Sound Engineering Technical terms Series

Attention: Sound Engineering / DJ students:  MoreDJTips

6th May 2014 - DJ Technical Term Series

Cuing - A term referring to when a DJ listens to a track through headphones while playing another through the sound system.

5^th May 2014 DJ Technical Term Series

EQ Controls - Controls that allow the filtering of differing frequencies on your DJ mixer.

4th May 2014 DJ Technical Term series

Booth - The area where the DJ & their equipment are in an event or club.

3rd May 2014 DJ Technical Term Series

Battle Record - A 12” vinyl filled with samples and loops usually used for scratching.

2nd May 2014 DJ Technical Term Series

Acapella - A solo vocals track with no instrumental music..just the vocals

1st May 2014 DJ Technical Term Series

Crossfader - A transitional slide control on a mixer for fading in one channel while simultaneously fading out another.

30th April 2014 DJ Technical Term Series

Beat Matching - A mixing technique used to establish a similar tempo with two or more tracks.

29th April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Live Recording – A recording session where all the musicians are playing at once with no overdubbing. Also means a recording with a lot of natural reverberation.

28th April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Release: The rate that the volume of a synthesizer drops to no-sound once the key is released.

27th April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Terms Series

LINE LEVEL: A nominal signal level which is around -10dBV for semi-pro equipment and +4dBu for professional equipment.

26^th April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Term

First Generation: A descriptive term meaning original (as opposed to a copy).

25th April 2014 Sound Engineering Facts

Think Sound Engineer might be a job for you?

◾Are you creative? ◾Do you like science? ◾Do you like computers? ◾Communicate well with people?

If you answered yes to these questions, you have many of the skills to be a successful sound engineer!

24th April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Radio Frequencies: Frequencies higher than 20,000 Hz (usually above 100 kHz). Some Facts one should know - •Dogs can hear sound at a higher frequency than humans, allowing them to hear noises that we can’t. •The speed of sound is around 767 miles per hour (1,230 km /hr). •When traveling through water, sound moves around four times faster than when it travels through air.

23rd April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

XY Miking: A method of placing two cardioid microphones for stereo pickup, with the two microphone heads as close as possible without touching, pointing 90 degrees to each other and also pointing 45 degrees to the center of the sound source.

22nd April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Woofer  1) A speaker that is designed to reproduce bass frequencies only.  2) A drive unit operating in the bass frequencies only. Drive units in two-way systems are not true woofers but are more accurately described as being mid/bass drivers.  3) Part of a speaker system designed to handle the low frequency parts of the signal.

21st April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Three Track Stereo: A stereo recording or reproduction where there are three separate tracks (left, centre and right) and designed to be reproduced with three speakers.

20th April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Term series

Leakage: Sounds from other instruments and sources that were not intended to be picked up by the microphone.

19th April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Headroom: 1) The level difference (in dB) between normal operating level and clipping level in an amplifier or audio device.   2) A similar level difference between normal tape operating level and the level where the distortion would be 3%.   3) The difference, in decibels, between the peak and RMS levels in program material.

18th April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Term series

Pad 1) An attenuator usually used to prevent overload of amplifier that follows. also, 2) A device with a surface that can be hit by a drum stick; hitting the pad produces an output signal pulse (or MIDI command) that causes a drum machine or synthesizer to sound a drum sound.

17th April 2014 Sound Engineering Terms Series

Noise Gate: A piece of sound processing equipment that reduces background noise by muting a sound signal when it falls below a certain level, restoring it when the level increases again. Must be used on vocal microphones with care, because it may cut the signal off, although the vocalist is still singing quietly. Also known as an Expander.

16th April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Feedback 1) The delayed signal sent back to the input of a delay line, used in repeat-echo effects. 2) The pickup of the signal out of a channel by its input or the howling sound that this produces. 3) In an amplifier, the phase reversed output signal sent back to its input, reducing gain but also distortion and noise. 4) This occurs when the sound coming out of the speakers goes back into the microphones, then back out the speakers, then back into the mics…and so on. This can build very quickly to a point where everyone in the room is holding their ears and screaming at you. It can also cause damage to the PA.

15th April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

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.

14th April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Update Mode in Mixing Console: A mode of operation of console automation allowing modification of the programming of a channel of a console so that when the slide of the fader is at a predetermined point (usually the point marked “0″) the gain variations (fader movements) last programmed in the computer will be in effect, but when the engineer moves the slide up or down from this point gain or loss is added to or subtracted from the programmed level.

13th April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Radio Frequencies: Frequencies higher than 20,000 Hz (usually above 100 kHz).

12th April Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Omni- Directional:  

1) In microphones, picking up evenly from all directions.  2) In speakers, sending out evenly in all directions.

11th April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Terms Series

Near Field: The area up to one foot from the sound source.

