Analysis, Perception and Synthesis of Sound (P02340)

? Credit Points : 10 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : PHY-P-AnPerSyn

An introduction to the analysis, perception and synthesis of sound. Time domain and frequency domain representations of sound signals are reviewed, with special applications to musical sounds. A review of the human perception of sound includes an introduction to current theories of the
behaviour of the human ear. Psychoacoustic criteria for the realistic synthesis of familiar instrumental sounds are discussed, and the major techniques of analog and digital synthesis are described. The course concludes with short projects on pitch tracking, timbral analysis and sound synthesis.

Entry Requirements

? This course is not available to visting students.

? Pre-requisites : PGs only.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Postgraduate (School of Physics), (School of Physics, Schedule Q)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Semester 1 (Blocks 1-2)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 11 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
18/09/2007	11:10	12:00	Lecture Room 5326, JCMB	KB

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Tuesday	11:10	12:00	KB
Lecture	Friday	11:10	12:00	KB

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course it is intended that a student will be able to:

1)understand and explain the relationship between time-domain and frequency-domain representations of a sound signal;
2)identify the transient and steady state features of a sound signal, and discuss their relative perceptual significance;
3)describe with the aid of diagrams the structure and functioning of the human hearing system;
4)outline and compare current theories of human pitch perception;
5)measure the pitches of various musical sounds using pitch-tracking software, and compare the results with the pitch estimates of a musically trained listener;
6)explain the multidimensional nature of timbre, and describe different methods which have been devised to represent the timbre of musical sounds;
7)carry out timbral analysis of various musical sounds using time-frequency analysis software, making appropriate choices of sampling and display parameters;
8)describe the structure and implementation of CSOUND;
9)describe the historical development of classical synthesis techniques;
10)show familiarity with the theoretical background and practical implementation of the following sound synthesis techniques:
(a)Additive synthesis
(b)Subtractive synthesis
(c)Amplitude modulation
(d)Ring modulation
(e)Wave shaping
(f)Frequency modulation
(g)Granular synthesis;
11)implement the above techniques in practical examples on the computer;
12)present the results of a small project assignment at a group meeting.