Chapter 4-Audio media and information

Audio- recorded transmitted and reproduced sound.

Audio media- media communication that uses audio to deliver and transfer information through the means of
sound.
TYPES OF AUDIO INFORMATION
a. Radio broadcast - live or recorded audio sent through radio waves to reach a wide audience.
b. Music - vocal and/or instrumental sounds combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony,
and expression of emotion.
 Purposes of Music
1. Aesthetic pleasure
2. Religious or ceremonial purpose
3. Entertainment product.
c. Sound recording - recording of an interview, meeting, or any sound from the environment.
d. Sound clips/effects - any sound, other than music or speech, artificially reproduced to create an effect in a
dramatic presentation, as the sound of a storm or a creaking door.
e. Audio Podcast - a digital audio or video file or recording, usually part of a themed series that can be
downloaded from a website to a media player or computer.

WAYS OF STORING AUDIO MEDIA

a. Tape - magnetic tape on which sound can be recorded.
b. CD - a plastic-fabricated, circular medium for recording, storing, and playing back audio, video, and
computer data.
c. USB drive - an external flash drive, small enough to carry on a key ring that can be used with any computer
that has a USB port.
d. Memory Card - (aka flash memory card or storage card) is a small storage medium used to store data such
as text, pictures, audio, and video, for use on small, portable, or remote computing devices.
e. Computer hard drive - secondary storage devices for storing audio files.
f. Internet/Cloud - websites or file repositories for retrieving audio files, and more precisely the files are stored
in some datacenter full of servers that is connected to the Internet.

AUDIO FILE FORMATS

a. MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer 3) - a common format for consumer audio, as well as a standard of digital audio
compression for the transfer and playback of music on most digital audio players.
b. M4A/AAC (MPEG-4 Audio/Advanced Audio Coding) - an audio coding standard for lossy digital audio
compression. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality
than MP3 at similar bit rates.
c. WAV - is a Microsoft audio file format standard for storing an audio bit stream on PCs. It has become
a standard file format for game sounds, among others.
d. WMA (Windows Media Audio) - is an audio data compression technology developed by Microsoft and used
with Windows Media Player.

HEARING VS. LISTENING

 Hearing is simply the act of perceiving sound by the ear. If you are not hearing-impaired, hearing simply
happens.
 Listening, however, is something you consciously choose to do. Listening requires concentration so that
your brain processes meaning from words and sentences. Listening leads to learning.”
 1. Channel- basic unit of mixer. These includes
all the channel control in a mixer. Channel
control includes the following:
 Inputs-These are where audio resources are
connected. These can be anything from a
keyboard or piano, to microphones. ¼’ Jack
input is used for line signal while XLR
connection are used for microphones.
 Inserts- a connection that allows a piece of
equipment to be plugged in directly after the
input so that it is unaffected by any of the other
processes further down to channel. Its most
common use is to connect a compressor or gate.
 Gain-Controls the input level of each individual channel.
 EQ- Allow the user to change the frequency of the sound.
 Auxiliary sends- Adjust the level of channel’s signal that is sent to the auxiliary send output. Are also used
to send channel audio to an unit effect.
 Pan- Short word for panorama. This controls whereabouts in the stereo field the sound will be heard.
Turning it to the left will send signal completely to the left output, and vice versa.
 Mute- allow individual engineer to mute individual channels. It stops the channels to stop sending signals to
any outputs.
 Channel Fader- control the level of each channel to be sent to the outputs. These are the main tools for the
“mix” sounds to go to the PA system.
 Master Output- where everything ends up all the channels, mixed, adjusted and tweaked , ultimately will
come out of these connections to be amplified.
CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUND
1. Volume- Intensity of a sound. It can be 3. Pitch – How high or low a sound is.
classified as loud or soft. 4. Loudness – refers to the magnitude of the
2. Tone – the audible characteristic of a sound. sound heard.
PURPOSES OF SOUND
1. Give information or instruction 2. Provide feedback 3. To personalize and customize
ELEMENTS OF SOUND DESIGN
–The objects or things that we have to work with.
• Dialogue - speech, conversation, voice-over.
• Sound Effects - any sound other than music or dialogue.
• Music - vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form,
harmony, and expression of emotion.
• Silence - absence of audio or sound.
PRINCIPLES OF SOUND DESIGN
– The techniques for combining the different elements or objects.
• Mixing - the combination, balance and control of multiple sound elements.
• Pace - Time control. Editing. Order of events: linear, non-linear, or multi-linear.
• Transitions - How you get from one segment or element to another. Types of transitions:
a. Segue - one element stops, the next begins ("cut" in film).
b. Cross-fade - one element fades out, the next fades in, and they overlap on the way.
c. V-Fade - First element fades to inaudible before the secondelement begins.
d. Fade to Black - V-Fade with some silence between elements.
e. Waterfall - As first element fades out, the second elementbegins at full volume. Better for voice transitions,
than for effects.
• Stereo Imaging - Using left and right channel for depth.