1. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
1
Produce a glossary of terms specific to the methods and principles of sound design and production. Using a provided template, you
must research and gather definitions specific to provided glossary terms. Any definitions must be referenced with the URL link of
the website you have obtained the definition.
You must also, where possible, provide specific details of how researched definitions relate to your own production practice.
Name: Callum Deighton RESEARCHED DEFINITION (provide
short internet researched definition
and URL link)
DESCRIBE THE RELEVANCE OF THE
RESEARCHED TERM TO YOUR OWN
PRODUCTION PRACTICE?
SOUND DESIGN
METHODOLOGY
Foley Artistry A technical process by which sounds are
created or altered for use in a film,
video, or other electronically produced
work.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/foley
Sound Libraries a collection of sounds stored on file (for
example on CDs, DVDs, or as digital
audio files)
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictiona
ry/english/sound-library
SOUND FILE FORMATS Uncompressed Uncompressing (or decompressing) is
the act of expanding a compression file
back into its original form.
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/un
compressing-or-decompressing

2. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
2
.wav The format for storing sound in files
developed jointly by Microsoft and IBM.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/W
AV.html
.aiff Stands for "Audio Interchange File
Format." AIFF is an audio format
originally developed by Apple Computer
for storing high-quality sampled audio
data.
http://pc.net/glossary/definition/aiff
.au A digital audio file format from Sun that
is used on the Internet and can be
played by a Java program.
http://www.yourdictionary.com/au-file
.smp A multiprocessing architecture in which
multiple CPUs, residing in one cabinet,
share the same memory.
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.co
m/SMP
Lossy Compression A compression technique that does not
decompress data back to 100% of the
original.
http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/t
erm/46335/lossy-compression

3. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
3
.mp3 a computer file format for the
compression and storage of digital audio
data.
http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/mp3
AUDIO LIMITATIONS Sound Processor Unit (SPU)
Digital Sound Processor (DSP) A digital sound processor is a tool that
incorporates computer technology to
change the technical aspects of analog
sound.
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5879513_de
fine-digital-sound-
processor.html#ixzz2zTVn5xep
Random Access Memory (RAM) Random access memory (RAM) is the
best known form of computer memory.
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/ram.
htm
Mono Audio Mono or monophonic describes a
system where all the audio signals are
mixed together and routed through a
single audio channel.
http://www.mcsquared.com/mono-
stereo.htm
Stereo Audio Sound that is directed through two or
more speakers so that it seems to
surround the listener and to come from
more than one source
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definit
ion/english/stereo

4. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
4
Surround Sound a system for playing sounds, especially
in cinemas, that uses three or more
loudspeakers so that the person
listening seems to be surrounded by the
sound.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/briti
sh/surround-sound
Direct Audio (Pulse Code
Modulation – PCM)
Pulse-code modulation (PCM) is a
method used to digitally represent
sampled analog signals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-
code_modulation
AUDIO RECORDING SYSTEMS Analogue analogue technology uses changing
physical quantities such as voltage to
store data.
http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/a
nalogue
Digital Mini Disc a digital disc medium for storing music
or data where a small disc is housed in a
cartridge and is either recordable or
playback.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/m
inidisc

5. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
5
Compact Disc (CD) compact disc [sometimes spelled disk]
(CD) is a small, portable, round medium
made of molded polymer (close in size
to the floppy disk) for electronically
recording, storing, and playing back
audio, video, text, and other information
in digital form.
http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/defi
nition/compact-disc
Digital Audio Tape (DAT) Four millimeter wide magnetic tape
which can store up to four gigabytes
(GB) of data per cassette by using
helical scan recording.
http://www.businessdictionary.com/defini
tion/digital-audio-tape-
DAT.html#ixzz2zTajkg2i
MIDI The term MIDI stands for Musical
Instrument Digital Interface and is
essentially a communications protocol
for computers and electronic musical
instruments.
http://mp3.about.com/od/glossary/g/Midi-
Files-Definition-What-Is-Midi-Music.htm

6. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
6
Software Sequencers An electronic device or software
program that can be instructed to order
and modify digitally stored musical
sounds for playback, as through a
synthesizer.
http://www.answers.com/topic/sequence
r#ixzz2zTbjiygI
Software Plug-ins They are called that because these are
little computer applications that run
inside a "host" application, i.e., a
sequencer, typically. These plugin
devices are very important, as they have
led the software revolution towards our
virtual studios which is changing all
recording studios, both home and pro.
Today there are few hardware devices
left that cannot be emulated by plugins
and software. As you see from this
page, software based synthesizers,
effects processors, samplers and multi-
track recorders can all work together on
one single computer.
http://tweakheadz.com/software-plugins/

7. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
7
MIDI Keyboard Instruments A Musical Instrument Digital Interface
(MIDI) keyboard is a musical instrument
like a piano keyboard. The MIDI portion
indicates that the instrument has a
communication protocol built in that
allows it to communicate with a
computer or other MIDI-equipped
instrument.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-
midi-keyboard.htm
AUDIO SAMPLING File Size Constraints - Bit-depth In digital audio, bit depth describes the
number of bits of information recorded
for each sample.
http://en.wikiaudio.org/Bit_depth
File Size Constraints - Sample
Rate
Sampling is the process of measuring an
audio signal at specific points in time.
http://stereos.about.com/od/glossaryofte
rmss/g/sampling.htm