Cirencester Deer Park School - Music Technology

File Types

You need to know about some key file types that are used in different areas of Music Technology, these could be audio or video files.

In the case of both audio and video files there are 2 categories of file types, these are either compressed or uncompressed file types.

Uncompressed Files

These file types are used for storing data when the quality of the original sound is the most important factor. The files are compressed in such a way as to be recreated exactly.

These files tend to be large in size which makes sharing them over an internet connection a slow process. They also take a up a lot of storage space.

Compressed files

These file types use data encoding methods to reduce file size which does reduce the quality of the files. Any data that the compression algorithm deems expendable is removed from the file, thereby reducing its size.

These files tend to be smaller than uncompressed files which means they are more easily shared over the internet. They also take up less storage space.

MP3

These are the smallest audio file type. They were created so that you could fit hundreds of songs onto MP3 players that had limited amounts of storage space. MP3 files cut out a lot of the original information that made the file so big in the first place. When you compress a file into and MP3 you reduce its dynamic range – how loud and how quiet it will be, along with the amount of frequencies, pitches, that are heard. The first things to be deleted are the lowest bass sounds and the highest treble sounds. Then it gets rid of the detail of the audio wave. It turns it from a wave into something that looks more like a graph.
When the signal is converted from an analogue audio wave to a digital wave, you lose lots of information if the sample rate (how many times the computer plots a point on the wave) is low. When it is converted back into a sound wave for us to hear, the computer has to make up the missing information.

MP3 files are best used for uploading to the internet for people to stream, loading onto your phone or MP3 player where you can store hundreds or thousands of you favourite songs, or to create podcasts for people to listen to in their own time.

THESE ARE LOW QUALITY FILES

Advantages: Small file size means they can be e-mailed or uploaded easily, also you can store more files if you have limited amounts of storage space.

Disadvantages: Files quality is reduced.

Wav Files

These files are the real deal, they contain ALL of the original information that was recorded. There is no loss of information, dynamic, or pitch range. What you put in is what you get back out. What you record with a microphone or instrument into a DAW, this is the type of file that it creates.

WAV files are best used for sending the full resolution audio to another producer or mixer to put the finishing touches to your song, or to a CD or record production company to create a physical album of your work.
Because they contain all of the original information, the file size is very large so they are not good for attaching to e-mails. They often have to be physically transferred on a memory stick, CD, or external hard-drive. The internet has become a lot faster though, so it is now possible to send these files using an internet cloud storage space, but the upload times may be very long and you need to make sure that you have an excellent internet connection.

THESE ARE HIGH QUALITY FILES

Advantages: High quality, gives the full dynamic range or the recording, suitable for burning onto a CD, industry standard for mastering and duplication, compatible with almost all playback platforms (quicktime, VLC, Media Player,iTunes…).

Disadvantages: Large file size means they are difficult to send via e-mail, files size means they are not always suitable for streaming or download and use more storage space.

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