In the previous paragraph we saw how the flow of atmospheric pressure in relation to the active loudspeaker can be visualized as a waveform. Waveforms can actually be very complicated, but fortunately every single one of them, and I mean every single one, can be considered as an extension of a very simple wave form: the sinusoid

This is perhaps the most important part in order to fully understand the nature of sound. A mathematical approach to this subject can become extremely complicated , so in our case it will suffice to hint at the main concepts leaving out the kind of detail one would expect perhaps in the scientific field.

The human ear acts as a transducer of acoustic energy- firstly into mechanical energy and secondly into electric energy. Once the energy has been converted by the ear from the mechanical form into the electrical form, the electrical impulses reach the brain through nerve endings.

Isophonic Curves are very significant graphs that allow us to have a better understanding of how the human ear responds to different frequencies. They have been created by elaborating data on a statistical sample that has undergone a series of sounds produced in an anechoic room

Psychoacoustics studies the brain's sound elaboration mechanisms. A knowledge of such mechanisms is indispensable for the practice of sound engineering, in that it allows, through appropriate manipulation, very sophisticated sound-effects to be obtained.

Factors involved in the localization of a sound source

By dynamic range we mean the interval, measured in dB (the dB varies depending upon the dynamics of the contexts we are dealing with), between the lowest value that an audio signal can have and its highest.