Audio

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Signal processors

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e devices used to alter some characteristic of a sound. Generally, they can be grouped into four categories: spectrum processors, time processors, dynamic processors, and noise processors.

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spectrum processor

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such as the equalizer, affects the spectral balances in a signal

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time processor

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such as a reverberation or delay device, affects the time interval between a signal and its repetitions.

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dynamic processor (or amplitude processor),

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such as the compressor-limiter, affects a signal’s dynamic range.

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noise processor

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does not alter a signal so much as it makes the signal clearer by reducing various types of noise.

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plug-in

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an add-on software tool that gives a DAW signal-processing alternatives beyond what the original system provides.

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Spectrum processors

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include equalizers, filters, and psy- choacoustic processors.

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Equalizers

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The best-known and most common signal processor is the equalizer—an electronic device that alters frequency response by increasing or decreasing the level of a signal at a specific portion of the spectrum. This alteration can be done in two ways: by boost or cut (also known as peak and dip) and by shelving.

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Boost and cut

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respectively, increase and decrease the level of a band of frequencies around a center frequency— the frequency at which maximum boost or cut occurs. This type of equalization (EQ) is often referred to as bell curve or haystack due to the shape of the response curv

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Shelving

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also increases or decreases amplitude but by a fixed amount, gradually flattening out, or shelving, at the maximum selected level when the chosen frequency (called turnover frequency or cutoff) is reached.

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stop frequency

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the point at which the gain stops increasing or decreasing. Level then remains constant at all frequen- cies beyond that point

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fixed-frequency equalizer

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so called because it operates at fixed frequencies usually selected from two (high and low), three (high, middle, and low), or four (high, upper-middle, lower-middle, and low) ranges of the frequency spectrum

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bandwidth

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a range of frequencies on either side of the center frequency selected for equalizing that is also affected.

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bandwidth curve

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The degrees of amplitude to which these frequencies are modified form the bandwidth curve. If you boost, say, 350 Hz a total of 18 dB, the bandwidth of frequen- cies also affected may go to as low as 80 Hz on one end and up to 2,000 Hz on the other.

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graphic equalizer

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is a type of fixed-frequency equal- izer. It consists of sliding controls (rather than rotating ones) that boost or attenuate selected frequencies.

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Parametric Equalizer

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The main difference between a fixed-frequency equal- izer and a parametric equalizer (see 9-4) is that the parametric has continuously variable frequencies and bandwidths, making it possible to change a bandwidth curve by making it wider or narrower, thereby altering the affected frequencies and their levels. This provides greater flexibility and more precision in controlling equalization.

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dynamic equalizer

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can be assumed to be another type of signal processor that only equalizes sound. A dynamic equalizer is not an equalizer per se but a signal-processing feature that affects frequency response through compres- sion.

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Nondiegetic sound,

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extra-sound, comes from outside the story space; music underscoring is an example of nondiegetic sound.) If a gun fires, a car drives by, or leaves rustle in the wind, what you see is what you hear;

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Narrative sound

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adds more to a scene than what is ap- parent and so performs an informational function. It can be descriptive or commentative.

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descriptive sound

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describes sonic aspects of a scene, usually those not directly connected with the main action. A conversation in a hot room with a ceiling fan slowly turning is contextual sound. Descriptive sound would be the buzzing about of insects, oxcarts lumbering by outside, and an indistinguishable hubbub, or walla, of human activity.

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Commentative sound

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also describes, but it makes an additional statement, one that usually has something to do with the story line. For example: An aging veteran wanders through the uniform rows of white crosses in a cemetery.

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Doppler effec

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With moving objects, frequency also helps establish distance and direction of movement. As a moving ob- ject such as a train, car, or siren approaches, its pitch gets higher; as it moves away or recedes, its pitch gets lower. This phenomenon is known as the Doppler effect

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hard sound effect,

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also called a cut sound effect, emanates either directly from the screen source making the sound or from an effects library used to duplicate on- screen sound. In other words, what you see is what you hear. For the most part, a hard effect begins and ends cleanly, such as a door close, shout, beep, cough, car horn, celery crunch, and so on.

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soft sound effect,

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such as crowd noise, buzzing, and ocean waves, which does not have a defined beginning and end and does not explicitly synchronize with the picture.

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Electronic sound effects

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are generated by instruments such as the synthesizer and the keyboard and by plug-ins that create electronic-sounding effects.

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Design Sound Effects

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A design sound effect must be created because it does not exist in nature. Any produced sound effect can be considered “designed.” In this context, however, a designsound effect is created through a computer by manipulat- ing a sound’s waveform.

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transients

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The capacitor microphone is most frequently used in recording Foley effects because of its ability to pick up subtleties and capture transients—fast bursts of sound, such as door slams, gunshots, breaking glass, and foot- steps—that constitute so much of Foley work. Tube-type capacitors help smooth harsh transients and warm digi- tally recorded effects, if that is the intent.

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sound- walks

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Since the early days of tape-recording effects, producers have gone on sound- walks to record whatever the environment had to of- fer—and they still do. It not only keeps aural acuity sharp but also is a good way to continue building a sound-effect library.

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electronic Foley

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Its advantages are cost-efficiency, convenience, and the unlimited number of sounds that can be created. Its main disadvantage is that electronically generated sound effects sometimes lack the “reality” that directors desire.

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Analytical listening

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is the evaluation of such sound, the interpretation of the nuances and the connotations of the sound quality in addition to—or in spite of—the words being spoken.

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Attack— Duration Decay—

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Attack—the way a sound begins—can be hard, soft, crisp, or gradual. Hard or crisp attacks can suggest sharp- ness, excitement, or danger. Soft or gradual attacks can imply something gentle, muted, or blasé. Duration refers to how long a sound lasts. Sounds short in duration can convey restlessness, nervousness, or excitation; more-sustained sounds can create a sense of peace, persistence, or fatigue. Decay—how fast a sound fades from a certain loud- ness—can be quick, gradual, or slow. Quick decays can create a sense of confinement, closeness, or definite- ness; slow decays can convey distance, smoothness, or uncertainty.

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spotting—

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deciding on the placement of sound effects and music