Pro Sound Web: It is said that “a picture is worth a thousand words” and nowhere is this more applicable than when trying to teach complex concepts.
A graphical depiction can often convey an idea better, and quicker, than a whole bunch of words. This is because our brains are mainly image processors, not word processors; the part of our brain that processes words is actually very small in comparison to the part that processes visual information.
3 comments:
This method of explaining sound seems highly effective. I find people often learn visually, and that explaining difficult concepts with a visual component is much more successful, as the article stated. Applying this type of learning to the medium of sound is especially important, since it is one of the few design mediums with no visual component. Most of the other aspects of design, lighting, scenic, costumes, and projection, are all highly visual. This seemingly makes sound one of the more difficult design mediums, and many are hesitant in learning it. I personally, have always had trouble when it came to sound design. Sure, I learned about frequencies and mixing, but it never really clicked for me. My trouble was that I could never tell what exactly I was hearing or if it was good or bad. This is especially true when it comes to instruments. But the way this article presented sound makes a lot of sense to me. In order to get a distinct sound, you need methods to separate out the individual parts of a band. This really makes a lot of sense to me now. I definitely agree that visual learning is the way to go for sound design.
I think this method of teaching sound concepts is very interesting. I for one am a very visual person so thinking about concepts outside of the realm of visuals is often more difficult. I like this strategy for conceptualizing sound terms because it relates the word with the visual of a sound wave, thereby providing a visual to not only the word, but the non visible auditory wave associated with it. Similarly the visual words give a feel for the sound providing mood for each through visual cues I'm more accustomed to, like jaggedness to imply sharp vibrancy. I think this is very neat as a multi sensory effect that allows one more developed sense to help process a concept in another. Although I don't think this text visualization will be groundbreaking in the field of sound it's definitely an interesting way to help designers, and emerging students understand concepts across disciplines using senses they are more attuned with.
I am a more visually-oriented learner, but I am also very perceptive of sound and this is partially why sound and sound design interest me. Because of this, I found this article and the author’s diagrams to be quite compelling. As the author explains, diagrams like these have the best possible use in the area of education. Visual guides for complex non-visual concepts can be very helpful. It’s also far more efficient than trying to explain this information in solely written or verbal form. Having the diagram and then the written description stating what actions have been performed to improve the mix help to convey the concept quickly and accurately, avoiding misunderstanding (as the author states). I think this concept could have a potentially interesting application in DAWs or digital consoles. Some softwares and hardwares already incorporate visualizations of some sound processing features, but using a more general concept like the one explored in this article (visualizing your entire mix) could help streamline mixing for audio engineers who have to rush through setting levels on a sound check where there is a time-crunch. So I think there is also a possible out-of-the-classroom application for this sort of visualization as well.
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