VID102 DAY 1
Class Schedule Course Overview Syllabus Review Course Site Contact Sheets Lecture
Careers in AudioPrinciples of soundDiscussing SoundtracksWhat is Sound Design?Acoustics and PsychoacousticsDiscussing SoundtracksEquipment Policies
Questions What would you like to get out of this
class? What are you most interested in learning
about? Why are you taking this class?
Weeks 1-2 Principles of Audio Weeks 3-4 Production Audio Week 5 Midterm Weeks 6-10 Post Production Audio Week 11 Final
Course Outline
TEXTBOOKSound in Media 9th Edition
NOTES COURSE WIKI
Vid102.wikispaces.combbrownsound.com.moodle – coming soon
ASK QUESTIONS!!!!!
Requirements for Success
What does the term soundtrack mean? If a tree falls in a forest does it make a
sound? What is sound design? What are stems? Why is sound important to film?
Questions
Careers in Film Audio Production Mixer Boom Operator Utility Sound Supervisor Librarian Field Recordist SFX, Foley, DX, ADR, MX – Recordist, Editor, Mixer Foley Artist Rerecording Mixer Engineer Transfer
Audio Related Fields Aerospace, industrial, and military development and
applications Audio equipment design, manufacturing, and distribution Audio in medicine, security, and law-enforcement applications Audio/visual media for industry, government, and education Broadcast station and network operations Communications systems, such as telephone, satellite, and
cable TV Consumer audio equipment, sales, and services Motion picture distribution and exhibition Professional audio equipment, sales, and services Record preparation and distribution Sound equipment rentals and installations
Names to Know… Walter Murch Ben Burtt Randy Thom David Stone Steve Flick Gary Rydstrom Greg Hedgepath Ren Klyce
Films to Know… Star Wars The Godfather Wall – e The Conversation Apocalypse Now Dracula Eraserhead Terminator 2 Inception The list goes on….
1. Emotion (51%)2. Story (23%)3. Rhythm (10%)4. Eye-trace (7%)5. Two-dimensional plane of Screen (5%)6. Three-dimensional space of action (4%)
A films soundtrack is defined as….The combining of all the stems into a
finished mix The following chart will outline the stems
of a film soundtrackStems are the component parts of a film
soundtrack
The Soundtrack
Stems
Film Sound Dialogue
ProductionADR
MusicSourceUnder Score
EffectsFoleyHardDesignBGs
PropagationThe way in which a sound radiates from a
source and interacts with its environment Capture
Recording the sound to a medium Editing Mixing Analog vs. Digital
Understanding Sound
Before we can begin discussion creative ways to use sound in film, we must first understandHow sound is createdHow we can capture soundUnderstand the way sound guides our
emotions
Question
The range of human hearing is roughly 20Hz – 20kHz
Hearing and Listening are two separate tasks Pitch is our perception of Frequency which is
measured in Hz Frequency is the number of cycles per second The length of waves
Lower frequencies are longer than higher frequencies Equal Loudness Curve
At louder levels we perceive frequencies equally, at lower volumes the mids are accentuated and highs and lows are rolled off
Hearing
BinauralHearing with two functioning ears ILD and
ITD Hearing vs. listening
We are always hearing but not always listening
Cocktail effectAbility to focus on a single source of audio
and filter out others
Hearing Continued
Lower frequency sounds are less directional and therefore more likely to scare us
Higher frequency sounds are more directional
Frequency
Volume/Loudness is our perception of Amplitude
Level is a measurement of the loudness of a sound in dB typically called dB SPL
SPL = Sound Pressure Level Threshold of Hearing is 0 dB Threshold of Pain is 130 dB
Loudness
Sine Square Triangle Sawtooth
Basic Wave Forms
Wave Forms
Sound comes from a source (direct) and interacts with the space
Inverse Square LawFor each doubling of distance from the source, the level
of a sound is cut by a quarter Compression Rarefaction the opposite of compression Reflection Absorption Resonance ADSR –Attack Decay Sustain Release
Sound Radiation
2 Sounds in phase will add 2 sounds 180 degrees out of phase will
cancel each other
Phase
Dynamic RangeMeasurement from the quietest point to the
loudest point of program material Peak vs. RMS Metering
Measure highest point vs. averaging of peaks
Dynamic Range
Noise Pink and White Noise – for testing Noise is unwanted sound Noise Floor
