SOUND

SOUND
 SOUND is the most sensuous element of
multimedia.
 It is meaningful "speech" in any language, from a
light sound to a loud sound.
 It can provide the listening pleasure of music,
special effects. BGM
THE POWER OF SOUND
 When something vibrates in the air by moving back
and forth (such as the cone of a loudspeaker), it
creates waves of pressure.
 These waves spread like the ripples from a pebble
tossed into a still pool, and when they reach your
eardrums, you experience the changes of pressure, or
vibrations, as sound.
 In air, the ripples propagate at about 750 miles per
hour.
ACOUSTICS
 Acoustics is the branch of physics that studies sound. Sound
pressure levels (loudness or volume) are measured in decibels
(dB)
 A decibel measurement is actually the ratio between a chosen
reference point on a logarithmic scale and the level that is
actually experienced.
 Consider a sound with 6 dB increase; when you make the sound
100 times more intense, the increase in dB is not hundredfold,
but only 20 dB.

 A logarithmic scale is also used for measuring the power of

earthquakes
ACOUSTICS
 Sound is energy, too much volume can permanently damage
the delicate receiving mechanisms behind your eardrums.
 For instance, when the ambient noise level is above 90 dB in
the workplace, people are likely to make increased numbers
of errors in susceptible tasks-especially when there is a high-
frequency component to the noise.
 When the level is above 80 dB, it is quite impossible to use a
telephone.
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Your use of sound in multimedia projects will not likely
require highly specialized knowledge notation, octaves, or
the physics of acoustics and vibration, but you do need to
know the following:.
 How to make sounds

 How to record and edit sounds on your computer

 How to incorporate sounds into your multimedia work

DIGITAL AUDIO
 A digital signal starts off as an Analogue signal that is a
sound wave converted to an electrical signal and this
electrical signal is then converted into a digital signal by
sampling it at a determined rate.
 Digital audio is created when you represent a sound wave
using numbers-(digitizing).
 You can digitize sound from a microphone, a synthesizer,
existing tape recordings, live radio and television broadcasts,
and popular CDs.
 Digitized sound is sampled sound. Every nth fraction of a
second, a sample of sound is taken and stored as digital
information in bits and bytes.
 The quality of this digital recording depends upon how
often the samples are taken.
 Since the quality of your audio is based on the quality of
your recording and not the device on which your end user will
play the audio, digital audio is said to be device independent.
 The three sampling frequencies most often used in
multimedia are CD-quality 44.1 kHz (kilohertz), 22.05
kHz, and 11.025 kHz.
 Sample sizes are either 8 bits or 16 bits.
 Figure , slices of analog waveforms are sampled at
various frequencies, and each discrete sample is then
stored either as 8 bits or 16 bits (or more) of data.

 It is impossible to reconstruct the original waveform

if the sampling frequency is too low.
 While sampling-The value of each sample is rounded off
to the nearest integer (quantization), and
 if the amplitude is greater than the intervals available,
clipping of the top and bottom of the wave occurs .
Quantization can produce an unwanted background
noise, and clipping may severely distort the sound.
FILE SIZE VERSUS QUALITY
 Sampling rate determines the frequency at which samples will
be drawn for the recording. Sampling at higher rates (such as
44.1 kHz or 22.05 kHz) more accurately captures the high-
frequency content of your sound.
 Audio resolution (such as 8- or 16-bit) determines the
accuracy with which a sound can be digitized. Using more bits
for the sample size yields a recording that sounds more like its
original.

