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Flashcards in audio tech paper 2 Deck (37)
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1
Q

In what circumstances might a listener perceive a dip in level, when two sounds are crossfaded linearly?

A

If the content is dissimilar

2
Q

What does a modern DAW use to enable non-destructive editing?

A

Edit-decision list

3
Q

Which of the following DAW user interfaces is NOT used to edit MIDI note data?

A

Mixer

4
Q

What does the P stand for in PCM?

A

Pulse

5
Q

AIFF and Microsoft Wave files are divided up internally into what logical structures?

A

Chunks

6
Q

What is the transmission rate of MIDI data along a standard MIDI cable?

A

31250bps

7
Q

What is conventionally a “lossless” audio file format

A

WAV

8
Q

What is the standard sample rate across all aspects of the audio industries?

A

None (there is no standard)

9
Q

What is used to reduce the effects of quantisation distortion?

A

Dithering

10
Q

What happens when a signal exceeds the maximum amplitude supported by a digital system?

A

Clipping

11
Q

Which of the following file formats will typically exhibit the worst compression ratio for audio?

A

ZIP

12
Q

A surround sound system is described as “7.2”. What does this imply?

A

It has 7 satellite speakers and 2 subwoofers.

13
Q

What is the “Nyquist” frequency?

A

Equal to half the sampling rate of the system

14
Q

In a software audio editor, which normalisation processes is most likely to require dynamic range compression to prevent clipping?

A

RMS normalisation to -3dB

15
Q

The Yamaha DX7 was a flexible music synth of the the 1980’s. Which type of synthesis was it based on?

A

FM

16
Q

In comparison to earlier recording media, the development of magnetic tape facilitated the practical application of which activities?

A

Sound editing

17
Q

The Mellotron was an early sampler instrument. What did it use for a storage medium?

A

Magnetic tape

18
Q

What is the primary purpose of the groove~ object in Max?

A

To play sound files

19
Q

What combination of objects could be used to create a pattern sequencer in Max?

A

Counter / lookup

20
Q

Which Max object is best suited to scaling an audio signal for use in controlling the frequency cutoff of a filter?

A

[scale~ -1 1 20 20000]

21
Q

The unit “cycles per second” or CPS is equivalent to what?

A

Hz

22
Q

What frequency ratio is equivalent to the musical interval of 25 cents?

A

1.0145

23
Q

Which of the following waveforms contains all the harmonics of a given fundamental frequency?

A

Sawtooth wave

24
Q

Shepard and Risset tones exhibit what kind of auditory illusion?

A

They appear to continually rise or fall in pitch

25
Q

What is the duration of 11 periods of a waveform with frequency 440Hz?

A

25ms

26
Q

Given a square wave with a peak amplitude of 1V, what is its RMS amplitude?

A

1V

27
Q

With reference to the relative phase of waveforms, which of the following is equivalent to 180°?

A

π

28
Q

How many semitones are in the musical interval of a Perfect 4th?

A

5

29
Q

What is the amplitude of the 4th harmonic in a triangle wave if the fundamental frequency has an amplitude of 0.9?

A

0

30
Q

Looking at the waveform of a sound, how might you be able to tell if the sound had been subject to quantisation distortion?

A

The amplitudes of the sound appear to be stepped

31
Q

In sound synthesis, the A in the acronym ADSR stands for what?

A

Attack

32
Q

In modulation synthesis, new frequency components are generated based on the components of the input signal. What are the new components known as?

A

Sidebands

33
Q

The amplitude envelopes of acoustic guitar and piano sounds generally exhibit which type of decay?

A

Exponential decay

34
Q

What kind of effect is produced by a very short delay (where the delay time is less than 5ms) and the original signal is mixed with the delayed signal?

A

Comb filtering

35
Q

When two sine waves are added together and are close in frequency, what phenomenon might occur?

A

Beating

36
Q

In wavetable synthesis, how much sample data is stored in the wavetable?

A

A single cycle

37
Q

Which expression is used to describe a synthesizer that can only play one instrumental part at a time?

A

Mono-timbral