Ambience (sound recording)
Encyclopedia
In filmmaking
, ambience (also known as atmosphere, atmos, or background) consists of the sounds of a given location or space. It is the opposite of "silence." This term is often confused with presence
.
Every location has distinct and subtle sounds created by its environment. These sound sources can include wildlife, hearing the wind blow, music, rain, running water, thunder and lightning, the rustling of leaves, footsteps crunching on gravel, train and car rushing by, bullets zinging past, distant traffic, aircraft and machinery noise, the sound of distant human movement and speech, the sound of arrows whizzing past you, helicopters flying to your left and right, creaks from thermal contraction, air conditioning and plumbing noises, fan and motor noises, and harmonics of mains power.
Reverberation
will further distort these already faint sounds, often beyond recognition, by introducing complex patterns of peaks and nulls in their frequency spectrum, and blurring their temporal characterisics. Finally, sound absorption can cause high frequencies to be rolled off, dulling the sound further.
Ambience is normally recorded in stereo by the sound department during the production stage of filmmaking
. It is used to provide a movie location with sonic space and normally occupies a separate track in the sound edit.
Filmmaking
Filmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, directing, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program...
, ambience (also known as atmosphere, atmos, or background) consists of the sounds of a given location or space. It is the opposite of "silence." This term is often confused with presence
Presence (sound recording)
In filmmaking and television production presence is the "silence" recorded at a location or space when no dialogue is spoken . This term is often confused with ambience....
.
Every location has distinct and subtle sounds created by its environment. These sound sources can include wildlife, hearing the wind blow, music, rain, running water, thunder and lightning, the rustling of leaves, footsteps crunching on gravel, train and car rushing by, bullets zinging past, distant traffic, aircraft and machinery noise, the sound of distant human movement and speech, the sound of arrows whizzing past you, helicopters flying to your left and right, creaks from thermal contraction, air conditioning and plumbing noises, fan and motor noises, and harmonics of mains power.
Reverberation
Reverberation
Reverberation is the persistence of sound in a particular space after the original sound is removed. A reverberation, or reverb, is created when a sound is produced in an enclosed space causing a large number of echoes to build up and then slowly decay as the sound is absorbed by the walls and air...
will further distort these already faint sounds, often beyond recognition, by introducing complex patterns of peaks and nulls in their frequency spectrum, and blurring their temporal characterisics. Finally, sound absorption can cause high frequencies to be rolled off, dulling the sound further.
Ambience is normally recorded in stereo by the sound department during the production stage of filmmaking
Filmmaking
Filmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, directing, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program...
. It is used to provide a movie location with sonic space and normally occupies a separate track in the sound edit.
See also
- Presence (sound recording)Presence (sound recording)In filmmaking and television production presence is the "silence" recorded at a location or space when no dialogue is spoken . This term is often confused with ambience....
- Environmental noiseEnvironmental noiseEnvironmental noise is the summary of noise from transport, industrial and recreational activities.The definition is pursuant to the directive 2002/49/EC article 10.1. This directive should give a common approach intended to avoid, prevent or reduce the harmful effects of environmental noise. The...
- FilmmakingFilmmakingFilmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, directing, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program...
- Ambient noise levelAmbient noise levelIn atmospheric sounding and noise pollution, ambient noise level is the background sound pressure level at a given location, normally specified as a reference level to study a new intrusive sound source.Ambient sound levels are often measured in order to map sound conditions over a...
- Acoustic signatureAcoustic signatureAcoustic signature is used to describe a combination of acoustic emissions of ships and submarines.-Contributing factors:The acoustic signature is made up of a number of individual elements...