Bi-Directional
A microphone that picks up sound from the front and back but not the sides
Bit-Depth
A measure of the accuracy of a program. The higher the bit depth, the more accurate the output. For instance, running a recording session at 24bits means the audio will be more accurate than if it was running at 16bits.
Buffer size
How much data a computer program can handle at a time. Lower buffer sizes have lower latency, but are more susceptible to crashing. Higher buffer sizes have greater latency, but are less susceptible to crashing. The rule of thumb is to set your buffer siz
Cardioid
A unidirectional microphone with a broad heart-shaped pickup pattern. These are often handheld mics used by TV journalists for "on-the-scene" interviews and reports.
channel
similar to a bus a pathway, a pathway through an audio device. For example, sound mixers have multiple input channels and output channels.
Clipping
used when a channel on a DAW or mixing board has too volume being sent into it. In general, you want to give a channel enough headroom so that clipping doesn't occur.
Condenser Mic
A microphone commonly found in studios with a large frequency range and high sensitivity. Known for being very accurate
Doubling
Recording multiple times to get a thicker sound (bowl of oatmeal type of thicc)
Dynamic mic
A microphone found in both live and studio settings but has limited frequency range and lower sensitivity. Known for handling louder and aggressive instruments
Headroom
The amount of volume a channel can take before distorting. The louder the sound, the less headroom it has. For example, if a sound is peaking at -5dB, it has 5dB's of headroom. If it's peaking at -1dB, it has 1 dB of headroom.
audio engineer
someone who records, edits, mixes, or masters audio. Usually works in a studio or live concert setting.
Latency
The amount of delay between between the input and the output of a signal. Latency usually refers to the delay that occurs when someone tries to record something when there are too many plugins on the session. The input (the instrument) is delayed so that
BPM
Beats Per Minute or Beats by Dre
Layering
Recording several copies of one musical part to be performed on top of each other. A more extreme version of doubling.
Mono
The opposite of stereo. A sound that has one source, rather than two
Omnidirectional
microphone that picks up sound from all directions
Phantom Power
+48 Volts. The power necessary to get a condenser mic to work. Most audio interfaces have a button that sends this power to a microphone that needs it.
Plosives
Sounds made from the mouth that blow quick bursts of air. Common examples are words with p's, b's, t's, k's, and d's
Polarity
The direction of waveform, Basically, the peaks are where the troughs once were, and vice versa. Polarity buttons (sometimes called phase buttons) are common on audio interfaces to keep stereo inputs in phase with each other.
Pop filter
foam rubber windscreen placed inside the microphone head. Particularly effective in reducing sound from plosives and blowing
Preamp
an amplifier that boosts the incoming signal from a microphone. Without a preamp, the sound from a microphone would be too quiet to use
proximity effect
the closer you get to the microphone the more low frequencies are recorded. This phenomenon is only present when using a condenser or ribbon mic
ribbon mic
A microphone commonly found in studios with a high frequency range and sensitivity. Known for "coloring" the sound it records.
room tone
The tone of the reverb produced in a room. Also refers to how the room "colors" a sound.
Sensitivity
How much sound a microphone can pick up. When the level of the mic's preamp is increased, the sensitivity is increased. The more sensitive the mic, the more detail and background noise will be recorded.
Sibilance
The sound of an "s" in a word. For example, sit, stay, masks, etc. Usually problematic in vocal recording, as microphones pick up the sibilance sounds more than the rest of the frequency spectrum. One of the most popular ways to fix sibilance is a de-esse
stereo
The opposite of mono. A sound that has two sources, rather than one. Creates the illusion of horizontal space in recordings.
Talkback
A mic in the control room of a studio that allows the engineer or producer to talk to the performers who are recording in the studio.
