Sound

Sound Created by: Bertha Robles toc

=**1. What is Sound** = Dictionary.com (2011) defines sound as the sensation produced by stimulation of the organs of hearing by vibrations transmitted through the air or other medium. Estrella (2011) uses the example below to represent a sound waveform. The height is the amplitude and represents volume. The period of wavelength is represented by the distance of the cycles. Frequency is the number of cycles per minute.





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=**2. Multimedia Sound **= Alessi and Trollip (2001) find that using sound for educational multimedia to be important. They believe sound is more beneficial than video. Sound helps students who are distracted and gives them an opportunity to stay focused even if they are not paying attention to a monitor. Using speech for directions or presenting information is also an advantage of using sound. Speech can help many students who have difficulty reading, or are visually impaired. Alessi and Trollip (2001) find it important to give the user control of a program's sound.

2.1 Tips for Recording High-Quality Narratives
These are some simple tips to use to produce high-quality narratives. [] []


 * Invest in a good quality microphone
 * Place the microphone in the right position.
 * Record a demo to make sure it all sounds right.
 * Listen to the audio payback with headphones.
 * Don’t get distracted with animations and annotations.
 * Make sure your script is conversational and easy to read.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Stand up while recording.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Don’t ad-lib.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Have plenty of liquids available.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Get rid of as much of the ambient noise as you can
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Record 10 seconds of silence.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Relax and don’t rush your words.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Dampen the sound.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">2.2 Different Formats for Storing Sound

 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is used to communicate sound between musical instruments. Midi mostly used to store tunes (notes). Extension .mid or .midi.


 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">RealAudio format was created by Real Media and is used for music on the internet. Extension .rm or .ram.


 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">AU format is utilized by different software systems. Extension .au.


 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format) was created by Apple. AIFF is not supported by different platforms or web browsers. Extension .aif or .aiff.


 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">SND (Sound) was also created by Apple. SND is not supported by different platforms or web browsers. Extension .snd.


 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">﻿WAVE (waveform) format was created by IBM and Microsoft. It is supported by most web browsers and Windows. Extension .wav.


 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">MP3 format is the most popular for music recording. Extension .mp3, or .mpga (for MPG Audio).

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">2.3 Software to Record and Edit Sound

 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Audacity-Audacity is an example of software that can be used to record and edit sound. This program can be downloaded for free at [].

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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">2.4 Adding Sound into a PowerPoint Presentation
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">2.5 Adding Recorded Narration to a PowerPoint
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=<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">**3. Literature About Sound** =

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Allessi and Trollip (2001) believe that multimedia programs with audio are beneficial to users. In order for this to be successful certain criteria needs to be followed. The list that follows was provided by Allessi and Trollip (2001) to ensure proper use of audio.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Use speech for getting attention, for directions, and for dual coding.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Provide speech for users who have difficulty reading text.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Provide both text and speech as options.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Use audio for appropriate content areas, such as language learning.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Allow user control of audio (pause, continue, repeat, skip, and volume)
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Allow ﻿the usual program global controls even during audio segments.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Do not use token audio in just one or two places.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">All audio must be high-quality.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Beccue, Vila, & Whitley (2001) researched the effect of audio using sounds, speech, and music through interactive learning computer programs. Participates included a treatment and a control group. All participants ranged from ages 18-35. The treatment group was given audio instructions while working on a computer based training environment. There results concluded that there was no significant different between the treatment and control group. The participants with the audio didn’t do any better than the participants without. One reason for these results is do to the fact that students felt the pace of the audio was too slow. Some of the participants felt they could work at a faster speed but the audio limited them. Another problem was the inability to repeat sections due to the audio. The control group had the option to repeat a section if needed, whereas the treatment group didn’t. This article is a good example of the importance of giving users control of audio in a computer based programs. Not everyone works at the same speed. Also, while some might see audio as an advantage is doesn’t work for everyone. User control is important when incorporating sound into multimedia programs.

=<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">**4. Resources** =
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Free library of television theme songs. []
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">PowerPoint Tips- How to add audio to your presentation. []
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">How to add music to every slide in PowerPoint 2010. []
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">How to add music to every slide in PowerPoint 2007. []
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Adding background music. []
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Sound and Multimedia []

=<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">**5. References** =


 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Alessi, S. M., & Trollip, S. R. (2001). Multimedia for learning: Methods and development. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Articulate Network. (2007-2011). //13 more tips to help you record narration like the pros. Retrieved on 20 April 2011 from []//
 * <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Beccue, B., Vila, J., & Whitley, L. (2001). The effects of adding audio instructions to a multimedia computer based training environment. //Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia V. 10 No. 1 (2001) P. 47-67//, //10//(1), 47-67.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Dictionary.com. (2011). S//ound// Retrieved on 19 April 2011 from []
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Estrella, S.G. (2011). //Multimedia Basics: Understanding Sound.// Retrieved on 20 April 2011 from []
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">W3Schools.com. (1999-2011). //Multimedia Sound Formats.// Retrieved on 19 April 2011 from []