Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

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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: Amy Brockbank

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, if the sound of an actor's

footsteps were not recorded well or lost when the voice was re-recorded, a Foley artist will recreate them. In fact,

except for dialogue and music, almost all the sounds you hear in Hollywood films is Foley sound.” ~ http://www.mediacollege.com/employment/film/foley-

artist.html

Foley artistry i s sound that i s recorded for a game to fill in sound effects that should be there. The person who records this is known as a foley artist.

Sound Libraries “a collection of sounds stored on file (for example on CDs, DVDs, or as digital audio files)” ~ http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/sound-l ibrary

A sound library i s a collection of sounds that are stored in one area that can be used for different purposes.

SOUND FILE FORMATS

Uncompressed “Uncompressed formats like CD Audio, WAV, or AIFF are

pretty much perfect representations of the audio that was recorded. If you convert something from one uncompressed format to another, it's a completely perfect copy. So, for instance, if you rip audio off a CD into WAV

format on your computer, then burn another CD using the WAV you created, those two CDs will be virtually identical,

despite the fact that you copied it multiple times.” ~ http://www.prx.org/help/posting-audio/compressed-

versus-uncompressed

Uncompressed audio is audio that i s saved using a lossless format. File formats

tend to be quite big, but no quality i s lost within the file.

.wav “WAV is an audio file format that was developed by .WAV fi les are similar to .AIFF files, but used mainly on Windows PC’s . The format

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

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Microsoft. It is so wide spread today that it is called a

standard PC audio file format. A Wave file is identified by a file name extension of WAV (.wav). Used primarily in PCs, the Wave file format has been accepted as a viable interchange medium for other computer platforms, such as

Macintosh. This allows content developers to freely move audio files between platforms for processing, for example.”

~ http://www.coolutils.com/Formats/WAV

i s lossless, meaning no quality is lost, but files in this format are quite big, meaning

this file format is not the best when converting full tracks, as they will quickly mount up and start to fill hard-drives quickly. This file format is ideal for recording sound effects, as sound effects are quite short, they wi ll not build up as quickly as ful l audio tracks.

.aiff “AIFF is short for Audio Interchange File Format, which is

an audio format initially created by Apple Computer for storing and transmitting high-quality sampled audio data.

It supports a variety of bit resolutions, sample rates, and channels of audio. This format is quite popular upon Apple platforms, and is commonly adopted in professional programs that handle digital audio waveforms.

AIFF files are uncompressed, making the files quite large compared to the ubiquitous MP3 format. AIFF files are comparable to Microsoft's wave files, because they are high quality they are excellent for burning to CD. There is also a compressed variant of AIFF known as AIFF-C or AIFC,

with various defined compression codecs. Though AIFF files are popular among Macintosh users and audio

professionals, PC users tend to use wave files instead.”

~ http://www.abyssmedia.com/formats/aiff-format.shtml

.AIFF fi les are similar to .WAV fi les, although .AIFF files are more commonly used

with Apple products, whereas .WAV files are mainly used on PC’s with Windows ins talled. .AIFF files are lossless, meaning no quality is lost when converting the

fi le, but the size of the file can be quite large.

.au “AU is a file extension for a sound file format belonging to Sun, NeXT and DEC and used in UNIX. The AU file format is

also known as the Sparc-audio or u-law fomat. AU files contain three parts: the audio data and text for a header (containing 24 bytes) and an annotation block.”

~ http://whatis.techtarget.com/fileformat/AU-Sun-NeXT-DEC-UNIX-sound-file

.AU sound files are typically used with UNIX machines, and are commonly used with Java, too.

.AU fi les are also used with Audacity in some cases.

.smp “An ".smp" file may be one of several different types of audio file. For example, it could be a SampleVision audio sample file. This 16-bit audio file was originally used by

Turtle Beach SampleVision; you can open it with Adobe

An .SMP fi le is commonly associated with Turtle Beach’s Sample Vision software, which was the first software on PC to edit samples.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

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Auction, Sound Forge Pro or Awave Studio. It could also be

a sample file for AdLib Gold, a PC sound card released in 1992; Scream Tracker, a mid-1990s music editing program; or Swell. Reason, a music recording and production program, uses the ".smp" extension for sampler instrument

patches.”