Tape
The medium that sound was recorded on before the transition to computers in the mid-80's. While technically less accurate than digital recording, tape is sought after for the warmth and aggression it adds to the sounds recorded on it.
automation
telling" a program to do a certain thing at a certain time in a song. For example, automating a track to pan from left to right over the course of 4 bars. All major DAW's have the capability to automate different parameters and plugins.
auxiliary trax
(or Aux track)- A track that has no audio on it, but has audio being sent to it for processing.
buffer size
How much data a computer program can handle at a time. Lower buffer sizes have lower latency, but are more susceptible to crashing. Higher buffer sizes have greater latency, but are less susceptible to crashing. The rule of thumb is to set your buffer siz
Bus or Buss
The pathway along which an electrical signal flows. For example, the output of a DAW is referred to as the mix bus or stereo bus. The term is also used to describe an aux track with several tracks of the same instrument flowing into it. For example, if I
channel
Similar to a bus, a pathway through an audio device. For example, sound mixers have multiple input channels and output channels.
clipping or peaking
Another word for distorting. "Clipping" is usually used when a channel on a DAW or mixing board has too volume being sent into it. In general, you want to give a channel enough headroom so that clipping doesn't occur.
Comping
Combining several different takes of an instrument into one. Basically, copying the best parts of each recording and pasting them onto a single track, so that the performance of that instrument is the best it can be.
Crossfade
A specific type of fade where one sound fades in as another sound fades out. These are used when editing audio so that the transition between the two audio clips is smooth, rather than jarring. Or the urban dictionary definition jk
Dithering
Adding white noise to a recording to reduce distortion when the recording is exported at a lower bit rate. Only used during the mastering process.
dry sound
An unprocessed sound; a sound without an effect on it. The opposite of a wet sound. Basically unseasoned sound
Fade
The increase and decrease of volume at the beginning and end of a sound or a song. Or go to your local barber and ask for one.
Gain
This is a synonym for volume, though it's often used as another word for distortion.
Gain staging
This refers to 1) the process of making sure a recording is the same volume after a plugin as it was before, and 2) the process of making sure all of the recordings in a session are relatively the same volume.
Bounce
Another word for export. If you are "bouncing a track," that means you're just exporting a session into a listenable format, like an mp3 or wav file.
Listener fatigue
The natural degradation of the accuracy of the human ear over several hours of listening. The ear is like a muscle - when it is used a lot, it gets tired. When a mixer reaches the point of listener fatigue, he or she needs to rest their ears, or they will
Looping
Repeating a section of a song over and over again.
Mute
Turning the sound off. Because it suck like the one time fergie did the national anthem
Sample
This refers to 1) a short section of music taken from one recording and repurposed in another, or 2) the smallest unit of measurement in digital sound. Kinda how Drake makes his music.
sample rate
A setting that determines how accurately audio that is being recorded onto a DAW is encoded. The higher the sample rate, the higher the sound quality of the recorded audio. However, it also leads to larger file sizes for the audio files.
Signal flow
Where a signal travels from the input of a system to the output. For example, the average signal flow of a sound would be the microphone, then the audio interface, then the DAW, then the performer's headphones.
Solo
An action that temporarily mutes all sounds other than the one currently selected. Only the soloed sound is heard.
XLR
A cable with three prongs that is used by microphones.
Quarter inch
also known as a TRS cable, these are cables that are commonly used for instruments like guitars and basses. Thicker versions of this cable are used for speakers.
Processor
any hardware or software that changes the pitch, speed, loudness, or tone of a sound.
plug in
A piece of software used within a DAW that processes the sound of a recording.
Pad
Something that can quickly reduce the input volume of a piece of hardware. Commonly found on microphones and preamps
MIDI
Generally refers to the notes and other data recorded when using software instruments. It's also used to refer to the software instruments themselves. For example, a software piano is also known as a MIDI piano, and the notes it records in your DAW are kn
Meter
A piece of software or hardware that analyzes certain data and visually shows you the results. For example, anything that shows the volume of a sound is a volume meter.
Tremolo
A sound processor that either quickly turns the volume of a sound up and down, or quickly pans it left to right.
