This document provides a glossary of terms related to sound design and production for computer games. It includes definitions for terms like foley artistry, sound libraries, audio file formats like .wav and .mp3, audio hardware and software limitations, audio sampling concepts, and MIDI instruments. For each term, the student provided a short internet definition along with how the term relates to their own production work using a sound design program for a games design course.

1. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 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
In my work I have altered some sounds I
recorded around the college to make a
sound that you would find that was
relatable to the subject of work. An
example of this is that I recorded someone
eating a crisp and changed the audio
frequency to make it sound like a bone
snapping.
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
When we were using the sound programs
there was a sound library available for us
to use.
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
We would save our original recordings in
an uncompressed audio format.
1

2. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
.wav The format for storing sound in files
developed jointly by Microsoft and IBM.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/W
AV.html
My audio files would be saved as a .wav
format as we use Microsoft computers.
.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
This was an available type of audio
format.
.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
This was an available type of audio
format.
.smp A multiprocessing architecture in which
multiple CPUs, residing in one cabinet,
share the same memory.
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.co
m/SMP
This was an available type of audio
format.
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
2

3. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
.mp3 a computer file format for the
compression and storage of digital audio
data.
http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/mp3
This was an available type of audio
format.
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.
The term sound card is also applied to
external audio interfaces that use
software to generate sound, as opposed
to using hardware inside the PC.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_card
Our computers had Sound Processor Units
in order for us to hear our sounds.
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
This changed our sounds so that they
could be heard through audio outputs such
as headphones.
Random Access Memory (RAM) Random access memory (RAM) is the
best known form of computer memory.
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/ram.
htm
RAM would be used when we would save
the sounds to the computer in order to
upload them.
3

4. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
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
We had the option of using mono sound
headphones when we were making the
sounds.
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
We had the option of using stereo sound
headphones when we were making the
sounds.
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/british/
surround-sound
We had the option of using surround
sound headphones when we were making
the sounds.
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
When we would upload the sounds to the
program it would be played as direct
audio.
Analogue analogue technology uses changing
physical quantities such as voltage to
store data.
http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/a
nalogue
When we would export the sound it would
change the file to a sound file and not a
program file.
4

5. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
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
We have not used a Digital Mini
Disc so far in our work.
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
We have not used a Compact Disk so far
in our work.
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
We have not used a Digital Audio Tape so
far in our work.
5

6. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
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
On our sound program it had a MIDI for
us to use and make sound/music with.
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
The program we use is a software
sequencer.
6

7. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
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/
Software plugins were also available for
use on the program, they would be very
useful as they are very in depth with the
available changes such as changing the
pitch, tempo, depth and echo among many
other options.
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
On the program there was a variety of
keyboard instruments for us to use which
would be very crucial in making some of
the sounds.
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
The program we used had a normal bit
depth for rendering.
7

8. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
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
The program we used had a normal
sample rate.
8