The inherent noise of the space and the equipment that will be present
S:N
27
Sound Characteristics
Compressions and Rarefactions molecular disturbances
28
Basic Acoustic Comparisons Pitch Frequency
Loudness Amplitude
29
Waveforms Transverse Longitudinal Periodic Complex Periodic Random or Aperiodic
30
Waveform Characteristics Frequency Amplitude Wavelength Velocity Envelope Harmonics Surface Effects and Propagation
31
Frequency Defined Cycles Hertz Range of Human Hearing
20 Hz–20,000 Hz or 20 kHz
32
Amplitude Defined
Atmospheric Pressure Volume is our perception of Amplitude
33
Root Mean Squared (RMS)
RMS = 0.707 * Peak Values of a sine wave
34
Decibels and Intensity Bel Watts per meter squared
35
SPL and SIL The decibel scale
36
The Law of Conservation of Energy – Inverse Square Law
37
Speed of Sound Standard 344 m/s V = 0.6 m/s * Y
38
Envelope
39
Harmonics
Fundamental Frequency
40
Surface Effects Reflection Diffusion/Scattering Absorption
41
Surface Effects Diffraction
Surface Effects Refraction
Check Out Procedures All cage reservations must be made in
advance of assignments Audio Professor Signature REQUIRED
for use of the recording booth All equipment must be returned and any
problems immediately reported
For Next Class Journal #1 Reading from Alten
VID102 DAY 2
Class Schedule Turn in Journals Discussing Soundtracks What is Sound Design? Acoustics and Psychoacoustics Discussing Soundtracks
Models for discussion Chions Mode of Listening
3 types…CausalSemanticReduced
Stem Analysis
Sound Categorization Chion
Acousmatic (off-screen) sound○ sound one hears without seeing their originating cause - a
invisible sound source. i.e. Radio, phonograph and telephone○ Either we hear and then we see or we see and then we hear
The first cause associates a sound with a precise image from the outset. This Image can then reappear in the audience mind each time the sound is heard off screen
The second case, common to moody mystery films, keeps the sound´s cause a secret before revealing all. (De-acousmatization)
Visualized (on-screen) sound○ sound accompanied by the sight of its source or cause. In film
a onscreen sound whose source appears in the image, and belongs to the reality represented therein
Sound Categorization Chion Anempathetic sound
seems to exhibit conspicuous indifference to what is going on in the film's plot, creating a strong sense of the tragic. ○ a radio continues to play a happy tune even as the character who first
turned it on has died ○ in a very violent scene after the death of a character some sonic process
continues like the noise of a machine, the hum of a fan, a shower running as if nothing had happened. (In Antonioni´s The passenger - the electric fan, in Hitchcock's Psycho - the running shower)
Empathetic sound music or sound effects whose mood matches the mood of the action
○ In Jonathan Demme´s Silence of the lambs when Jodie Foster visits Lecter in the dungeon the ambience are made of animal screams and noises. The room tone is a lunatic kind of screaming processed, slowed down and played in reverse.
Sonic Logic Internal logic
continuous and progressive modifications in the sonic flow, and makes use of sudden breaks only when the narrative so requires.
External logic editing that disrupts the continuity of an image or a sound
○ Sudden changes of tempo Synchresis
is the forging between something one sees and something one hears - it is the mental fusion between a sound and a visual when these occur at exactly the same time. Synchresis is an acronym formed by telescoping together the two words synchronism and synthesis
The possibility of reassociation of image and○ The sound of an ax chopping wood, played exactly in sync with a bat
hitting a baseball, will "read" as a particularly forceful hit rather than a mistake by the filmmakers
Helpful in understanding relationships between recognizable sound sources and their visibility.CausalSemanticReduced
Chions 3 Modes of Listening
CausalSee a Cow Hear a Cow
SemanticInterpreting meaning from a sound, i.e.
morse code or dialogue Reduced
Putting a sound onto an object not associated with that sound thereby creating a new meaning
3 Listening Modes for Laymen
What it all means What should we focus on in the
soundtrack in a given scene? What stem does it belong to? Does it match the edit? The visual?
