Week 1

Class Note:

Sound -

• produced when something vibrates or oscillates. 
• There must be a vibrating source of energy, or oscillator, to create sound. 
• Sound waves - Sound pressure over time
  

Sound can be divided into four components in two aspects:

Acoustical properties of sound -

• Frequency
  
• Amplitude
• Envelope
• Harmonic Spectrum

Perceptual properties of sound - 

• Pitch
• Loudness
• Articulation
• Timbre

Frequency:

• A measure of the rate of an oscillation: how many cycles occur in a certain frame of time. 
• Could be indicated as cps - cycles per second 
• Hz = Hertz, unit of measurement for sound. The international standard unit for cycle per second

Amplitude:

• A measure of the magnitude of the oscillation.
• How great an increase and decrease in air pressure is produced by a vibration.
• decades over time.
• bows and air are used to sustain the sound of strings instruments and wind instruments - keep the amplitude going.
•  Most commonly measured by a relative scale of decibels or dB.
• Three common decibel scales - dB SPL for measuring human hearing, dB VU for measuring the recording range with analog, and dB FS for measuring the digital values for sampling in digital audio recording. 

Envelope:

• Attack
• Decay
• Sustain
• Release 

Harmonic Spectrum: 

• Overtones
  
• Sympathetic Vibrations
• Brass instruments rely on overtones
  

 

Wendy Carlos -

•  The synth pioneer whose work introduced a whole generation to the sound of Moog synthesizers.
•  http://www.wendycarlos.com/
  
• "Wendy Carlos: A biography" released in September 2020.
  

 Reflection:

In-class SoundTrap learning -

Learning a new app or technology has always been intimidating to me. Admittedly, to learn about SounTrap was no exception. With all the new terms learned today and all the unfamiliar "buttons to push", I felt overwhelmed and lost at times. Creating two tracks on it for Canon in D in class was both fun and challenging for me. Thankfully, Dr. Jacoby did not run the class at a fast pace. I was able to catch up and follow his instructions along the way most of the time. The app is not too hard to use, I just need some time to get used to it. I look forward to working on the Canon in D project with the app.

SoundTrap - 

It is a DAW, Digital Audio Workstation web app. People use this to create music or podcast. SoundTrap is a cloud-based app that is accessible from different devices, which makes it easy for students to use from iPad or iPhone. SoundTrap also is a social networking platform that allows users to share and collaborate with other users. For students who do not play any instrument, they can still compose music on the timeline using pre-configured instruments. The app also includes a keyboard, which makes classroom teaching that much more convenient. Teachers don't need to worry about needing to have a physical keyboard to attach to the computer.