Frequencies & sound explained #1 - Basic sound theory

This tutorial explains the basics of sounds and frequencies.
In this season I'm looking at spectral processors like filters and equalizers:
The first step to understanding these, is to understand frequencies.
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...Presented by Wick van den Belt for WickieMedia audio tutorials...

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Closed Caption:

He what's up, it's Wick for WickieMedia tutorials
and in this season we're taking a look at spectral processors.
So to really understand EQ, this episode we're
going to take a look at frequencies.
To get a better understanding I'm going to use a
sine-wave as an example.
The sine wave is the purest and simplest form of sound
and it's not found in nature
But it is really helpful when it comes down to
explaining frequencies.
When this sine oscillates three-hundred and sixty degrees,
and makes a completed cycle
that's what we call a full cycle
The amount of completed cycles that fit in one second
is what we call the frequency.
higher frequencies can go up that twenty
thousand completed cycles per second
Or twenty thousand hertz, which we call 20 kiloHertz.
we can divide our groups of frequencies
simply in two groups : low frequencies
and high frequencies.
Low frequencies are called bass
and high frequencies are called treble.
The frequency range of the human ear
ranges from twenty Hertz up to twenty kiloHertz.
We do lose some of our hearing capabilities when
we get older, thats why older people can't
hear higher frequencies
let's listen to some sine-waves so you will get
an idea of what they sound like
this is a 500Hz sine-wave.
this is a 1000Hz sine-wave.
this is a 5000Hz sine-wave.
this is dropping from 2000 Hz to 75 Hz.
these are pure sine wave sandy cannot be
found in nature but all sounds that are
found in nature like speech or any music
related sounds is a composition of
various sine waves at different amplitudes.
A concert "A" is tuned at 440 Hertz.
If we play that A-note on a guitar or on a piano
it's the same note,
but still we can hear that it's a piano or a guitar.
That is because the fundamental frequency is 440 Hertz
but the character of an instrument is determined by it's harmonics.
The harmonics make up the
'Timbre', or the character of the sound.
And that is different for a guitar
and for a piano.
The shape of the instrument, the way that
the notes are being generated, like if
they're being plucked, if they're being bowed,
or if they're being finger picked,
or if they're, well, hit with hammers,
and that all determines the way that it sounds.
So the material in the instrument is being made out of
and even the type of wood
can have influence on the way that it sounds.
when we're working with audio were looking at
the frequency content of a certain signal.
Especially when we separately record
different instruments for a mix.
We can change the frequency content of each of
these tracks that we have recorded.
when we have a spectral-analyzer or
something which shows us the frequency-content
we see on the horizontal axis our frequencies going from twenty hertz
up to twenty kiloHertz.
On the vertical axis we can see the amplitude
it can be really helpful to analyze what
the content is to actually pinpoint
certain frequencies which we need to
enhance or maybe that we want to cut
all right hope you have learned something today
about frequencies
In the next episode i'm gonna
take a look at filters and equalizers
and we're going to use our
knowledge that we've learned today
to actually enhance our sounds and our
mixes so,
I hope to see y'all next time. The last
season was about dynamics and this
season I talk about frequencies so
if you haven't seen the last season
you can check that out here and
on the youtube-channel as well.
Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.
you can find us on twitter, facebook youtube, and on the
wickiemedia blog
to stay up-to-date about our latest videos (*yeeh*)