01 Physics of Sound Ver 2

Acoustic & Psychoacoustic
Phenomenon
Computer Sound Production
COSC2190 | Computer Sound Production
sound is fifty percent of the motion
picture experience
George Lucas
Broadway, NYC, 1941 Citizen Kane released
A journalist asked:
Mister Welles, What do you prefer the
most, the radio or the cinema?
Orson Welles answered:
.. radio, the screen is wider
sound influences how we react to a picture
and/or becomes image. cf. director, Michael Haneke
if you are watching a film or television with the
sound off and then with it on usually you will find
that more information comes from the sound
than the picture and that two different sound
tracks for the same picture will produce two
different meanings.
creating sound design is often tantamount to
defining the productions conceptual and
emotional intent
What is sound ?
& How do we hear ?
Sound is the aural perception of vibrations.
Two types of audible sound:
Noise is defined as all sounds that are not organized
or harmonious that are surround us constantly.
Music is organized & harmonious.
wavelength
amplitude
frequency
period
loudness
pitch
bandwidth
dynamic range
Hertz (Hz)
decibel (dB)
masking
equal loudness
principle
frequency
response
concepts &vocabulary
production - creation of the sound by a sound emitter
propagation - movement of the sound through a medium
perception - hearing of the sound
sound is propagated through a medium (such as air) as
a compression wave.
if were to look at one microscopic sample of the air
through which a sound travels for one frozen it could
be visualized as below
Properties of a sound wave
amplitude
wavelength
frequency
f = wavelength/time
the physics of sound (acoustics) is often
confused with the way in which we
perceive it (psychoacoustics).
Sound & Perception
structure of the human ear
amplitude is not loudness
frequency is not pitch
loudness and pitch are how our brain
perceives and interprets the physical
properties of amplitude and frequency
Amplitude & Loudness
amplitude is measured in decibels
dB = 10log(P1/P0)
the decibel is a unitless ratio of two quantities, usually a reference
sound level (ie. P0) to another (P1)
the ratio of the softest to the loudest sound for
human hearing is 120 decibelsthis is known
as the dynamic range
intensity of sound
dB Units of Energy Example
130 10,000,000,000,000 threshold of pain
120 1,000,000,000,000 jet taking off
100 10,000,000,000 shouting, jackhammers
80 1,000,000,000 loudest TV sounds
60 1,000,000 ordinary conversation
30 1,000 whisper
0 1 threshold of hearing
due to this logarithmic relationship changes in
loudness are not additive unlike changes in
amplitude
doubling the sound pressure intensity yields
a 3dB increase in sound
doubling the loudness of a sound yields an
exponential increase in sound pressure
intensity
acoustic sound pressure is measured in terms of
sound pressure leveldB-SPL
sound that has been transduced/converted into
electrical energy is measured in decibelsdBv
Frequency & Pitch
the pitch of a sound is how the brain perceives
the physical phenomena of a sounds frequency
unit of measure for pitch is Hertz (Hz)
the frequency range (bandwidth) of human
hearing is 20Hz to 20,000Hz
pitches of commonly heard sounds
Hz Example
20,000 highest range of human hearing
10,000 hiss of spoken consonants (s, ch, z, f, th)
4,186 highest note on a piano
1,000 high range of singing voice (fundamental tone)
400 high range of child's or woman's speaking voice
263 middle note on a piano
80 low range of male speaking voice
50 low range of singing voice
27 lowest note on a piano
20
lowest range of human hearing
10
earthquake
Range EQ Range
Hi
brilliance
6 kHz-20 kHz
presence 4 kHz-6 kHz
Mid-range
hi-mid
2 kHz-4 kHz
low-mid
250 Hz-2 kHz
Lo
bass
60-250 Hz
sub-bass
20-60 Hz
The Perceptual Nature of
Human Hearing
the human ear does not respond to frequency
and sound pressure in a linear manner
equal loudness principle - the threshold of hearing is
frequency dependent
the compression effect that takes place when we listen to
music when it is loud is why loud music seems to sound
better
the ratio of the softest to the loudest sound for
human hearing is 120dBin recording a
dynamic range of 90dB is considered high
fidelity.
our inner ear has a dynamic range of 50dB.
loud external increases in sound pressure yield
smaller changes in the levels in our ears
our ears compress sound
ie. a 4dB external change results in a 1dB increase transmitted to the
inner hair cells
masking
the hiding of some sounds by other sounds when each is
a different frequency and they are presented together
generally louder sounds mask softer ones, and lower
pitched sounds tend to mask higher pitched sounds
Advanced Physical Properties
of Sound
phase (additive properties of waves)
timbre
envelopes
the simplest wave shape is a sine wave
when two sound waves of the same frequency
combine with one another their amplitudes are added.
If they are in phase the resultant wave shape is the
same but the amplitude if different
when two sound waves of the same frequency but
180 degrees out of phase combine with one another
their amplitudes are added with an unusual result.
timbre is that unique combination of
fundamental frequency, harmonics, and
overtones that gives each voice, musical
instrument, and sound effect its unique
coloring and character.
Fourier was able to
demonstrate that
complex periodic waves
can be simplified to
their constituent sine wave components.
When an object
vibrates it
propagates sound
waves of a certain
frequency.
This frequency, in
turn, sets in motion
frequency waves
called harmonics.
The basic frequency and
its resultant harmonics
determine the timbre of a
sound. The greater the
number of harmonics, the
more interesting is the
sound that is
produced. Pleasing
sounds have harmonic
frequencies that a possess
an integer relationship to
the fundamental pitch (ie.
1f, 2f, 3f, 4f)
sound envelopes
(1) Attack
sound begins at A and
reaches its peak at level
B.
(2) Sustain
it drops slightly in level
and remains steady until
C.
(3) Decay
when the sound source is
removed at C, the sound
decays to a point of
silence D.
directionality of sound
Imaging
Staging
wavelength
amplitude
period
frequency
pitch
decibel (dB)
Hertz (Hz)
range of hearing
phase
timbre
harmonics
fundamental pitch
envelope
rhythm
monoaural
stereo
multi-channel
concepts & vocabulary
One of the main points to consider when placing
speakers is the fact that their directionality is frequency
dependant.
Low frequency sounds are pretty much omni-directional,
being able to diffract around obstacles (including the
speaker cabinet) quite readily.
High frequencies, however, are highly directional with
only limited diffraction capacity. The speech band (the
frequencies in which we are most often interested)
occupies the mid-frequencies.
response of human ear
frequency response ~20 Hz - 20 kHz.
range drops with age
ear sensitivity is:
o frequency dependent
o drops with increasing sound level (effect reduces
overload due to very high sound levels)
Volume
Loudness
http://www.jhu.edu/signals/listen-
new/listen-newindex.htm
Chapter 1 & 2 in:
Alten, Stanley R. (2002) Audio in Media. Wadsworth.
Chapter 1 in:
Cancellero, J oseph (2005) Sound Design for Interactive
Media.
Introduction to Computer Music: Volume One
http://www.indiana.edu/~emusic/etext/acoustics/chapter1_i
ntro.shtml

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