how low (in Hz) can a person with excellent hearing hear?

20hz- 20khz

9. What is Amplitude?

How much energy is there, how far the pressure swings high and low from cycle to cycle

10. What is Timbre?

The tone quality that a particular sound has, changes waveform

11. What are Harmonics (also called “Partials”)?

Frequencies that are present in any sound that are not the lowest frequency

HOMEWORK FOR WEEK 3

1. What are the two qualities of microphones that divide them into various categories?

Pattern, How they create signal

2. What are Polar Patterns?

The mic’s sensitivity to sound relative to the direction or angle in which the sound arrives

3. What are the three basic categories of polar patterns?

Omni-driectional, bidirectional, unidirectional

4. What is the difference between cardioid, super, hyper, and ultra cardioid patterns?

The more intense the cardioid pattern the more directional the mic becomes, meaning the more favorable the mic becomes of only detecting signal from a specific area and canceling out other sources

5. What is the Theory of Electromagnetic Induction?

The theory states that a conductor placed in a changing magnetic field will cause a production of voltage

6. How do moving coil and ribbon microphones work?

In a moving coil mic the sound waves strike the diaphragm and move it back and forth the diaphragm is mounted on a coil which also moves back and forth

In ribbon mics, a ribbon of conductive metal moves in- between two magnets as the air pressure changes, and a current is produced

7. How does a condenser microphone produce a signal?

Uses voltage from a capacitor

8. What is phantom power and why does it not compromise the audio signal?

Phantom power is what gives power to a condenser mic it is the 48v signal that is sent to the mic and it does not compromise  the audio because the board does not detect it as audio

9. What is the 3:1 rule, and how much “Isolation” does it provide?

-9.2dB If you are using 2 mics place the 2nd one 3 times further away from the source that the first to avoid phase issues

10. Why might a small diaphragm condenser mic sound different from a large diaphragm mic? The diaphragms are different sizes and different frequencies do better with different sizes of diaphragms

11. In Pro Tools, how can you “erase” or “cut” sections of recorded waveforms?

Select what you would like to erase and press delete

MULTITRACK AUDIO PRODUCTION

Questions for Week 4

Due by 4:00 on Tuesday, Week 5

1. What is coincident micing and what is good about it?

This is a type of micing with directional microphones. Where the microphone are stacked right of top of one another. Where the left mic is facing the right of the ensemble and the right mic is facing the right of the ensemble, with about a 90-degree angle in between them. In this micing there is a lack of difference in time arrival and almost no chance of phase issues.

2. What is near-coincident micing and what is good about it?

Near-coincident micing is where two mic are placed right next to each other then spread  with the end of the mics  closer to each other and distance between the front of the cardioid. Gives a wider stereo image and replicates human hearing

3. What is a spaced pair and what is good about using it?

Two cardioid microphones are placed apart from each other. If you’re micing an instrument you can collect sound from two different areas on the instrument one spot might have a richer bass with the other might have a sparkling treble this micing you can get both sounds.

4. What is X-Y micing and what is good about it?

X-Y micing is where the left mic is facing the right of the ensemble and the right mic is facing the left of the ensemble, with about a 90 degree angle between them. The mics are staked on top of one another. This is good for eliminating phase issues.

5. What is ORTF micing and what is good about it?

ORTF micing  is where two mic are placed right next to each other then spread at a 110-degree angle with the end of the mics touching and a 17cm distance between the front of the cardioid mics. Gives a wider stereo image and replicates human hearing,

6. What is the advantage of having a 110-degree angle between cardioid mics when recording to stereo? It gives a wider stereo image than x-y recording and eliminates the center emphasis

7. What is the Blumlein system? Two bidirectional mics staked on top of each other

8. What is proximity effect? Increase in bass frequencies as a directional mic approaches the sound source

9. What is the key command for “Save” in Pro Tools? Command S

10. What are the key commands in Pro Tools for zooming in and out (looking at waveforms)? Command [ and ]

Answers for Week 5 Questions

1. An overdub is a recording done over an already existing recording

2. A “punch in” is an overwrite of a section of a previously recorded track. This used to be extremely difficult in early recordings

3. It’s better to mix at lower volumes because everything sounds better when it’s louder. Full level and low level different systems