Threshold
A parameter of a sound processor that tells the processor to not kick in until the volume of an incoming sound exceeds the set volume limit. For example, a compressor does not start to turn down audio until the instrument gets louder than the threshold se
sustain
How long a sound can hold before it begins to fade.
Pitch shifter
A sound processor that changes the pitch of a sound.
Phaser
A sound processor that removes certain random frequencies by creating a copy of the soundwave and moving it back and forth, causing a "phasing" sound.
Flanger
Uses the same process as a chorus, but with dramatically short delays. Rather than "thickening" a sound, a flanger is usually less subtle. It's been described as sounding "like an airplane flying right over your head.
Decay
How fast a sound fades from a certain loudness.
Chorus
a sound processor that makes a sound seem doubled by creating several delayed copies of the original sound and slightly varying the pitch of each copy. Used to "thicken" a sound.
Ping-pong
A delay that alternates between the left and right speakers. or table tennis
Predelay
a short delay between a sound and when an effect begins. Usually measured in milliseconds (ms). For example, a 50ms reverb pre-delay means that there is 50ms between the actual sound and when the reverberated sound starts
Slapback
- A quick delay (30-200ms) with little to no repetitions. Or when you get slapped and return the favor.
Reverb
The sound of a room after a sound has been produced inside it. If more reverb is desired, it can be added to a recording digitally via a reverb plugin.
Feedback
When a signal is sent through an amplifier and into a microphone, which picks up the sound and sends it back through the amplifier, and so on. The loop of sound creates high pitched whines. Also refers to the parameter on a delay that adds more repetition
Fuzz
A specific type of distortion that cuts the tops off of waveforms to produce a particular sound. Fuzz sounds exactly like its name - fuzzy. Mostly used with electric guitars.
Distortion
The result of a sound source overloading an amplifier or sound processor. Basically, new frequencies are added where there were none before. This can be pleasing or very harsh. The nature of the distortion depends on the equipment that is being distorted.
Saturation
Usually refers to the distortion that occurs when a piece of analog equipment is overloaded by a sound passing through it. Though overloading digital equipment tends to produce harsh sounds, saturation can make a sound "fat," "round," or "smooth." Saturat
Knee
A control on a compressor that changes how variable the severity of compression is once the threshold has been passed. A "soft" knee makes the compression less obvious, whereas a "hard" knee makes the compressor more obvious. Or a body part that connects
Noise Gate
A sound processor that cuts off the volume of a sound once it passes below a certain volume threshold.
Attack
This refers to 1) the very beginning of a sound, and 2) the amount of time it takes www.musicianonamission.com 5 after a sound begins for a sound processor to begin working. Usually measured in milliseconds (ms)
Hertz
The unit of measurement for frequencies. After 1,000Hz, the unit is measured in Kilohertz (or kHz).
Kilohertz
1000x the unit of measurement for frequencies. 1 kHz = 1,000 Hz.
Highs
The section of the frequency spectrum above 8kHz. Or great moments in life
Lows
The section of the frequency spectrum between 60Hz-200Hz. Or down moments in life
spectrum analyzer
a visual graph that shows what frequencies are being produced in real-time by a sound. Or fancy term for the guy that comes and check your wifi and cable
Bandwidth
The amount of space on the frequency spectrum that the sounds of an instrument are being produced at. For example, an average electric guitar has a bandwidth of 80Hz-5kHz, as the instrument cannot produce sounds above or below those frequencies. Or the ex
Equalization
A sound processor that can boost or cut particular frequencies in a sound.
Sweetening
The process of enhancing a sound of a recording. Or simply adding sugar to something.
Simbilance
The sound of an "s" in a word. For example, sit, stay, masks, etc. Usually problematic in vocal recording, as microphones pick up the sibilance sounds more than the rest of the frequency spectrum. One of the most popular ways to fix sibilance is a de-esse
clipping
Another word for distorting. "Clipping" is usually used when a channel on a DAW or mixing board has too volume being sent into it. In general, you want to give a channel enough headroom so that clipping doesn't occur.
