Principles of Acoustics I

Category ON SALE, Recording & Music Production

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Associated Courses

Overview

This course explores the fundamentals of sound, beginning with the physics of sound waves, their frequency and amplitude, and how they interact with space, followed by an in-depth look at the human ear’s auditory transduction process. It further delves into psychoacoustics, sound level measurement, room acoustics, and outdoor sound behavior, equipping learners with essential knowledge for recording engineering by understanding sound perception, measurement, and environmental impacts.

Module One: The Physics of Sound

Module Two: The Human Ear

This module explores auditory transduction, detailing how the ear converts sound waves into electrical impulses via the tympanic membrane, auditory ossicles, and cochlea’s fluid-filled structures. It emphasizes the importance of protecting hearing, as temporary and permanent threshold shifts from loud exposure can impact a recording engineer’s critical perception of sound.

Module Three: Psychoacoustics

Psychoacoustics examines sound perception versus physical reality, using illusions like the Octave Illusion to illustrate how pitch, timbre, and spatial cues (inter-aural differences, pinnae) shape our auditory experience. It highlights how elements like early reflections, reverberation, and masking affect sound identification, crucial for engineers aiming to reproduce sound accurately.

Module Four: Sound Level Measurement

This module explains sound level measurement in decibels, a logarithmic scale reflecting amplitude’s impact on perceived loudness, influenced by equal loudness contours showing human sensitivity to mid-frequencies. It introduces sound level meters with A and C filters to mimic ear response, aiding engineers in managing recording and mixing environments.

Module Five: Room Acoustics

Room acoustics studies how sound behaves in enclosed spaces, where reflections off surfaces create direct sound, early reflections, and reverberation, measured as RT60. It covers managing reverberation with absorptive materials and understanding critical distance to optimize a room’s acoustic image for recording clarity.

Module Six: Sound Outdoors

This module examines sound propagation outdoors, following the inverse square law where intensity decreases with the square of distance, exemplified by a drop from 90 dB to 70 dB over tenfold distance. It discusses how reflections, delays, and phase cancellation affect outdoor sound perception, relevant for engineers working in open environments.

This module introduces acoustics as the study of sound, explaining how sound waves are variations in air pressure caused by vibrations, measured by frequency (pitch) and amplitude (volume). It covers the frequency ranges for human hearing, how pitch relates to musical notes, and how amplitude dissipates over distance, providing foundational knowledge for quality sound recording. This module explores auditory transduction, detailing how the ear converts sound waves into electrical impulses via the tympanic membrane, auditory ossicles, and cochlea’s fluid-filled structures. It emphasizes the importance of protecting hearing, as temporary and permanent threshold shifts from loud exposure can impact a recording engineer’s critical perception of sound. Psychoacoustics examines sound perception versus physical reality, using illusions like the Octave Illusion to illustrate how pitch, timbre, and spatial cues (inter-aural differences, pinnae) shape our auditory experience. It highlights how elements like early reflections, reverberation, and masking affect sound identification, crucial for engineers aiming to reproduce sound accurately. This module explains sound level measurement in decibels, a logarithmic scale reflecting amplitude’s impact on perceived loudness, influenced by equal loudness contours showing human sensitivity to mid-frequencies. It introduces sound level meters with A and C filters to mimic ear response, aiding engineers in managing recording and mixing environments. Room acoustics studies how sound behaves in enclosed spaces, where reflections off surfaces create direct sound, early reflections, and reverberation, measured as RT60. It covers managing reverberation with absorptive materials and understanding critical distance to optimize a room’s acoustic image for recording clarity. This module examines sound propagation outdoors, following the inverse square law where intensity decreases with the square of distance, exemplified by a drop from 90 dB to 70 dB over tenfold distance. It discusses how reflections, delays, and phase cancellation affect outdoor sound perception, relevant for engineers working in open environments.

Requirements

Required Hardware (minimum): Laptop Computer (PC  or Mac) Specifications: Minimum 3.0 GHz Processor 16GB RAM (64 Bit) 256GB SSD

DETAILS TO KNOW

Shareable Certificate

Taught in English

Self-paced Learning

Course Evaluations: 6 Quizzes & 1 Final Exam

Estimated Time to Complete: 15-20 Hours

Course Availability: On-Demand