Contents
Class Info
- Date: March 31st
- Meeting Info: In Person in room 115 Pearl
Topic
Fundamentals of Digital Audio Part I
Objectives
This lesson introduces students to the concepts of sound waves, their properties and the terms used to describe the characteristics of sound waves. Then, we will work on understanding how sound is digitized and the trade-offs involved in using different audio formats.
Vocabulary to Know for Audio:
Sound Waves
Decibel
Sampling Rate
Audio Frequency
Herz
Pitch
Fourier transform
Nyquist rate
aiff
.wav
.mp3
.mov
Discussion/Lecture
Below are two youtube links we will be watching in class today.The first is a Louis Armstrong Recording of the French Song La Vie En Rose (English Translation: Life in Rosy Hues or through Rose-colored glasses). If you have not heard song before, it is a very well known song throughout France by well-known singer Edith Pilath. It was first released as a single in 1947. A 1997 version was released by Grace Jones and was an international hit and has been covered since as well. In 2019, it was sung by Lady Gaga in the remake of “A Star is Born” and we will view a little of that as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Iv–ew2jhM
The third link is of a commercial made by TBWA Paris for a Supermarket chain in France, U Supermarkets. The target audience for this ad is the French consumer.
http://creativity-online.com/work/u-supermarket-la-vie-en-rose/45896
Let’s take a look at these together and then I’d like you to write a short paragraph about whether you thought the sound was effectively done in the commercial. Could you hear the similarities between the music in the Armstrong audio and that of the commercial? Give me at least 3 reasons why you felt it was effective or not effective.
Now, let’s look at one more historical piece, a commercial that was used to end the Series Mad Men and that was one of the most well -known commercials of the 1970s and it focused on a song written for Coke.
Now that we’ve focused a little bit on how sound can possibly dominate or lead a visual piece, let’s go into the science of sound. Below are lecture slides on audio for you to download to your computer and view it together with me today in class
Fundamentals of Digital Audio – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnKkOEYWnE8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNVVq-iVPy8
http://www.wikihow.com/Measure-Decibels
Audacity is a professional Sound editing program that is free, completely free and has a wealth of resources for students. Let’s take a look at their tutorial on how to edit sounds.
Lab
First, you are going to be exploring free sound sites and get familiar with the different formats you see on them.
Free sites for downloading music:
http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Music
https://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/CreatedUsingAudacity
https://www.madeloud.com/download-music/
Then, we are going to be playing Color Jeopardy Together as a Review for your Color Quiz on April 28th
Below is the link to the game Color Jeopardy which we will play today.
https://www.playfactile.com/colorspace
To-Do After Class
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