Nat 3Nat 4Nat 5HigherAdvanced Higher

Frequency

Frequency refers to how fast a sound wave vibrates and is heard as pitch.

Level relevance: introduced at Nat 3; tagged for every later level where the same concept remains useful.

Explanation

Frequency is measured in hertz and describes how many times a wave vibrates each second. Higher frequencies are heard as higher pitches and lower frequencies are heard as lower pitches. Frequency is important in EQ work because different parts of a sound occupy different frequency ranges. Understanding frequency helps when solving muddiness, harshness, or lack of clarity in a mix.

Topics

Sound theoryEQMixing
Curriculum statussupporting vocabulary
Review statusdraft

Related terms

Pitch

Pitch is how high or low a sound seems to the listener.

View term

Equalisation

Equalisation changes the balance of frequencies in a sound.

View term

Waveform

A waveform is the visual shape of an audio signal over time.

View term

Amplitude

Amplitude is the size of a sound wave and relates to how loud it appears.

View term