Sound and Recording

653 Pages·2009·3.898 MB·English

by  Francis Rumsey, Tim McCormick

Sound and Recording
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Sound and Recording
Sixth Edition
Francis Rumsey and Tim McCormick

AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON • NEW YORK • OXFORD
PARIS • SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO
Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier
Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier
Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP, UK
30 Corporate Drive, Suite 400, Burlington, MA 01803, USA
First edition 1992
Reprinted 1994
Second edition 1994
Reprinted 1995, 1996
Third edition 1997
Reprinted 1998 (twice), 1999, 2000, 2001
Fourth edition 2002
Reprinted 2003, 2004
Fifth edition 2006
Reprinted 2007, 2008
Sixth edition 2009
Copyright © 2009 Francis Rumsey & Tim McCormick. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The right of Francis Rumsey & Tim McCormick to be identifi ed as the author of this work has been asserted in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher
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No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of
products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions
or ideas contained in the material herein
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Rumsey , Francis.
Sound and recording. — 6th ed.
1 . Sound—Recording and reproducing.
I . Title II. McCormick, Tim, 1954-
621 .3’893-dc22
Library of Congress Control Number : 2009929122
ISBN : 978-0-240-52163-3
For information on all Focal Press publications
visit our website at focalpress.com
Printed and bound in Great Britain
09 10 11 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
FACT FILE DIRECTORY ......................................................................... x i
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION ..................................................... x v
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION ...................................................... x vii
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION .................................................... x ix
PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION ........................................................ x xi
PREFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITION ...................................................... x xiii
CHAPTER 1 What is Sound? ................................................................ 1
A Vibrating Source ...................................................................... 1
Characteristics of a Sound Wave .................................................. 2
How Sound Travels in Air ............................................................ 4
Simple and Complex Sounds ....................................................... 5
Frequency Spectra of Repetitive Sounds ....................................... 6
Frequency Spectra of Non-repetitive Sounds ................................. 8
Phase ........................................................................................8
Sound in Electrical Form ........................................................... 12
Displaying the Characteristics of a Sound Wave ........................... 15
The Decibel ............................................................................. 16
Sound Power and Sound Pressure .............................................. 1 6
Free and Reverberant Fields ...................................................... 1 9
Standing Waves ........................................................................ 23
Recommended Further Reading ................................................. 2 6
CHAPTER 2 Auditory Perception ....................................................... 2 9
The Hearing Mechanism .......................................................... 30
Frequency Perception .............................................................. 31
Loudness Perception ............................................................... 33
Practical Implications of Equal-loudness Contours ...................... 36
Spatial Perception ................................................................... 37
Recommended Further Reading ................................................ 46
Recommended Listening ...........................................................46
CHAPTER 3 Microphones .................................................................. 4 7
The Moving-coil or Dynamic Microphone ..................................... 48
The Ribbon Microphone ............................................................ 51
The Capacitor or Condenser Microphone ..................................... 5 2 v
Directional Responses and Polar Diagrams .................................. 5 3
vi Contents
Specialized Microphone Types ................................................... 5 9
Switchable Polar Patterns ......................................................... 6 1
Stereo Microphones .................................................................. 6 1
Microphone Performance .......................................................... 6 2
Microphone Powering Options .................................................... 66
Radio Microphones ................................................................... 69
Recommended Further Reading ................................................. 7 8
CHAPTER 4 Loudspeakers ................................................................. 7 9
The Moving-coil Loudspeaker. .................................................... 80
Other Loudspeaker Types .......................................................... 8 1
Mounting and Loading Drive Units ............................................. 8 4
Complete Loudspeaker Systems ................................................. 8 8
Active Loudspeakers ................................................................. 90
Subwoofers .............................................................................. 91
Loudspeaker Performance ......................................................... 9 2
Setting up Loudspeakers ........................................................... 9 9
Thiele–Small Parameters and Enclosure
Volume Calculations ...............................................................101
Digital Signal Processing in Loudspeakers ................................106
Recommended Further Reading ............................................... 1 06
CHAPTER 5 Mixers ......................................................................... 107
A Simple Six-channel Analog Mixer .......................................... 1 09
A Multitrack Mixer .................................................................. 115
Channel Grouping ................................................................... 120
An Overview of Typical Mixer Facilities ..................................... 1 20
EQ Explained ......................................................................... 134
Stereo Line Input Modules ...................................................... 1 37
Dedicated Monitor Mixer ......................................................... 1 38
Technical Specifi cations .......................................................... 138
Metering Systems ................................................................... 142
Automation ............................................................................ 146
Digital Mixers ......................................................................... 155
Mixers with Integrated Control of Digital Workstations ................ 1 59
Introduction to Mixing Approaches ........................................... 1 61
Basic Operational Techniques .................................................. 1 63
Recommended Further Reading ............................................... 1 65
CHAPTER 6 Analog Recording ......................................................... 1 67
A Short History of Analog Recording ......................................... 1 68
Magnetic Tape ....................................................................... 170
Contents vii
The Magnetic Recording Process. ............................................. 171
The Tape Recorder .................................................................. 176
Magnetic Recording Levels ...................................................... 1 78
What are Test Tapes For? ......................................................... 1 78
Tape Machine Alignment ......................................................... 1 80
Mechanical Transport Functions ............................................... 184
The Compact Cassette ............................................................ 1 85
Recommended Further Reading ............................................... 1 87
CHAPTER 7 Noise Reduction ........................................................... 1 89
Why is Noise Reduction Required? ........................................... 1 90