~ http://www.ehow.com/info_12198596_file-smp.html

Lossy Compression

“Refers to data compression techniques in which some amount of data is lost. Lossy compression technologies

attempt to eliminate redundant or unnecessary information. Most video compression technologies, such as

MPEG, use a lossy technique.” ~ http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/L/lossy_compression.

html

Lossy compression is a type of compression which causes some data to be lost when compressing data, meaning the final result will not be as clear, unlike

lossless compression which keeps the final file untouched, but takes up more s torage space.

.mp3 “MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer 3 or MPEG-1 or 2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3,

is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression. It is a common audio format for consumer audio storage, as well as a de facto standard of digital audio compression for the transfer and playback of

music on digital audio players.” ~ http://www.winxdvd.com/resource/mp3.htm

An MP3 fi le i s one of the most commonly used file formats when dealing with audio, i t is mainly used for playing back audio files in everyday life, as the .MP3 file

format i s supported by many different devices.

AUDIO LIMITATIONS

Sound Processor Unit

(SPU)

“Also called a "sound board" or "audio adapter," it is a plug-in card that records and plays back sound. Supporting

both digital audio and MIDI, sound cards provide an input port for a microphone or other sound source and output

ports to speakers and amplifiers. Sound circuits are typically built into the chipset on the motherboard, but can be disabled if a separate sound card is installed. See Sound

Blaster, AC'97 and HD Audio.” ~ http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Audio+process ing+unit

A sound processor unit is more often referred to as a sound card. Sound cards are found in computers, and give the computer the ability to play and record sound,

more expensive sound cards give off higher quality sound, and are generally used in professional settings, or occasions where sound quality i s important.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

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(Image of a Sound Processor Unit.) ~ http://s tatic.trustedreviews.com/94/9a0e67/0557/5096-IMG7110s.jpg

Digital Sound Processor (DSP)

“A Digital Signal Processor, or DSP, is a specialized microprocessor that has an architecture which is optimized

for the fast operational needs of digital signal processing. A Digital Signal Processor (DSP) can process data in real time, making it ideal for applications that can’t tolerate delays. Digital signal processors take a digital signal and

process it to improve the signal into clearer sound, faster data or sharper images. Digital Signal Processors use

video, voice, audio, temperature or position signals that have been digitized and mathematically manipulate them. A digital signal processor is designed to perform these

mathematical functions rapidly. The signals are processed so the information contained in them can be displayed or converted to another type of signal.” ~ http://www.futureelectronics.com/en/microprocessors/di

gi ta l-signal-processors.aspx

A Digital Sound Processor i s a device which optimises a digital signal to produce a clearer sound from the signals, and makes the sound much sharper. This is done

through a series of mathematical functions, which are performed quite quickly.

(Image of a Digital Sound Processor)

~ http://www.itwissen.info/bilder/digital-sound-processor-dsp-foto-technics.png

Random Access

Memory (RAM)

“Alternatively referred to as main memory, primary

memory, or system memory, Random Access Memory

Random Access Memory, or RAM, i s memory which stores data temporarily, so

the data can be accessed quicker than if it was taking data s traight from a hard-

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

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(RAM) is a computer storage location that allows

information to be stored and accessed quickly from random locations within DRAM on a memory module. Because information is accessed randomly instead of sequentially like it is on a CD or hard drive, the computer

can access the data much faster. However, unlike ROM and the hard drive RAM is a volatile memory and requires

power in order to keep the data accessible, if power is lost

all data contained in memory lost.”

~ http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/r/ram.htm

drive. RAM is put into the system in the form of RAM sticks, which are small

boards that s lot into the computer.

(Image of a RAM stick.)

~ http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140922143300/wwstechnology/images/a/ac/RAM-0.jpg

Mono Audio “Commonly called mono sound, mono, or non-stereo sound, this early sound system used a single channel of audio for sound output. In monophonic sound systems, the signal sent to the sound system encodes one single stream

of sound and it usually uses just one speaker. Monophonic sound is the most basic format of sound output.”

~

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/M/monophonic_soun

d.html

Mono sound is sound that plays the exact same audio from a ll channels; whereas s tereo and surround sound have their audio split across channels.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

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(Image of a mono sound system.) ~ http://www.nady.com/wp-content/uploads/RPA6.jpg

Stereo Audio “Commonly called stereo sound or just stereo, stereophonic sound divides sounds across two channels (recorded on two separate sources) then the recorded

sounds are mixed so that some elements are channeled to the left and others to the right. Stereophonic sound is generally considered the best sound technology of the

1950 and early 1960's.”

~ http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/stereophonic_sound.html

Stereo audio is audio that puts out audio through two channels, a left channel and a right channel. This can be used to create the effect of sound travelling from one ear to the other.

