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