10th April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Terms Series

Early Reflections: The first echoes in a room, caused by the sound from the sound source reflecting off one surface before reaching the listener.

9th April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Terms Series

Vibrato: A smooth and repeated changing of the pitch up and down from the regular musical pitch, often done by singers.

8^th April 2014 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

First Generation: A descriptive term meaning original (as opposed to a copy).

7th April 2014 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Mains: The speakers facing the audience along with the system of amps equalizers and effects attached to them.

6^th Apr 2014 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Cable, TRS: A less common balanced cable that has 3 different contacts on its 1/4 inch connectors. Most headphone jacks are a good example of a TRS (Tip-Ring-Sleeve) connector. These are sometimes used instead of the more common XLR connection.

5th Apr 2014 -Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Diaphragm: A thin flexible membrane or cone that vibrates in response to electrical signals to produce sound waves. Distortion is usually referred to in terms of total harmonic distortion (THD) which is the percentage of unwanted harmonics of the drive signal present with the wanted signal. Generally used to mean any unwanted change introduced by the device under question.

4th April 2014 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Digital Recording  

1) ADAM : (Akai Digital Audio Multitrack). 12 track recording onto Video 8 tape. 16 bit, 44.1 or 48 kHz sampling rate.  

2) DAT (Digital Audio Tape) Cassette-like system which has much higher quality than standard audio cassettes. Widely used in gathering sound effects, for news gathering, and for playback of music.  

3) DCC (Digital Compact Cassette) Rival to DAT which also plays standard audio cassettes.  

4) MiniDisc : Uses computer disk technology, rather than tape. A laser heats an area of magnetic disk which is then written to by a magnetic head. When cooled, the magnetic information is read from the disk by laser. Tracks can be named, and are instant start. Very theatre-friendly system.  

5) Direct to Disk : Uses the hard disk present in most PCs as the recording medium.

3rd April 2014 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Hard Disk Recording: The recording of digital audio onto a hard disc.

2nd April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Terms Series

Master Fader: The fader which controls the main output(s) of the console during mixdown.

1st April 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

VOCODER: Signal processor that imposes a changing spectral filter on a sound based on the frequency characteristics of a second sound. By taking the spectral content of a human voice and imposing it on a musical instrument, talking instrument effects can be created.

31st March 2014 - Sound Engineering Technical Terms Series

PHANTOM POWER: 48V DC supply for capacitor microphones, transmitted along the signal cores of a balanced mic cable.

30th March 2014 Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Three Track Stereo A stereo recording or reproduction where there are three separate tracks (left, centre and right) and designed to be reproduced with three speakers.

29th March 2014 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

NYQUIST THEOREM: The rule which states that a digital sampling system must have a sample rate at least twice as high as that of the highest frequency being sampled in order to avoid aliasing. Because anti-aliasing filters aren't perfect, the sampling frequency has usually to be made more than twice that of the maximum input frequency.

28th March 2014 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

QUANTIZE: A means of moving notes recorded in a MIDI sequencer so that they line up with user defined subdivisions of a musical bar. The facility may be used to correct timing errors, but over-quantization can remove the human feel from a performance.

27th March 2014 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

DIGITAL: Electronic system which represents data and signals in the form of codes comprising 1s and 0s.

26th March 2014 - Sound Engineering Technical Terms Series

NEAR FIELD: Some people prefer the term 'close field', to describe a loudspeaker system designed to be used close to the listener. The advantage is that the listener hears more of the direct sound from the speakers and less of the reflected sound from the room.

25th March 2014- Sound Engineering Technical Term series

MIDI MERGE: A device or sequencer function that enables two or more streams of MIDI data to be combined.

31^st Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

TDM (Time Division Multiplexing)

A technology that employs a networked bus of DSP chips that supply the processing power for Pro

30^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Submix

Routing multiple audio sources to an Auxiliary Input for monitor mixes, bus-master control over levels, and shared effects processing.

29^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Playlist

A group of regions arranged on an audio or MIDI track.

28^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

master (device)

“Lead” machine or Pro Tools system in a synchronized machine arrangement. Slaves follow masters. There can only be one master at any given time.

27^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

MTC (MIDI Time Code)

Non-SMPTE form of time code that is used by some devices (including Pro Tools) to send and receive timing information.

26^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Inactive in Protools

Inactive Items that have been turned off in Pro Tools to free up or conserve DSP. for example, when a track, send, or plug-in is inactive, its name appears in italics and the item is silent.

25^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Conductor rulers in Protools

A ruler that can show session data. There are three types of Conductor rulers, called Tempo, Meter, and Markers rulers.

24^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

003 family

Firewire-based Pro Tools® audio/MIDI workstations, including 003®, 003 Rack, and 003 Rack+. 003 includes an integrated a control surface.

