Music Tech Quiz 2

Front 1

20 Hz - 20 kHz

Back 1

The range of human hearing

Front 2

ADC

Back 2

Analog to Digital Converter - a device which converts continuous signals to discrete digital numbers.

Front 3

ADSR

Back 3

An envelope to modulate attack, decay, sustain and resonance.

Front 4

aliasing

Back 4

bogus frequencies created by recording a frequency above the nyquist frequency (approximately half the sampling rate)

Front 5

amplitude

Back 5

the magnitude of change in the oscillating variable

Front 6

anti-aliasing filter

Back 6

a part of the ADC which gradually reduces frequencies above a cutoff frequencies

Front 7

bit resolution

Back 7

dictates how many values are availabe for placing discrete points duringsampling

Front 8

cochlea

Back 8

portion of the inner ear filled with fluid which sets cilia in motion to help in the process of converting mechanical energy into electrochemical signal for the brain

Front 9

compression

Back 9

the compaction of air. opposite of rarefaction

Front 10

critical bands

Back 10

ranges of frequencies that sets of cilia are designated to detect certain frequencies

Front 11

cycle

Back 11

one repetition of a waveform

Front 12

DAC

Back 12

a device for converting a digital (usually binary) code to an analog signal

Front 13

decibel

Back 13

a measurement of sound pressure relative to a a reference level (usually the threshold of sound)

Front 14

decimate

Back 14

a process used in wavetables in which eliminates decimals

Front 15

dither

Back 15

intentionally applied form of noise, used to randomize quantization error, thereby preventing large-scale patterns such as contouring that are more objectionable than uncorrelated noise

Front 16

envelope

Back 16

time varying function that changes a parameter of a sound

Front 17

envelope generator

Back 17

a basic module for controlling ADSR of other modules

Front 18

frequency

Back 18

cycles of a waveform per second

Front 19

frequency domain graph

Back 19

a frequency-domain graph shows how much of the signal lies within each given frequency band over a range of frequencies

Front 20

fundamental frequency

Back 20

lowest frequency in a harmonic frequency

Front 21

harmonic partial

Back 21

any component of sound related to fundamental by whole number multiples

Front 22

header

Back 22

supplemental data at the beginning of a file to help the computer comprehend what to do with a file based on its format

Front 23

in a silver scale

Back 23

first computer synthesized piece of music by newman guttman

Front 24

inharmonic partial

Back 24

any combination of partials

Front 25

interpolate

Back 25

a method of constructing new data points in a wavetable

Front 26

masking

Back 26

process by which the brain naturally detects amplitudes of frequencies in critical bands and only allows you to hear those that have a great enough amplitude and "masks" those that are too small

Front 27

max mathews

Back 27

a pioneer in computer music at bell labs who wrote music I programming language

Front 28

music I

Back 28

a program written by Max Mathews in 1957 at Bell Labs[1]. MUSIC I was the first computer program for generating digital audio waveforms through direct synthesis.

Front 29

music N

Back 29

a family of computer music programs and programming languages descended from or influenced by MUSIC I

Front 30

noise

Back 30

a sound created by a waveform with no repetition

Front 31

normalize

Back 31

increasing the amplitude of a waveform to the maxiumum level based on its peak without introducing noise

Front 32

nyquist frequency

Back 32

half hte sample rate

Front 33

nyquist theorem

Back 33

theory that states you cannot record a frequency greater than half the sampling rate without producing aliasing

Front 34

overtones

Back 34

a partial that can be either harmonic or inharmonic

Front 35

oscillator

Back 35

module for creating sound - controls tuning, waveform or FM

Front 36

oscillator types

Back 36

truncating rounding interpolating

Front 37

partials

Back 37

sine wave components of a sound

Front 38

PCM-1

Back 38

first commercially available digital recorder

Front 39

Period

Back 39

ammount of time it takes for one cycle to complete. 1/f

Front 40

periodic waveform

Back 40

a wave which repeates over and over again

Front 41

phase

Back 41

one part or portion in recurring or serial activities

Front 42

psychoacoustics

Back 42

the study of subjective human perception of sounds

Front 43

quantization

Back 43

the process of approximating a continuous range of values by a relatively small set of discrete symbols or integer values

Front 44

rarefaction

Back 44

spaces of low pressure between molecules when transferring energy from a sound source. opposite of compression

Front 45

resonator

Back 45

a body which amplifies and attenuates a sound

Front 46

sampling rate

Back 46

the rate at which samples of the amplitude of a sound are taken per second in order to construct

Front 47

sawtooth wave

Back 47

all partials
amp = 1/f

Front 48

signal processing

Back 48

the analysis, interpretatin and manipulation of a sound signal

Front 49

sound

Back 49

vibration transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas; particularly, sound means those vibrations composed of frequencies capable of being detected by ears

Front 50

spectrum

Back 50

a plot which reveals the structure of the frequencies

Front 51

square wave

Back 51

odd partials
amp = 1/f

Front 52

table lookup synthesis

Back 52

using a wave table, an oscilator scans through a table which displays the amplitude values for a complete wave cylce

Front 53

time domain representation

Back 53

this method or representing a frequency shows how a frequency's amplitude develops over time

Front 54

triangle wave

Back 54

all partials
1/f^2

Front 55

unit generator

Back 55

modules for sound synthesis such as oscillators or noise generators which are processed by amplifiers envelops or filters