Hey! Hi. This page is was duplicated at the Training Courses site, with new edits, at: Audio (Sound Basics): Part 2

Please use this new site, since it will be the most up to date and it will come with new features. Thanks!

Before we took a break from Part 1 of Audio (Sound Basics), we had some tasks.

Become more aware of sounds in the background,
Become aware of differences in the many kinds of sounds around us. And finally,
figure out what sounds are annoying to you.

Every good speaker designer has to learn these things too. Every good designer of auditoriums need to learn these things. Why? Because sound all by itself is complicated. But to make sound go through speakers and reflect off ceilings and walls (and people!), they can take classes in physics and design, and study angles and study which magnets are the best to use in different speakers that also must focus certain frequencies differently than others – all that science stuff. And, they also need to know the things that artists know. How to observe. How to decide what is pleasant, what is disturbing. Because: Acoustics, designing rooms for sound, is a science, but very importantly, it is an art.

They can design a perfect room. They can set it up with the best equipment to have perfect balance. But when they play their favorite movie scene or recording, they often listen find things that are annoying.

You do not need to know about the 10 or 20 parts for each speaker, or the details about each speaker in each speaker box, or the special wire that connects the speakers to the amplifiers in the best system. You don’t need to know details about the media player and the audio processor and the every part of those.

Putting together all the parts is an art and a science for others.

You should be aware that these things exist. You should be aware that these things can have problems. But mostly, you need to be aware of…to learn how to… listen.

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We will work on

1) listening to sound. And we will also learn how to,

2) listen to audience members, and

3) how to listen well enough to fill in the audio questions of the Managers Walk Through Form.

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And now, our first real technical word: Frequency.

Frequency is a term that is used when describing both sound and picture. So we will need to get a good idea of it. Let’s do a quick once over to remove a little mystery out from the subject.

Think of a song. Think of the beat. . . . . . . . . . Count that beat for 15 seconds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .For this exercise we are going to use the number 30…30 beats every 15 seconds. That is 2 beats every second. If we counted for 30 seconds we would have 60 beats for every 30 seconds. And, for 60 seconds, 120 beats. 120 beats per minute. 2 beats per second. You can clap your hands that fast. Imagine the beat being 4 times faster…8 times every second…that may be faster than you can clap your hands.

Beats every second is a frequency. Beats every minute is a frequency too. Beats every day is a frequency, but the number may be too huge to count…and your hands would be pretty tired! But, the planet has made 1 revolution around its axis in one day…1 revolution every day is a frequency. And the planet earth will go around the sun in 365 days…1 every 365 is a frequency.

People usually say the word “per” instead of “every” when we talk about frequency. 1 revolution per 365 days. And sometimes we have to be careful – does that mean 1 revolution around the axis or 1 revolution around the sun? But with music…that is, with sound…and color…that is, with light…people understand that we are using seconds.

And, instead of beats we use the word “cycles”. Cycles are a little more fun.

When you clap, your hands go toward each other, then away from each other. They wave at each other going one distance out and then back in.

Waves are like that. They repeat their sequence. You can start counting the wave when the hands hit…the bottom of the cycle, or you can start counting the wave when your hands are farthest apart. Or start someplace in the middle. The important part is the cycle of the wave and the time. Cycles per Second. Cycles per Year. Cycles per Decade.

Cycles. Time. Frequencies.

Sound frequencies are very easy to think of when we consider a musical instrument like the piano. From left to right, the notes start with the low and rumbling sounds and and go all the way up to the twinkling high notes. If you look at the longest strings of the piano as they are hit, you can almost see the back and forth slow motion vibration as they move through the air – and they act on the air – creating those low notes that hit our ears. If we look at the strings a few notes higher, they move so fast that we cannot see them vibrating.

The same is true for the guitar, which is easier to make a video of. Here is a video showing the strings moving in slow motion. Longer and shorter waves for each string…Cool! Longest waves for the bass, the low notes, the low frequencies. Shorter waves for the higher frequencies…but notice, there are more waves on the 3rd string than on the 1st string. Almost 4 waves on the 3rd in the same distance as 2 waves on the 1st. 4 waves per …something, compared to 2 waves per …something. Higher frequency, shorter wave length.

