Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

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Produce a glossary of terms specific to the methods and principles of sound design and production. Using a provided template, you must research and gather definitions specific to provided glossary terms. Any definitions must be referenced with the URL link of the website you have obtained the definition. You must also, where possible, provide specific details of how researched definitions relate to your own production practice. Name: RESEARCHED DEFINITION (provide short internet researched

definition and URL link) DESCRIBE THE RELEVANCE OF THE RESEARCHED TERM TO YOUR OWN PRODUCTION PRACTICE?

SOUND DESIGN METHODOLOGY

Foley Artistry A Foley Artist 'recreates' sound effects for film, television and radio productions on a Foley Stage in a Post Production Studio. http://www.marblehead.net/foley/whatisitman.html

I can create my own sounds and apply them to my own work to enhance it.

Sound Libraries a collection of sounds stored on file (for example on CDs, DVDs, or as digital audio files) http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/sound-library

Websites like soundcloud allow me to store all of my creations and access them easily.

SOUND FILE FORMATS Uncompressed (Of data) not compressed. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/uncompressed

.wav Waveform Audio File Format (WAVE, or more commonly known as WAV due to its filename extension) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wav

.aiff Short for Audio Interchange File Format, a common format for storing and transmitting sampled sound. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/AIFF.html

.au AU is a file extension for a sound file format belonging to Sun, NeXT and DEC and used in UNIX. The AU file format is also known as the Sparc-audio or u-law format. http://whatis.techtarget.com/fileformat/AU-Sun-NeXT-DEC-UNIX-sound-file

.smp The file extension ".smp" shows up on several different types of files used for very different programs including audio files, images and email http://www.ehow.com/info_12198596_file-smp.html#ixzz31LEX32Fg

Lossy Compression Refers to data compression techniques in which some amount of data is lost. Lossy compression technologies attempt to eliminate redundant or unnecessary information. Most video compression technologies, such as MPEG, use a lossy technique. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/L/lossy_compression.html

.mp3 Mp3- Otherwise known as mpeg layer-3 is a audio compression format that compresses audio by removing humanly inaudible frequencies.

By using this file format I can easily upload it to soundcloud.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

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https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070804075055AAcdMV9

AUDIO LIMITATIONS Sound Processor Unit (SPU) sound card or audio card Integrated circuit that generates an audio signal and sends it to a computer's speakers. The sound card can accept an analog sound (as from a microphone or audio tape) and convert it to digital data that can be stored in an audio file, or accept digitized audio signals (as from an audio file) and convert them to analog signals that can be played on the computer's speakers. On a personal computer, the sound card is usually a separate circuit board that is plugged into the motherboard. http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Audio+processing+unit

By having one of these installed onto the computer I can hear my sounds, making it easier for me to generate ideas and create the sound.

Digital Sound Processor (DSP)

Short for digital signal processing, which refers to manipulating analog information, such as sound or photographs that has been converted into a digital form. DSP also implies the use of a data compression technique. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/DSP.html

Random Access Memory (RAM)

RAM is made up of small memory chips that form a memory module. These modules are installed in the RAM slots on the motherboard of your computer. Every time you open a program, it gets loaded from the hard drive into the RAM. This is because reading data from the RAM is much faster than reading data from the hard drive. Running programs from the RAM of the computer allows them to function without any lag time. The more RAM your computer has, the more data can be loaded from the hard drive into the RAM, which can effectively speed up your computer. In fact, adding RAM can be more beneficial to your computer's performance than upgrading the CPU. http://www.techterms.com/definition/ram

Having a RAM installed on my computer allows me to do everything I need, for example. Without the RAM I wouldn’t be able to load reaper to make my sounds.

