Class Info

  • Date: 11/15/2022
  • Meeting Info: P116 at 6 PM

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
Nyquist rate
aiff
.wav
.mp3
.mov

Discussion/Lecture

Dear Students, 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. This past year, it was sung by Lady Gaga in the remake of “A Star is Born” and we will view a little of that as well.

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.

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.

http://creativity-online.com/work/u-supermarket-la-vie-en-rose/45896

And look at this recent commercial from Allstate:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdLxM_5_bXo

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.

https://www.elitedaily.com/p/the-poem-in-cokes-2019-super-bowl-ad-is-actually-inspired-by-andy-warhol-15899027

http://www.wikihow.com/Measure-Decibels

https://www.thedrum.com/news/2019/06/24/when-music-and-marketing-come-together-harmony

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

To-Do After Class

See Assignments/ Week 10