Hmmm…there is something here to study later…some reverse relationship between wave length and frequency. Let’s put that aside for later. It is just interesting, but not important right now.

So, a quick review. Frequency is the number of times that something happens, associated with a unit of time.

I saw my friend quite frequently…about once a week (for example.)

Once per second I am able to type a word…the frequency of my typing is one word per second.

The strings on the lowest note on the piano – the one on the far left – goes back and forth 27 and a half times every second. We say that it has a frequency of 27.5 cycles per second. Some of the notes in the middle of the piano go back and forth over 400 times per second – the ‘A’ note above middle ‘C’ is 440 cycles per second. The very highest strings vibrate at over 4,000 cycles per second.

Now. Why do we need to know about frequency?

Because customers will come to you and say, “The low frequency notes are buzzing.” And you can say, “Ah. Help me to understand more. Do you mean the low frequency, like the rumble of the explosions, or the low frequencies like the man’s voice?”

And your customer will think, “This person is interested and capable of getting this problem fixed – I’ll come back here!~”

Then you can tell the tech – “Yeah, like, the low frequency hits are causing some buzzing in auditorium 7. A customer told me, then I listened and it seemed like the LFE has a cracked speaker. It only breaks up on certain notes.”

The tech can now come into the auditorium with the right equipment, then find and repair the problem in a few minutes.

What was the alternative?

The customer says, “Hey. I’m watching Galaxy 9. Low Frequencies are busting up in auditorium 7.” Your new and uneducated employee falls asleep when the word “frequency” is used and forgets the customer even said an auditorium number. The tech gets a note that says, “Customer says sounds is messed up in one of the auditoriums that Galaxy 9 is playing in.” Tech comes in, has to play a bunch of stuff before hearing which sounds and what speakers are messed up. Spends more time going to get the speaker. Schedules a whole morning 3 days from now to get it fixed. Customers are unhappy.

Part 3 of Sound Basics will follow. But take a few days before you attack that. Listen to sounds again. Judge the difference between low and mid and high frequencies. Listen how most male voices are low, but not as low as many other low sounds. Be aware of your sensation of touch – how often you can feel low frequency tones on the arm of the chair for example.

Take a look at the Managers Walk Through Form. Notice the other sound questions. Get comfortable with the idea of listening for those things, at different places in the environment.

If you are really brave, dive into the Lesson: So Now You Want To Measure Sound. Go ahead. It is a good idea to get some physical experience instead of all these theory lessons every time. (Theory lessons per week…frequency.)

And, remember these two things: No one was born with this info. Everyone had to learn it, to experience it, to mess up, to learn again, to get better then mess something else up…don’t get discouraged.

And two, keep it fun. On this path are rocks and sand and dust and great distances between knowledge. Scientists still discover things about sound and hearing, just like they do with light and pictures and vision.

Don’t forget to write questions or thoughts in the Comments or in the Contact Form. Let us know what we could explain better, or didn’t explain at all.

Thanks…and until next time (Part 3 of Audio, Sound Basics ), keep a steady beat.

Hi, and welcome.

The information on this page has been transferred and updated at the Training Course page: Audio (Sound Basics): Part 1

Sound is all around us. We don’t need any particular talent to use it. Doctors tell us that we can hear sounds in the womb.

Using sound well is a different story. Being able to judge sound, to know if it is the best possible for your clients – or at least acceptable – is another different story.

For a simple definition, “Sound” is what we hear. But actually every sound involves hundreds of steps. These steps begin with a motion that takes place at one point. The drummer hits the drum, and it vibrates, the bell gets hit and it vibrates, we push air up our throats and make it vibrate.

We can’t see it, but you can visualize it by thinking about it like a pebble that is thrown into a pond.
Continue reading 4 – Audio (Sound Basics): Part 1 →