Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

Produce a glossary of terms specific to the methods and principles of sound design and production. Using a provided template, you must research and gather definitions specific to provided glossary terms. Any definitions must be referenced with the URL link of the website you have obtained the definition.

You must also, where possible, provide specific details of how researched definitions relate to your own production practice.

Name: RESEARCHED DEFINITION (provide short internet researched definition and URL link)

DESCRIBE THE RELEVANCE OF THE RESEARCHED TERM TO YOUR OWN PRODUCTION PRACTICE?

SOUND DESIGN METHODOLOGY

Foley Artistry Foley is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added to film, video, and other media in post-production to enhance audio quality. These reproduced sounds can be anything from the swishing of clothing and footsteps to squeaky doors and breaking glass.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foley_%28filmmaking%29

Reproducing everyday sounds such as doors opening, or water running down a sink. These are then added to media to enhance audio quality.

Sound Libraries A collection of sounds stored on file (for example on CDs, DVDs, or as digital audio files)

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/sound-library

Sounds stored on files such as CD’s, DVD’s or digital files.

SOUND FILE FORMATS Uncompressed Uncompressed video, also called Clean HDMI, is digital video information that has not been compressed, or was not processed with compression on it when the video was captured directly via video capture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncompressed_video

Uncompressed is video information that has not been compressed or was not processed with compression when captured via video capture.

.wav File size is 4Gb. This limit derives from the use of a 32-bit address header, which imposes a limit of 2^32, or 4,294,967,296 bytes (4 gigabytes).

http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/guide/uncompressed-audio-file-formats

.wav files have small storage but good quality.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

.aiff Audio Interchange File Format - developed by Apple and Amiga. Works similarly to WAV but uses a different method of dividing the PCM data into manageable chunks. AIFF also has the facility to store a loop point for the audio, and also a musical note, both of which features are useful for playing back musical samples.

http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/guide/uncompressed-audio-file-formats

A sound format developed by Apple and Amiga, has ability to store a loop point for audio and musical notes that can be used for playing back musical samples.

.au The Au file format is a simple audio file format introduced by Sun Microsystems. The format was common on NeXT systems and on early Web pages. Originally it was header less, being simply 8-bit µ-law-encoded data at an 8000 Hz sample rate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Au_file_format

A simple audio file format that was simply 8-bit µ-law-encoded data.

.smp A ".smp" file may be one of several different types of audio file. For example, it could be a SampleVision audio sample file. This 16-bit audio file was originally used by Turtle Beach SampleVision; you can open it with Adobe Auction, Sound Forge Pro or Awave Studio. Reason, a music recording and production program, uses the ".smp" extension for sampler instrument patches.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/info_12198596_file-smp.html

http://www.ehow.com/info_12198596_file-smp.html

A 16-bit audio file. Can be used for sampler instrument patches.

Lossy Compression Lossy compression reduces a file by permanently eliminating certain information, especially redundant information. When the file is uncompressed, only a part of the original information is still there.  Lossy compression is generally used for video and sound, where a certain amount of information loss will not be detected by most users.

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/lossless-and-lossy-

Lossy compression reduces files by permanently elimination certain information. It is also uncompressed.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

compression.mp3 An MP3 file is a compressed (made smaller) audio file,

which allows it to be sent easily over the Internet. Uncompressed music file, including Wav files or music on a CD, can be 30 or 40 megabytes or much larger. MP3's are usually one-tenth this size, with only a slight loss in quality.

http://sony.storagesupport.com/node/6166

A compressed audio file which can easily be sent over the internet.

SD Sound Processor Unit (SPU) A sound card (also known as an audio card) is an internal computer expansion card that facilitates economical input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under control of computer programs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_card

SPU facilitates economical input and output of audio signals around computers.

Digital Sound Processor (DSP) A Digital Signal Processor, or DSP, is a specialized microprocessor that has an architecture which is optimized for the fast operational needs of digital signal processing.

http://www.futureelectronics.com/en/microprocessors/digital-signal-processors.aspx

DSP boosts performance of digital signal processing.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

RAM is an acronym for random access memory, a type of computer memory that can be accessed randomly; that is, any byte of memory can be accessed without touching the preceding bytes. RAM is the most common type of memory found in computers and other devices, such as printers.

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/R/RAM.html

RAM is computer memory that can be accessed randomly and easily.

Mono Audio When you’re using headphones, you may miss some audio if you’re deaf or hard of hearing in one ear. That’s because stereo recordings usually have distinct left- and right-channel audio tracks. iOS can help by playing both audio channels in both ears, and letting you adjust the balance for greater volume in either ear, so you won’t miss a single note of a concerto or word of an audiobook.

