Apple Soundtrack Pro 3 - Manual (Page 490)

Note: Different manufacturers and mixing engineers define the ranges of these frequency
bands differently, so the numbers described above are approximate.
The human voice produces sounds that are mostly in the 250–4000 Hz range, which likely
explains why people’s ears are also the most sensitive to this range. If the dialogue in
your movie is harder to hear when you add music and sound effects, try reducing the
midrange frequencies of the nondialogue tracks using an equalizer filter. Reducing the
midrange creates a “sonic space” in which the dialogue can be heard more easily.
Musical sounds typically have a regular frequency, which the human ear hears as the
sound’s pitch. Pitch is expressed using musical notes, such as C, E flat, and F sharp. The
pitch is usually only the lowest, strongest part of the sound wave, called the fundamental
frequency. Every musical sound also has higher, softer parts called overtones or harmonics,
which occur at regular multiples of the fundamental frequency. The human ear doesn’t
hear the harmonics as distinct pitches, but rather as the tone color (also called the timbre)
of the sound, which allows the ear to distinguish one instrument or voice from another,
even when both are playing the same pitch.
Fundamental
First harmonic
Second harmonic
Time
Time
Time
490 Appendix B Audio Fundamentals