(Image of a stereo sound set up.) ~ http://salestores.com/stores/images/images_747/CDX10i.jpg

Surround Sound

“Surround sound audio is, simply put, sound that completely surrounds you. It means a speaker in virtually

every corner of the room, projecting high-quality digital sound at you from all angles just as though you were in a theater.” ~ http://peripherals.about.com/od/speakersandheadphones

/a/whatis_ss.htm

Surround sound is similar to s tereo sound, except i t uses more channels to create a much more defined set of sounds.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

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(Image of a surround sound set up.)

~ http://www.cedia.org/files/image/surround-sound-setup-5-1-vs-7-1.jpg

Direct Audio (Pulse Code

Modulation – PCM)

“Pulse code modulation (PCM) is a digital representation of an analog signal that takes samples of the amplitude of

the analog signal at regular intervals. The sampled analog data is changed to, and then represented by, binary data. PCM requires a very accurate clock. The number of samples per second, ranging from 8,000 to 192,000, is

usually several times the maximum frequency of the analog waveform in Hertz (Hz), or cycles per second, which ranges from 8 to 192 KHz.”

~ http://www.techopedia.com/definition/24128/pulse-

code-modulation-pcm

Direct Audio is an analogue signal, which is converted into a digital s ignal, instead.

AUDIO RECORDING SYSTEMS

Analogue “In analog technology, a wave is recorded or used in its

original form. So, for example, in an analog tape recorder,

a signal is taken straight from the microphone and laid onto tape. The wave from the microphone is an analog

wave, and therefore the wave on the tape is analog as well. That wave on the tape can be read, amplified and

sent to a speaker to produce the sound.” ~ http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question7.htm

Analogue sound is sound that is taken from an analogue signal.

Digital Mini Disc

“A recordable MiniDisc is a magneto-optical device capable of storing 140 megabytes of information. Music can be

A digital mini disc is a small disc, similar to a compact disc (Or CD), created by Sony back in 1992. Sony originally tried to make the MiniDisc a popular solution for

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

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scattered all over the disk and the player can "put it

together" correctly when playing the disk. This means that you can erase and re-record songs on a MiniDisc without having to worry about how they fit together. This is tremendously convenient compared to a cassette tape,

where you have to basically re-record the entire tape if you want to change any of the songs on it. There are also 4-

track MiniDisc recorders for musicians, which are great for

recording songs as they are performed and then mixing the tracks.”

~ http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question55.htm

CD’s , but fa iled to do so, as they died out around the mid 2000’s

(Image of a MiniDisc.)

~ http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Memorex-minidisc.jpg

Compact Disc (CD)

“Abbreviated as CD, a compact disc is a flat, round storage medium that is read by a laser in a CD-ROM drive that was invented by James Russell and first created at a Philips factory in Germany on August 17, 1982. The standard CD is

capable of holding 72 minutes of music or 650 MB of data. 80 minute CDs are also commonly used to store data and

are capable of containing 700 MB of data.” ~

http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/c/compactd.htm

A compact disc, or CD, i s a shiny, flat disc which s tores information. CD’s more commonly hold music tracks.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

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(Image of a compact disc.) ~ http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Compact_Disc.jpg

Digital Audio Tape (DAT)

“DAT (Digital Audio Tape) is a standard medium and technology for the digital recording of audio on tape at a professional level of quality. A DAT drive is a digital tape

recorder with rotating heads similar to those found in a video deck. Most DAT drives can record at sample rates of 44.1 kHz, the CD audio standard, and 48 kHz. DAT has

become the standard archiving technology in professional and semi-professional recording environments for master

recordings. Digital inputs and outputs on professional DAT decks allow the user to transfer recordings from the DAT tape to an audio workstation for precise editing. The compact size and low cost of the DAT medium makes it an

excellent way to compile the recordings that are going to be used to create a CD master.” ~ http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/DAT-Digital-Audio-Tape

Digi tal Audio Tape, or DAT, is a bit like a cassette tape, a lthough it is used in professional recordings due to the high quality sound. The tape is also low cost, which allows studios to create many high quality recordings, at a minimal cost

(Image of digital audio tape.)

