Sonic artifact
Encyclopedia
In sound
and music production, sonic artifact, or simply artifact, refers to sonic material that is accidental or unwanted, resulting from the editing or manipulation of a sound.
Because there are always technical restrictions in the way a sound can be recorded (in the case of acoustic
sounds) or designed (in the case of synthesised or processed sounds), sonic errors often occur. These errors are termed artifacts (or sound/sonic artifacts), and may be pleasing or displeasing.
A sonic artifact is sometimes a type of digital artifact
, and in some cases is the result of data compression
(not to be confused with audio compression
, which also may create sonic artifacts). Often an artifact is deliberately produced for creative reasons. For example to introduce a change in timbre
of the original sound or to create a sense of cultural or stylistic context.
Editing processes that deliberately produce artifacts often involve technical experimentation. A good example of the deliberate creation of sonic artifacts is the addition of grainy pops and clicks to a recent recording in order to make it sound like a vintage vinyl record. Flanging
and distortion
were originally regarded as sonic artifacts; as time passed they became a valued part of pop music production methods. Other magnetic tape artifacts include wow
, flutter, saturation
, noise
, and print-through
.
It is valid to consider the genuine pops and clicks that are audible when a vintage vinyl recording is played back or recorded onto another medium as sonic artifacts, although not all sonic artifacts must contain in their meaning or production a sense of "past", more so a sense of "by-product".
In the Nyquist–Shannon sampling theorem
, inadequate sampling bandwidth creates a sonic artifact known as an alias
, and the resulting distortion of the sound is termed aliasing. Examples of aliasing can be heard in early music samplers
since they could record audio at bit rates and sampling frequencies below the Nyquist rate, considered desirable by some musicians. Aliasing is a major concern in the analog-to-digital conversion of video and audio signals.
In the creation of computer music
and electronic music
in the past decade, particularly in glitch music
, software is used to create sonic artifacts of all stripes. They are also the primary focus of the practice of circuit bending
: making sounds from products that were unintended by the makers of the circuitry.
Sound
Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
and music production, sonic artifact, or simply artifact, refers to sonic material that is accidental or unwanted, resulting from the editing or manipulation of a sound.
Because there are always technical restrictions in the way a sound can be recorded (in the case of acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
sounds) or designed (in the case of synthesised or processed sounds), sonic errors often occur. These errors are termed artifacts (or sound/sonic artifacts), and may be pleasing or displeasing.
A sonic artifact is sometimes a type of digital artifact
Digital artifact
A digital artifact is any undesired alteration in data introduced in a digital process by an involved technique and/or technology.-Possible causes:...
, and in some cases is the result of data compression
Data compression
In computer science and information theory, data compression, source coding or bit-rate reduction is the process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation would use....
(not to be confused with audio compression
Audio compression
Audio compression may refer to:*Audio compression , a type of lossy compression in which the amount of data in a recorded waveform is reduced for transmission with some loss of quality, used in CD and MP3 encoding, Internet radio, and the like...
, which also may create sonic artifacts). Often an artifact is deliberately produced for creative reasons. For example to introduce a change in timbre
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
of the original sound or to create a sense of cultural or stylistic context.
Editing processes that deliberately produce artifacts often involve technical experimentation. A good example of the deliberate creation of sonic artifacts is the addition of grainy pops and clicks to a recent recording in order to make it sound like a vintage vinyl record. Flanging
Flanging
Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, with one signal delayed by a small and gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a swept comb filter effect: peaks and notches are produced in the resultant frequency spectrum,...
and distortion
Distortion
A distortion is the alteration of the original shape of an object, image, sound, waveform or other form of information or representation. Distortion is usually unwanted, and often many methods are employed to minimize it in practice...
were originally regarded as sonic artifacts; as time passed they became a valued part of pop music production methods. Other magnetic tape artifacts include wow
Wow (recording)
Wow is a relatively slow form of flutter which can affect both gramophone records and tape recorders. In the latter, the collective expression wow and flutter is commonly used.-Gramophone records:...
