REC 125 FINAL

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  1. What does the Yamaha DX7 have with MIDI?
    It was the first synth to be able to use MIDI
  2. What is MIDI?
    language for electronic instructions to make something happen (based on bytes); can be music, lights, pyrotechnics, or water jets
  3. When was MIDI introduced?
    1981 at AES convention, 1983 at the NAMM Show
  4. What was MIDI originally intended for?
    to connect 2 different keyboards to control one another
  5. What disadvantages did analog synths have to digital synths?
    • depend on voltage and could go out of tune if there isn't enough voltage
    • heat would mess with the tuning of oscillators 
    • didn't have as good of an attack as digital synths
  6. What two numbers could a bit be?
    0 or 1
  7. How many values does 2 bits have?
    4 values
  8. What is the first bit called in an 8-bit word?
    Status byte
  9. What is MIDI's value range?
    0-127 (128 total values)
  10. How many bits are in a byte?
    8 bits
  11. What parameter in MIDI isn't controlled on the same scale as everything else?
    Pitch bend isn't on the 0-127 scale
  12. How many keys are on a keyboard?
    88
  13. What key number is middle C on a keyboard?
    60
  14. What is automation?
    changes in mix that are synced to the timeline of the music
  15. Velocity:
    how fast a key is pressed down (translates to volume to us)
  16. What kind of transmission is MIDI?
    serial
  17. How many bits/sec. does MIDI do?
    31,250
  18. How many bits make one nibble?
    4 bits
  19. How many channels per port can MIDI do?
    16 channels per port
  20. What is channel 10 reserved for in MIDI?
    drums
  21. What does it mean when people say "digital"?
    information is represented as 0's and 1's (binary code)
  22. What are the two types of bytes?  What does each tell us?
    • Status Byte: if the note is pressed or released
    • Data Byte: which note is pressed
  23. What does a panic button do?  Why use it?
    It turns off all MIDI notes because sometimes a note will get stuck on
  24. What is the default velocity for MIDI?
    64
  25. What is included in a note-on message?
    • note on status 
    • MIDI pitch #/note #
    • attack velocity value
  26. What is included in a note-off message?
    • note-off status
    • MIDI pitch #/note #
    • release velocity
  27. Pressure messages:
    • you can press down on the key and then add more pressure to make something else happen to the note (like some sort of effect)
    • AKA "aftertouch"
  28. Channel Pressure messages:
    play a chord and do aftertouch to ONE key to make a thing happen to that key
  29. Polyphonic key pressure:
    aftertouch applied to each note of the chord
  30. Pitch Bend message:
    2 data bytes to 1 status byte
  31. Monophonic:
    One note at a time
  32. Polyphonic:
    more than one note at one time
  33. Multi-timbral:
    More than one sound at a time
  34. What number range is the MIDI note messages in?
    21-108 (88 keys of MIDI controller)
  35. Local off:
    breaking the internal connection between the keyboard and tone generator; signal goes to MIDI OUT port
  36. What is sampling?
    taking a snapshot of a waveform
  37. What is quantization?
    assigning values to samples that are taken
  38. Zero Crossing also called:
    Crossover point
  39. 4 advantages of hard disk recorders:
    • larger sound files
    • random access editing
    • nondestructive edits
    • digital signal processing
  40. 5 characteristics of DAWs
    • Integration: allows everything to talk to each other
    • Communication: DAW should be able to distribute info
    • Speed/flexibility: quicker to edit and process
    • Automation: can recall session and undo easily
    • Expandibility: can add new stuff 
    • User Friendly: can communicate with user
  41. LCD: 
    CRT:
    LED:
    • These are all display types
    • LCD: liquid crystal display
    • CRT: cathode ray tube
    • LED: light emitting diode
  42. Audio interface:
    hardware that allows you to connect instruments and mics to your computer, converts audio from analog to digital
  43. What is "nondestructive" editing?
    nothing is actually deleted, you can always get it back easily
  44. What does the Red Book tell us?
    audio specs
  45. What is the CD quality spec?
    • 44.1kHz sample rate
    • 16 bit depth
  46. MIDI IN
    MIDI OUT
    MIDI THRU
    • IN: receive message from external source
    • OUT: transmits MIDI performance and control messages to another device
    • THRU: transmit copy of IN messages
  47. What does a longer word length give you?
    more detail and quality in recording
  48. Sample rate:
    how many times audio is sampled per second; tells us frequency range
  49. Nyquist Theorem:
    sample rate must be double that of the highest frequency
  50. Audio Driver protocols:
    • WDM: Windows Driver Model (AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE)
    • AISO: Audio Stream I/O (backbone of VST, low latency)
    • MAS: MOTU Audio System (for mac)
    • Core Audio: made by Mac
  51. How many ticks (Pulses per Quarter note AKA PPQ) are there in a beat?
    960
  52. System Exclusive message:
    bulk transmission and reception of many things...
