Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

About this book

1     Sound waves

Part 1

What are sound waves?

Frequency

Wavelength

Amplitude

The velocity of sound waves

Velocity, frequency and wavelength

Sound waves and obstacles

The bending of sound waves (diffraction)

Units used in sound

Sound intensity and the effect of distance

Decibels

Part 2

The velocity of sound waves

Units

Decibels

2     Hearing and the nature of sound

Part 1

The response of the ear

Loudness. The dB(A)

Musical pitch

Musical quality (‘timbre’)

The brain's perception of sound

Part 2

Pitch

Frequency ranges in music

‘False bass’

3     Basic acoustics

Part 1

Sound isolation

Internal acoustics

Part 2

Sound isolation

Sound absorption

4     Microphones

Part 1

Microphone transducers

Polar responses

‘Boundary’ microphones

Personal microphones

Radio microphones (‘wireless microphones’)

Part 2

Electrostatic microphones

Production of the different polar responses

Sensitivities of microphones

Phantom power

Balanced wiring

Radio microphone data

5     Using microphones

Objectives and problems in recording

Specific applications of microphones

6     Monitoring

Part 1

Technical monitoring

Aural monitoring

Listening tests

Part 2

Reference voltages in audio signals

PPMs and VU meter readings

Helmholtz resonators

Loudspeaker power

Loudspeaker cables

Professional and domestic standards

7     Stereo

Part 1

How stereo works

Methods of producing inter-channel differences

Terminology

Stereo listening

Stereo loudspeaker matching

Phase

Part 2

Microphone techniques for stereo

Headphones for stereo monitoring

8     Sound mixers

Part 1

Terminology

The basic channel

Important features of any mixer

Output stage

Part 2

Inputs and connections

Equalization

Public Address and Foldback (PA and FB)

Talkback

9     Controlling levels

Manual control of levels

Electronic level control

Noise gates

10   Digital audio

Part 1

Historical

Basic principles

Other applications of digital audio

MIDI

Data compression

Additional terminology

Part 2

Compact discs

Error correction

Cleaning CDs

Cost of CD players

NICAM

A little more about error correction

11   Recording

Part 1 – Recording devices and systems

Analogue recording

The fundamentals of magnetic recording

Cassette quality

Noise reduction

Head and tape cleanliness

Digital recording

DAT

MiniDisc®

Solid state recording

MP3

Part 2 – Editing

Why edit?

Practicalities

Editing tape

Digital tape editing

MiniDisc editing

12   Public address

Part 1

Outdoor PA

Indoor PA

Part 2

Howl-rounds

100-volt systems

13   Music and sound effects

Music

Sound effects

14   Safety

Electrical safety

Noise and hearing

‘Mechanical’ safety

Fire

Copyright

Miscellaneous data

Further reading

Answers

Index