Studio Glossary
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- 440 Hz – is the standard tuning for musicical instruments in western cultures, the note A with 440 Hz as reference
- 44,1 kHz – is a comon sampling frequency in audio production
- 8 track – is a magnetic tape sound-recording technology that was popular in the US from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s
A
- A capella – ususally describes performing a song without instrumental accompaniment
- Ableton Live – DAW for producing a mostly live performing music; visit Ableton for more info
- Absorber (Absorption) – is a device that takes in soundenergy, thus controlling modes and echoes. This can be achieved by materials or structures
- Acoustic Guitar – is a guitar that produces sound acoustically by transmitting the vibration of the strings to the air [1]
- Acoustic Treatment – measures in a room to control the sound. Usually absorption and reflection are used to get the best result
- ADAT – Alesis Digital Audio Tape is a magnetic tape format used to record eight track to a Super VHS casette
- Adlibs – vocals, words or phrases that are placed in specific part of a songot enhance the lead vocals
- Amp / Amplifier – a device that amplifies the weak signals from a guitar or bass pick up; most have additional features like distortion and overdrive
- Analog (Signal) – is any continuous signal for which the time-varying feature (variable) of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity [5]
- Apogee – manufacturer of high end audio equipment; visit Apogee Digital for more info
- Apple Logic – DAW for producing music solely for macOS; visit Apple for more info
- Avid ProTools – DAW for producing music, considered state of the art when it comes to editing and mixing at top level; visit Avid for more info
B
- Backing Vocals – vocals that support the lead vocals, mostly mixed subtle
- Bi Directional – also Figure 8, is a characteristic of a microphone which is able to pick up sound from the front and the back but none from the side
- Binaural (Recording) – aims to reproduce a 3D image of a room using multiple microphones
- Bit Rate – amount of bits used to record or reproduce an audio file. The higher the bit rate the more dynamic range you have in a song. The most common are 16 Bit, 24 Bit and 32 Bit
- Bounce – another word for exporting audiofiles
- Brass – is a part of an orchestra including trumpets, horns, tubas, horns, trombones and cornets
- Bus – a channel so to speak to which either audio tracks, effects or groups are routed for further processing
C
- Cardioid – is a characteristic of a microphone which is able to pick up sound from the front and the side
- Chorus (effect) – occurs when individual sounds with approximately the same time, and very similar pitches converge and are perceived as one [7]
- Chorus (song) – also refrain is the main part of the song where ususally all instruments set in
- Cinch, RCA Connector – a type of connector used for audio and video signals; commonly found in consumer electronics
- Close Miking – recording technique where each instrument is miked closely to get as much direct sound as possible while reduding ambience and crosstalk
- Compressor – device or plug in that reduces the dymnamic range of an audiofile; either by lowering loud parts or by boosting low parts
- Condenser Mic – is a microphone that picks up sounds on the basis of a capacitor
- Cubase, Steinberg – DAW for producing music; visit Steinberg for more info
- Cutoff Frequency – the point where frequencies above or below that point are cut
- Cycle Marker – an area you can define in which the audio files are looped infinetely
D
- DAW – Digital Audio Workstation is programm to produce, record and edit audio files of any kind
- Delay (audio) – is the time between the original and repeated sound
- Delay (effect) – repeats the original audio by our setting creating depth and additional rythm
- DI- Box / Unit – is an electronic device typically used in recording studios to connect a high-output impedance, unbalanced output signal to a low-impedance, balanced input [8]
- Digital – signals like audio or video are defined by a discrete (ending) amount of points
- Distortion – is achieved by boosting the gain resulting in a rough, gritty sound especially knowns from electric guitars
- Doubling – is the recording of an audio track trying to play as identical as possible. By layering these tracks you can make vocals for e.g. sound fuller
- Dreadnought Guitar – is a type of an acoustic guitar with steel strings
- Dynamic Mic – is a microphone that picks up sounds using an electric coil
E
- EQ, Equalizer – device or plug in for treating specific frequencies
- Export – rendering or “saving” an audio project for further processing
F
- Figure 8 – also Bi Directional, is a characteristic of a microphone which is able to pick up sound from the front and the back but none from the side
- Filter – device or plugin for removing specific frequencies
- FL Studio – DAW for producing music; visit Image Line for more info
- Flanger – effect created by copying the original audio and shifting it in time and/or phase; often found on pedal boards
- Fret – is a thin metal rod placed on finger boards of guitars and basses dividing it chromatically
G
- Gate – device or plug in that only lets signal above a specific threshold through
- Group – channel or bus to which seperate channels are routed for processing like compression or eqing
H
- Hertz – is a unit for frequency, defined by cycles per second and named after the German physicist Heinrich Hertz
- High Pass – also low cut, is a filter that cuts low freqencies; in analogue environment this is achieved by using a capacitor
- High Cut – also low pass, is a filter that cuts high freqencies; in analogue environment this is achieved by using a capacitor
- Hyper Cardioid – is a characteristic of a microphone which is able to pick up sound from the front, some from the back but none from the side
I
- Interface – also audio interface is the port between the analog signal and the DAW, both in- and output
J
- Jete – a bowing technique in which the player is instructed to let the bow bounce or jump off the strings [3]
K
- Klangfarbe [Ger.] – tone color; distribution of pitch or melody among instruments, varying timbre [4]
L
- Lead Vocal – vocal that is the most prominent in a musical piece
- Lemon Oil Polish – special oil for cleaning and polishing wooden instruments, especially guitars. Not to be confused with Essential Lemon Oil!
