BSc (Hones) in Information Technology Specialized in

Interactive Media
Batch 2016

Multimedia Systems

Tutorial 4

IT 141117138
R.Abhiyugaa
1. Discuss the implications of using audio in a production, focusing on the purpose of
the audio, how to manage audio files, and copyright issues.

Sound is perhaps the most important element of multimedia. The purpose of

audio is to help create mood and ambience. Audio or Sound is the most common
entertainment path of the life. Music can touch humans’ heart easily. It is
meaningful “speech” in any language, from a whisper to a scream. It can provide
the listening pleasure of music, the startling accent of special effects or the
ambience of a mood setting background. Sound is the terminology used in the
analog form, and the digitized form of sound is called as audio.

Once a recording has been made, it will almost certainly need to be edited. The
basic sound editing operations that most multimedia procedures needed are
described in the paragraphs that follow:-

1. Multiple Tasks: Able to edit and combine multiple tracks and then merge the
tracks and export them in a final mix to a single audio file.

2. Trimming: Removing dead air or blank space from the front of a recording and
an unnecessary extra time off the end is your first sound editing task.

3. Splicing and Assembly: Using the same tools mentioned for trimming, you will
probably want to remove the extraneous noises that inevitably creep into
recording.

4. Volume Adjustments: If you are trying to assemble ten different recordings into
a single track there is a little chance that all the segments have the same volume.

5. Format Conversion: In some cases your digital audio editing software might
read a format different from that read by your presentation or authoring
program.

6. Resampling or down sampling: If you have recorded and edited your sounds at
16 bit sampling rates but are using lower rates you must resample or down
sample the file.

7. Equalization: Some programs offer digital equalization capabilities that allow

you to modify a recording frequency content so that it sounds brighter or darker.

8. Digital Signal Processing: Some programs allow you to process the signal with
reverberation, multitap delay, and other special effects using DSP routines.
2. List the four main sampling rates and the two sampling depths. Briefly describe
what each is most useful for. How does mono versus stereo come into the
equation?

Sampling Rate:
The sampling rate is the number of samples of data taken in one second for each
channel of audio being recorded. CDs are recorded at 44,100 samples per second.

Main Sampling Rates

32,000 Hz - Standard Broadcast Rate

44,100 Hz - CD Quality

48,000 Hz - Standard DVD

96,000 Hz - Blu-Ray DVD Quality

Sampling Depths

16 bit - CD/DVD Audio/Pro Tools & LogicPro software.

24 bit - Blu-Ray Disc//Pro Tools & LogicPro software.

The difference is in the number of channels (signals) used. Mono uses one, stereo uses
more than one. In monaural sound one single channel is used. It can be reproduced
through several speakers, but all speakers are still reproducing the same copy of the
signal.

Mono - Mono has only one channel. There for using Mono, listener can’t get the feeling
sense of depth as Stereo.

Stereo – Stereo has two independent channels. One for left and other one for Right. Both
these signal are similar but not exactly the same. These both channels are used to give
the sense of depth to the listener.

The Equation of the Mono and Stereo

Sampling rate * duration of recording in seconds * (bit resolution / 8) * No of channels

Mono
Sampling rate * duration of recording in seconds * (bit resolution / 8) * 1
Stereo
Sampling rate * duration of recording in seconds * (bit resolution / 8) * 2
3. You have been assigned to design and produce the audio portions of a multimedia
project. The program will be delivered on a CD-ROM, and video clips will take up
most of the CD. You have only 50MB of storage space to store 20 one-minute clips
of speech, 10 songs averaging three minutes long, and a background sound loop.
What sampling rates and depths should you use for the speech, for the music, and
for the background sound? Why? Roughly calculate the file size totals for these
specifications, and be sure that you end up with less than the 50MB of storage
space allotted. Discuss your reasoning.

I would like to use mp3 file format for audio file in the video clip because mp3 format
already compressed and reduced the file size. Then, I would like to use 128kbps bit rate for
the songs. Lastly, I choose 128kbps bit rate for my background sound as the quality is better.

Speech

60 seconds * 96 kbps = 5760 kilobits

5760/8 = 720 kilobytes (0.72 megabytes)

0.72 * 20 = 14.4mb

Music

200 seconds * 128kbps = 25600 kilobits

25600/8 = 3200 kilobytes (3.20 megabytes)

3.20 * 10 = 32mb

Background Song

200 seconds * 128kps = 25600 kilobits

25600/8 = 3200 kilobytes (3.2mb)

Total: 14.4+32+3.2 = 49.60mb

4. Describe what MIDI is, what its benefits are, and how it is best used in a multimedia
project.

MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. MIDI allows electronic
instruments and other digital musical tools to create a bridge and make excellent
music. A MIDI instrument is developed using part of the Software and part of the
Hardware. MIDI helps to compose music without the exact music instrument. Can
use MIDI keyboard and use predefined tones to compose music.

Advantages of MIDI

Compact - an entire song can be stored within a few hundred MIDI messages
Compared to audio data which is sampled thousands of times a second

Easy to modify/manipulate notes - change pitch, duration, and other

parameters without having to rerecord

Change instruments - MIDI only describes which notes to play, you can send
these notes to any instrument to change the overall sound of the composition.
5. List the steps you would go through to record, edit, and process a set of sound files
for inclusion on a web site. How would you digitally process the files to ensure they
are consistent, have minimum file size, and sound their best?

There are some steps in order to complete a set of sound files for inclusion on a web
site. It will be start from record, edit and process. Besides that, digitally process also the
important part to ensure everything is being consistent. There are:

 The file size (in bytes) of a digital recording is sampling rate * duration of
recording in seconds * (bit resolution / 8) * number of tracks (1 for mono, 2 for
stereo).
 Consumer-grade audio compact disc are recorded in stereo at a sampling rate
44.1 kHz and a 16-nit resolution. Other sampling rates include 22.05 and 11 kHz,
at either 16 or 18 bits.
 When recording (digitizing) audio, it's important to keep the recording level near
the maximum without going over it.
 Important steps in digital sound editing include removing blank space from the
star and end of a recording and normalizing the sound to bring all clips to
approximately the same level.
 The native sound file formats for most Macintosh sound editing software are the
SND and AIF formats, and most editing software is a WAV file.
 Many audio editors provide tools such as resampling, fade-ins and -outs,
equalization, time stretching, various digital signal processing effects, and
reversing sounds.