Methods of Reducing Noise ..................................................... 1 90
Line -up of Noise Reduction Systems ........................................ 1 96
Single -ended Noise Reduction ................................................. 1 97
Recommended Further Reading ............................................... 1 99
CHAPTER 8 Digital Audio Principles. .......................................................... 201
Digital and Analog Recording Contrasted .................................. 2 02
Binary for Beginners ............................................................... 203
The Digital Audio Signal Chain ................................................ 2 07
Analog- to-Digital Conversion .................................................... 2 09
D /A Conversion ....................................................................... 232
Direct Stream Digital (DSD) ..................................................... 234
Changing the Resolution of an Audio Signal
(Requantization) ..................................................................... 235
Introduction to Digital Signal Processing .................................. 2 38
Pitch Shifting and Time Stretching ...........................................247
Audio Data Reduction ............................................................. 248
Recommended Further Reading ............................................... 2 56
CHAPTER 9 Digital Recording, Editing and Mastering Systems 2 57
Digital Tape Recording ............................................................ 2 58
Mass Storage-based Systems ................................................... 2 67
Audio Processing for Computer Workstations ............................. 2 76
Mass Storage-based Editing System Principles ..........................280
Editing Software .....................................................................287
Mastering and Restoration .......................................................290
Preparing for and Understanding Release Media ........................294
Recommended Further Reading ............................................... 2 97
CHAPTER 10 Digital Audio Formats and Interchange ........................... 2 99
Audio File Formats for Digital Workstations ...............................300
Consumer Optical Disk Formats ...............................................315
Interconnecting Digital Audio Devices ...................................... 3 19
viii Contents
Recommended Further Reading ............................................... 3 40
Websites ................................................................................ 340
CHAPTER 11 Power Amplifi ers ........................................................... 3 41
Domestic Power Amplifi ers ...................................................... 3 42
Professional Amplifi er Facilities ............................................... 3 44
Specifi cations ........................................................................ 345
Coupling ................................................................................ 351
CHAPTER 12 Lines and Interconnection ............................................. 3 53
Transformers .......................................................................... 354
Unbalanced Lines .................................................................. 356
Cable Effects with Unbalanced Lines ....................................... 3 58
Balanced Lines ...................................................................... 361
Working with Balanced Lines ................................................... 3 62
Star -quad Cable ..................................................................... 363
Electronic Balancing ............................................................... 364
100 Volt Lines ....................................................................... 365
600 Ohms ............................................................................. 368
DI Boxes ................................................................................ 370
Splitter Boxes ........................................................................ 373
Jackfi elds (Patchbays) ............................................................ 3 75
Distribution Amplifi ers ............................................................ 3 79
C HAPTER 13 Plug-ins and Outboard Equipment .................................. 3 81
Plug-ins .................................................................................381
Outboard Equipment ..............................................................383
Connection of Outboard Devices ..............................................394
Recommended Further Reading ............................................... 3 95
CHAPTER 14 MIDI and Synthetic Audio Control .................................. 3 97
Background ........................................................................... 399
What is MIDI? ........................................................................ 400
MIDI and Digital Audio Contrasted ........................................... 4 01
Basic Principles ..................................................................... 402
Interfacing a Computer to a MIDI System ................................. 4 06
How MIDI Control Works ......................................................... 4 10
MIDI Control of Sound Generators ............................................ 4 24
General MIDI ......................................................................... 434
Scalable Polyphonic MIDI (SPMIDI) ......................................... 4 37
RMID and XMF Files ............................................................... 437
SAOL and SASL in MPEG 4 Structured Audio ........................... 4 39
Contents ix
MIDI over USB ....................................................................... 4 39
MIDI over IEEE 1394 ............................................................. 441
After MIDI? ............................................................................ 4 41
Sequencing Software ..............................................................443
Recommended Further Reading ............................................... 4 52
Websites ................................................................................ 452
CHAPTER 15 Synchronization ............................................................ 4 53
SMPTE /EBU Timecode ............................................................ 454
Recording Timecode ............................................................... 4 56
Machine Synchronizers ...........................................................458
Digital Audio Synchronization ..................................................461
MIDI and Synchronization .......................................................465
Synchronizing Audio/MIDI Computer Applications .....................469
Recommended Further Reading ............................................... 4 70
CHAPTER 16 Two-Channel Stereo ...................................................... 4 71
Principles of Loudspeaker Stereo ............................................. 4 73
Principles of Binaural or Headphone Stereo .............................. 4 82
Loudspeaker Stereo Over Headphones and Vice Versa ................ 4 84
Two -Channel Signal Formats .................................................... 4 87
Two -Channel Microphone Techniques ....................................... 4 89
Binaural Recording and ‘ Dummy Head ’ Techniques ................... 5 03
Spot microphones and Two-Channel Panning Laws .................... 5 05
Recommended Further Reading ............................................... 5 07
CHAPTER 17 Surround Sound ........................................................... 5 09
Three -Channel (3-0) Stereo ..................................................... 5 11
Four -Channel Surround (3-1 Stereo) ......................................... 512
5 .1-Channel Surround (3-2 Stereo) .......................................... 5 14
Other Multichannel Confi gurations ........................................... 5 20
Surround Sound Systems ........................................................ 5 22
Matrixed Surround Sound Systems ........................................... 5 22
Digital Surround Sound Formats .............................................. 5 28
Ambisonics ............................................................................ 5 34
Surround Sound Monitoring ..................................................... 540
Surround Sound Recording Techniques .................................... 5 45
Multichannel Panning Techniques ............................................ 557
Recommended Further Reading ............................................... 5 61
CHAPTER 18 Sound Quality .............................................................. 563
What is Sound Quality? ...........................................................564