MI 3120

Digital Audio Foundations

and

Recording Techniques II

School of Music, Georgia State University

 

May 10, 2004 – 5PM by E-mail to: rst@aucourantrecords.com

 

FINAL EXAMINATION

 

 

Name:_______________________________________

 

Note: For all short-answer and essay questions DETAILED responses are expected.  All articles and referenced webpages and website are found at the webpage for this course:

http://cara.gsu.edu/courses/MI_312/index.htm

 

This examination is graded on a curve.

 

Essay Questions I - Article Synopses:  Select one of the sets of articles below and write a detailed synopsis, outlining the major points.  Where possible reference your own personal experience and growth as an audio engineer during this year.  (50 points)

 

1.      Article Set One: Mixing Strategies of the Pros and Tracking the Elusive Vocal

 

  1. Article Set Two: DAWs and Hybrid Mixing and The Console Workstation Interface

 

  1. Article Set Three: The Changing Face of Record Production and Keeping your Sonic Vision

 

Digital Audio Foundations Review

 

  1. (Short-answer: 2 points) What is meant by the term “Re-construction of the Analogue Signal” found as a heading in Digital Audio Technology Part II?

 

5.      Digital recordings can be, under certain circumstances, phase-incorrect.  Meaning, that they will exhibit distortion of various kinds due to the ADC and DAC processes.  The current, high-technology solution to this problem is:

    1. Use a more expensive DAC unit than normal
    2. Set anti-aliasing to be in the frequencies above the Nyquist rate
    3. Do the processing in stages, keeping the signal as clean as possible with each step
    4. Use over-sampling at the input and output stages
    5. None of the above
  1. The term phase-linear when applied to filters means
    1. Phase remains linear throughout the line
    2. All out of phase information is cancelled
    3. All out of phase information is omitted
    4. Little or no frequency-dependent delay is introduced
    5. The filter is more expensive than normal filters

 

  1. Discrete amplitude resolution is another term for
    1. Companding
    2. Compression
    3. Quantization
    4. Sampling
    5. Aliasing

 

      8. T  /  F   The terms quantization noise and quantization error mean the same thing.

 

  1. The more bits used to represent a signal the less the
    1. Time it takes to mix
    2. Overall headroom possible
    3. Delay between successive samples
    4. Quantization error
    5. Sampling error

 

  1. Low-level quantization noise, often referred to as granulation noise, is combated by
    1. Jitter
    2. Anti-aliasing filters
    3. High sampling rates
    4. Noise suppression
    5. Dither

 

  1. According to the approximation of the theoretical maximum, each bit of resolution in a digital system provides ____________ dB of dynamic range.

 

  1.  According to the approximation of the theoretical maximum, a 16-bit linear system provides a total dynamic range of:
    1. 98 dB
    2. 96 dB
    3. 90 dB
    4. 97.76 dB
    5. none of the above!
  2. According to the approximation of the theoretical maximum, a 24-bit linear system provides a total dynamic range of:
    1. 98 dB
    2. 97.76 dB
    3. 146.64 dB
    4. 150 dB
    5. better than 160 dB!

 

  1. According to the approximation of the theoretical maximum, a 32-bit linear system provides a total dynamic range of:
    1. 98 dB
    2. 150 dB
    3. better than 160 dB!
    4. 195.52 dB
    5. cannot be accurately calculated!

 

  1. (Short-answer: 5 points) In light of current trends in ADC and DAC design what audio specification does 96KHz/24bit provide for recording in terms of S/N ratio and frequency response?

 

  1. (Short-answer: 5 points) What benefits are obtained by utilizing 1-bit oversampling converters instead of 16-bit linear ones, for example?

 

Essential Tweaks – Part One

(This is a webpage of notes for the course at the site: http://cara.gsu.edu/courses/MI_312/index.htm)

 

17.  The term ASP means:

    1. Alternate sampling parameters
    2. Amplitude splitting parameters
    3. Altitude siphon plasmatics
    4. Audio system processes
    5. Audio signal processing

 

  1. The term ASP denotes a subset of the general field of  ________________________?

 

  1. The term applied to all processes and devices used to modify signals during recording and transfer applications is __________________________________________?

 

  1. Two basic classifications of ASP technology exist, one which includes signal modifying applications that are not discernable, the intention being to improve transmission quality, for example, and the other which includes_______________ modifying applications that lend themselves to _________________ applications.

 

  1. (Short-answer: 15 points) From the article Essential Tweaks, select three sub-type classifications of ASP technologies and briefly outline what kinds of processing are included in each classification.

 

Compression in Mastering by Bob Katz

(This is a webpage linked at the site: http://cara.gsu.edu/courses/MI_312/index.htm)

 

22.  (Essay: 10 points) Provide a synopsis of this article and in it discuss the basic technical use guidelines of compression, the “perils” of compression and tools for avoiding over-compression.

 

How to Achieve Depth and Dimension in Audio Recording by Bob Katz

(This is a webpage linked at the site: http://cara.gsu.edu/courses/MI_312/index.htm)

Note: Choose only one of the following two (2) questions:  Earn 10  points extra credit for answering both!

 

23.  (Essay: 5 points) In this article, the author discloses that the achievement of depth and spaciousness in a recording is not simply a process of controlling the ratio of direct to reverberant sound in a recording.  It is more involved.  Synopsize the author’s perspectives on how “directional masking” and the Haas Effect  work together to help us achieve vividly dimensional recordings.

 

(Essay: 5 points) Synopsize the author’s perspectives concerning recording techniques used to achieve vivid front-to-back depth.

 

Debunking Digital Audio Myths by Dan Phillips

(This is a.pdf file linked at the site: http://cara.gsu.edu/courses/MI_312/index.htm)

 

24.  (Essay: 10 points) In this article, the author describes the typical misconceptions concerning digital audio and attempts to counter the common mythology with solid facts.  Choose three of the eight myths he discusses and provide a detailed synopsis of both the myth and the facts.

Mysteries of Mixing by Brian Knave

(This is a.pdf file linked at the site: http://cara.gsu.edu/courses/MI_312/index.htm)

 

25.  (Essay: 30 points) Choose three of the topics listed below and outline the strategies, tips and perspectives offered by the author and consulted professionals for each – (remember these are not your own ideas but those from the article itself):

 

a.       Vocal mixing and intelligibility

b.      Bass-treble balance problems

c.       Mixing for drum and bass grooves

d.      Levels and general balance

e.       Tuning and pitch correction

f.        Inconsistent drumming performances

g.       Phase problems

h.       Extraneous noises

i.         Panning and stereo placement

j.        Consistency among playback systems

k.      Engineering priorities and perspective

 

Earn 30 points extra credit by outlining six (6) topics)

 

Extra Credit:

 

Important: If your current grade in this course is less than an “A” and you wish to earn an “A”(or, a higher grade than you currently have earned) you may attempt to do so by providing excellent essayed responses to both of these two Extra Credit questions.  If you think you have an “A” but want to make double-sure of that fact you may also response to these.  If you know you have an “A” you may respond to these questions if you wish.

 

Detailed Essayed Responses are Required

 

1.      When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

 

2.      The law of floatation was not discovered by studying the sinking of things.

 

 

Have a great summer!  Thanks for your hard work and accomplishment this semester!