1. RTV 322 Sound Design

2. 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)

3. 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

4. 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

5. Sound Frequency Spectrum
Bass
Low bass, 1st & 2nd octaves, Hz
Upper bass, 3rd& 4th octaves, Hz
Midrange
5th, 6th & 7th octaves, ,048 Hz
Upper midrange: 8th octave, 2, ,096 Hz
Treble
9th & 10th octaves, 4, ,384 Hz

6. Mics -- Converting Sound
Sound Frequency Spectrum
Bass, midrange, treble
Frequency / Hertz
Amplitude / decibels
Acoustics
Direct / indirect sound
Echo / reverberations

7. Microphone Directional Patterns
Omnidirectional / nondirectional
Unidirectional / Directional/ cardioid
Super, hyper, ultra
Bidirectional
(see reading for diagrams)

8. Applications of polar patterns
Football miking
News live shot
Basketball game
Studio interview
News anchor
In audio recording studio
Shotgun boom pole

9. Cardioid range
Cardioid
Supercardioid
Hypercardioid
Ultradirectional

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. Common mic types lavaliere headset handheld studio/boom mounted
TV boom
Perambulator boom, giraffes, fishpole
PZM (boundary mic)

14. Audio Mixing Three things you mix ProTools or Adobe Audition
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

15. 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

16. 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

17. Three things you mix... Music SFX -- Production library, Foley Voice
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 -->

18. 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