ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the ear and how sound is interpreted. It discusses some important skills and ideas like analyzing music recordings, the frequency pyramid, and the 3D reference ball. Like a microphone, the ear is a transducer. A transducer converts one form of energy into another. Ears are sensitive transducers with a non-linear frequency response. Sound can be divided into three successively occurring categories that arrive at the ears in the following order: direct path, early reflections, and reverberation. Selective hearing is essential if you want to succeed as an audio engineer or musician. Selective hearing involves focusing on individual components of a sound, the different frequency ranges, and the overall sound. Related to selective hearing is the ability to analyze and recreate a sound. Analyzing music recordings to help mimic a particular sound for a client or to be able to communicate with other audio professionals is essential in music production.