 That mean the higher the Sample rate and Audio resolution
, the higher the sound accuracy.
EDITING DIGITAL RECORDINGS
 Multiple Tracks Being able to edit and combine
multiple tracks (for sound effects, voice-overs,
music, etc.) and then merge the tracks and export
them in a "final mix" to a single audio file is
important.
 Trimming Removing "dead air" or blank space
from the front of a recording and any unnecessary
extra time off the end is your first sound editing
task. Trimming even a few seconds here and there
might make a big difference in your file size.
Trimming is typically accomplished by dragging the
mouse cursor over a graphic representation of your
recording and choosing a menu command such, as
Cut, Clear, Erase, or Silence.
 Splicing and Assembly Using the same tools mentioned for
trimming, you will probably want to remove the extraneous
noises .
 Volume Adjustments If you are trying to assemble ten
different recordings into a single sound track, there is little
chance that all the segments will have the same volume.
 Format Conversion Most sound editing software will save
files in your choice of many formats, most of which can be
read and imported by multimedia authoring systems.
 Resampling or Down sampling : If you have
recorded and edited your sounds at 16-bit sampling
rates but are using lower rates and resolutions in
your project, you must resample or down sample the
file. Your software will examine the existing digital
recording and work through it to reduce the number of
samples. This process may save considerable disk
space
 Fade-ins and Fade-outs Most programs offer
enveloping capability useful for long sections that you
wish to fade in or fade out gradually. This enveloping
helps to smooth out the very beginning and the very
end of a sound file.
 Equalization Some programs offer digital equalization (EQ)
capabilities that allow you to modify a recordings frequency
content so that it sound brighter or darker.
 Time Stretching Advanced programs let you alter the length
of a sound file without changing its pitch. This feature can be
very useful but most time stretching algorithms will severely
degrade the audio quality of the file if the length is altered
more than a few percent in either direction.
 Digital Signal Processing (DSP): Some programs allow you
to process the signal with reverberation, multi tap delay,
chorus, flange and other special effects using digital signal
processing (DSP) routines. You can use this to create an
environment by placing the sound inside a room, hall, or even
a cathedral can bring depth and dimension to a project.
 Reversing Sounds Another simple manipulation is to reverse
all or a portion of a digital audio recording. Sounds particularly
spoken dialog can produce a surreal otherworldly effect when
played backward.
MIDI
 Means Musical Instrument Digital Interface: is the easiest,
quickest, and most flexible tool to compose your own original
score.
 MIDI is a communications standard developed in the early
1980s for electronic musical instruments and computers.
 MIDI provides a protocol for passing detailed descriptions of a
musical score, such as the notes, sequences of notes, and the
instrument that will play these notes.
 To make MIDI scores, you need Sequencer Software and a
sound synthesizer (typically built into the sound board on
PCs, but an add-on board or peripheral for the Macintosh
MIDI VERSUS DIGITAL AUDIO
 MIDI data is not digitized sound; it is a shorthand
representation of music stored in numeric form.
 Digital audio is a recording, MIDI is a score or note.

 Digital audio depends on the capabilities of your sound

system, MIDI on the quality of your musical
instruments and the capabilities of your sound system.
 The sequencer software lets you record and edit MIDI data.
 MIDI file is a list of time stamped commands that are
recording of musical actions(ex. The pressing down of a
piano key or a sustain pedal).
 When sent to playback device this results in sound.

 MIDI files tend to be smaller than equivalent waveform

files or digital audio.
 Compared to MIDI data digital audio data is the actual
representation of sound, stored in the form of thousands of
individual numbers(called samples)
 Because it is not device dependent, digital audio sound the
same every time it is played.
 Digital sound is used for music CDs and MP3 files
MIDI ADVANTAGES
 MIDI files will be 200 to 100 time smaller than CD-
quality digital audio files. Because MIDI files are
small they don’t take up much RAM, disk space and
CPU resources
 Because they are small MIDI files embedded in web
pages load and play more quickly than their digital
equivalents.
 In some cases, it the MIDI sound source you are using
is of high quality, MIDI files may sound better than
digital audio files.
DISADVANTAGES
 The sound of a MIDI instrument varies according to
the electronics of the playback device and the
sound generation method it uses.
 MIDI cannot easily be used to playback spoken
dialog, although expensive and technically tricky
digital samplers are available.
ADVANTAGE OF DIGITAL AUDIO
 The most important advantage of digital audio is its
consistent playback quality, but this is where MIDI is
the least reliable.
 With digital audio you can be more confident that the
audio track for your multimedia project will sound as
good in the end as it did in the beginning when you
created it.
 For this reason digital audio is used far more
frequently than MIDI data for multimedia sound
tracks
CHOOSING BETWEEN MIDI AND
DIGITAL AUDIO
In general, use MIDI data in the following
circumstances:
 Digital audio wont work because you don’t have
enough RAM,hard disk space, CPU processing power
or bandwidth.
 You have a high quality MIDI sound source
 You have complete control over the machines on
which your program will be delivered, so you know
that you users will have high quality MIDI playback
hardware.
 Your don’t need spoken dialog.
 In general use digital audio in the following
circumstances:
 You don’t have control over the playback hardware.

