Spatial Audio Design - Project 1
22/9/2025 - 19/10/2025 / Week 1 - Week 4
ChenYuhan / 0378131
Spatial Audio Design/ Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylors University
Project 1
ChenYuhan / 0378131
Spatial Audio Design/ Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylors University
Project 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P6GlNKddZ0KJiNnAsn13rfRbRZYiEc5r/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>
LECTURES
week 2:
<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gU7psdnehAW_82F2cg9gBoShwf_csZar/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>
Sound is the vibration of air molecules that stimulates the eardrums. These vibrations form sound waves through propagation.
Production: The initial vibration of air molecules. This is the sound source, such as vocal cords or a speaker.
Propagation: The medium through which the sound travels, such as air.
Perception: The eardrums vibrating and the brain interpreting these signals.
The Human Ear
Outer Ear: The visible portion of the ear.
Middle Ear: Consists of the eardrum, a small air-filled cavity, and three tiny bones (the malleus, incus, and stapes).
Inner Ear: Includes the cochlea (the hearing organ), the endolymphatic sac, and the semicircular canals.
Key Point: In the cochlea, different pitches stimulate different areas. Multiple notes played simultaneously affect multiple areas at once.
Speed of Propagation: Sound travels fastest through solids, slower through liquids, and slowest through gases.
Psychoacoustics
The study of the human subjective perception of sound. It examines psychological responses and the impact of sound and music on the nervous system. This field considers the perception of pitch, loudness, timbre, etc.
Physical Properties of Sound Waves
Wavelength: The distance between any point on a wave and the corresponding point on the next wave.
Amplitude: Represents the loudness of a sound, observed as the height of the sound wave.
Frequency: Represents pitch, observed as the number of wave cycles occurring per second, measured in Hertz or kilohertz (Hz, kHz). Essentially, a higher frequency means the source is vibrating more rapidly.
Properties of Sound
Pitch
Frequency = vibrations per second.
Fewer vibrations = low frequency = low pitch.
More vibrations = high frequency = high pitch.
One cycle is one complete 'up' and 'down' vibration.
1 Hz = 1 cycle per second.
The average human hearing range is approximately 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
Loudness: The perceived volume or intensity of a sound.
Timbre: The quality or characteristic of a sound that allows us to distinguish between different instruments or voices.
Perceived Duration: The subjective experience of a sound's pace or length.
Envelope: The structure of a sound, describing its amplitude changes from start to finish (e.g., Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release - ADSR).
Spatialization: The perceived location or direction of a sound in space.
week 3:
These core tools are fundamental to any audio editing software or Digital Audio Workstation.
Layering:
This involves stacking and blending multiple sounds to create a richer, more complex, and higher-quality result.
It's an excellent way to generate unique sounds that don't exist in real life.
Nearly all professionally designed sound effects are built using layers.
Time-Stretching
This tool lets you lengthen a sound (making it slower) or shorten it (making it faster) without altering its pitch.
It's crucial for making a sound fit a specific duration or for changing its pace and rhythm.
Pitch-Shifting
This allows you to raise or lower the pitch of a sound without affecting its length.
Shifting the pitch higher can make a sound seem thinner, smaller, or more delicate, which is often used for smaller on-screen subjects.
Shifting the pitch lower can make a sound feel bigger, heavier, and more powerful, suitable for larger subjects.
Reversing
Playing a sound backwards can instantly make it feel strange and unnatural.
It becomes particularly useful when layered subtly with the original sound to create depth or a sense of anticipation.
Mouthing It
When you can't find the right sound effect, try creating it with your own voice.
After recording your vocalizations, you can use all the previous tools—layering, time-stretching, pitch-shifting, and reversing—to transform them into something completely new.
PROJECT 1
Exercise 1:
For this exercise, I was given eight tracks of the same song, each with a different sound from the original. My task was to edit these tracks using a parametric equalizer effect to bring them into line with the original.
 |
| Fig. 2.1.1, Track 'eq-1,' week 2 (2025/10/04) |
 |
| Fig. 2.1.2, Track 'eq-2,' week 2 (2025/10/04) |
 |
| Fig. 2.1.3, Track 'eq-3,' week 2 (2025/10/04) |
 |
| Fig. 2.1.4, Track 'eq-4,' week 2 (2025/10/04) |
 |
| Fig. 2.1.5, Track 'eq-5,' week 2 (2025/10/04) |
 |
| Fig. 2.1.6, Track 'eq-6,' week 2 (2025/10/04) |
 |
| Fig. 2.1.7, Track 'filter-1,' week 2 (2025/10/04) |
 |
| Fig. 2.1.8, Track 'filter-2,' week 2 (2025/10/04) |
Exercise 2:
Fig. 2.2.1. Airport (2025/10/12)
Fig. 2.2.2. Bathroom (2025/10/12)
Fig. 2.2.3. In The Closet (2025/10/12)
Fig. 2.2.4. Indoor Stadium (2025/10/12)
Fig. 2.2.5. Telephone (2025/10/12)
Fig. 2.2.6. Walkie Talkie (2025/10/12)
Exercise 3:
Fig. 3.1.1. Explosion SFX edit (2025/10/12)
Fig. 3.1.2. Explosion SFX (2025/10/12)
Fig. 3.1.3. Firecracker SFX (2025/10/12)
Fig. 3.1.4. Combo Attack SFX (2025/10/12)
Exercise 4.1:
In this exercise, we need to make the sound of the plane flying in and out from a distance. This can be achieved by adjusting the volume and pan.
 |
| Fig. 4.1.1, Jetplane SFX edit, week 4 (2025/10/18) |
Fig. 4.1.2, Jetplane SFX , week 4 (2025/10/18)
Exercise 4.2:
In this exercise, we need to find the sound effects ourselves and make them fit the environment scene.
 |
Fig. 4.2.1, Image 1, week 4 (2025/10/18) |
 |
Fig. 4.2.2, Image 2, week 4 (2025/10/18) |
Fig. 4.2.3, Image 1 FPX, week 4 (2025/10/18)
Fig. 4.2.4, Image 2 FPX, week 4 (2025/10/18)
REFLECTION
Experience:
In Project 1, I gained a basic understanding of the basic operations of the au software, and through four exercises, I basically understood the direction and content of this course. I really like the wonderful feeling of adjusting audio, and how the sound can be transformed by adjusting parameters.
Observations:
The most frustrating part is that you can’t immediately determine if the sound you’ve modified is correct, so you have to try again and again, only to find out in frustration that the modified sound is worse than the first version. Therefore, maintaining good patience is essential.
Findings:
The biggest gain is that I learned basic sound adjustment. Through parametric equalizers, reverb and other effect tools, you can easily change the thickness of the sound, etc.
Comments
Post a Comment