Index

Table of Contents

1. Sound theory

1.1. Introduction

1.2. What is sound?

1.3. Propagation of sound through the air

1.4. Properties of Sound

1.4.1. Frequency

1.4.2. Period

1.4.3. Wavelength

1.4.4. Amplitude

1.4.5. Phase

1.4.6. Speed

1.5. Combination of pure sinusoids

1.6. Time-Frequency representation

1.7. Harmonic content of a wave form

1.8. Wave forms

1.8.1. Pure sinusoid

1.8.2. Square Wave

1.8.3. Saw-tooth wave

1.8.4. Triangular Wave

1.8.5. Hypertones

1.9. Sound Envelope

1.10. Reflection, diffraction, refraction, absorption

1.10.1. Reflection

1.10.2. Reflections within a room

1.10.3. Refraction

1.10.4. Diffraction

1.10.5. Absorption

2. Perception of sound

2.1. Introduction

2.2. Human ear

2.2.1. Outer ear

2.2.2. Middle ear

2.2.3. Inner ear

2.3. Perception of sound by the brain

2.4. Beatings

2.5. Volume and perception of frequency, distorsion, Masking

2.5.1. Volume and perception of frequencies

2.5.2. Distorsion

2.5.3. Masking

2.6. Doppler effect

2.7. >Haas effect

2.8. Equal loudness countours

2.8.1. Description of equal loudness countours

2.8.1.1. Threshold of hearing (0 phons)

2.8.1.2. Threshold of pain (140 phons)

2.9. Psychoacoustics

2.9.1. Environment

2.9.2. Suppression of coloration

2.9.3. Octave illusion

2.9.4. Cocktail party effect

2.10. Localization of sound sources

2.10.1. Time differences (phase)

2.10.2. Amplitude differences

2.10.3. Harmonic content differences

2.11. Binaural fusion

2.12. Audible frequency spectrum

3. Decibels

3.1. Introduction

3.2. Logarithmic scale

3.3. Decibels in the audio field

3.4. Inverse distance law

3.5. Combination of sound sources

3.6. Electrical quantities expressed in decibel

3.7. Standard Operating Level

3.8. Dynamic Range

3.9. Phonometers

3.9.1. dB_spl measurers

3.9.2. Vu Meters

3.9.3. PPM Meters

4. Fundamentals of electronics

4.1. Introduction

4.2. Electricity

4.3. Electronic components

4.3.1. Resistance

4.3.2. Capacitor

4.3.3. Inductor

4.3.4. Impedance

4.3.5. Diode

4.3.6. Transistor

4.3.7. Operational amplifier

4.3.8. Transformer

4.4. Ohm's law, Power, Electromotive force

4.4.1. Ohm's law

4.4.2. Power

4.4.3. Electromotive force

4.5. Electronic circuits

4.6. Impedance of a circuit

5. Equalizers and Filters

5.1. Introduction

5.2. Equalizers

5.2.1. >Equalizers

5.2.2. Shelf equalizers

5.2.3. Parametric equalizers

5.2.4. Graphic equalizers

5.2.5. Active and passive equalizers

5.3. Filters

5.3.1. High-pass and Low-pass Filters

5.3.1.1. Slope

5.3.2. Band-pass filters

6. Analogue Recorders

6.1. Introduction

6.2. Functioning of analogue recorders

6.3. Projecting criteria

6.4. Functioning modalities

6.5. Magnetic Particles

6.6. Characteristic quantities of magnetism

6.7. Transfer characteristic of a magnetic ribbon

6.8. Hysteresis cycle

6.9. Hysteresis of a moving magnetic ribbon

6.10. Bias current

6.11. Setup

6.12. Final considerations

7. Effects and Signal Processors

7.1. Introduction

7.2. Reverb

7.3. Delay

7.4. Phaser

7.5. Flanger

7.6. Chorus

7.7. Pitch Shifter

7.8. Tremolo

7.9. Vibrato

7.10. Distorsor

7.11. Exciter

7.12. Wah-Wah

7.13. Vocoder

7.14. Compressor

7.14.1. Sidechain input

7.14.2. Compression curves

7.14.3. Compressor response to the input signal

7.14.4. Rotation point compressor

7.14.5. Multiband compressor

7.15. Using the compressor

7.16. De-esser

