This document contains a glossary of terms related to sound design and production for computer games. It defines terms such as foley artistry, sound libraries, audio file formats like .wav and .mp3, audio limitations including mono and stereo sound, audio recording systems such as compact discs, MIDI, audio sampling concepts like bit depth and sample rate, and other sound design tools and methods. For each term, it provides a short definition from an online source and describes how the term relates to the author's own production practice for their games design coursework.

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: 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 sound effects technique for synchronous effects or live effects.
http://www.filmsound.org/terminology/foley.htm
For IG2 I have collected sounds that I
have recorded myself and
manipulated them to sound
appropriate for a game
Sound Libraries Sound library is a collection of digital sound recordings, known as samples,
for use by composers, arrangers, performers, and producers of music. The
sound files are loaded into a sampler - either hardware or computer-based -
which is then used to create music
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sample_library
I have used sound libraries for
sample sounds I could not have
created myself like licenced music
SOUND FILE FORMATS Uncompressed An audio file format is a file format for storing digital audio data on a
computer system. This data can be stored uncompressed, or compressed to
reduce the file size. It can be a raw bitstream, but it is usually a container
format or an audio data format with defined storage layer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_file_format
I use un compressed audio files
frequently throughout the course
due to the fact that the sound files
are small enough as is and do not
take up much space.
.wav The format for storing sound in files developed jointly by Microsoft and IBM
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/WAV.html
I use this frequently , as it is the
default sound format.
.aiff AIFF is short for Audio Interchange File Format, which is an audio format
initially created by Apple Computer for storing and transmitting high-quality
sampled audio data. It supports a variety of bit resolutions, sample rates, and
channels of audio.
http://www.abyssmedia.com/formats/aiff-format.shtml
I haven’t used aiff as it is a file
format specifically for Apple
Computers.
.au The Au file format is a simple audio file format introduced by Sun
Microsystems. The format was common on NeXT systems and on early Web
pages.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Au_file_format
I have not used .au as it is more
commonly used in early web pages is
becoming out-dated

2. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
2
smp Music file used by SmartMusic, a music practice application for band,
orchestra, and voice; saves an accompaniment that can be used for
practicing solos and other musical parts.
http://www.fileinfo.com/extension/smp
I have not used this music file in
college but I have used it in my free
time when recording music for my
band
Lossy Compression Lossy data compression is the converse of lossless data compression. In
these schemes, some loss of information is acceptable. Dropping
nonessential detail from the data source can save storage space
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_data_compression#Audio
I have not used this but lossy
compression is often used in ZIP files
and in the Unix tool gzip
.mp3 MP3, is an encoding format for digital audio which uses a form of lossy data
compression. It is a common audio format for consumer audio streaming or
storage, as well as a de facto standard of digital audio compression for the
transfer and playback of music on most digital audio players.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3
Mp3 is a file format I use due to it
being the preferred and most
common format for music
AUDIO LIMITATIONS Sound Processor Unit (SPU) A sound card (also known as an audio card) is an internal computer
expansion card that facilitates the input and output of audio signals to and
from a computer under control of computer programs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_processing_unit
A sound processor unit is hardware
used daily as without it no sound
could be listened to.
Digital Sound Processor (DSP) Short for digital signal processing, which refers to manipulating analog
information, such as sound or photographs that has been converted into a
digital form. DSP also implies the use of a data compression technique.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/DSP.html
I use reaper which is a DSP to create
all of my sound work for my college
projects
Random Access Memory
(RAM)
Random-access memory (RAM /ræm/) is a form of computer data storage. A
random-access memory device allows data items to be read and written in
roughly the same amount of time regardless of the order in which data items
are accessed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random-access_memory
Random access memory is used in all
computing systems as temporary
storage and depending on how much
a computer has determines the
speed of the system
Mono Audio Commonly called mono sound, mono, or non-stereo sound, this early sound
system used a single channel of audio for sound output.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/M/monophonic_sound.html
I have recorded sounds in both
mono and stereo to find the sound
differences in the two audio
limitations
Stereo Audio stereophonic sound divides sounds across two channels (recorded on two
separate sources) then the recorded sounds are mixed so that some
elements are channeled to the left and others to the
right.http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/stereophonic_sound.html
I have recorded sounds in both
mono and stereo to find the sound
differences in the two audio
limitations
Surround Sound Surround sound is a term used to describe a type of audio output in which
the sound appears to "surround the listener" by 360 degrees.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/surround_sound.html
Although I have not used this in my
work I have used it outside college
on my home entertainment system
Direct Audio (Pulse Code Pulse code modulation (PCM) is a digital representation of an analog I have not used Direct audio in my

3. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
3
Modulation – PCM) signal that takes samples of the amplitude of the analog signal at regular
intervals. http://www.techopedia.com/definition/24128/pulse-code-
modulation-pcm
work but it is commonly used in
hearing aids and some headphones.
AUDIO RECORDING
SYSTEMS
Analogue Refers to recording audio in a format of continuous vibrations that are
analogous to the original sound
waves.http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/analog+sound
I I have not used an analogue
recording system but it was
commonly used to record music in
the early 60’s and is now out dated.
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
playbackhttp://dictionary.reference.com/browse/minidisc
a mini disc is used to hold data but is
more compacted than a cd because
it is smaller
Compact Disc (CD) A small optical disk on which data such as music, text, or graphic images is
digitally encoded.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/compact+disc
Compact discs are commonly used to
store music and smallcomputer
programs
Digital Audio Tape (DAT) Digital Audio Tape (DAT or R-DAT) is a signal recording and playback medium
developed by Sony and introduced in 1987.[1] In appearance it is similar to a
Compact Cassette, using 4 mm magnetic tape enclosed in a protective shell,
but is roughly half the size at 73 mm × 54 mm × 10.5 mm. As the name
suggests, the recording is digital rather than analog. DAT has the ability to
record at higher, equal or lower sampling rates than a CD (48, 44.1 or 32 kHz
sampling rate respectively) at 16 bits quantization.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Audio_Tape
I have not used DAT in my college
work as it is an out dated form of
audio playback and can be un trust
worthy due to how delicate the tape
is.
MIDI Stands for "Musical Instrument Digital Interface." It is a connectivity standard
that musicians use to hook together musical instruments (such as keyboards
and synthesizers) and computer
equipment.http://www.techterms.com/definition/midi
I use MIDI frequently to manipulate
audio and change it to suit my needs
Software Sequencers Any system for recording and/or playback of music via a programmable
memory which stores music not as audio data, but as some representation of
notes.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sequencer
This is used to play back an audio file
an make time sequences more
accessible
Software Plug-ins In computing, a plug-in (or plugin, extension, or add-on / addon) is a
software component that adds a specific feature to an existing software
application. When an application supports plug-ins, it enables
customization.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_(computing)
These can be used to radically
change what an audio clip sounds
like
MIDI Keyboard Instruments A MIDI keyboard is typically a piano-style user interface keyboard device
used for sending MIDI signals or commands over a USB or MIDI cable to
other devices connected and operating on the same MIDI protocol
interface.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIDI_keyboard
MIDI keyboard is commonly used to
by musicians to manipulate or
harmonize a sound clip
AUDIO SAMPLING File Size Constraints - Bit- In digital audio using pulse-code modulation (PCM), bit depth is the number Bit depth is used to reduce the file

4. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
4
depth of bits of information in each sample, and it directly corresponds to the
resolution of each sample. Examples of bit depth include Compact Disc
Digital Audio, which uses 16 bits per sample, and DVD-Audio and Blu-ray Disc
which can support up to 24 bits per
sample.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_bit_depth
size of certain audio clips
File Size Constraints - Sample
Rate
bitrate: simply amount of data per second, this can vary within a file (variable
bit rate) or have a static valuehttp://superuser.com/questions/388382/what-
does-the-sample-rate-and-sample-size-of-audio-means
Sample rate provides a sample of the
data used per second