Final Exam

1. A note is at 220 Hz. What frequency is the same note one octave higher?

1. 230 Hz
2. 330 Hz
3. 440 Hz
4. 660 Hz

An octave up doubles the frequency: 220 × 2 = 440 Hz.

2. What does the sample rate of a digital recording determine?

1. The highest frequency it can capture (half the sample rate)
2. The loudest level it can hold
3. The number of tracks in a project
4. The tempo of the song

The Nyquist frequency is half the sample rate. At 44.1 kHz, that is 22.05 kHz, just above human hearing. Bit depth sets the dynamic range.

3. At 120 BPM in 4/4, how long does one bar last?

1. 1 second
2. 4 seconds
3. 0.5 seconds
4. 2 seconds

120 BPM means 2 beats per second. Four beats take 2 seconds.

4. Which pattern of whole (W) and half (H) steps makes a major scale?

1. W H W W H W W
2. W W H W W W H
3. W W W H W W H
4. H W W W H W W

The major scale is W W H W W W H. Starting on C, it uses only the white keys.

5. What makes a triad minor rather than major?

1. The fifth is lowered
2. The root is doubled
3. The third is a minor third (3 semitones) above the root
4. A seventh is added

Major triads have a major third (4 semitones); minor triads have a minor third (3 semitones). Both have a perfect fifth.

6. In C major, what chords are I–V–vi–IV?

1. C – F – Am – G
2. C – G – Em – F
3. Am – F – C – G
4. C – G – Am – F

I = C, V = G, vi = A minor, IV = F. This progression appears in countless pop songs.

7. In a standard backbeat in 4/4, where does the snare usually land?

1. Beats 2 and 4
2. Beats 1 and 3
3. Every beat
4. Only beat 1

The backbeat puts the snare on 2 and 4, while the kick usually anchors beat 1.

8. What does swing do to a drum pattern?

1. Speeds up the tempo
2. Removes the off-beats
3. Delays every second subdivision for a shuffled feel
4. Quantizes notes to the grid

Swing pushes the off-beat notes (such as every second 16th) later, giving a bouncing, human groove.

9. A pad's filter cutoff is lowered on a low-pass filter. What happens?

1. It gets brighter
2. It gets darker and more muffled
3. It gets louder in the bass only
4. It goes out of tune

A low-pass filter removes frequencies above the cutoff. Lowering the cutoff removes more highs.

10. Which envelope settings make a short pluck sound?

1. Slow attack, high sustain, long release
2. Slow attack, slow decay, full sustain
3. Fast attack, full sustain, long release
4. Fast attack, short decay, zero sustain

A pluck starts instantly and dies away quickly, so sustain is at zero and decay is short.

11. An LFO is routed to a synth's pitch at a rate of about 5 Hz. What is the effect?

1. Vibrato
2. Tremolo
3. Auto-pan
4. Distortion

Pitch modulation is vibrato. Volume modulation is tremolo, and pan modulation is auto-pan.

12. Which synthesis type is best known for bells and electric pianos?

1. Subtractive
2. Granular
3. FM (frequency modulation)
4. Additive drawbar organ

FM creates complex, metallic and bell-like tones by modulating one oscillator's frequency with another.

13. What does MIDI velocity usually control?

1. The pitch of a note
2. How hard a note is played, usually its loudness or brightness
3. The tempo of the song
4. The stereo position

Velocity (1–127) records how hard a key was struck. Instruments typically map it to volume and tone.

14. Which microphone needs phantom power?

1. Most dynamic microphones
2. Every USB microphone
3. Most condenser microphones
4. None, phantom power is for speakers

Condenser microphones usually need 48 V phantom power from the interface. Dynamic mics don't.

15. What is the main job of a pop filter?

1. To remove room reverb
2. To boost the vocal's highs
3. To stop feedback
4. To stop bursts of air from "p" and "b" sounds hitting the mic

Plosives cause low-frequency thumps. A pop filter breaks up the air before it reaches the capsule.