7.17. Limiter

7.18. Gate

7.19. Expander

8. Connections, wires and connectors

8.1. Introduction

8.2. Optical connections

8.3. Electric connections

8.3.1. Unbalanced electric connections

8.3.2. Balanced electric connections

8.3.3. Distorsion in electronic connections

8.4. Connectors

9. Sound diffusion systems

9.1. Introduction

9.2. Functioning principals

9.3. Resonant frequency of a loudspeaker

9.4. Efficiency

9.5. Sensitivity and applicable power of a loudspeaker

9.5.1. Sensitivity of a loudspeaker

9.5.2. Applicable power

9.6. Impedance of a loudspeaker

9.7. Frequency response

9.8. Polar patter of a loudspeaker

9.9. Subwoofer, woofer, midrange, tweeter

9.10. Piezoelectric loudspeakers

9.11. Diffusors

9.11.1. The Crossover

9.12. Acoustic box types

9.12.1. Bass reflex

9.12.2. Passive cone

9.12.3. Folded frequency horn

10. Microphones and miking techniques

10.1. Introduction

10.2. Electrodynamic microphone

10.3. Condenser microphones

10.4. Piezoelectric microphones

10.5. Ribbon microphones

10.6. Polar pattern of a microphone

10.7. Omnidirectional microphones

10.8. Unidirectional microphones

10.9. Pressure microphones

10.10. Capacitor microphones with double diaphragm

10.11. PZM microphones

10.12. Special microphones: shotgun and parabolic

10.12.1. Shotgun

10.12.2. Parabolic

10.13. Specific electric quantities of microphones

10.13.1. Self noise

10.13.2. Distortion

10.13.3. Sensitivity

10.14. Stereo miking techniques: Introduction

10.14.1. Stereo miking techniques: Coincident microphones

10.14.2. Blumlein technique

10.14.3. XY technique

10.14.4. MS technique

10.15. Stereo miking techniques: near coincident microphones

10.15.1. ORTF technique

10.15.2. NOS technique

10.15.3. OSS technique

10.16. Stereo miking techniques: distant microphones

10.16.1. AB technique

10.17. Miking of musical instruments

11. The recording studio

11.1. Introduction

11.2. Outline of a recording studio

11.3. Studio mixer

11.4. Mixer: channels

11.5. Mixer: groups

11.6. Mixer: master section

11.7. >Effects rack

11.8. Recorder, computer, monitors

11.8.1. The recorder

11.8.2. The computer

11.8.3. The monitors

11.9. PatchBay

12. Working in a recording studio

12.1. Introduction

12.2. Recording

12.3. Using the aux sends during a recording session

12.4. Bouncing

12.5. Mixing

12.6. Using groups during a recording session

12.7. Listening to a mix

12.8. Using the aux sends during a mixing session

12.9. Levels calibration

12.10. Mastering

13. Live sound

13.1. Introduction

13.2. Description of the equipment

13.3. Stage mixer chain

13.4. FOH mixer chain

13.5. Live mixer

13.6. Delay towers

13.6.1. Sound reinforcement

13.7. Setup of the equipment

13.8. Soundcheck

13.9. The concert

13.10. Larsen effect

14. Amplification

14.1. Introduction

14.2. The amplification chain

14.3. The amplifier

14.4. Power

14.5. Amplification curve

14.6. Distortion by saturation

14.7. Other causes of distortion

14.8. Frequency response

14.9. Input and output impedance

14.10. Characteristics of inputs

14.11. Characteristics of outputs

14.12. Amplification: DI Box

15. Acoustics

15.1. Introduction

15.2. Tight environments

15.3. Resonance modes

15.4. Axial modes behaviour

15.5. Consideration on resonance modes within a closed environment

15.6. Reverb time of an environment

15.7. Absorption coefficient