- Low Cut – also high pass, is device of plug in that cuts low frequencies
- Low Pass – also high cut, is a device or plug in that cuts high frequencies
M
- Marker(s) – are tags set througout a song indicating diffrerent parts like intro, verse or for making notes for future references
- Mastering – Final process in audio production. This is mostly sweetening of the audio file and/or arranging the songs of an album in proper order
- Merge – making one track out of many; makes it easier for mixing. Also your hardrive will have to do less as it only needs access to one file instead of many different ones
- Microphone – is a device used to pick up sounds of all sort. Read more
- Mid Side Technique – is a miking technique for creating a 3D sound cape by using a bi directional and a omni directional microphone
- Mineral wool – is any fibrous material formed by spinning or drawing molten mineral or rock materials such as slag and ceramics [9]
- Mixdown – is simply speaking the reduction of a certain amount of recorded tracks to a single stereo file which is provided to the mastering engineer
- Mixer – is either a device used for mixing tracks or short for an audio mixing engineer
- Mixing – is finding and adjusting the right balance between provided audio tracks to get the audio experience desired
- Monitor – specially designed speakers that reproduce sound as unbiased as possible
- Mono – describes a single channel setup
N
- Neve – manufacturer of high end audio equipment, founded by legendary Rupert Neve; visit AMS Neve for more info
O
- Omni Directional – characteristic of a microphone which is able to pick up sound from any direction
- Overdub – is the additional recording of vocals or instruments to correct either mistakes or creating doubles for bigger sounds
- Overhead Microphone – are used in audio production to pick up ambient sounds and overall blend of instruments. Mostly used to capture a whole drum kit
P
- Parallel Compression – technique where the a track is doubled, compressed heavily and then mixed to the original track; that gives the impression of a compressed audio while maintaing desirable transients
- Patch Bay – is a board where ususally the mixing desk’s or audio interface’s and outboard gear’s in- and outputs are connected. Using telephone patch cords you can easily insert an compressor or EQ for e.g.
- Phase – is the position of a point in time (an instant) on a waveform cycle [10]
- Pultec – former producer of audio equipment and especially known for the first passive EQ, the EQP-1A
- Punch In – is deliberately pressing record in specific parts without having to record the whole part again
Q
- Quarter Tone – dividing a half tone into two; commonly used in eastern not so much in western music. Read more
R
- ReAmping – is the process of sending an audio signal out of your DAW to an amp. This way you can try multiple amps and catch the analogue feel of tubes and transistors
- Reverb (audio) – is the sum of all reflections (delayed copies) of a sound
- Reverb (effect) – is a device or a plug in that emulates a reverb to get a spatial listeing experience
- Ribbon Mic – is a microphone that picks up sounds using the principle of electromagnetic induction
- Rockwool – manufacturer for mineral wool, often used in studios for acoustic treatment; visit Rockwool for more info
- Room Mic – microphone that picks up ambient sound of a room while recording
S
- S/PDIF – Sony/Philips Digital Interface, is a type of digital audio interconnect used in consumer audio equipment to output audio over reasonably short distances [11]
- Steinberg Cubase – DAW for producing music; visit Steinberg for more info
- Stem – ususally premixed audio tracks, like drums, guitars or backing vocals
- Stereo – describes a single channel setup
- Strings – are a part of an orchestra including violins, vioals, chelli and contrabasses
- Super Cardiod – is a characteristic of a microphone which is able to pick up sound from the front, some from the back but none from the side
- Sweetspot – spot in the room where an individual is fully capable of hearing the stereo audio mix the way it was intended to be heard by the mixer. [2]
- Synthesizer – is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals that may be converted to sound
T
- Tape – is an analouge recording medium which was superseded by the digital tape
- Thomann – largest music store in Europe with a huge online shop; visit Thomann for more info
- Transient – a high amplitude, short-duration sound at the beginning of a waveform [12]
- Transient Designer – is a dynamic device or plug in that enhances or removes transients in an audio signal
- TRS – Tip Ring Sleeve, is a balanced connector type for audio singals
- TS – is an unbalanced connector type for audio singals
- Tube – is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes [13] Ususally these are found in compressors. amps or equalizers
U
- Universal Audio – manufacturer of high end audio equipment and plug ins; vist Universal Audio for more info
V
- Vinyl – is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove [14]
W
- Wah Wah Effect – is a type of electric guitar effects pedal that alters the tone and frequencies of the guitar signal to create a distinctive sound, mimicking the human voice [14]
- Western Guitar – is an acoustic guitar with steel strings thus producing a more bright and attacky sound, often found in pop production of any kind
- Widener – stereo effect that widens an audio track to make it appear bigger
X
- XLR – is a balanced connector mostly used in studio and live audio applications
Y
- Y- Adapter – is a connector that splits a signal into two seprate cables