23^rd Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Master Fader track

Master Fader track Governs the overall signal level of one or more audio, auxiliary input, or instrument tracks.

22^nd Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

AVoption|V10

Video interface and software that integrates Avid® video technology with Pro Tools| HD® systems.

21st Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Notation

Traditional musical transcription, often used to visualize the composition process and provide written parts for musicians to play.

20th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Non destructive Editing

nondestructive editing Leaves audio files intact. As you edit audio within Pro Tools, you are only editing the regions, or “pointers,” to audio files that are stored on the hard drive, unless you explicitly choose destructive modes (during recording, or when using Audio Suite processing).

19^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

CROSSFADE in Pro tools

Function for fading out from one region as you fade in to another region. Crossfade duration is user-selectable from within the Edit window. As with fades, portions of audio for which the crossfade function has been applied are stored in the session’s Fade Files folder.

18^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Synchronization

Process of having two or more audio, video, or other devices play and record as one, at the same speed.

17^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Quantize

To adjust MIDI note locations or durations to the nearest unit or template structure so that a particular rhythmic “feel” is achieved.

16^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Region

Within Pro Tools, a “pointer” to a particular track selection or file. Regions can be dragged from the Region List, or a DigiBase browser, to a track.

15^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Digidesign plug-ins

A suite of audio processing plug-ins for Pro Tools. Some Digidesign plug-ins are included free with Pro Tools, while others are available by purchase.

14^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Eleven Rack

A guitar recording and effects processing system that can be used as a Pro Tools audio interface. 

13^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Groups in Pro tools

Groups Linked tracks in which an action in one of the tracks is mirrored in all tracks in the group. Groups can be created separately or linked between the Mix and Edit windows.

12^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

General Preference in Pro tools

A preference that affects all sessions for the same user. This differs from a global preference, which is the same for all users.

11^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Bit depth

One of two main specifications that define digital audio quality (the other is sample rate). Bit depth determines the maximum dynamic range possible in an audio file. Also called bit-resolution or bit-rate.

10^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Headroom

Amount of remaining gain available for a given signal before the onset of distortion in analog systems or clipping in digital systems.

9^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Legacy Plug-ins

Audio plug-ins that are no longer supported with current Pro Tools systems.

6^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

METADATA

Media files, session files, and other types of files contain their own sets of metadata, which include general types of data such as file name, creation date, and file size. Metadata varies with file type, format, and kind.

5^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Bomb Factory plug-ins

Bomb Factory plug-ins Suite of compressors and other plug-ins for Pro Tools. Some Bomb Factory ® plug-ins are included free with Pro Tools, while others are available by purchase.

4^th Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

ASIO

ASIO (Windows Only) Steinberg’s Audio Stream Input/Output (ASIO) provides audio stream connectivity between software applications and audio hardware on Windows. Pro Tools software can use audio interfaces with supported ASIO drivers for playback and recording.

3^rd Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

NTSC

Video standards developed by the National Television Standards Committee. NTSC color video runs at 29.97 frames per second; NTSC black and white video runs at 30 fps. Used primarily in North and South America and Japan.

2^nd Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

AudioSuite plug-ins

Avid’s proprietary file-based, non-real-time plug-in format. AudioSuite™ plug-ins are used to process and modify audio files on disk, rather than nondestructively in real time. Depending on how you configure a non-real-time AudioSuite plug-in, it will either create an entirely new audio file, or alter the original source audio file.

1st Oct 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

BETA VERSION

Software which is not fully tested and may include bugs

30th Sep 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

BALANCED WIRING

Wiring system which uses two out-of-phase conductors and a common screen to reduce the effect of interference. For balancing to be effective, both the sending and receiving device must have balanced output and input stages respectively.

29th Sep 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

ARPEGGIATOR

Device (or software), that allows a MIDI instrument to sequence around any notes currently being played. Most arpeggiators also allows the sound to be sequenced over several octaves, so that holding down a simple chord can result in an impressive repeating sequence of notes.

28^th Sep 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

FIREWIRE

A high-speed peripheral standard capable of transferring data, fire wire is commonly used for digital audio and video devices, as well as external hard drives and other high-speed peripherals.

27^th Sep 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

TRANSDUCER

A device for converting one form of energy to another. A microphone is a good example of a transducer as it converts mechanical energy to electrical energy.

25^th Sep 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

EXPANDER

A devise designed to decrease the level of low level signals and increase the level of high level signals, thus increasing the dynamic range of the signal.

24th Sep 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

RELEASE

The time taken for a level or gain to return to normal. Often used to describe the rate at which a synthesized sound reduces in level after a key has been released.

23^rd Sep 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

REAL TIME

An audio process that can be carried out as the signal is being recorded or played back. The opposite is off-line, where the signal is processed in non-real time.

19^th Sep 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

MIDI CONTROLLER

A term used to describe the physical interface by means of which the musician plays the MIDI synthesizer or other sound generator. Examples of controllers are keyboards, drum pads, wind synths and so on.

