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MA Music Production and Audio Cultures

Audio Signals and Psychoacoustics MUS00098M

Summative Assessment 1:

Recording and Analysis Assignment 

1. Introduction

This document describes one (of two) assignments that you are required to undertake for the Semester 1 Audio Signals and Psychoacoustics module. This assignment is worth 30% of the overall module marks, and assesses the following Module Learning Outcomes as outlined in the Module Catalogue.  

By the end of the module, you should be able to:

● use empirical measurements to assess and improve audio productions, room acoustics and monitoring systems (LO1)

● troubleshoot any digital synchronisation, signal flow or routing problems in the recording and production facilities (LO2)

● identify and analyse artefacts in the signal chain that affect the sound quality (LO4)

2.The Assignment Task

Your task is to make a number of audio recordings (as specified below), use time and frequency domain analysis tools to analyse them and produce a written report to detail your findings.

Audio Recordings

You should make six mono audio recordings, as detailed below,  using 2 different microphones:

● the microphone that you built in the workshop in week 3 (if yours is not complete/defective you can hire one: Primo 272 Omni in the Music Equipment Store booking system)

● AND another microphone of your choice.

The second microphone could be any that you choose, for the most interesting results you could choose a microphone of a different type (i.e. avoiding an electret microphone)

By using a 2 channel sound card, you should make simultaneous recordings using the two microphones of the following pieces of audio:

● 10 seconds of white noise

● A short (10 - 15 seconds) musical phrase played on an instrument [we might call this performance A]

● The same musical phrase played again on the same instrument [ Performance B]

Please note Each recording should be made with both microphones simultaneously, and placed as close together as possible (coincident), the same distance from the sound source.

Analysis (Visualisation)

For each of the audio recordings you have made you should produce the following graphs/visualisations:

● A Time Domain (waveform) plot (you can use any suitable software e.g. Reaper or Audacity)

● A Spectrum plot (FFT) (using REW software)

● A Spectrogram plot (using REW software)

Export each of these plots ( you should have 18 in total)  as .png files

Please note, how to use the REW software package will be covered in the IR workshop in week 8.

Written Report

Import the graphs into a word document, add a Figure number (so that you can refer to them in the written text) and give each one a written caption that describes what is displayed in the graph. Please note, there is no page limit for the report, so please make your graphs the whole width of the page.

You should also write a report (of no more than 1000 words) which compares how the recordings you have made sound different from each other. The report should refer to specific features of the graphs and how they support your observations. Please pay particular attention to critical listening of the recordings and make sure that visual and aural observations are compared, i.e. how does what you see in the graphs relate to what you hear/perceive?

You may wish to consider aspects such as the:

● Frequency range of the direct sound

● Room resonance (if applicable)

● Noise (if applicable)

● Differences between Performance A and Performance B, in terms of both temporal and spectral aspects.

Your written report should also include at least one photograph of your recording set up, in order that you can comment on aspects such as the positioning of the microphones, sound source etc as it relates to the observations you have made.  Formatting guidelines for written work will be made available via the VLE modules site soon.

NB. All files should be anonymised (i.e, your name should be replaced with your examination  number) and submitted according to the submission guidelines included in the module VLE site. The usual penalties for late submission will apply: for more information on these see the Music Production & Audio Cultures MA Handbook.

Marking scheme

Marks will be awarded in each of the categories outlined below. You could use these questions to reflect on the quality of your work before you submit.

Audio visualisation and presentation: 60%

Have each of the three types of plot been produced for each of the audio files?

Have the plots been suitably titled, numbered and captioned?

Are the axes of each of the plots correctly labelled including units of measurement?

Do the resolutions of the plots provide suitable detail to support specific observations?

Quality of written report: 40%

Does the written reflection identify specific features of the plots that support their observations?

Does it compare aural and visual observations?

Is it neatly presented and follows the formatting guidance?

What is the quality of written English (spelling and grammar)?

Is the content technically correct and consistent?