Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Studying Acoustics

By Aaron B. Baker


With every turn from the knob on a mixer or mastering tool is also a certain application of acoustics with the recording. If you're able to grasp the acoustics of recording and how it works with the development of your particular sound, you will also have more capabilities in recording and the way you are able to portray the audio sounds that you will be creating.

Acoustics begins with the vibration of air, or in some instances, an electronic device. With natural acoustics, mid-air moves through a certain compartment, such as an instrument or the voice. The greater the vibration of the air moves, the greater sound it is able to create for that instrument. This is what leads to the sound waves, which are more re-creations of the vibration of air that's moving through the space that it must be in.

The vibration of air 's what causes various acoustics to respond inside a given space. It is also the simple concept of air vibration which leads to specific ideals about how to set a recording studio as a way to take in the right sounds to record. Finding out how to control acoustics becomes the basis for starting a recording studio as well as the main concept to managing sounds as they are recorded.

When a sound is made through an instrument, it possesses a variety of levels of air who's hits and causes to vibrate. At one level, we hear this as a note that is played over the sound. However, the acoustics will take on different capacities in producing different sounds which aren't heard.

The first sound that is produced comes from the environment the location where the sound is played. If the room is larger, has further ceilings and it is spacious, the sound will bounce contrary to the walls. This will cause the sound to go faster, become louder and to resonate throughout the area. For recording, that is why the walls are deadened and smaller spaces are manufactured. If there is the echo effect within the song, it can begin to seem like the beats are off.

One way in which acoustics change the sound is by resonance. This is when the vibration with the sound is heard, even if the note is no longer being sung or played. This resonance can certainly still move as long as the vibration of air is constantly on the hit the particular area. Quite often, resonance will be a filtering off of the initial sound because vibration of air is constantly on the slow down. In recording, this resonance can be muffled through the sound proof rooms to create a clearer sound.

The last part of acoustic sounds is the concept of overtones. Even though we only hear one remember that is being played or sung, this is not the only note that is in the air. Acoustics build a vibration of sound waves that carry on and resonate and vibrate at different levels. These will likely be pitches that are created across the original pitch, with specific spacings inside the pitch. While they are not heard, they still create an effect on the ear with the sound vibration that moves with the air. This also makes a difference in recording, since the overtones can create a different effect and may be recorded as a wave file. This might cause differences in peaks in addition to basic sounds that are heard inside the piece.

With the understanding of these acoustic ideas can also be the ability to control it within the recording studio. These areas are 'sound proofed' at certain levels. That is to allow the audio to advance into the recording area as being a pure wave file, that can then stop the acoustic sounds from muffling, echoing or changing the sound that's intended to be heard in the recording.

When defining acoustics and recording, there are a variety of perspectives to consider that relate to sound waves and exactly how they work. By understanding these perspectives, you can create a recording area that is more conducive to muffle certain acoustics and to let others resonate from the air.




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