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This article dives into the concept of "the ball" in sports and music, and explores the concept of frequency as it relates to pitch and human hearing. It also discusses the differences between compressed and uncompressed audio files, and the impact on storage space. Additional topics covered include equalizers, auto-tune, and the concept of harmony.
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Terms cont’d. The Ball And Frequency
“The Ball” • Watching an unfamiliar sporting eventIt is difficult to try to absorb all the rules and protocols immediately • My advice, “Watch the ball”. The ball is the object of primary importance. • Watch the ball to try to follow gameplay.In music, the melody is “the Ball”.
Pitch = Frequency • Frequency is measured in Hertz, or cycles per second.The sound wave vibrates a number of times per second, and it in turn produces a specific pitch or note. • A=440 is a standard tuning pitch for instruments. 440 cycles per second is the pitch A.
Frequency • 440 Hertz is a tuning A. • Human hearing commonly extends from 20 Hertz to 20,000 Hertz (or 20 KiloHertz KHz).
Audacity • Free software program that allows you to record and manipulate audio. • Used to generate tones at different frequencies. • Discovered the limits in the range of our hearing
Human Hearing • Roughly 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz • 20 Hz to 20 kHz • Everyone stopped hearing at a different point. Approximately 18,000 Hz and above. • In-class audio equipment could not reproduce 20 Hz tone or below.
Headphone shopping • Headphones will specify the range of frequencies they are able to reproduce. • Better quality headphones can reproduce 20 Hz to 20 kHz (the range of human hearing). • Cheaper headphones may reproduce 50 Hz to 15 kHz or so.
Mp3 vs Uncompressed audio • Audio CD is 79 minutes or 800 MB • 79 minutes of “pure” uncompressed audio is 800 MB (approximately 10 MB per minute) • 5-minute song uncompressed would be 50 MB • 5-minute song compressed to mp3 is about 5 MB
Mp3 vs Uncompressed audio • Uncompressed audio file contains all of the information or frequencies that were captured in the recording. • Compressed mp3 will start out by eliminating those frequencies outside of the “normal” note range. This would keep approximately 100 Hz to 10,000 Hz.
Because of the amount of information left out, the size of an mp3 file can be much smaller • The resulting mp3 file sounds muffled, as it is missing the “sizzle” of the higher frequencies, and the “rumble” of lower frequencies.
iPod storage space • An iPod that can hold 2,000 songs in mp3 format (2000 songs X 4 MB each song = 8 GB) can only hold about 200 uncompressed song files (200 songs X 40 MB each song = 8 GB) !
Equalizer • An Equalizer is a device that electronically boosts or cuts specific frequency ranges to tailor the TIMBRE of a musical selection. • On sound systems, usually 6-10 or more sliding “faders” for adjusting different frequencies. • iTunes has an Equalizer you can modify
Auto Tune • An audio processor created by Antares Audio Technologies • Alters pitch in vocal and instrumental recording and performances.
Auto Tune • Slightly blends pitches to the exact pitch of the nearest tone. • Originally intended to disguise or correct off-key inaccuracies.
Auto Tune • Can also be used as an effect to distort the human voice when pitch is raised or lowered significantly. • Common effect in contemporary pop music, by artists such as Cher, T-Pain, Ke$ha, and many others.
Auto Tune • The overall effect to the discerning ear can be described as hearing the voice leap from note to note stepwise, like a synthesizer.
Harmony • Two or more pitches played at the same time
Harmony • Consonance - stability. Pitch combinations that sound pleasant or stable • Dissonance - instability. Pitch combinations that sound unpleasant or unstable