15.8. Reflection coefficient

15.9. Sound absorption techniques

15.10. Passive acoustic panels

15.11. Active acoustic panels

15.12. Sound diffusion techniques

15.13. Criteria for measuring background noise

15.14. LEDE Control Room

15.15. Criteria for measuring background noise

15.16. Extended environments

15.17. Extended environments: reverb time

15.18. Extended environments: absorption, reflection and undesired effects

15.18.1. Absorption

15.18.2. Air absorption

15.18.3. Undesired effects

16. Noise

16.1. Introduction

16.2. Narrowband noise

16.2.1. HVAC

16.2.2. Electromagnetic emissions

16.2.3. Interferences

16.2.4. Vibrations

16.3. Broadband noise

16.3.1. Thermal noise

16.3.2. White noise

16.3.3. Pink noise

16.3.4. Brown noise

16.4. Distortion and Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)

16.5. Noise reduction

16.5.1. Narrowband noise reduction

16.5.2. Electromagnetic interferences reduction

16.5.3. Broadband noise reduction

16.6. Noise reduction systems

16.7. Noise reduction: Dolby A

16.8. Noise reduction: Other Dolby systems

16.8.1. Dolby B

16.8.2. Dolby C

16.8.3. Dolby SR

16.8.4. Dolby S

16.8.5. Dolby HX

16.8.6. Dolby HX Pro

16.8.7. Other NR systems

17. Synchronization

17.1. Introduction

17.2. What is a timecode?

17.3. The SMPTE timecode

17.4. SMPTE Timecode: recording of the signal

17.5. SMPTE Timecode: recording of the signal

17.6. MTC - MIDI Time Code

18. Digital Audio

18.1. Introduction

18.2. Boolean Algebra

18.3. Sampling

18.4. Quantization

18.5. Quantization noise

18.6. Dynamic

18.7. Quantization circuit

18.8. Ideal physics and real physics

18.9. Oversampling

18.10. Digital/Analogue Conversion

18.11. Overall outline of the sampling process

18.12. Digital audio signal manipulation

18.13. Analogue effects simulation

18.14. Compression

18.15. Compression of audio data

18.16. Considerations on compression of audio data

18.17. >Hard Disc Recording

18.18. Digital mixing and digital recording

18.19. Characteristics of a sound card

19. Digital Audio Media

19.1. Introduction

19.2. Magnetic digital media

19.2.1. Rotating head media

19.2.2. Fixed head supports

19.3. Optical Media

19.3.1. Tracking

19.3.2. CD Printing

19.3.3. Data format of a CD

19.3.4. Definitions of CD formats: the Grovening Books

19.3.5. The DVD

19.4. Magneto-optic media

19.4.1. The MiniDisc

20. MIDI Protocol

20.1. Introduction

20.2. Protocol specification

20.3. MIDI systems configuration

20.3.1. Daisy chaining

20.3.2. Daisy chaining with a sequencer

20.3.3. MIDI configuration with a Splitter Box

20.3.4. Extended MIDI interfaces

20.4. MIDI messages

20.4.1. Channel voice messages

20.4.2. Channel mode messages

20.4.3. System messages

20.4.3.1. System common

20.4.3.2. System real time

20.4.3.3. System Exclusive

20.5. General MIDI

21. Audio 3D

21.1. Introduction

21.2. The Surround System

21.3. Dolby motion picture matrix encoder

21.3.1. Encoding

21.3.2. Decoding

21.3.3. Characteristics of the encoding Dolby Motion Picture Matrix

21.4. Dolby Prologic and Dolby Digital

21.4.1. Mixing in Dolby Pro-Logic with common mixers

21.5. Summary on the main surround systems

21.6. Binaural recording and binaural playback techniques

21.6.1. Binaural recording techniques

21.6.2. Binaural playback techniques

21.7. Q-Sound

21.8. RSS - Roland Sound Space system

21.9. Ambisonics