Audio Theory Fundamentals For Sound Design

Understand audio at a higher level

What you'll learn

Learners will gain a solid foundation of audio theory knowledge relevant to the sound design disciplines

Learners will be able to predict and explain results of audio recordings based on theoretical knowledge

Students will be given a solid basis of knowledge regarding microphone and recording theory

Students will gain a good foundation of knowledge of audio effects and signal processes

Requirements

You will need a digital audio workstation (audio editing software) of some sort, and either headphones or speakers. That's it! This course is friendly for beginners, so no experience is required

Description

This course takes you through audio theory from A to Z with a particular focus on topics that are of interest to sound designers. Any topic from the broader audio engineering discipline that I feel is applicable and relevant to the art of sound design, I've included in this course curriculum. The course doesn't necessarily teach you sound design, as such, it more focuses on audio engineering theoretical topics that will aid in your journey and give you a denser understanding of what is happening 'underneath the hood' when it comes to various tools, software and techniques that we use every day.Starting from the most fundamental of 'what is sound,' 'what sound waves are exactly' before moving all the way up to some pretty advanced and niche signal processing tools, this course should give you a deeper appreciation of the tools we use.One of the things that I reiterate in the final video of the course is that the theoretical knowledge you gain in this course are tools in your belt that you are able to access when things are going wrong. If something sounds like "A" but I need it to sound like "B" how do I get there? Or I "expected it to sound like 'C' but instead it sounds like 'D,' why would that be the case?" This course will give you the tools and knowledge to troubleshoot issues, predict the quality of sound before the fact, and allow you to get where you need to go faster!

Overview

Section 1: Welcome

Lecture 1 Welcome

Section 2: Fundamental Theory

Lecture 2 Sound

Lecture 3 Waveforms

Lecture 4 Frequency

Lecture 5 The Frequency Spectrum

Lecture 6 Logarithmic Hearing and Octaves

Lecture 7 Decibels

Lecture 8 The Perceived Loudness of Frequencies

Lecture 9 Recap

Section 3: Speakers and Headphones

Lecture 10 Speakers

Lecture 11 Headphones

Section 4: Audio Fundamentals

Lecture 12 Wave Interference

Lecture 13 Polarity Inversion

Lecture 14 Phase

Lecture 15 Comb Filtering

Lecture 16 Wavelength

Lecture 17 Recap

Lecture 18 The Illusion of Stereo

Section 5: Signal Processing and Effects

Lecture 19 Signal Processing

Lecture 20 Equalizers

Lecture 21 Compressors and Limiters

Lecture 22 Compression Exercises

Lecture 23 Distortion and Saturation

Lecture 24 Harmonics

Lecture 25 Distortion Demo

Lecture 26 Our Preference for Loudness

Lecture 27 String Harmonics Demo

Lecture 28 Reverb

Lecture 29 Reverb Demonstration

Lecture 30 Mechanical Reverb

Lecture 31 Convolution Reverb

Lecture 32 Delay

Lecture 33 Chorus

Lecture 34 Phaser and Flanger

Lecture 35 Recap Signal Processing and Effects

Section 6: Digital Audio Theory

Lecture 36 Digital Audio

Lecture 37 Sample Rate

Lecture 38 The Nyquist Theorem

Lecture 39 Sample Rate Conversion

Lecture 40 Bit Depth

Lecture 41 32 Bit Floating Point

Lecture 42 32 Bit Floating Point in DAWs

Lecture 43 Bit Crushers

Lecture 44 Digital Audio Recap

Section 7: Digital Audio and Signal Processing Continued

Lecture 45 Digital Audio Aliasing

Lecture 46 High Sample Rate Recording for Sound Design

Lecture 47 Dither

Lecture 48 EQ Revisited and Linear Phase EQ

Lecture 49 Dynamic EQ and Multiband Compression

Lecture 50 Null Testing

Lecture 51 Lossy Audio Codecs

Lecture 52 Null Testing Lossy Codecs

Lecture 53 Recap

Section 8: Microphones and Recording

Lecture 54 Microphones and Recording Introduction

Lecture 55 Handheld Recorders

Lecture 56 Dynamics, Condensers and Ribbons

Lecture 57 Sidenote: Auditory Memory

Lecture 58 Polar Patterns

Lecture 59 Cardioid Polar Pattern

Lecture 60 The Proximity Effect

Lecture 61 Hypercardioid and Supercardioid

Lecture 62 Shotgun Microphones

Lecture 63 Boom Pole Demonstration

Lecture 64 Wind Shielding

Lecture 65 Wind Distortion

Lecture 66 Figure of Eight Polar Pattern

Lecture 67 Using a Pop Shield

Lecture 68 Lavalier Microphones

Lecture 69 Plug-on Transmitters

Lecture 70 Microphone Cables and Balanced Audio

Lecture 71 Cable Testers

Lecture 72 Mic Preamplifiers

Lecture 73 Mic Level, Line Level and Speaker Level

Lecture 74 Audio Interfaces

Lecture 75 DI Boxes

Lecture 76 Microphones Recap

Lecture 77 Input and Output Impedance

Lecture 78 Mono Recording

Lecture 79 Stereo Audio

Lecture 80 Stereo Recording - XY

Lecture 81 Recap: How Our Ears Perceive Stereo (Recap)

Lecture 82 The Haas Effect

Lecture 83 Stereo Recording - ORTF

Lecture 84 Mid-Side Recording

Section 9: Acoustics

Lecture 85 Room Acoustics Introduction

Lecture 86 Room Resonances

Lecture 87 Testing My Room

Lecture 88 Room Reverb

Lecture 89 The Reflection Free Zone

Lecture 90 Acoustics Recap

Section 10: Sound Design Theory, Aesthetic and Tips

Lecture 91 Sound Design Theory - Introduction

Lecture 92 Strategies for Sound Design

Lecture 93 Synchronicity

Lecture 94 Ambience and the Perception of Time

Lecture 95 Ambience to Convey Emotion

Lecture 96 The Rule of Two and a Half

Section 11: Surround Sound and 3D Audio Formats

Lecture 97 Surround Sound Introduction

Lecture 98 The Centre Channel

Lecture 99 The Rear Channels

Lecture 100 Binaural Audio

Lecture 101 Ambisonics Overview

Lecture 102 Placing a Sound in the Ambisonics Field

Lecture 103 Ambisonics Recording

Lecture 104 Audio Objects

Lecture 105 Audio Objects in Wwise

Lecture 106 Dolby Atmos

Lecture 107 Exporting a Dolby Atmos Mix

Lecture 108 Surround Sound and 3D Audio Recap

Section 12: Some More Signal Processors

Lecture 109 Mid Side Processing

Lecture 110 Transient Designers

Lecture 111 Formant Filtering

Lecture 112 Frequency Shifting vs Pitch Shifting

Lecture 113 Envelope Followers and ADSR Curves

Lecture 114 Noise Signals

Lecture 115 Harmonic Signals

Lecture 116 The Square Wave Formula

Lecture 117 Granular Synthesis

Lecture 118 Tape Emulators

Lecture 119 Audio Metering

Lecture 120 True Peak Metering

Lecture 121 Last Minute Addition: Morph Demo

Section 13: Final Advice

Lecture 122 Final Section Introduction

Lecture 123 Listening Test

Lecture 124 Final Advice

This course is intended for aspiring sound designers who wish to understand more about the inner workings of sound and the tools we use. This course may also be suitable for intermediate sound designers who may feel that their audio theory knowledge is a bit lacking