Sound Synthesis Theory/Sound in the Time

Domain
1

The appearance and behaviour of

sound waves

The metric (acoustical) denition of sound is variation

in pressure waves and density caused by the propagation
of the waves through a medium. Between about 25Hz,
and 18kHz, human hearing systems sense these waves
as they cause the ear drum to move. This mechanical
movement is transduced into electrochemical signals in
the cochlea as nerve impulses, and sent to the auditory
region of the brain for analysis. Sound waves, being variation in air pressure over time, may be represented as a
varying voltage or a stream of data over time. This is
a 'time/amplitude' representation of sound, also known
as the amplitude time line. The amplitude represents the
molecular displacement caused by the changes in air pressure. In the digital domain, amplitude is typically represented as a value between 1 and 1 where 1 and 1 represent maximum positive and negative amplitudes of the
signal, and 0 represents zero amplitude.

Figure 1.2. A more complex waveform.

tailed, complex sounds that change over time often have

no discernible features when viewed this close up- there
may be no repeating pattern or behaviour which we can
use to tell us something about the sound.

Figure 1.3. A time-domain plot of a drum kit over 2 seconds.

Figure 1.1. A simple sinusoidal waveform represented as

varying amplitude over time.

In Fig. 1.3 we are given a look at a sound over the course

of about 2 seconds rather than 2 milliseconds. From this
perspective, we can see the way the overall sound amplitude changes over time; in particular, the parts with high
amplitude can easily be seen as drum hits - they appear
suddenly and drop in amplitude very quickly as one would
expect from striking a drum head. It may have been very
dicult to tell what kind of instrument was being played
if this sound was viewed over the range of a few milliseconds. From this, we should conclude that the short time
interval and long time interval perspectives both show different types of information and that selecting the right
perspective to suit ones needs is important.

The waveform in Fig. 1.1 is called a sine wave or sinusoid.

Sine waves can be considered the fundamental building
blocks of sound. The gure demonstrates that the amplitude varies over time, but that pattern of variance repeats
periodically.
The waveform in Fig. 1.2 is more complicated than the
sinusoid in 1.1. There are peaks and troughs of dierent
amplitudes, and, although the pattern does repeat itself
over time (see if you can nd it) it is harder to spot. In
the same way that a sine wave behaves in a simple way and
sounds simple, this sound behaves with greater complexity and also sounds more complex. For this reason, de1

CONSTRUCTION AND DECONSTRUCTION OF SINUSOIDS

Sinusoids, frequency and pitch

Similarly, complex sounds may be analyzed in terms of

frequencies, amplitudes and phase.

As indicated in Fig. 1.1, the sine wave has a periodic

form that repeats every T seconds which is known as the
period, cycle. The wave also has a positive maximum amplitude, A and a negative maximum amplitude, A .
The frequency, f , of a sine wave is the number of cycles per second and is measured in Hertz (Hz). We can
obtain the frequency from wavelength from the following
equation:
f=

Fig. 1.5 demonstrates the appearance of two sine waves

summed together. The characteristics of both waves are
combined in the resultant waveform. This technique is
the basis of additive synthesis which is covered later in
the book. Furthermore, in the way that the sound is constructed, it is possible to lter out the two component frequencies from the whole; this is typically done by analysis
of the waveform in the frequency domain, which is covered in the subsequent chapter.

1
T

Furthermore, we can express a sine wave with the following mathematical form (with angles in radians). This
form may be useful to programmers interested in creating
their own controllable sine functions in code:
p(t) = Asin

( 2t )
T

= Asin(2f t)

Psychometrically, higher frequencies (eg above 1.5kHz)

are often associated with words such as 'brightness,
whereas lower frequencies (eg below 200Hz) are often
associated with 'depth' or 'bass. The intermediate range
may be associated with the term 'warmth'. For example,
an instrument such as an electric guitar played clean may
be called 'bright' or 'sharp' whereas an acoustic doublebass may be referred to as 'dark' and 'warm'. Being psychometric, terms like these are not objective quantities
we can measure precisely, but are often used in describing the timbre, or tone color of a particular sound. The
various amplitudes of frequencies present in a sound, and
their evolution over time are the major factors associated
with timbre, and there are innite shades of timbre that
can be achieved through combinations of dierent frequencies that make up a sound. In psychometric terms,
human hearing associates whole number frequency ratios
with pitch, and associate particular frequencies with particular notes in the standard Western scale:
Fig. 1.4. The relationship between wavelength,
frequency and note name.
Note that this table covers the range of an octave. The
frequency doubles and the wavelength halves.

Construction and deconstruction

of sinusoids

Using Fourrier analysis, sine waves can be considered the

fundamental components of sound, since a single sine
wave is a single frequency. Within Fourrier analysis,
combining sinusoids of dierent frequency, aptitude and
phase can recreate the frequency spectrum of any sound.

Figure 1.5. The summation of two sine waves of dierent

amplitude and frequency, causing their characteristics to be
blended into one combined waveform.

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

4.1

Text

Sound Synthesis Theory/Sound in the Time Domain Source: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Sound_Synthesis_Theory/Sound_in_the_

Time_Domain?oldid=2668983 Contributors: Damien Karras, QuiteUnusual, Adrignola and Anonymous: 5

4.2

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