Distortion
The result of a sound source overloading an amplifier or sound processor. Basically, new frequencies are added where there were none before. This can be pleasing or very harsh. The nature of the distortion depends on the equipment that is being distorted.
Overdrive
Usually refers to the distortion that occurs when an amplifier is overloaded. Commonly used to describe guitar amp distortion. Considered to be "creamier" than the harshness of digital distortion.
Attack
This refers to 1) the very beginning of a sound, and 2) the amount of time it takes after a sound begins for a sound processor to begin working. Usually measured in milliseconds (ms).
Fundamental
When a sound is produced by an instrument, a series of harmonics are created that determine the tone of that sound. The lowest (and loudest) of those frequencies is the fundamental. It is the primary harmonic of that sound.
masking
The phenomenon when one's perception of one sound is affected by the presence of another sound. Basically, if two sounds are present in the same frequency range, then it will be harder to distinguish between the two. You want to avoid masking in order to
Overtone
When a sound is produced by an instrument, a series of harmonics are created that determine the tone of that sound. All of the harmonics that aren't the lowest (known as the fundamental) are known as overtones.
Timbre
another word for tone.
analog
Technology that does not use digital components. Often used to describe audio technology from before the mid-80's. Analog gear tends to be sought after for the way that it "colors" sound.
sine wave
A perfect soundwave with no harmonics or overtones. These cannot be produced in nature, but are the basis for many synthesizers and effects.
decibel
the main unit of volume measurement. A dB is relative, as there are several different "scales" of dB's that are used in audio (dB-FS being the most common, along with dB-VU, dB-RMS, and dB-LUFS). Each dB scale has a certain function in audio.
Ambience
Background noise added to a musical recording to give the impression that it was recorded live. Often done using short room reverbs.
Acoustic Treatment
Panels made of fiberglass (among other things) that are hung from walls in order to deaden room reflections and balance the frequency response of a room. Treatment is very important when recording or when mixing using speakers.
Dynamics
The loud and soft points of a sound over time. The higher the range, the more difference there is between the loudest point and the softest point.
Feedback
When a signal is sent through an amplifier and into a microphone, which picks up the sound and sends it back through the amplifier, and so on. The loop of sound creates high pitched whines. Also refers to the parameter on a delay that adds more repetition
Flat
A word used to describe a piece of gear that has no coloration to the sound; what comes in is what comes out. Most digital gear has a flat response, whereas most analog gear does not. Or the overrated piece of chicken.
Fundamental
When a sound is produced by an instrument, a series of harmonics are created that determine the tone of that sound. The lowest (and loudest) of those frequencies is the fundamental. It is the primary harmonic of that sound.
phase
The nature of the location of two similar waveforms in relation to each other. If two similar waveforms are "in-phase," then the peaks and troughs of the waves are lined up with each other. If the waveforms are "out-of-phase," then the peaks are in line w
Plosives
Sounds made from the mouth that blow quick bursts of air. Common examples are words with p's, b's, t's, k's, and d's.
Polarity
The "direction" of a waveform. When you "flip the polarity" of a waveform, it turns the waveform upside down. Basically, the peaks are where the troughs once were, and vice versa. Polarity buttons (sometimes called phase buttons) are common on audio inter
bit depth
A measure of the accuracy of a program. The higher the bit depth, the more accurate the output. For instance, running a recording session at 24bits means the audio will be more accurate than if it was running at 16bits.
console
A device for recording, mixing, or live sound purposes that amplifies, balances, processes, and combines sounds. Basically, it's the studio version of a DAW.
DAW
Digital Audio Workstation. The software that you record, edit, mix, and master in. Popular versions are Pro Tools, Logic Pro, GarageBand, Ableton Live, etc.
Fader
The part of the channel that controls the volume. Faders are always a straight line, in contrast to knobs/pots, which are always circular.
