COSC 414 Audio in Games

COSC 414 Audio in Games Music Theory

Introduction to Composition • Basic understanding of music theory • Facility with music vocabulary • Opportunity to create new music

Sound • When vibrations travelling in the air reach our eardrums, our eardrums vibrate at the same speed as whatever is vibrating. • Anything that vibrates disturbs the air around it and causes the air to vibrate. • An insect in a puddle wiggles, causing small waves. A small leaf in the puddle begins to wiggle at the same rate.

Audio Receptors • A complicated set of bones and organs inside our ears change vibrations that strike our eardrums into electrical messages. • Nerves carry the messages to the brain. • The brain can interpret messages when the eardrum is vibrating as slow as 20 vibrations per second up to 20,000 vps. • Piano: • lowest note -> 27 vps • highest note -> 4,000 vps

Vibration causes Sound • As the speed of a vibration increases, the sound we hear becomes higher. • As the speed of a vibration decreases, the sound becomes lower. • Hearing is an interaction which occurs among 3 parts: • vibration in the air • the ear • the brain

Pitch & Note • The sound produced by any particular vibration speed is called a note. • The highness or lowness of a note is called the pitch. • The difference between any two notes is called the musical distance or the interval. A person with a well trained ear can distinguish between notes produced by 260vps and 261 vps. Average person: 260 vps and 265 vps

Octave Notes • A note vibrating at 260 vps and its double, 520 vps sound remarkably alike, although the 520 vps note is higher. • Double again: 1040 vps sounds alike • We call these similar notes octave notes • We call the interval and one octave. • Dog drool

8 notes Pythagoras used 12 intervals 7 white notes 5 black notes Octaves

Note Names c# d# f# g# a#

Accidentals • The following two are important to remember, we call them accidentals: • #: the sharp sign: makes a note a half step higher • b: the flat sign: makes a note a half step lower

Tones & Semi-tones • The interval between any of the 12 keys in an octave is called a semi-tone. • Two semi-tones make a tone.

Major Scales • MajorScaleFormula: 2 2 1 2 2 2 1 Tone Tone Semi-tone Tone Tone Tone Semi-tone • C Major C D E F G A B • D Major D E F# G A B C#

List of all Major Scales C Major Scale: C D E F G A B D Major Scale: D E F# G A B C# E Major Scale: E F# G# A B C# D# F Major Scale: F G A Bb C D E G Major Scale: G A B C D E F# A Major Scale: A B C# D E F# G# B Major Scale: B C# D# E F# G# A# C# Major Scale:C# D# E# F# G# A# B# Eb Major Scale: Eb F G Ab Bb C D F# Major Scale:F# G# A# B C# D# E# Ab Major Scale: Ab Bb C Db Eb F G Bb Major Scale: Bb C D Eb F G A

Minor Scales • MinorScaleFormula: 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 Tone Semi-tone Tone Tone Semi-tone Tone Tone

Three Variations of Minors • Natural Minor A-Natural: A B C D E F G • Harmonic minor To convert any natural minor scale into harmonic minor, raise the seventh note by a half step. A-Harmonic: A B C D E F G# • Melodic Minor To convert a natural minor scale into melodic minor, raise both the sixth and seventh notes by a half step. A-Melodic: A B C D E F# G#

A-Major • A - Major Scale: A B C# D E F# G# # # #

A-Natural Minor

A-Harmonic Minor

A-Melodic Minor

Major vs. Minor • Music in minor keys has a different sound and emotional feel, and develops differently harmonically • Most music in a major key has a bright sound that people often describe as cheerful, inspiring, exciting, or just plain fun. • Music that is in a minor key is sometimes described as sounding more solemn, sad, mysterious, or ominous than music that is in a major key.

Chords • 3 or more note combinations that are played simultaneously, relative to a specific key http://www.8notes.com/piano_chord_chart/C.asp • Much more to be said about chords.

COSC 414 Audio in Games