4. Reverb content, High frequency roll off and volume all determine the depth in a mix

5. The advantage of monitoring through headphones is that you can mix the recording according to a how a majority of you listeners will be hearing your mix. Clarity. No room acoustics

6. However, the disadvantage when monitoring through headphones is that you can easily damage you ears by listening too loud and you don’t get the effect of listening in a room, panning and depth are very hard to judge as well

7. Resolution. Number of bits of information in each sample, and it directly corresponds to the resolution of each sample

8. A to D is Analog to Digital

9. DAC is digital to analog converter

10. I would use a fathead and a 441 (this is what I did Sunday). I’d line the fathead up  with the bridge about a foot off and then put the 441 about a foot off lined up with the 12^th fret and then I’d pan each mic to different sides of the stereo.

11. I would isolate the guitar amplifier in a separate room and use an Ev308 right up on the amp and slightly to the left as well as a room mic TS2 a few feet away off center

1. What does binary mean?

Binarynumbers developed as a symbolic representation of computer circuits, which can be thought of as a series of switches that are either on oroff.

2. What is the advantage of using binary coding instead of the decimal system?

3. What does Signal-to-Noise Ratio mean?

SNR is a measurement that describes how much noise is in the output of a device, in relation to the signal level

4. What is Dynamic Range?

Dynamic range is the highest and lowest volume that a mic or circuit can get

5. What are the 4 basic controls on a compressor (not all are always present)? Attack, Release, Ratio, Threshold

What are some other controls that MIGHT be on a compressor?

-Parallel Compression is where you can here the original as well as the compressed signal simultaneously

-Multiband Compression

6. What is unity gain?

Unity gain is established by calibrating two pieces of equipment to talk at the same level

7. What does Gain Reduction mean?

What a compressor does, regulates the amplitude of the signal and dynamic range

8. Why do meters on Compressors start at “0” and move backwards?

Compressors control dynamic range if 0 is the normal dynamic range a compressor will limit that represented in negative wile expanders would extend the dynamic range and be positive

9. A gain of “minus 4” is equal to what “ratio” on a compressor?

4:1

10. What is a good Compression Ratio to use for vocals or bass guitar?

Between 8 and 4:1

4:1 ratio seems magic for basses

11. What is a good amount of Gain Reduction to set on a vocal or bass guitar? About -6dB

12. What is Multiband Compression?

This is where the signal is split into multiple signals. Each signal possesses a different frequency range an each is going to a different compressor, which compresses each set of frequencies differently

MULTITRACK QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 7

Part Two is DUE at 4:OO PM, Tuesday of Week 8

Part Two:

1. What is the difference between Peaking and Shelving EQ (filter) responses? Peak filters cut or boost the level when it goes above or below a certain frequency. A shelving filter will cut or boost everything above or below a certain frequency and it will stay constant on the track.

2. What does “Parametric” mean, and what three things must a parametric EQ be able to do in order to warrant the name? A parametric EQ has control over the frequency, boost, and cut, of the peak. Control the parameters

3. What do you call the loudest frequency in a band pass filter?

The Center Frequency

4. Describe in detail how you create an Auxiliary Track in Pro Tools, and how you could send signal INTO it via “Bus 7”

Select new track and make it an aux track. Then in the mix window change the i/o to bus 7 for that channel

5. How could the Aux Track you just described be used to add reverb to various tracks of the mix (how would you set that up)?

Put the track you want to add reverb to on a bus and send then through the same aux track after adding the reverb to that aux track

6. Describe in the detail process of “Bouncing to Disk” in Pro Tools, then how to burn that bounced file as an Audio CD in “Toast”.

Go to file, then bounce to, then to disk, you can select mp3, wav, aiff, ect. Aiff is the best to use this summer. Open toast and import the track you just bounced and burn it to a disk

7. What is the function of a Direct Box (DI) and how do you hook it up?

The DI box allows you to plug an instrument directly into the mic input without an amplifier and straight into the mixer. No mess. Good for basses.

8. What was the greatest challenge you faced when creating your “Drop-In Mix” for week 8?

Pretty much just trying to set up the TS1 without getting feedback or buzz in the monitor in the recital hall. Overall it worked really well and it was easy to blend the drop in instrument with the track

9. What do you feel you understand the least and want to brush up on?

I want to understand compression more and when to use it and how to use it most specifically with vocals