Hi Readers,
The audio aspect of media isn't something I understand a lot a out and isn't one of my main interests but knowledge of this is required. In my desired work place as well as the course so here is what I managed to understand about the different rooms and such. Humans hear sound because something makes a noise by vibrating and the particles in the air vibrate and a chain reaction of vibrating particles knocks into our tympanic membrane ( ear drum, I actually remember that from year 3 science!) causing us to hear. Acoustics it's self is the study of how the waves move through liquids, gasses, solids and different materials. I think those very simple explanations will help understand a few things here.
First there are indoor acoustics. Studio based acoustics are rooms that the sound will be recorded in and have another room where everything is recorded. A live room is the name of the part where the sound is recorded.The rooms are usually made wit wood as it blocks sound coming in or out ( this is called sound proofing) and bounces the sound back to the centre of a room, this is called reverberation. Plastic screens that are curved can help with the bounce of sound.
Dead room are also places where recording happens. There are all sorts of materials fitted used to make it so the recording will have no ambiance and the only sound recorded will be the one made on purpose. It means it's easier to add effects to the sound as its a blank slate. Materials like blankets and soft fabrics can absorb the sound for sound proofing.
Recording outdoors on location (this is called actuality) is a little more tricky. For starters, the unwanted noise from the surrounding areas such as cars and general ambiance noise can distract and disrupt the intended sound. Then there is the wind. If it's strong the sound of it can be heard as well as muffle the wanted sound. Sometimes the surrounding sound, the atmosphere, is wanted so the location is established. To get a good atmosphere sound you can use a sound bite which is just a section from a recording of the sound. Dead cats are a type of microphone that is very good at picking up the wanted sound outdoors
Not all sound is perfect straight away. Different things can effect how the sound.... well.... sounds. An effects unit changes how an instrument sounds digitally. This is called processing which can be done for all sounds and as long as the sound waves are changed some way it's called processing. The computer and editing software changes how something like a voice sounds. Compressing is when it automatically reduces the volume when it clips and reaches a certain pitch (the level of volume), the threshold and limiting is when you set the threshold yourself. There things called plugins for the editing software that add specific capabilities so for sound it could be a different effects. Time Delay is something people use to do effects when musicians are live. It's when the input from the instruments is delayed to the speakers. Sound can also do a couple of other clever things with speakers. Surround sound is when there are speakers all around the room that have different kind of sounds at the same time, this is a multichannel. There have been some very creative people on youtube who use binural mic's where sound from the left and right side is recorded and then is played through each side of headphones so it sounds like there is someone right next to you.
Okay there are some of the things about sound I've found out. Thanks for reading if you would like to add anything please comment and tell me more!
Rain
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