8497.58 Identify microphones and their applications. 8497.66 Apply basic audio levels, over modulation, and mixing techniques. 8497.67 Edit a simple multi-track, mixed-media sequence.
Sound
What is Sound? Sounds are pressure waves of air. If there wasn't any air, we wouldn't be able to hear sounds. There's no sound in space.
We hear sounds because our ears are sensitive to these pressure waves. Perhaps the easiest type of sound wave to understand is a short, sudden event like a clap. When you clap your hands, the air that was between your hands is pushed aside. This increases the air pressure in the space near your hands, because more air molecules are temporarily compressed into less space. The high pressure pushes the air molecules outwards in all directions at the speed of sound, which is about 340 meters per second. When the pressure wave reaches your ear, it pushes on your eardrum slightly, causing you to hear the clap.
How is Sound Recorded? A microphoneconsists of a small membrane that is free to vibrate, along with a mechanism that translates movements of the membrane into electrical signals. (The exact electrical mechanism varies depending on the type of microphone.) So acoustical waves are translated into electrical waves by the microphone.
Mixing, Adding & Effects The first is ambience. Just close your eyes and listen to the sound around you. That's ambiance. Sophistication of ambiances rises with budgets. From premixed to over a dozen tracks, you'll find it all in TV shows and feature films. In any indoor scene with a lot of people in the background, nobody except for the actors being filmed will actually talk. That flurry of conversation is added later on.
Next comes foley. These are clothes rustling (body sounds), foot steps and objects being handled. People that have the ultimate edition of Terminator 2 will know that all of Arnold Schwarzenegger's footsteps and rustle of his leather clothing were created by a five foot woman. These people are usually called foley walkers or foley artists.
Next come effects. Foley are effects too, but they are a special category and can best be described as live created studio effects. Effects are usually more heavily edited and recorded from all kinds of places. A lot of effects are created by layering sounds on top of each other, changing their pitch and loudness, editing bits out and adding others.
Many effects you'll hear are phone and door bells ringing, mobile phone beeps, doors of houses and cars opening and closing, weapon shots, slaps, car skids, machines of any kind, space ships flying around, explosions, to name a few.
Adobe Audition
Audition is one of the industry standards for audio file editing and creation. The software allows users to edit, create, combine and layer audio files in order to create professional-quality sound bites, songs and audio clips.
The File Window Displays a list of the files you have open and their properties. By default, files are sorted alphabetically by Name. To sort files based on another property, click the property (Name, Duration, or Sample Rate) in the property header.
Editor Window By default, the Editor panel displays audio files as waveforms, visual representations of sound waves. Use the menu at the top of the Editor panel to choose which open file to display.
Transport controls Control and adjust playback. You can also start and stop playback by pressing the spacebar.
Media Browser Locate and preview media stored on your computer, network, or external storage device without leaving the Audition workspace.
2. Create a new track
Multi Track- place to compile multiple tracks to create a "layered" file Audio Track- single track that can be added to multi track or utilized as a single audio file.
-File>New>Multitrack Session -Name File and designate saved location
3. Saving or Exporting your files
Once all of your audio files have been complied into a multi track. You will need to export it as a final or working file to add to your movie. File>Export>Multitrack Mixdown>Entire Session > .wav file
Project Grade: Where am I?
Sound is everywhere! We have seen up to this point in class, how much it can really help (or hurt) a video. Consider yourself in a situation where there are sounds all around you. You may be walking in the woods, sitting on the beach, etc. What are the sounds you hear? You will utilize Adobe Audition to create a 3 layer multi-track. This is an individual activity and must be completed by EACH student.
Your track should include: (2) Foley sounds (recorded/created by you) (1) Effect (internet found sound) (1) ambient sound recorded by you (4) Layer minimum Label audio clip: Lastname_where
Rubric: 30 : Sounds place listener in an identifiable location. 30 : Student created two of their own foley sounds 20 : Met 4 layer minimum 20 : Time requirements met 100: Total