Part 6 - Sound Synthesis and Streaming Audio

LO: Exploring Sound Synthesis
Success Criteria
Analysis the advantages and disadvantages of sound synthesis.
Describe the two ways in which you can stream audio
Justify the best way to steam audio
Success Criteria
Justify the best way to steam audio LO: Exploring Sound Synthesis
Sound Synthesis and Streaming Before After
Audio /5 /5
• LO: Exploring Sound Synthesis.
Success Criteria
• Analysis the advantages and disadvantages of sound synthesis.

• Describe the two ways in which you can stream audio
• Justify the best way to steam audio
Success Criteria
Success Criteria
Sound Synthesis
• Electronically generated sounds that mimic musical instruments or the

human voice.
• Sound Synthesis generally creates smaller file sizes compared to

recordings taken from live recordings such as MP3 and AAC as it records
notation which the computer performs using a selection of programmed
or digital instruments, rather than recording the wave forms of each
second of sound.
• Why would we want to do this?
• However, the recordings often don't sound as real as the live recordings.
Success Criteria
Examples (low quality)
CMajor chord using different synthesised instruments
The Star Spangled Banner sung by the Festival speech synthesis system
Success Criteria
MIDI (Musical Instrument

Digital Interface)
• A common means to produce sound synthesised music is by using MIDI.
• MIDI does not record analogue sound, but send digital signals recording
musical notation, pitch and intensity, control signals for parameters such
as volume, vibrato and panning, cues, and clock signals to set the tempo.
• The computer then interprets these commands and outputs sound

corresponding to them.
• MIDI is a popular way to record music from devices such as electronic

keyboards.
Success Criteria
MIDI
• MIDI’s messages are normally only a few bytes long. Byte one is a status byte while
the rest is the data.
• The status byte is the portion of a MIDI message that defines the type of information

being sent. Status bytes are usually followed by one or more data bytes that provide
the actual information to be implemented
• The bit rate is 31,250 bits per second.
• Data that can be include in a MIDI are:
• Channel • Duration / length

• Note on / note off • Timbre
• Instrument
• Pitch / frequency / note number
• Pedal effects
• Volume / loudness
• Pitch bend
• Velocity • Note envelope;
Success Criteria
Analysis • Key pressure
the advantages / aftertouch
and disadvantages of sound synthesis.
MIDI
• NOTE – A MIDI file is not the same thing as a digital recording of a live audio source
• It essence it is nothing more than:
• “A list of instructions”
• These detail how to synthesis a sound.
• The sounds being pre-recorded digital samples of real instruments.
• The result is that a MIDI file uses far less disk space than a traditional Digital
recording (up to 1000 times less!)
Success Criteria
Think Pair Share

A Midi file is a list
A Midi file is a
of instructions for
compressed
how an audio
version of an audio
device can produce
recording.
sound.
A Midi file is a
A Midi file is a
sound recording
high-quality
sampled with a
recording of a live
medium sampling
music performance
rate.
Success Criteria
Think Pair Share
A Midi file is a
compressed
version of an audio
recording.
A Midi file is a list of instructions for how an audio
device can produce sound.
A Midi file is a
A Midi file is a
sound recording
high-quality
sampled with a
recording of a live
medium sampling
music performance
rate.
Success Criteria
Think Pair Share
A Midi file consists

MIDI can be used
of the sound signal
to record analogue
and a list of
sound.
instructions.
You can record

music using a MIDI
Synthesised music
but you can’t
is often produced
synthesise music
using MIDI
using MIDI
technology
Success Criteria
Think Pair Share
A Midi file consists

MIDI can be used
of the sound signal
to record analogue
and a list of
sound.
instructions.
Synthesised music is often produced using MIDI
You can record
music using a MIDI
but you can’t
synthesise music
using MIDI
technology
Success Criteria
Discuss - Do you agree with the statement?
• Recording with MIDI is not better than live music

• Easy Manipulation of music without loss of quality
• The instruments on which notes sound can be changed, notes can be
transposed and the duration of notes altered.
• Midi files are smaller in size than sampled audio files and are lossless so
no information lost when music is stored using MIDI
• Disadvantage MIDI can’t be used for storing speech and sometimes

results in a less realistic sound than sampled recordings.
Success Criteria
Activity 1
1. Complete the questions 1-3 on the worksheet for sound synthesis
Success Criteria
Streaming Audio
• Gone are the days when you had to buy music on a LP, tape, CD or
MiniDisc.
• Nowadays if you want to get some music you can download it using a
program such as iTunes or stream it using a website such as YouTube
or Spotify.
Success Criteria
Streaming Audio
• The big difference between

downloading audio and streaming it is
that when you download something
you generally have to acquire the
whole file before you can play it, with
streaming audio you play the file
whilst you are downloading it.
• There are two types of streaming

technology that you need to know,
multi-cast and uni-cast.
Success Criteria
Justify the best way to steamLO: Exploring Sound Synthesis
audio
Activity 2
• Complete the rest on the worksheet for sound synthesis and

streaming
Success Criteria
Success Criteria
Success Criteria
Success Criteria
Activity 3
• Connecting coding systems together

• AQA book pages 218 Q 1-11
• Peer assessment & improvements
• Extension: Write your own exam style questions
Success Criteria
Extension Menu -
Select one or two
• As we know each character on
our keyboard has an ASCII
code attached to it.
• We are going to take this code

and turn our computer
keyboard into a musical
keyboard!
Success Criteria
Extension - Further uses and the history of

MIDI
Success Criteria
Plenary
Rate your learning using your confidence

checker!
From the lesson today rate your learning.
• I can analysis the advantages and disadvantages of sound

synthesis.
• I can describe the two ways in which you can stream audio
• I can justify the best way to steam audio
And then justify your selection.
Success Criteria Q&A


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LO: Exploring Sound Synthesis

Sound Synthesis and Streaming Before After

• LO: Exploring Sound Synthesis.

• Analysis the advantages and disadvantages of sound synthesis.

• Electronically generated sounds that mimic musical instruments or the

• Sound Synthesis generally creates smaller file sizes compared to

• Why would we want to do this?

Examples (low quality)

CMajor chord using different synthesised instruments

MIDI (Musical Instrument

• The computer then interprets these commands and outputs sound

• MIDI is a popular way to record music from devices such as electronic

• The status byte is the portion of a MIDI message that defines the type of information

• The bit rate is 31,250 bits per second.

• Data that can be include in a MIDI are:

• Channel • Duration / length

• It essence it is nothing more than:

• These detail how to synthesis a sound.

• The sounds being pre-recorded digital samples of real instruments.

Think Pair Share

Think Pair Share

Think Pair Share

A Midi file consists

You can record

Think Pair Share

A Midi file consists

Discuss - Do you agree with the statement?

• Recording with MIDI is not better than live music

• Disadvantage MIDI can’t be used for storing speech and sometimes

1. Complete the questions 1-3 on the worksheet for sound synthesis

• The big difference between

• There are two types of streaming

• Complete the rest on the worksheet for sound synthesis and

• Connecting coding systems together

• Peer assessment & improvements

• Extension: Write your own exam style questions

• We are going to take this code

Extension - Further uses and the history of

Rate your learning using your confidence

From the lesson today rate your learning.

• I can analysis the advantages and disadvantages of sound

And then justify your selection.

Success Criteria Q&A

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