Mono Audio Commonly called mono sound, mono, or non-stereo sound, this early sound system used a single channel of audio for sound output. In monophonic sound systems, the signal sent to the sound system encodes one single stream of sound and it usually uses just one speaker. Monophonic sound is the most basic format of sound output. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/M/monophonic_sound.html

Stereo Audio Stereophonic sound or, more commonly, stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that creates an illusion of directionality and audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two or more independent audio channels through a configuration of two or more loudspeakers (or stereo headphones) in such a way as to create the impression of sound heard from various directions, as in natural hearing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereo_audio

Surround Sound a system of sound recording and reproduction that uses three or more independent recording channels and loudspeakers in order to give the

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

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impression that the listener is surrounded by the sound sources. http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/surround-sound

Direct Audio (Pulse Code Modulation – PCM)

Pulse-code modulation (PCM) is a method used to digitally represent sampled analogue signals. It is the standard form of digital audio in computers, Compact Discs, digital telephony and other digital audio applications. In a PCM stream, the amplitude of the analogue signal is sampled regularly at uniform intervals, and each sample is quantized to the nearest value within a range of digital steps. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-code_modulation

AUDIO RECORDING SYSTEMS

Analogue Analogue sound has information stored as varying strength magnetic fields or heights of grooves or electronic signals which can be amplified and fed directly to speakers without decoding. Making a copy always involves at least some changes in the signal shape. https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081211061505AAmwR7n

Digital Mini Disc Mini Disc - A music medium designed by Sony as a portable replacement for music Compact Discs. In 1994 Sony announced a data version which can hold 140 MB or about 100 MB using error correction. These will be competitive with 128 MB magneto-optical disks. Mini Discs may be either a re-writable or mass-produced read-only type. Sony have also announced a standard data format. http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Mini+Disc

Compact Disc (CD) A compact disc [sometimes spelled disk] (CD) is a small, portable, round medium made of moulded polymer (close in size to the floppy disk) for electronically recording, storing, and playing back audio, video, text, and other information in digital form. Tape cartridges and CDs generally replaced the phonograph record for playing back music. At home, CDs have tended to replace the tape cartridge although the latter is still widely used in cars and portable playback devices. http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/compact-disc

Digital Audio Tape (DAT) a magnetic tape used to record high-quality sound by storing information as a series of the numbers 0 and 1. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/digital-audio-tape

MIDI MIDI (short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a protocol, digital interface and connectors and allows a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers and other related devices to connect and communicate with one another. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIDI

Using these I can create original pieces of music using different types of instruments.

Software Sequencers A sequencing software package designed to be loaded into a computer. Software sequencers usually have more features and have the advantage of showing you a lot more information at once because they use the computer's screen and aren't locked into the knobs or buttons or display of a hardware

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

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sequencer. http://www.wannaplaymusic.com/get-started/keyboard-terminology

Software Plug-ins Though software plug-ins might not make your room smell as nice as the scented ones you stick in an outlet, they are still useful. A software plug-in is an add-on for a program that adds functionality to it. For example, a Photoshop plug-in (such as Eye Candy) may add extra filters that you can use to manipulate images. A browser plug-in (such as Macromedia Flash or Apple QuickTime) allows you to play certain multimedia files within your Web browser. VST plug-ins add effects for audio recording and sequencing programs such as Cubase and Logic Audio. http://www.techterms.com/definition/plugin

MIDI Keyboard Instruments MIDI keyboard is typically a piano-style user interface keyboard device used for sending MIDI signals or commands over a USB or MIDI cable to other devices connected and operating on the same MIDI protocol interface. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIDI_keyboard

Similar to MIDI but using these I can use the keyboard to create the sounds.

AUDIO SAMPLING File Size Constraints - Bit-depth

In digital audio, bit depth describes the potential accuracy of a particular piece of hardware or software that processes audio data. In general, the more bits that are available, the more accurate the resulting output from the data being processed. http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/bit-depth

File Size Constraints - Sample Rate

Also called a sample rate. Typically expressed in samples per second, or hertz (Hz), the rate at which samples of an analog signal are taken in order to be

converted into digital form. A PC��s sound card typically will sample a received analog signal, such as through a microphone, and digitize it for use by the computer. A higher sampling rate provides a better quality reproduction than a lower sampling rate. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/sampling_rate.html