Headroom is the extra space between the loudest sound an audio system can handle and the regular level of the sound. It is like having a big enough container so the sound does not spill over. When there is enough headroom, the audio stays clean even if there are sudden loud parts. Why headroom matters…
Hiss is a sound that you sometimes hear in audio recordings or live sound. It’s a bit like the sound a snake makes – a constant “sssss” in the background. Hiss is usually high-pitched and can be annoying to listen to. It’s not something you want in your recordings or at a concert. Audio engineers,…
Genre is a way of putting different kinds of music into groups. It’s like sorting your toys into different boxes based on what they have in common. Just like you might put all your toy cars in one box and all your stuffed animals in another, music experts put songs that sound similar into groups…
Ghost production is when a music track gets made by someone who doesn’t take credit. They let another artist put their name on it and release it like they made it themselves. This happens a lot in the music world. Ghost production can involve a few different things. A ghost producer might make a full…
Audio feedback is a sound problem that can happen with microphones, speakers, and sound systems. It is the loud, annoying noise that sometimes happens when a microphone gets too close to a speaker. The noise can sound like a loud squeal, screech, or whistle. Audio feedback happens when the sound from a speaker goes back…
Audio distortion happens when sound gets changed in ways we don’t want. It makes music and sound different from how they should be. People working with sound need to know about these changes because they can make or break how good something sounds. Common Types of Audio Distortion Harmonic Distortion Harmonic distortion adds new sounds…
Fidelity is how close a recording sounds to the original sound. If you record a sound and play it back, you want it to sound just like it did in real life. The closer it sounds to the real thing, the higher the fidelity. High fidelity means the recording is very accurate and sounds almost…
Fair use is a part of the law that says it’s sometimes okay to copy bits from creative stuff without asking the person who made it first. This stuff could be books, music, art, movies, or anything else that’s copyrighted. Why Fair Use is Important See, when someone makes a new book or song, they…
Fletcher-Munson curves show how human ears hear sounds differently based on their pitch and volume. Two scientists, Harvey Fletcher and Wilden Munson, created these curves in 1933 during their research at Bell Labs. What the Curves Tell Us Our ears don’t hear all sounds equally. They pick up some frequencies better than others, even when…
The world of sound surrounds us with an incredible range of frequencies. The human ear can detect an amazing span of sounds, from the lowest rumbles to the highest squeals. This range, known as the frequency range, spreads from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. Let’s dive deep into what this means and why it matters….