Mono Audio allows you to adjust which headphone your audio come out of, so it helps if you are deaf in one ear.For our work on Reaper, we used Mono Audio to playback what we created and to hear the sounds very clearly.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

https://www.apple.com/accessibility/ios/Stereo Audio Audio stereo means sound which is divided into two

separate channels. These two channels are played back simultaneously via separate speakers. The effect is to create a fuller sound, and provide the ability to mix certain sounds between channels.

http://www.mediacollege.com/glossary/s/stereo.html

Audio divided into 2 separate channels which are played back simultaneously via separate speakers so that full sound is created.

Surround Sound Surround sound is a term used to describe a type of audio output in which the sound appears to "surround the listener" by 360 degrees. Surround sound systems use three or more channels and speakers in front and behind the listener to create a surrounding envelope of sound and directional audio sources.

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/surround_sound.html

Sound surrounds the listener through speakers.

Direct Audio (Pulse Code Modulation – PCM)

Pulse-code modulation (PCM) is a method used to digitally represent sampled analog signals. It is the standard forms of digital audio in computers, Compact Discs, digital telephony and other digital audio applications. In a PCM stream, the amplitude of the analog signal is sampled regularly at uniform intervals, and each sample is quantized to the nearest value within a range of digital steps.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-code_modulation

A method used to digitally represent sampled analog signals.

AUDIO RECORDING SYSTEMS

Analogue Analog (or analogue) recording is a technique used for the recording of analog signals which, among many possibilities, analog audio and analog video for later playback.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_recording

A technique used for recording analog signals.

Digital Mini Disc You can record and erase files on a MiniDisc just as easily as you can on a floppy disk. The big difference between the a MiniDisc and a floppy disk is that a MiniDisc can hold about 100 times more data (about 140 megabytes in data

A Mini Disc that can be used to record and erase files, like a floppy disk, except the Mini Disc has 100 times more storage than the floppy disk.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

mode, 160 megabytes in audio mode vs. 1.44 megabytes for a floppy).

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question55.htmCompact Disc (CD) Abbreviated as CD, a compact disc is a flat, round storage

medium that is read by a laser in a CD-ROM drive that was invented by James Russell and first created at a Philips factory in Germany on August 17, 1982. The standard CD is capable of holding 72 minutes of music or 650 MB of data. 80 minute CDs are also commonly used to store data and are capable of containing 700 MB of data.

http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/c/compactd.htm

A flat round disc that is used for storage and read by a laser and is used a lot.

Digital Audio Tape (DAT) DAT (Digital Audio Tape) is a standard medium and technology for the digital recording of audio on tape at a professional level of quality. A DAT drive is a digital tape recorder with rotating heads similar to those found in a video deck. Most DAT drives can record at sample rates of 44.1 kHz, the CD audio standard, and 48 kHz.

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/DAT-Digital-Audio-Tape

A standard medium and technology for digital recording of audio that is stored on a tape at a professional level of quality.

MIDI MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a protocol designed for recording and playing back music on digital synthesizers that is supported by many makes of personal computer sound cards. Originally intended to control one keyboard from another, it was quickly adopted for the personal computer.

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/MIDI-Musical-Instrument-Digital-Interface

MIDI is a protocol that is designed for the recording and playback of music.

Software Sequencers In digital audio recording, a sequencer is a program in a computer or stand-alone keyboard unit that puts together a sound sequence from a series (or sequence) of Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) events (operations).

A program in a computer that puts together sounds sequences from a series of musical instrument digital interface.We used software sequences during

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/sequencer our project to change the pitch and playback rate of different sounds to make them sound different.

Software Plug-ins Plug-in applications are programs that can easily be installed and used as part of your Web browser. Initially, the Netscape browser allowed you to download, install, and define supplementary programs that played sound or motion video or performed other functions.

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/plug-in

Plug in applications that are easily installed onto your browser.

MIDI Keyboard Instruments Short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, MIDI is a standard for digitally representing and transmitting sounds that was first developed in the 1980s. The MIDI sound is played back through the hardware device or computer either through a synthesized audio sound or a waveform stored on the hardware device or computer. The quality of how MIDI sounds when played back by the hardware device or computer depends upon that device's capability.

http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/m/midi.htm

MIDI is a standard for digitally representing and transmitting sounds, which is played back through the hardware device or computer.

AUDIO SAMPLING File Size Constraints - Bit-depth

In digital audio using pulse-code modulation (PCM), bit depth is the number of bits of information in each sample, and it directly corresponds to the resolution of each sample. Examples of bit depth include Compact Disc Digital Audio, which uses 16 bits per sample, and DVD-Audio and Blu-ray Disc which can support up to 24 bits per sample.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_bit_depth

Bit depth is the number of bits in information from each sample and corresponds to the resolution each of those samples have.

File Size Constraints - Sample Rate

Sample rate is the number of samples of audio carried per second, measured in Hz or kHz (one kHz being 1 000 Hz). For example, 44 100 samples per second can be expressed as either 44 100 Hz, or 44.1 kHz.

http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Sample_Rates

The number of samples of audio that is carries per second and is measured in Hz or kHz.

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