RTV 322Sound Design

Sound in an environment

• Sound wave– Compression / rarefaction

• Frequency / Measured in hertz• Amplitude / Measured in decibels (db-spl)

– AM/FM, kHz / MHz (r.f.) • Attack/sustain (internal dynamics)/decay -- sound

envelope• Acoustics / Psychoacoustics / binaural hearing• Absorbed / Reflected• Direct / Indirect (echo & reverberation)

Some issues with sound

• Equal loudness principle--depending on loudness we don’t hear low and high frequencies as well as we hear middle

• Masking--Hiding of some sounds by other sounds by other sounds when each is a different frequency and they are presented together. Loud over soft / lower-pitched over higher

• Acoustical phase--the time relationship between two or more sound waves at a given point in their cycles

• Timbre--a sound’s unique tone quality or tone color

Production Room Sound Design

• Ergonomics – human element in designing room• Sound Absorption and Reflection• Diffusion--scattering of sound waves• Diffraction--spreading or bending• Resonance--vibration of an object at the same

frequency as the original body’s frequency• Lively or Dead Room• Isolation

Sound Frequency Spectrum

• Bass– Low bass, 1st & 2nd octaves, 16-64 Hz– Upper bass, 3rd& 4th octaves, 64-256 Hz

• Midrange– 5th, 6th & 7th octaves, 256 - 2,048 Hz– Upper midrange: 8th octave, 2,048 - 4,096 Hz

• Treble– 9th & 10th octaves, 4,096 - 16,384 Hz

Mics -- Converting Sound

• Sound Frequency Spectrum– Bass, midrange, treble

• Frequency / Hertz• Amplitude / decibels• Acoustics• Direct / indirect sound

– Echo / reverberations

Microphone Directional Patterns

• Omnidirectional / nondirectional

• Unidirectional / Directional/ cardioid– Super, hyper, ultra

• Bidirectional

• (see reading for diagrams)

Applications of polar patterns

• Football miking• News live shot• Basketball game• Studio interview• News anchor• In audio recording

studio• Shotgun boom pole

Cardioid range

• Cardioid

• Supercardioid

• Hypercardioid

• Ultradirectional

Professional Mic types

• Moving coil/dynamic

• Ribbon

• Capacitor/condensor– Electret condensor

• Transducer – changes energy from one form to another – in this case sound waves into an electrical current

More about mics and sound

• Common audio connectors– RCA (phono), ¼” (phone), mini-plug, XLR– Jack (‘female’) vs. plug (‘male’)– Firewire, HDMI, etc.

• Close vs. distant miking– Cross-pair, mid-side, coincident (stereo)

• Wide – range of frequencies• Flat – accurately recreates frequencies• Colored response – changes frequencies (lavaliere

boosts high frequencies, for example

Close miking when you can’t get close

• Visible mics– What kinds of productions– ‘dressing the mic’

• Hidden mics– Under clothing, in set pieces– Wired vs. wireless

• Boom pole– Fishpole, giraffe, perambulator

• Looping / ADR– High percentage of TV and movie content

Common mic types

• lavaliere

• headset

• handheld

• studio/boom mounted

• TV boom– Perambulator boom, giraffes, fishpole

• PZM (boundary mic)

Audio Mixing

• Three things you mix– Sources, techniques, aesthetics

• ProTools or Adobe Audition• Stereo or multi-track recording• 5 console functions

– Amplify, switch, route, mix, balance

• Various console inputs• Layering, in moviemaking

Other console terms

• Program / Audition• Monitor vs. cue• Master pot• VU meter / PPM (analog / LED)• Muting system• Foldback (IFB note)• Pad / trim / gain / AGC• Pan Pot• Submixer & pre-amp

Other audio mixing terms

• Compressor

• Limiter

• Equalizer (EQ)

• Filters– High pass, low pass, band pass, notch

• Stereo vs. multi-track recording– Basics of multi-track / mixdown

Three things you mix...

• Music– Production library, royalty-free loops– BMI, ASCAP, SESAC– blanket license vs. ‘needle drop’– SoundExchange fees

• SFX -- Production library, Foley• Voice

– Narration vs. dialogue– Straight voice, VO/music, donut, jingle ###

• Teams go record sounds, due before 5:00 -->

Record SFX and Foley

• Indiana Jones boulder scene

• Roller coaster tracks

• Dry leaves

• Fire

• Foley 1 and Foley 2 from Videomaker

• Pro Foley 1, Pro Foley 2

• Sound Design