, flutter, saturation
Saturation (magnetic)
Seen in some magnetic materials, saturation is the state reached when an increase in applied external magnetizing field H cannot increase the magnetization of the material further, so the total magnetic field B levels off...
, noise
Signal-to-noise ratio
Signal-to-noise ratio is a measure used in science and engineering that compares the level of a desired signal to the level of background noise. It is defined as the ratio of signal power to the noise power. A ratio higher than 1:1 indicates more signal than noise...
, and print-through
Print-through
Print-through is a generally undesirable effect that arises in the use of magnetic tape for storing analogue information, in particular music....
.
It is valid to consider the genuine pops and clicks that are audible when a vintage vinyl recording is played back or recorded onto another medium as sonic artifacts, although not all sonic artifacts must contain in their meaning or production a sense of "past", more so a sense of "by-product".
In the Nyquist–Shannon sampling theorem
Nyquist–Shannon sampling theorem
The Nyquist–Shannon sampling theorem, after Harry Nyquist and Claude Shannon, is a fundamental result in the field of information theory, in particular telecommunications and signal processing. Sampling is the process of converting a signal into a numeric sequence...
, inadequate sampling bandwidth creates a sonic artifact known as an alias
Aliasing
In signal processing and related disciplines, aliasing refers to an effect that causes different signals to become indistinguishable when sampled...
, and the resulting distortion of the sound is termed aliasing. Examples of aliasing can be heard in early music samplers
Sampler (musical instrument)
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
since they could record audio at bit rates and sampling frequencies below the Nyquist rate, considered desirable by some musicians. Aliasing is a major concern in the analog-to-digital conversion of video and audio signals.
In the creation of computer music
Computer music
Computer music is a term that was originally used within academia to describe a field of study relating to the applications of computing technology in music composition; particularly that stemming from the Western art music tradition...
and electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
in the past decade, particularly in glitch music
Glitch (music)
Glitch is a term used to describe a genre of electronic music that emerged in the mid to late 1990s. The glitch aesthetic is characterized by a deliberate use of glitch based sonic artifacts that would normally be viewed as unwanted disturbances reducing the overall sound quality and are thus...
, software is used to create sonic artifacts of all stripes. They are also the primary focus of the practice of circuit bending
Circuit bending
Circuit bending is the creative customization of the circuits within electronic devices such as low voltage, battery-powered guitar effects, children's toys and small digital synthesizers to create new musical or visual instruments and sound generators....
: making sounds from products that were unintended by the makers of the circuitry.
See also
- Data compressionData compressionIn computer science and information theory, data compression, source coding or bit-rate reduction is the process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation would use....
- Digital artifactDigital artifactA digital artifact is any undesired alteration in data introduced in a digital process by an involved technique and/or technology.-Possible causes:...
- Dynamic range compression
- Glitch (music)Glitch (music)Glitch is a term used to describe a genre of electronic music that emerged in the mid to late 1990s. The glitch aesthetic is characterized by a deliberate use of glitch based sonic artifacts that would normally be viewed as unwanted disturbances reducing the overall sound quality and are thus...
- Compression artifactCompression artifactA compression artifact is a noticeable distortion of media caused by the application of lossy data compression....
- Sampling (information theory)
- Signal (information theory)
- Window functionWindow functionIn signal processing, a window function is a mathematical function that is zero-valued outside of some chosen interval. For instance, a function that is constant inside the interval and zero elsewhere is called a rectangular window, which describes the shape of its graphical representation...
- Circuit bendingCircuit bendingCircuit bending is the creative customization of the circuits within electronic devices such as low voltage, battery-powered guitar effects, children's toys and small digital synthesizers to create new musical or visual instruments and sound generators....
- Sound reproduction
- Noise musicNoise musicNoise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...