  53. What does each pin do on a MIDI cable?
    • 1: nothing
    • 2: Ground (earth to ground)
    • 3: nothing
    • 4: MIDI signal
    • 5: MIDI signal
  54. What is at the core of an electronic instrument?
    a CPU
  55. Subtractive synthesis:
    EQ out overtones you don't want
  56. Additive synthesis:
    add oscillators/operators for sounds
  57. What is wavetable synthesis and who developed it?
    Roland; take a sample of the initial sound of a real instrument ("chiff") and then the rest of the note is synthesized
  58. What are operators?
    signal generators for frequency modulation synthesis
  59. Frequency modulation synthesis:
    digital sounds (pioneered by Yamaha DX-7), had a minimum of 2 operators; could get harder attack than analog
  60. Soundcard synths:
    general MIDI on the motherboard
  61. What did samplers allow people to do?
    load a WAV file to a key or button
  62. Key scaling:
    a key will change something at a certain key #
  63. Modular software synths:
    hold multiple synths inside them
  64. Splitting/Mapping:
    split keyboard into zones
  65. Plug-in Protocols:
    • DirectX
    • AU (Audio Unit)
    • VST (Virtual Sound Technology)
    • MAS (MOTU Audio System)
    • Audiosuite
    • RTAS (Real Time Audio Suite)
    • TDM (Time Domain Multiplex)
  66. Firewire:
    • Made in mid '90's by Intel for Apple
    • can handle 63 devices
    • FireWire 400: 400 Mbits/sec
    • FireWire 800: 800 Mbits/sec
    • FireWire 400 and 800 are different plugs
  67. USB throughput
    • Universal Serial Bus
    • 1.0: 1.5 Mbits/sec (first generation); low bandwidth peripherals
    • 1.0: 12 Mbits/sec (second gen); for devices needing higher throughput
    • 2.0: 480 Mbits/sec; hi-throughput and fast transfer
    • 3.1: 10G Gbits/sec
  68. Thunderbolt:
    • 3 years old now
    • 10 Gbits/sec per channel (two channels)
  69. USB:
    • can handle 127 external devices
    • devices can be plugged and unplugged when computer is on (except flash drives)
    • data flows both ways
    • provides data signal and DC power
    • can daisy chain in USB hub (but it looks for things in order)
  70. How long can these cable types be?
    USB
    FireWire 400 and 800
    MIDI
    Wireless MIDI (not a cable, I know)
    • USB: 5m for hi-speed, 3m for low-speed
    • FireWire 400: 4.5m
    • FireWire 800: 100m
    • MIDI: 50ft.
    • Wireless MIDI: 500ft
  71. Normalize:
    looks at highest peaks and the distance from peak to the highest one, turns up that peak the amount of distance
  72. MTC:
    MIDI time code; quarter frame messages that MIDI syncs to
  73. SMPTE:
    Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers; identifies an exact position on a tape or media form by assigning digital address' over the course of a program's duration; standard method to interlock audio, video, and film transports
  74. How many values are in:
    8-bit
    16-bit
    • 8-bit: 256
    • 16-bit: 65,536
  75. How many bits are in 1dB?
    .167
  76. How many channel voice messages are there?
    • 7
    • note on, note off, polyphonic key pressure, channel pressure, program change, pitch bend change, control changeq
  77. 29.97 fps drop-frame:
    designed so color TV's could still read a monochrome signal; 2 frames are dropped every minute except for multiples of 10 (00, 10, 20, etc.)
  78. 29.97 fps non-drop
    color standard; frame count will always increase one count per frame
  79. Stem:
    submix of instruments, intended to be used to master a song

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Author:
 tenorsextets
ID:
 276352
Filename:
 REC 125 FINAL
Updated:
2014-06-08 21:37:15
Tags:
recording citruscollege
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