Chapter 3: Sound Expression Glossary

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Sebastián Saladaña A01570274

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Group 403

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hertz

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It is the unit in which frequency is measured

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frequency

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It is the measure of the amount of waves that pass through a given point per second

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echolocation

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Process in which animals identify the intensity and length of the noise, and they can then calculate the orientation and distance from the object.

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infrasound

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When a sound has a frequency of under 20 Hz

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ultrasound

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When a sound has a frequency of under 20,000 Hz

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sound

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Vibrations that travel through the air or other means and can be heard when they reach a person's or animal's ear.

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elasticity

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The attribute of a material to recover its extension and shape at the moment a force that deforms it stops falling upon it.

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acoustics

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The branch of physics concerned with the propertie of sound.

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transducer

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Transforms a type of energy into another one, and it may work as a generator or as a reciever.

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tuning fork

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When we hit the tuning fork, it will vibrate and create acoustic energy that will hit the molecule of air surrounding it, and it will produce a compression

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compression

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When molecules congregate all in one place

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rarefaction

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When compressed molecules scatter somewhere else.

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cycle

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Refers to the complete sequence of a periodic vibration that goes from rarefaction to compression

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period

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It is the time interval in which a cycle takes place.

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sound wave frequency

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The number of cycles that go through a same point during a second. Number of cycles per second.

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wavelength

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Refers to the distance that the sound goes through in a complete cycle of change in pressure. It is the physic measure of cycle length.

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amplitude

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The distance between the equilibrium position and the maximum wave point.

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tone

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Refers to the subjective perception of frequency. There are high pitched tones and low pitched tones which are measured in Hertz.

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decibel (dB)

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Unit used to measure volume. It is a comparison measure between the minimum humans are able to listen (0 dB) and the level we want to calculate.

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absorption

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Part of the acoustic energy will be absorbed by the object and then transformed into heat.

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reflection

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One part of the acoustic energy will change its direction when crashing with the edge of an object.

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refraction

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A change of direction in the sound wave. It happens when there is a difference in the means of propagation due to the variation in the density of the materials.

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bitrate

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The quality of compression measured in kilobytes per second.

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codecs

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The algorithm used for encoding the information of a sound on a digital file.

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wrappers

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The way of organizing information related to the digital audio.

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WAV

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(Wave) it is the most used format with no compression. It belongs to Microsoft/ IBM

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AIFF

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Format used in the Apple platform

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CDA

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It is an industrial standard used to encode the audio of compact CDs.

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MP3

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It is the first one to get the highest compression without much data loss. It is patented.

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AAC

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It is supported by Apple to be used on their devices. It is the succesor of MP3 becuase it can handle a larger level of compression without reducing its quality

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MIDI

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A communication protocol that allows electronic musical instruments, synthesizers, computers, and other devices to communicate among them.

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Audacity

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Application which enables editing audio files. It is an amateur editing software.

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Garage Band

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Application which enables editing audio files. It is an amateur editing software.

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monaural sound

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It is given when an audio is stored in one single channel and it lacks spatial sensation. It is also called mono.

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stereophonic sound

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It is also called stereo sound. It is stored in two channels that can be reproduced in different loudspeakers and simulate the sensation of listening on one single side.

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surround sound

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It stores the information in eight different channels. In order to make surround sound effect, the loudspeakers have to be strategically placed at certain distance and directed towards certain angles.

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streaming

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