SOUND
WO R D S : M A R K M AY F I E L D, D I R E C TO R O F C I N E M A M A R K E T I N G , M E Y E R S O U N D
C
ompared to light, sound is very, very
PHASE CYCLE FIGURE 1
slow. However, sound doesn’t literally travel like a particle from point A (source)
to point B (listener). Instead, sound is our perception MAX COMPRESSION
of pressure changes of repeating cycles of
MAX COMPRESSION 90 O 450 O
90 O
compression and de-compression (or rarefaction) of air molecules. Once it reaches our ears, we perceive the number of complete compression/rarefaction cycles in one second. There’s a physical dimension too; every cycle is completed over some distance,
AMPLITUDE
it as sound. Frequency is a time-based measure of
540 O 180 O
180 O
TIME 0O
0O 360 O
0O 360 O 720 O
which is the wavelength. Frequency is the number of complete cycles in one second.
w w w. c i n e m a - t e c h n o l o g y. c o m
MAX REFRACTION
630 O 270 O
270 O MAX REFRACTION
W I N T E R
2 5
3 9