Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

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: Callum Deighton 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 technical process by which sounds are created or altered for use in a film, video, or other electronically produced work.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/foley

In my work I have altered some sounds I recorded around the college to make a sound that you would find that was relatable to the subject of work. An example of this is that I recorded someone eating a crisp and changed the audio frequency to make it sound like a bone snapping.

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

When we were using the sound programs there was a sound library available for us to use.

SOUND FILE FORMATS Uncompressed Uncompressing (or decompressing) is the act of expanding a compression file back into its original form.

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/uncompressing-or-decompressing

We would save our original recordings in an uncompressed audio format.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

.wav The format for storing sound in files developed jointly by Microsoft and IBM.

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/WAV.html

My audio files would be saved as a .wav format as we use Microsoft computers.

.aiff Stands for "Audio Interchange File Format." AIFF is an audio format originally developed by Apple Computer for storing high-quality sampled audio data.

http://pc.net/glossary/definition/aiff

This was an available type of audio format.

.au A digital audio file format from Sun that is used on the Internet and can be played by a Java program.

http://www.yourdictionary.com/au-file

This was an available type of audio format.

.smp A multiprocessing architecture in which multiple CPUs, residing in one cabinet, share the same memory.

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/SMP

This was an available type of audio format.

Lossy Compression A compression technique that does not decompress data back to 100% of the original.

http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/46335/lossy-compression

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

.mp3 a computer file format for the compression and storage of digital audio data.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mp3

This was an available type of audio format.

AUDIO LIMITATIONS Sound Processor Unit (SPU) A sound card (also known as an audio card) is an internal computer expansion card that facilitates the input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under control of computer programs. The term sound card is also applied to external audio interfaces that use software to generate sound, as opposed to using hardware inside the PC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_card

Our computers had Sound Processor Units in order for us to hear our sounds.

Digital Sound Processor (DSP) A digital sound processor is a tool that incorporates computer technology to change the technical aspects of analog sound.

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5879513_define-digital-sound-processor.html#ixzz2zTVn5xep

This changed our sounds so that they could be heard through audio outputs such as headphones.

Random Access Memory (RAM) Random access memory (RAM) is the best known form of computer memory.

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/ram.htm

RAM would be used when we would save the sounds to the computer in order to upload them.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

Mono Audio Mono or monophonic describes a system where all the audio signals are mixed together and routed through a single audio channel.

http://www.mcsquared.com/mono-stereo.htm

We had the option of using mono sound headphones when we were making the sounds.

Stereo Audio Sound that is directed through two or more speakers so that it seems to surround the listener and to come from more than one source

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/stereo

We had the option of using stereo sound headphones when we were making the sounds.

Surround Sound a system for playing sounds, especially in cinemas, that uses three or more loudspeakers so that the person listening seems to be surrounded by the sound.

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/surround-sound

We had the option of using surround sound headphones when we were making the sounds.

Direct Audio (Pulse Code Modulation – PCM)

Pulse-code modulation (PCM) is a method used to digitally represent sampled analog signals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-code_modulation

When we would upload the sounds to the program it would be played as direct audio.

Analogue analogue technology uses changing physical quantities such as voltage to store data.

http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/analogue

When we would export the sound it would change the file to a sound file and not a program file.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

Digital Mini Disc a digital disc medium for storing music or data where a small disc is housed in a cartridge and is either recordable or playback.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/minidisc

We have not used a Digital Mini Disc so far in our work.

Compact Disc (CD) compact disc [sometimes spelled disk] (CD) is a small, portable, round medium made of molded polymer (close in size to the floppy disk) for electronically recording, storing, and playing back audio, video, text, and other information in digital form.

http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/compact-disc

We have not used a Compact Disk so far in our work.

Digital Audio Tape (DAT) Four millimeter wide magnetic tape which can store up to four gigabytes (GB) of data per cassette by using helical scan recording.

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/digital-audio-tape-DAT.html#ixzz2zTajkg2i

We have not used a Digital Audio Tape so far in our work.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

MIDI The term MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface and is essentially a communications protocol for computers and electronic musical instruments.

http://mp3.about.com/od/glossary/g/Midi-Files-Definition-What-Is-Midi-Music.htm

On our sound program it had a MIDI for us to use and make sound/music with.

Software Sequencers An electronic device or software program that can be instructed to order and modify digitally stored musical sounds for playback, as through a synthesizer.

http://www.answers.com/topic/sequencer#ixzz2zTbjiygI

The program we use is a software sequencer.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

Software Plug-ins They are called that because these are little computer applications that run inside a "host" application, i.e., a sequencer, typically. These plugin devices are very important, as they have led the software revolution towards our virtual studios which is changing all recording studios, both home and pro. Today there are few hardware devices left that cannot be emulated by plugins and software. As you see from this page, software based synthesizers, effects processors, samplers and multi-track recorders can all work together on one single computer.

http://tweakheadz.com/software-plugins/

Software plugins were also available for use on the program, they would be very useful as they are very in depth with the available changes such as changing the pitch, tempo, depth and echo among many other options.

MIDI Keyboard Instruments A Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) keyboard is a musical instrument like a piano keyboard. The MIDI portion indicates that the instrument has a communication protocol built in that allows it to communicate with a computer or other MIDI-equipped instrument.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-midi-keyboard.htm

On the program there was a variety of keyboard instruments for us to use which would be very crucial in making some of the sounds.

AUDIO SAMPLING File Size Constraints - Bit-depth In digital audio, bit depth describes the number of bits of information recorded for each sample.

http://en.wikiaudio.org/Bit_depth

The program we used had a normal bit depth for rendering.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

File Size Constraints - Sample Rate Sampling is the process of measuring an audio signal at specific points in time.

http://stereos.about.com/od/glossaryoftermss/g/sampling.htm

The program we used had a normal sample rate.

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