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A written representation (of the states of value and activities of the components of sound in the sound event) will be created through the process of following steps 1 through 3. The making of a written representation of the sound event will make it much easier to compile information on the sound event. This process will allow the listener to check previous observations for accuracy, will allow the listener to focus on particular portions of the sound event, and will allow the listener to continue gathering information on the sound after the sound has stopped.
The final activity in evaluating the sound event is one of making observations from the compiled information. The type of observations made will vary considerably depending on context.
For example, if the observations are being made concerning the functioning of a particular piece of audio equipment, the evaluations will center around the aspects of sound that the particular piece of equipment acts upon. Observations will be focused around the effectiveness of the piece of equipment, the integrity of the audio signal, and any differences between the input and the output signals.
The listener / evaluator will formulate questions, and will use the data compiled in the above steps to answer those questions. What questions to ask are determined by their appropriateness to the purpose of the evaluation. The answers produced through this process will be ones of substance, and will be directly related to the sound event; the answers produced by this process will not produce subjective impressions or opinions.
The observations made in this final, evaluation process need not be profound to be significant. Often the simplest, most obvious observations offer the most significant information concerning a sound event.
Graphing Values and Activity
Creating a written representation of the sound event will greatly assist the listener in understanding the sound, in communicating about the sound, in evaluating the sound, in remembering the sound, and in recreating the sound. While the reader will not seek to perform a written evaluation of every sound event presented to him/her, the process of performing a detailed evaluation of the sound event will provide information that would otherwise go unobserved. The creation of written representations of the sound material is required for finely developing sound evaluation skills; it will also provide the reader with a useful resource, to assist in the evaluation of sound.
The traditional two-dimensional line graph is quickly understood, easily designed, and readily completed by most people. Therefore, it has been selected as the basis for notating (creating written representations of) sound events.
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Figure 8-1. X-Y Line Graph. (click on image for full size)
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The line graph will nearly always be used with time as the horizontal (X) axis. In this way, values of states of the component parts of the sound event can be plotted with respect to time. This allows the sound event to be observed from beginning to end at a glance, out of real time.
The length of the sound event or sound object that can be plotted on a single graph, is dependent upon the selected increments of the time axis, or time line. Events of great length (and little detail) may be plotted on a single graph, and events of short duration (and great detail) may be plotted on a single graph.
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A balance must be found in selecting the appropriate time increment for the time line. The sound event must be easily observed in its totality (from beginning to end) and the graph must have sufficient detail of information to be of use in observing the qualities of the event.
Time increments will be selected for the X axis that are appropriate for the sound event. Time increments will take one of two forms: (1) units based on the second (millisecond, tenths of seconds, groups of seconds, etc.), and (2) units based on the metric grid (individual or sub-divisions of pulses, measures, groups of measures). If the sound material is in a musical context, the metric grid will nearly always be the preferred unit for the time axis. Humans judge time increments more accurately with the recurring pulse of the metric grid acting as a reference.
In general, when the sound evaluation utilizes the metric grid, a process of analytical listening is occurring. The critical listening process most often uses real time increments, and not the metric grid. The difference is one of context and focus.
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