 You have good hardware support.

 You need spoken dialog.

SOUND FOR THE WORLD WIDE WEB
 There are two methods for playing either digital or MIDI
sound on the web.
 First you can wait for the entire sound file to download to
your computer, then play it back with a helper application.
 Second, you can begin to play the sound file being
downloaded as soon as enough of the sound is cached in
your computers buffer.
 The downloading continues to fill the bugger faster than you
empty it by playing the sound file, allowing the sound file to
stream into your computer in the background, keeping ahead of
what has already been played so the pause or breakup.
 Streaming files are dependent upon connection speed
ADDING SOUND TO YOUR
MULTIMEDIA PROJECT
 Determine the file formats that are compatible with
your multimedia authoring software and the
delivery medium you will be using.
 Determine the sound playback capabilities (codec
and plugin) that the end user’s system offers
 Decide what kind of sound is needed such as
background music, special sound effects, and
spoken dialog). Decide where these audio events will
occur in the flow of your project.
 Fit the sound cues into your storyboard
 Decide where and when your want to use either digital
audio or MIDI data.
 Acquire source material by creating it from scratch or
purchasing it.
 Edit the sounds to fit your project

 Test sound to be sure they are timed properly with the

projects images.
FILE FORMATS
 Their AIFF to MP3 converter will read the following
formats: 3G2, 3GP, 3GP2, 3GPP, 4XM, AAC, AC3,
ADX, AFC, AIF, AIFC, AIFF, ALAW, AMR, AMV, APE,
ASF, AU, AVI, AWB, CAF, CDA, CDATA, DIF, DIVX,
DTS, DV, DVD, DVR-MS, DXA, FLAC, FLC, FLI,
FLIC, FLV, FLX, GSM, GXF, H261, H263, H263+,
H264, IT, KAR, M1A, M1V, M2A, M2TS, M2V, M4A,
M4B, M4V, MID, MIDI, MJ2, MJPEG, MJPG, MKA,
MKV, MLP, MLV, MMF, MO3, MOD,
FILE FORMATS
 MOV, MP+, MP1, MP2, MP3, MP4, MPA, MPC, MPE,
MPEG, MPG, MPGA, MPP, MPV, MTM, MTS, MTV,
MVI, MXF, NSA, NSV, NUT, NUV, OGA, OGG, OGM,
OGV, OGX, OMA, PSP, PSX, PVA, QCP, QT, RA,
RAM, RM, RMI, RMVB, ROQ, RPL, S3M, SDP, SHN,
SMK, SND, SOL, SPX, STR, SWF, TS, TTA, UMX,
VFW, VID, VMD, VOB, VOC, VQF, W64, WAV,
WAVE64, WM, WMA, WMD, WMV, WV, XA, XM,
XVID, XWMV, and YUV. And it will output to MP3,
WAV, WMA, AAC, MP4, M4A (MPEG-4 Audio), M4B
(MPEG-4 AudioBook), OGG, AMR, and AWB formats.
But rest easy—you will likely only work with a handful
of sound file types.
THANKS