KS3 Computing/Sounds

Links with Mathematics

Harmonics

Natural & Artifical Systems

Representations of sound

Analogue

In analogue recordings, the machine is always recording any sound or noise that is coming through the microphones.

In digital recording, however, you don't have a constant recording of what's going on. Instead, you have a series of samples taken from the sound being recorded.

Think of it like a movie — a motion picture strings together a series of pictures to make it look like moving action. In this case, digital recording takes a series of "pictures" of what the sound is like and turns it into a digital recording. A standard compact disc contains sound that has been sampled at 44.1 kHz, or just over 44,000 times a second (that's a lot of pictures!). However, you may run into digital sound used by professional sound engineers in the music industry that's been recorded at 48 kHz, 96 kHz, or even higher. Just think of it as getting more detail from more pictures.