Audio vs. SoundAudio is the representation of soundSound is the motion of particles in a medium
TransductionTurn sound energy into electrical energy (microphone)
Recording vs. MixingRecording is the capture of soundMixing is the balancing and combining of sound
Track vs. ChannelTrack is space on a medium that contains audioChannel is a specific path through which audio travels
Audio Principles
Signal FlowThe path which sound travels through a
deviceExamples...
Principles Cont
MAX/MSP
Mackie Mixer
ADC and DAC Analog to Digital Converter Digital to Analog Converter
Bit Depth 6.02 dB per bit 16 bit vs. 24 bit and Dynamic Range
○ 96dB vs. 144dB Dynamic Range
○ Number of steps between the quietest and the loudest portion or recorded material.
Sampling Rate Need to take a snapshot roughly twice the max frequency of what is being
captured Human hearing ranges from 20Hz – 20kHz, therefore, we need to sample at
least 44.1kHZ in order to capture and accurately reproduce the source Nyquist Theorem
Must sample roughly 2x the max frequency of the source
Digital Audio Basics
Distortion – Analog vs. Digital 0dBFS – if you go above this, you will experience digital distortion
Noise Linear vs. Non-Linear Editing Dynamic Range PCM
Pulse Code Modulation BWAV
Uncompressed Broadcast Wav File Dither
Low level noise to help with quantization errors Perceptual Coding Artifacts
Digital Audio Basics Cont
Electromagnetic Electrostatic/capacitance Ribbon
Methods of Transduction
MicrophoneWeaker signal, requires a pre-ampMic level2 mV to 1.2V
Professional Line+4dBu 1.23 V
Consumer Line-10dBu .316V
Speaker4V
Signal Level Types
XLRBalanced 3 conductor
¼ Inch2 or 3 conductorBalanced or unbalanced
BalancedMinimizes noise and rf interference, uses phase
inversion, helps with longer cable runs Unbalanced
No shielding
Connectors and Cables
The amount of give between your average level and the point of distortion
Clipping is the point at which you exceed your headroom and the limitation of the medium, resulting in distortion
Headroom
You want to have more signal then noise Noise is inherent in the environment and
in the equipment
Signal to Noise Ratio
Way in which a microphone will pick up the sound
This is influenced by the type of transduction
Choosing the right polar pattern for the right situation
Polar Patterns
Sound Theory Types of Transduction (Microphones)
Describes the way in which the microphone converts a sound source into an electrical signal.
Speakers do the reverse, an electrical signal is turned into an acoustic amplified sound○ Electromagnetic○ Electrostatic/Capacitance ○ Ribbon
Sound Theory Types of Transduction (Microphones)
○ ElectromagneticDynamic microphone uses electromagnetic inductionA small movable induction coil, positioned in the
magnetic field of a permanent magnet, is attached to the diaphragm. When sound enters through the windscreen of the microphone, the sound wave moves the diaphragm. When the diaphragm vibrates, the coil moves in the magnetic field, producing a varying current in the coil through electromagnetic induction.
Commonly used to capture loud percussive sounds with very strong transients.
Does not require an external power source
Sound Theory Types of Transduction (Microphones)
○ Electrostatic/Capacitance Require 48v Phantom Power The diaphragm acts as one plate of a capacitor, and the vibrations
produce changes in the distance between the plates. variety of polar patterns Good at capturing full frequency sounds, captures subtle dynamics
of a performance Frequency Response is better
○ Ribbon use a thin, usually corrugated metal ribbon suspended in a magnetic
field. The ribbon is electrically connected to the microphone's output, and its vibration within the magnetic field generates the electrical signal. Ribbon microphones are similar to moving coil microphones in the sense that both produce sound by means of magnetic induction.