~ http://happyireland.com/sites/default/files/dat.jpg

MIDI “MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a protocol developed in the 1980's which allows electronic

instruments and other digital musical tools to

communicate with each other. MIDI itself does not make sound, it is just a series of messages like "note on," "note

off," "note/pitch," "pitchbend," and many more. These messages are interpreted by a MIDI instrument to produce

sound. A MIDI instrument can be a piece of hardware (electronic keyboard, synthesizer) or part of a software environment (ableton, garageband, digital performer,

logic...).” ~ http://www.instructables.com/id/What-is-MIDI/

MIDI i s a type of data that reads s ignals created by MIDI instruments. MIDI data records how long the keys were held pressed, and when the keys s topped being

pressed down, which is then turned into sound, that can be changed using certain

software.

Software “In digital audio recording, a sequencer is a program in a Software sequencers allow the user to input MIDI recordings, and change the

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

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Sequencers computer or stand-alone keyboard unit that puts together

a sound sequence from a series (or sequence) of Musical Instrument Digital Interface ( MIDI ) events (operations). The MIDI sequencer allows the user to record and edit a musical performance without using an audio-based input

source. The performance is recorded as a series of events that would ordinarily be played in from a keyboard

instrument. The MIDI sequencer does not record the actual

audio, but rather the events related to the performance - what note was played at what time, how hard the key was

pressed, when did the sustain pedal get depressed, and so forth. This data is then played back into a MIDI instrument or sound module. Using this method, the performer can select a piano sound for a musical passage and later decide

that the passage would work better as an organ sound. The editor can simply change the sound program on the

MIDI keyboard to alter the sound without needing to rerecord the entire performance.”

~ http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/sequencer

sound of these recordings. They can also change the arrangements of these

recordings and layer them with other recordings.

Software Plug-

ins

“They are called that because these are little computer

applications that run inside a "host" application, i.e., a sequencer, typically. These plugin devices are very

important, as they have led the software revolution

towards our virtual studios which is changing all recording studios, both home and pro. Today there are few

hardware devices left that cannot be emulated by plugins and software. As you see from this page, software based synthesizers, effects processors, samplers and multi-track recorders can all work together on one single computer.”

~ http://tweakheadz.com/software-plugins/

Software Plug-Ins are extensions to the software, which allow the user to change

the software however they like. In sound engineering, they are used to emulate instruments that can be played via hardware.

MIDI Keyboard Instruments

“There are two basic types of devices that generate MIDI data: MIDI musical instruments and MIDI controllers. MIDI musical instruments, also known as synthesizers, come in all different shapes and sizes. Their chief characteristic -- or what differentiates them from MIDI controllers -- is that

they generate sound as well as MIDI data.

MIDI keyboard instruments are physical devices that allow the user to record MIDI data. When keys are pressed or hit on these devices, the system should turn this into MIDI data, which reads how long the key was pressed and when it stopped being pressed. MIDI instruments come in different kinds of designs, for example; some electric drum kits can be used to create MIDI data.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

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The classic MIDI synthesizer is the electronic keyboard,

resembling a small piano. When you press a key on the keyboard, you hear a tone. Most new keyboards come with hundreds of different preset instrument sounds and effects from which to choose.”

~ http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/midi2.htm

(Image of a MIDI keyboard.)

~ https ://www.musicmatter.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/800x800/17f82f742ffe127f42dca9de82fb58b1/a/l/alesis_q25_midi_keyboard.jpg

AUDIO SAMPLING

File Size Constraints -

Bit-depth

“In digital audio, there has to be a certain value set for describing the resolution of the sound data (samples) that

is to be captured and stored in an audio file -- this attribute is called Bit Depth. Similarly for video files (images, videos),

this measurement range is also used to determine the resolution of a picture -- the higher the bit depth (e.g. 16 bit versus 24 bit) the better the image will be. This attribute is exactly the same for digital audio and thus a

higher bit depth will give a much more detailed sound recording.”

~ http://mp3.about.com/od/glossary/g/Bit-Depth-Definition-What-Does-Bit-Depth-Mean.htm

The bi t-depth of a sound recording determines the amount of different tones that can be used in a sound recording. The lower the amount of bits, the smaller the

fi le size is; however, it a lso decreases the amount of sounds that can be used. This i s very s imilar to how bit-depth is used in images. The more colours that are used

in the image, the higher the bit-depth.

File Size Constraints -

Sample Rate

“The audio sampling rate is number of samples per second that are used to digitize a particular sound. Most digital

video (DV) cameras can record at several audio sampling

rates, where higher rates produce better results.”

Sample rate is the number of samples taken to accurately replicate a sound. The higher the sample rate, the more accurate the sound will be from the original.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

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~ http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/audio_sampling_rate.html