MULTIMEDIA ELEMENTS –
SOUND (AUDIO)
Chapter 6
Instructor: Ilham muse
WHAT IS SOUND?
Sound comprises the spoken word, voices, music and even noise.
It is a complex relationship involving:
a vibrating object (sound source)
a transmission medium (usually air)
a receiver (ear) and;
a preceptor (brain).
7.1 THE POWER OF SOUND
Something vibrates Waves of pressure Ear drums will translate
in the air these changes in wave
Forms as sound
Sound is measured in dB (decibel)
Sound waves are known as waveforms.
EXAMPLE OF WAVEFORMS
Piano
Pan flute
Snare drum
SOUND
A pleasant sound has a regular wave pattern. The
pattern is repeated over and over.
But the waves of noise are irregular. They do not
have a repeated pattern.
CHARACTERISTIC OF SOUND
WAVES
Sound is described in terms of two
characteristics:
Frequency (or pitch)
Amplitude (or loudness)
FREQUENCY
Frequency is a measure of how many vibrations occur in one
second. This is measured in Hertz (abbreviation Hz) and directly
corresponds to the pitch of a sound.
The more frequent vibration occurs the higher the pitch of the sound.
Low pitch High pitch
Optimally, people can hear from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz (20 kHz)
Sounds below 20 Hz are infrasonic
sounds above 20 kHz are ultrasonic.
AMPLITUDE
Amplitude is the maximum displacement of a wave from an
equilibrium position.
The louder a sound, the more energy it has. This means loud sounds
have a large amplitude.
Quiet Loud
Low amplitude High Amplitude
The amplitude relates to how loud a sound is.
CHARACTERISTIC OF SOUND
WAVES
Time for one cycle
Amplitude wavelength distance
along wave
Cycle
THE POWER OF SOUND
Audio in Windows
Windows PC platform, has the default system
sounds
WINDOWS PC logoff.wav,start.wav
Basic Recording Software
WINDOWS has basic recording software
AUDIO RECORDING SOFTWARE
WINDOWS XP Windows 7
Sound Recorders for Windows
Windows PC platform has the default sound.
This basic Win XP application could:
Record our own sounds
Edit & mix *.wav files
Simple Splicing and assembly
Increase volume & speed of *.wav files
Reverse the sound.
Add Echo effects
Some XP Version also provide wav to mp3 conversion.
But Win 7 can only record and then save the sound.
ANALOGUE TO DIGITAL AUDIO
Analogue audio
The name for an electronic signal that carries its information of sound
as continuous changeable voltage value.
non digital tape or audio tape recording of sound.
Digitizing
the process of converting an analog signal to a digital one.
A sound is recorded by making a measurement of the amplitude of the
sound at regular intervals which are defined by the "sample rate".
The act of taking the measurement is often called "sampling" and each
measurement is called a "sample point".
CAPTURE & PLAYBACK OF
DIGITAL AUDIO
Air pressure
variations Digital to
Analogue
Convert Converter
s back
into DAC
Captured via voltage
microphone
Signal is
converted into
binary
Analogue (discrete form)
to Digital ADC 0101001101 Air pressure
Converter 0110101111 variations
RECORDING AUDIO FILES
Recording Audio Files on the pc
Uses either:
i. Microphone
connect microphone to the microphone port and record using
sound recorder
RECORDING AUDIO FILES
ii. CD-ROM Drive
Move music files from CD to hard drive or;
Play the cd and then record using the sound recorder.
iii. Line-in
pressing play on the audio source, which is connected to
the computer’s audio line-in socket. Record using the
sound recorder.
Line in port
on the pc
Audio cable
DIGITAL AUDIO
Digital audio data is the representation of sound, stored in the
form of samples point.
Quality of digital recording depends on the sampling rate, that
is, the number of samples point taken per second (Hz).