Makeup gain
A parameter that allows you to increase the output volume of a sound processor that made the input sound quieter. For example, a compressor makes sounds softer, so makeup gain is needed to keep the sound at the same volume that it previously was.
meter
A piece of software or hardware that analyzes certain data and visually shows you the results. For example, anything that shows the volume of a sound is a volume meter.
MIDI
Generally refers to the notes and other data recorded when using software instruments. It's also used to refer to the software instruments themselves. For example, a software piano is also known as a MIDI piano, and the notes it records in your DAW are kn
Monitors
This refers to 1) speakers that are used for mixing, or 2) the screen of a computer.
Pad
Something that can quickly reduce the input volume of a piece of hardware. Commonly found on microphones and preamps.
Phantom Power
+48 Volts. The power necessary to get a condenser mic to work. Most audio interfaces have a button that sends this power to a microphone that needs it.
Plug in
A piece of software used within a DAW that processes the sound of a recording.
Processor
any hardware or software that changes the pitch, speed, loudness, or tone of a sound.
Quarter inch
also known as a TRS cable, these are cables that are commonly used for instruments like guitars and basses. Thicker versions of this cable are used for speakers.
XLR
A cable with three prongs that is used by microphones.
Audio Engineer
someone who records, edits, mixes, or masters audio. Usually works in a studio or live concert setting.
Bounce
Another word for export. If you are "bouncing a track," that means you're just exporting a session into a listenable format, like an mp3 or wav file.
BPM
Beats Per Minute. It's the tempo of the song.
Listener fatigue
The natural degradation of the accuracy of the human ear over several hours of listening. The ear is like a muscle - when it is used a lot, it gets tired. When a mixer reaches the point of listener fatigue, he or she needs to rest their ears, or they will
Looping
Repeating a section of a song over and over again.
Mute
An action that stops the sound of a channel from playing.
Sample
This refers to 1) a short section of music taken from one recording and repurposed in another, or 2) the smallest unit of measurement in digital sound.
sample rate
A setting that determines how accurately audio that is being recorded onto a DAW is encoded. The higher the sample rate, the higher the sound quality of the recorded audio. However, it also leads to larger file sizes for the audio files.
signal flow
Where a signal travels from the input of a system to the output. For example, the average signal flow of a sound would be the microphone, then the audio interface, then the DAW, then the performer's headphones.
solo
An action that temporarily mutes all sounds other than the one currently selected. Only the soloed sound is heard.
pan pot
A control that places a sound in the left speaker, the right speaker, or somewhere in between.
latency
The amount of delay between between the input and the output of a signal. Latency usually refers to the delay that occurs when someone tries to record something when there are too many plugins on the session. The input (the instrument) is delayed so that
send
A routing function inside a DAW that allows you to send a copy of an audio file to an auxiliary track without affecting the sound of the original file.
dithering
Adding white noise to a recording to reduce distortion when the recording is exported at a lower bit rate. Only used during the mastering process.
mono
The opposite of stereo. A sound that has one source, rather than two.
mix bus
The channel that all of the audio of a session flows to.
comping
Combining several different takes of an instrument into one. Basically, copying the best parts of each recording and pasting them onto a single track, so that the performance of that instrument is the best it can be
wet sound
A fully processed sound; a sound with only an effect on it. The opposite of a dry sound.
mono
The opposite of stereo. A sound that has one source, rather than two.
pop filter
a foam rubber windscreen that is placed in front of a microphone to reduce the sound of plosives.
processors
any hardware or software that changes the pitch, speed, loudness, or tone of a sound.
equalization
A sound processor that can boost or cut particular frequencies in a sound.
filter
a feature of an EQ that cuts the sound of the low end or the high end of the frequency spectrum. These are known as a High Pass Filter (HPF) and a Low Pass Filter (LPF), respectively.
sweetening
The process of enhancing a sound of a recording.
stereo
The opposite of mono. A sound that has two sources, rather than one. Creates the illusion of horizontal space in recordings.