The Three Elements of Sound
Sound is the vibration of a pressure wave in the air. This wave reaches our ears, and is interpreted b
our brain as
sound. The type of sound we experience is determined by the shape of this wave
he V-Synth GT makes it easy to create new sounds simply by moving the controllers o
the panel. It’s a good idea to
start b
selecting a patch that’s similar to the sound
ou’re tr
ing to create
But even i
ou have a clear idea o
the sound
ou want,
ou won’t obtain that sound simpl
b
moving the control
ers blindl
. This section will give
ou some basic knowledge about sound to guide
ou in
our editing.
he pitch of sound is determined b
the speed of the
wave cycles. A wave that vibrates 1 cycle per second is
called 1 Hz (hertz). As the frequencies become higher,
Hz becomes hi
her in numbers. Lower the number
in hertz, and fre
uencies will become lower as well.
For exam
e, w
en A4 (center A) e
ua
s 440.0 Hz, an
octave hi
her pitch would
enerate twice the amount
of frequenc
at 880.0 Hz (A5). An octave lower pitch
would produce hal
the
requency at 220.0 Hz (A3).
04
Editing a tone
he brightness of a sound is deter
mined by the shape o
its wave
orm.
B
comparing t
e piano an
t
e sine
wave side by side, you can see the di
erence in complexit
. In this example,
the complexity o
the wave
orm
results in a bri
hter sound
he volume o
the sound is deter-
mined b
the size or the width of the
w
v
A
w
v
m
wi
r
vertically on the graph), the louder
v
m
m
A
wi
narrows, the volume becomes so
ter.
Hz
n
w
v
im
im
t
m
tim
5
=880Hz
4
=440Hz
3
=220Hz
1se
iano waveform (com
lex) Sine waveform
smooth
im
im
“clang” “poooh”
im
im
Loud sound
oft soun