High Sampling Rate
Samples stored in digital
form
waveform
Low Sampling Rate
DIGITAL SAMPLING
DIGITAL SAMPLING
DIGITAL AUDIO
The three sampling frequencies most often used in multimedia
are 44.1 kHz, 22.05 kHz and 11.025 kHz.
The higher the sampling rate, the more the measurements are
taken (better quality).
The lower the sampling rate, the lesser the measurements are
taken (low quality).
High Sampling Rate Low Sampling Rate
DIGITAL AUDIO
Quality factors for digital audio file :
1. Sampling Rate
2. Sample Size (resolution)
the number of bits used to record the value of a
sample in a digitized signal.
Sampling Rate Sample size
DIGITAL AUDIO
Other than that, it also depends on:
The quality of original audio source.
The quality of capture device & supporting hardware.
The characteristics used for capture.
The capability of the playback environment.
DIGITAL AUDIO
More advanced Digital audio editing software:
One of the most powerful and professional PC-based packages
is a tool called Sound Forge
Others audio editing software:
WavePad Sound Editor
COOL Edit Pro
Gold Wave
Samplitude Studio
MIDI AUDIO
Musical Instrument Digital Interface
Before there was a wide use of mp3 and high bandwidth network,
MIDI format audio is popular when an audio is required to be put on a
website.
Provides a standardized and efficient means of conveying musical
performance information as electronic data.
Is a easiest and quickest way to compose our own score.
(provided we have knowledge of musical instrument and composing)
It is in the form of music score and not samples or recording.
MIDI AUDIO: REQUIREMENTS
To make MIDI score, we need:
1. Midi keyboard / Midi keyboard software
2. Sequencer software
3. Sound synthesizer (built-in in to sound card)
MIDI KEYBOARD
MIDI keyboard is used to simplify the creation of music scores
(MIDI information)
MIDI information is transmitted in "MIDI messages", which can be
thought of as instructions which tell a music synthesizer how to play a
piece of music.
The synthesizer receiving the MIDI data must generate the actual
sounds.
MIDI SEQUENCER
A MIDI sequencer software lets us to record and edit MIDI data
like a word processor
Cut and paste
Insert / delete
MIDI AUDIO FACTS
Since they are small, MIDI files embedded in web pages load and
play.
Length of a MIDI file can be changed without affecting the pitch
of the music or degrading audio quality.
Working with MIDI requires knowledge of music theory.
RECORDING MIDI FILES
Recording MIDI Files
MIDI files can be generated:
by recording the MIDI data from a MIDI instrument
(electronic keyboard) as it is played.
by using a MIDI sequencer software application.
AUDIO FILE FORMATS
MIDI
*.MID, *.KAR, *.MIDI, *.SMF
AUDIO DIGITAL
WINDOWS *.WAV
MACINTOSH *.AIFF
UNIX *.AU
REALAUDIO *.RA
MPEG3 *.MP3
MIDI VERSUS DIGITAL AUDIO
Advantages of MIDI over digital audio:
MIDI files smaller that digital audio files.
Because small file, MIDI files embedded in web pages
load and play more quickly.
If MIDI sound source are high quality – sound better.
Can change the length of MIDI files without changing
the pitch of the music or degrading the audio quality.
MIDI VERSUS DIGITAL AUDIO
Disadvantages of MIDI over digital audio:
Because MIDI data does not represent the sound but
musical instruments, playback will be accurate only if
the MIDI playback (instrument) is identical to the
device used in the production.
Higher cost and requires skill to edit.
Cannot emulate voice, other effects.
ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF USING AUDIO
Sound adds life to any multimedia application
and plays important role in effective
marketing presentations.
Advantages
Ensure important information is noticed.
Add interest.
Can communicate more directly than other media.
ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF USING AUDIO
Disadvantages
Requiresspecial equipment for quality production.
Not as memorable as visual media.
THANK YOU
Assignment
Explain the different between Analogue
Audio and Digital Audio in your own words