16. Two mics on a guitar amp sound thin when combined. What is the likely cause?

1. Phase cancellation between the mics
2. The sample rate is too low
3. The tempo is wrong
4. Too much reverb

Sound reaches the two mics at slightly different times. Some frequencies cancel. Flip polarity or move a mic to fix it.

17. What is the purpose of a breakdown before a drop?

1. To change the song's key
2. To lower the energy so the drop hits harder by contrast
3. To give the mastering engineer headroom
4. To fix timing errors

Energy is relative. Removing elements creates contrast, so the return of the full beat feels bigger.

18. Which element is a classic build-up tool in electronic music?

1. A static pad with no automation
2. A slow fade-out
3. A rising white-noise sweep with an accelerating snare roll
4. Removing the hi-hats for the whole song

Noise risers, filter sweeps and snare rolls that speed up all build tension before a drop.

19. A mix sounds thick and cloudy. Which area is the usual suspect?

1. 30–50 Hz
2. 200–400 Hz
3. 3–5 kHz
4. 12–16 kHz

Build-up in the low mids from many instruments causes "mud". Small cuts on several tracks usually help.

20. A compressor is set to 4:1. The signal goes 8 dB over the threshold. How far over is the output?

1. 4 dB
2. 8 dB
3. 2 dB
4. 0 dB

At 4:1, every 4 dB over the threshold comes out as 1 dB. 8 dB over becomes 2 dB over.

21. Why put reverb on a send/return instead of an insert on every track?

1. Inserts can't run reverb
2. It makes the reverb longer
3. It removes the dry signal
4. Several tracks share one space, saving CPU and gluing the mix

One shared reverb places instruments in the same room and lets you control the amount per track with send levels.

22. Which elements are usually kept in the center of a mix?

1. Kick, bass, snare and lead vocal
2. Hi-hats and backing vocals
3. Pads and reverbs
4. Rhythm guitars

The most important and low-frequency elements usually sit in the center, for punch and mono compatibility.

23. What is parallel compression?

1. Two compressors in series on one track
2. Blending a heavily compressed copy with the uncompressed signal
3. Compressing left and right separately
4. Compression triggered by another track

Parallel (or "New York") compression adds density and power while the dry signal keeps the transients.

24. A kick and a sustained bass clash in the low end. What is a common fix?

1. Add reverb to the bass
2. Pan the bass hard left
3. Boost both at 60 Hz
4. Sidechain the bass so it ducks briefly when the kick hits

Sidechain compression lowers the bass for a moment on each kick, so each gets its own space in time.

25. What does LUFS measure?

1. The peak level of a single sample
2. Perceived loudness over time
3. The stereo width
4. The frequency balance

LUFS uses frequency weighting and time averaging to estimate how loud music sounds to people.

26. What is usually the last processor in a mastering chain?

1. A reverb
2. An EQ
3. A limiter
4. A de-esser

The limiter sets the final ceiling and loudness, so it comes last (before dither, if used).

27. Why do mixes sound thin at low volume?

1. The ear is less sensitive to bass at low levels (equal-loudness contours)
2. DAWs remove bass at low volume
3. Speakers switch to mono
4. Limiters stop working

Equal-loudness contours are steeper at quiet levels, so lows and highs fade relative to the mids.

28. What does an ISRC identify?

1. An album's barcode
2. A songwriter's PRO membership
3. A distributor account
4. One specific recording

Each recording, and each version of it, has its own ISRC. A UPC identifies the release.

29. Who collects songwriter performance royalties?

1. The digital distributor
2. A performing rights organization (PRO), such as ASCAP, BMI or PRS
3. The mastering engineer
4. The streaming service pays the writer directly with no registration

Writers join a PRO and register their songs. Distributors pay master royalties, not songwriter performance royalties.

30. What is a split sheet?

1. A stem export template
2. A mixing checklist
3. A signed record of each writer's share of a song
4. A type of frequency chart

A split sheet records ownership percentages of the composition. Fill it in on the day the song is written.