Sonic artifact

Sonic artifact

In sound and music production, the term sonic artifact or simply artifact refers to sonic material that is usually 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, in order to introduce a change in timbre of the original sound or to create a sense of cultural or stylistic context.

Editing processes that deliberately seek to 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.

It is also correct to classify the genuine pops and clicks that are audible when a real vintage vinyl recording is played back or recorded onto another medium as sonic artifacts, although it must be noted that 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". Aliasing is a major concern in the analog-to-digital conversion of video and audio signals.

In the creation of computer and electronic music in the past decade, particularly in glitch music, software has been 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.

See also

* Digital artifact
* Compression
* Glitch (music)
* Compression artifact
* Sampling (information theory)
* Signal (information theory)
* Window function
* Circuit bending
* Sound
* Noise
* Sound reproduction
* Noise music


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Artifact — or artefact may refer to:* Artifact (archaeology), any object made or modified by a human culture, and later recovered by an archaeological endeavor * Artefact (band) black metal band from France * Artifact (band), a band from Norway * Artifact… …   Wikipedia

  • Artifact (error) — Diffraction spikes are lens flare artifacts In natural science and signal processing, an artifact is any error in the perception or representation of any visual or aural information introduced by the involved equipment or technique(s) …   Wikipedia

  • Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity — North American Wii version boxart Developer(s) Sonic Team NOW Production [ …   Wikipedia

  • Sonic le rebelle — Titre de la série Sonic le rebelle. Genre Série d animation Pays d’origine …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Sonic Underground — Seriendaten Deutscher Titel Sonic Underground Originaltitel Sonic le Rebelle …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • List of Sonic X episodes — Sonic X Sonic X is a 2003 Japanese anime television series based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. The first fifty two episodes ran consecutively from April 2003 to March 2004 in Japan while the remaining were only available on DVD. In …   Wikipedia

  • Список серий мультсериала Sonic Underground — Sonic Underground (фр. Sonic le Rebelle, рус. Соник Андерграунд)   американско французский мультсериал, созданный компанией DiC Entertainment в сотрудничестве с компанией Sega. Сюжет повествуюет о приключениях ежа Соника и его сестры и… …   Википедия

  • List of Sonic Underground episodes — A list of episodes from the Sonic the Hedgehog series Sonic Underground.1. Beginnings (Origins, Part 1):Episode song: Someday Queen Aleena Hedgehog tells the story of how Dr. Robotnik took over Mobius, and how she had to give up her three… …   Wikipedia

  • Noise (music) — Noise music Stylistic origins Modernism 20th century classical music Electronic art music Musique concrète Electroacoustic music Performance art Free improvisation Cultural origins Early 1910s Europe Typical instruments …   Wikipedia

  • Made one shot — is a kind of noise music based on spontaneous, improvised composition and live performances, with very little mixing, editing or remastering. ee also* Harsh noise * Noise rock * List of noise musicians * Japanoise * List of Japanoise artists *… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”