|
|
||
 
|
a/d convertor - A device that converts analog signal to digital data. aes/ebu professional interface - Standard for sending and receiving digital audio adopted by the Audio Engineering Society and the European Broadcast Union. ambience - Portion of sound that comes from the surrounding environment rather than directly from the sound source. amp modeler - A piece of hardware (or sometimes software) that attempts to recreate the sound of an amplifier/speaker setup and generally allows the convenience of direct recording while still getting the sound of a huge stack, small combo, or whatever you're simulating. analogue - Continuous electrical method of transmitting, modifying, and recording sound. e.g. the output of a guitar pickup or a microphone. An example of an analogue recording would be tape or record. As apposed to digital, being a series of samples. Asio - A standard for sound card drivers that offer very high performance and very low latency in a supporting application. audio - All vibration that falls between the frequency range of 20 to 20K Hz, and therefore detectable to the human ear. Often used in recording to mean the desired sound of the recording as apposed to undesired noise. automation - A feature that lets an engineer program control changes (such as fader level) so that upon playback of the multitrack recording these changes happen automatically. aux return/send - These are paths out of and back into a mixer, preamp or whatever device you find them in. They are usually user as a way to get your signal out of the device and run through effects or other signal processing devices such as an EQ, then back into the mix.
baffles - Sound absorbing panels used to prevent sound waves from entering or leaving a certain space, in a vocal booth for example. balanced - Cables (usually with 1/4 inch jacks) with three conductors to utilize phasing for cleaner signal with less interference. Balanced cables are more often associated with 'pro' studios but anyone can use them to improve or maintain the integrity of their signals. bandwidth - The range of frequencies over which a tape recorder, amplifier or other audio device is useful; the range of frequencies affected by an equalization setting. beats per minute (bpm) - The number of steady even pulses in music occurring in one minute and therefore defining the tempo of the song. Dance music is often at 128 bpm, apparently the most 'exciting', but still comfortable, speed. bi-amplification - Often found in hi-fi setups, a way of optimizing the efficiency of a speaker system by separately amplifying the High Frequency (HF) and Low Frequency (LF) portions of the sound signal and sending them down two pairs of cables to the speaker. bit rate - One aspect of a digital sample. Often referred to as sample depth. Primarily effects amplitude of a sample. Bit rates are generally 16, 20, 24 and 32. The larger the number of the bit rate the more precisely the amplitude is represented. The bit rate of a standard CD is 16 so it's usual to record at higher bit rates for greater fidelity and then convert to 16 at the very end before CD mastering and production. bleeding - When you get the sound of one track in with another, common problem when recording drums or doing a voiceover while monitoring through speakers instead of headphones. bottom - Bass frequencies ('bottom end'). bouncing - Playing several tacks with sync playback through a console to mix them together and record them onto one open track. In the days before multitrack machines, recording was most often done on four track tape machines. To make the most of this limitation engineers would skillfully sub mix tracks and bounce the result onto one track, freeing up the others for more recording of different instruments and voices, for example. However, each time this was done fidelity was lost and a lot of science was applied to remedy this and tape hiss generally, e.g. the Dolby noise reduction systems. breakout box - Nifty little box which provides convenient access to analog in's and out's from the computer. Provided with some soundcards and some USB or Firewire sound card equivalent components. bulk dump - (Now, now, we're trying to be serious here..) A method of transmitting a lot of digital data, such as the internal parameters of a MIDI device to another MIDI device. burning - The task of imprinting digital sound recording files to a CD or DVD for future playback on standard audio or audio/visual equipment. bus - Also referred to as sub-mix. A group of tracks routed to a bus for processing as a mixed group, to add different effects, volumes and panning to just that group, which is usually added back into the main mix post processing. For example, a final recording might consist of a bus containing a number of tracks for the drums mixed separately so the overall kit sounds right, plus another bus containing a number of backing vocals treated differently. Busses can also be as separate outputs from a mixer to a computer soundcard.
cables - What we in the UK refer to as leads. 1/4 inch Jack: Unbalanced cable most often used for instruments and patch cords. TRS (Tip-Ring-Sleeve): Balanced cable that has 3 different contacts on its 1/4 inch connectors (headphone jacks are an example). XLR: Balanced cable used for low impedance, most often found on microphone leads. cancellation (phase cancellation) - The energy of one waveform significantly decreasing the energy of another waveform because of phase relationships at or close to 180 degrees. capsule - The variable capacitor section of a condenser microphone, in other types of microphones, the part of the microphone that includes the diaphragm and the active element. cardioid pattern - A microphone pick up pattern, which has maximum pick up from the front, less pick up from the sides, and least pick up from the back of the diaphragm. center frequency - Frequency of the audio signal that is boosted or attenuated most by an equalizer with a peak equalization curve. chamber - Echo Chambers are rooms designed with very hard, non-parallel surfaces equipped with a speaker and microphone so that when dry signals from the console are fed to the speaker, the microphone will have a reverberation of these signals that can be mixed in back in the control room. channel - One audio recording made on a portion of the width of a multitrack tape. A single path that an audio signal travels or can travel through a device from an input to an output. chase - Automatic adjusting of the speed of a recorder (or sequencer) to be in time with another recorder. chops - Slang muso term referring to a musician's skills on his or her instrument. clean - A distortion free sound. clipping - In analogue form an extremely high signal which cannot pass through the electronics causing moderate distortion. In digital form a signal higher than 0 Db that cannot be represented by a digital sample causing extreme distortion and noise. clock signal - The signal put out by a circuit that generates steady even pulses or steady codes used for synchronization. close micing - Technique of placing a microphone close to the sound source (within one foot) in order to pick up mainly the direct sound and to avoid picking up leakage or ambience. Guitarists' loudspeaker cabinets are often close mic'd. comb filter - Frequency response achieved by mixing a direct signal with a delayed signal of equal strength especially at short delays; used to also describe effects that can be achieved with comb filtering as part of the processing. compressor - Ubiquitous hardware or software device which compresses the amplitude levels of a signal - 'squashing' the peaks so there isn't such a wide variation in loudness across the track or tracks. Almost always used on drums and vocals and other sources that demonstrate a wide range of volume or amplitude when played. condenser - A condenser microphone is a more sensitive microphone than its counterpart, the dynamic. Available in a variety of pick-up patterns. Its increased sensitivity needs power to operate it, referred to as Phantom Power. console - See Mixer. control surface - A computer-based component that connects to your computer and acts as a tactile control panel for your software. converter - A/D (analogue to digital) or D/A (digital to analog) converter 'chips' or gear. crossover - Electronic filter in a sound system that routes sound of the correct frequency to the correct part of the speaker system. Active (powered) crossovers split the signal from the mixing desk into high, mid and low frequencies which are then sent to three separate amplifiers and speaker setups. crossover frequency - Frequency that is the outer limit of one of the bands of a crossover. crosstalk - Leakage of an audio signal into a channel that it is not intended to be in, from an adjacent or nearby channel. cue - Signal fed back to the musicians through headphones. Also, to set the tape or disc so that the intended selection will immediately play when the tape machine or player is started, a location point entered into a computer controlling the playback or recording of a piece of music. cycle - Alternation of a waveform which begins at a point, passes through the zero line, and ends at a point with the same value and moving in the same direction as the starting point. cycles per second - Unit used in the measure of frequency, equivalent to Hertz.
|