18^th Sep 2013 – Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

EFFECTS PROCESSOR

An external signal processor used to add reverb, delay, spatial or psychoacoustic effects to an audio signal. An effects processor may be used as an insert processor (serial) on a particular input or subgroup, or it may be used via the aux send/return system (parallel).

17th Sep 2013 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

CONDENSER

Another term for the electronic component generally known as a capacitor. In audio, condenser often refers to type of microphone that uses a capacitor as the sound pickup element. Condenser microphones require electrical power to run internal amplifiers and maintain an electrical charge on the capacitor. They are typically powered by internal batteries or “phantom power” supplied by an external source, such as a mixing console.

15th Sep - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

AUX SEND

A mixer bus output designed to send a signal to an auxiliary processor or monitor system.

AUX RETURN

A mixer input (sometimes a pair of inputs) with limited control capabilities, intended for bringing the output of an auxiliary processor or other line-level source into the main mix bus. Aux returns can sometimes be assigned to other buses in the mixer.

14th Sep 2013 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series  

AUXILIARY

In sound mixers, supplemental equipment or features that provide additional capabilities to the basic system. Examples of auxiliary equipment include: serial processors (equalizers, compressors, limiters, gates) and parallel processors (reverberation and delay).

13th Sep 2013 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

DAT

Digital Audio Tape is a recording/playback system where analog signals are converted to digital form and stored on magnetic tape. It offers all the benefits of digital audio including low noise and wide dynamic range.

ADAT

Alesis Digital Audio Tape or ADAT is a magnetic tape format used for the simultaneous digital recording of eight analog audio or digital audio tracks at once.

 

12th Sep 2013 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

main (house) speakers

The main loudspeakers for a sound reinforcement system. These are usually the largest and loudest loudspeakers, and are usually positioned so that their sound seems to come from the area of the main stage.
[mains] - Short for main or house speakers in a sound reinforcement system.

10th Sep 2013 - Sound Engineering Technical term Series

DELAY

In sound work, delay usually refers to an electronic circuit or effects unit whose purpose it is to delay the audio signal for some short period of time. Delay can refer to one short repeat, a series of repeats or the complex interactions of delay used in chorusing or reverb. When delayed signals are mixed back with the original sound, a great number of audio effects can be generated, including phasing and flanging, doubling, Haas precedence-effect panning, slap or slapback, echo, regenerative echo, chorusing and hall-like reverberation. Signal time delay is central to many audio effects units.

8th Sep 2013 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

 

7th Sep 2013 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

CLIPPING

Severe form of distortion which occurs when a signal attempts to exceed the maximum level which a piece of equipment can handle.

6th Sep 2013 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

BALANCE

This word has several meanings in recording. It may refer to the relative levels of the left and right channels of a stereo recording, or it may be used to describe the relative levels of the various instruments and voices within a mix.

 

5th Sep 2013 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

CHANNEL   [See Channel Strip Image on the Right]

In the context of mixing consoles, a channel is a single strip of controls relating to one input.

 

2nd Sep 2013 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

AFTERTOUCH

A means of generating a control signal based on how much pressure is applied to the keys of a MIDI keyboard. Most instruments that support this do not have independent pressure sensing for all keys, but rather detect the overall pressure by means of a sensing strip running beneath the keys. Aftertouch may be used to control such functions as vibrato depth, filter brightness, loudness and so on.

1st Sep 2013 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

BOOST/CUT CONTROL

A single control which allows the range of frequencies passing through a filter to be either amplified or attenuated. The center position is usually the 'flat' or 'no effect' position.

30th Aug 2013 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Attack

The time taken for a sound to achieve maximum amplitude. Drums have a fast attack, whereas strings have a slow attack. In compressors and gates, the attack time equates to how quickly the processor can change its gain.

29th Aug 2013 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Chorus

The part of a song that is normally repeated a number of times within the song. The chorus of a song may also contain the hook.

27th Aug 2013 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

AES

An abbreviation of Audio Engineering Society.

26th Aug 2013 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

ADAT

A trademark of Alesis Corporation designating its modular digital multitrack recording system released in early 1993.

 

24th Aug 2013 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Arrangement

The instruments used, the parts they play and structure of the song or piece of music. A skilful arranger can take any piece of music and totally change its feel or tone by adjusting these variables and piece's tonality.

23rd Aug 2013 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Amplifier

Electronic device designated to take a very small-level signal and increase it to an audible level.

22nd Aug 2013 - Sound Engineering Technical Term Series

Acoustic Screen

A large panel of absorbent material that can be positioned to provide separation between musicians recording with microphones within the same space. This minimizes leakage between instrument and microphones. These panels can be also used in the Control Room by the Engineer for better monitoring.