AC:

Alternating Current.

Amp:

Unit of electrical current.

Amplifier:

Device that increases the level of an electrical signal.

Amplify:

To increase the level of a signal.

Amplitude:

Signal level, usually in volts.

Attenuate:

to decrease the level of a signal.

Aux Send:

Level control feeding a dedicated mix bus for driving external effects or a foldback monotoring system.

Balance:

Relative level of the left and right channels in a stereo mix.

Balanced:

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

Bandwidth:

A means of specifying the range of frequencies passed by an electronic circuit such as an amplifier, mixer or filter.

Boost/Cut Control:

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

Bus:

A common electrical signal path along which signals may travel. In a mixer, there are several busses carrying the stereo mix, the groups, the PFL signal, the aux sends and so on. Power supplies are also fed along busses.

Capacitor:

See Condenser

Channel:

A single strip of controls in a mixing console relating to either a single input or a pair of main/monitor inputs.

Chorus:

An effect created by doubling a signal and then adding delay and pitch modulation.

Clipping:

A severe form of distortion which occurs when a signal surpasses the maximum level that a piece of equipment can handle. In digital, levels above 0dB will clip.

Clone:

An exact duplicate. Often refers to digital copies of digital tapes.

Condensor:

Electrical component exhibiting capacitance. Condenser microphone are often abbreviated to condensers.

Compressor:

Device designed to reduce the dynamic range of an audio signal.

Cut-off-frequency:

The frequency at which the gain of an amplifier of filter has fallen by 3dB.

DAT:

Digital Audio Tape

dB:

deciBel. Unit used to express the relative levels of two electrical voltages, powers or sounds.

dBm:

Variation on dB referenced to 0dB = 1mW into 600 ohms.

dBv:

Variation on dB referenced to 0dB=0.775 volts.

dbx:

A tape noise reduction system.

Digital:

Electronic device that works by processing binary numbers.

Digital Delay:

Digital processor for generating delay and echo effects.

Ditital Reverb:

Digital process for simulating natural reverb that is lost when instruments are recorded in a dry or dull room.

Dynamic Microphone:

A microphone that has a moving coil in a magnetic field. They can withstand high sound pressure situations, making them appropriate for miking guitar amps, or live sound reinforcement.

Dynamic Range:

the difference between the highest and lowest levels of a varying signal.

Effects Loop:

Where an unprocessed or dry signal is sent from the output of one device into the input of an effects unit, then returned from the output of the effects unit to the input of the original device.

Effects Return:

Additional mixer input designed to accommodate the output from an effects unit.

Electret Microphone:

A type of capacitor microphone utilizing a permanently charged capsule.

Equaliser (or EQ):

A fancy name for a tone control. They enable the user to boost or cut certain frequencies of an audio signal.

Expander:

A device that increases the dynamic range of a signal.

Fader:

Sliding level control used in mixers and other processors.

Filter:

A circuit that amplifies or attenuates a specific range of frequencies.

Flanging:

Modulated delay effect using feedback to create a dramatic, sweeping sound.

Foldback:

System for feeding one or more separate mixes to the performers for use while recording and overdubbing. Also know as a cue mix.

frequency:

Indication of how many cycles of a repetitive waveform occur in one second (see Hz).

Frequency Response:

A measurement of the frequency range that can be handled by a specific piece of electrical equipment or loudspeaker.

Gain:

The amount of amplification applied to a signal.

Gate:

Device for muting a signal when it falls below a level set by the user. (The level is commonly called the threshold)

Graphic Equalizer:

An equalizer controlled by faders where each fader provides cut or boost over a narrow range of frequencies. The name comes about because the position of the faders gives a graphic representation of the frequency response curve of the device.

Ground:

Electrical earth or 0 volts.

Ground Loop:

Wiring problem where multiple ground connections are causing audible hum to be picked up. Also known as earth loops, or 60 cycle hum.

Harmonic:

High frequency component of a complex waveform.

Harmonic Distortion:

The addition of harmonics that were not present in the original signal.

High Pass Filter:

A filter that passes frequencies above a specified point and attenuates those falling below that point.

Hz:

Short for Hertz. 1 Hz=1 cycle per second.

Impedance:

Can be visualized as the "AC resistance" of a circuit which contains both resistive and reactive components.

Inductor:

Reactive component that presents an increasing impedance with frequency.

Insert Point

Connector allowing an external processor to be connected in series with an existing signal path. In an insert point, a "Y" cable is used.

Intermodulation Distortion:

A form of distortion that introduces frequencies not present in the original signal. These are invariably based on the sum and difference products of the original frequencies.

kHz:

1000Hz

k ohm:

1000 ohms

LED (light emitting diode)

Solid state lamp.

LFO

Low Frequency Oscillator, often found in synths or effects using modulation.

Limiter:

Device which prevents an audio signal from exceeding a specified level.

Low Pass Filter:

A circuit that passes signals below a specified frequency and attenuates those above it.

mA:

Miliamp or one thousandth of an amp.

Meg:

Abbreviation for 1,000,000.

MIDI:

Musical instrument digital interface.

MTC:

Midi time code; a MIDI implementation of SMPTE time code.

Monitor:

To listen to the tracks already recorded on tape while overdubbing a new part. Listening to a mix over the studio speakers is also known as monitoring.

Noise Gate:

see gate

Noise Reduction

Generally refers to a tape noise reduction system such as Dolby b or dbx. These are double-ended noise reductions because the signal has to be processes during recording and then 'unprocessed' on playback. So-called single-ended noise reduction systems are also available which use dynamic filters of digital processing to reduce the level of audible noise in a signal.

Normalise:

A socket is said to be normalized when it is wired such that the original signal path is maintained unless a plug is inserted into the socket. The most common examples of normalized connectors are the insert points on a mixing console.

Octave:

When a frequency or pitch is transposed up by one octave, it's frequency is doubled.

Oscillator:

Electronic circuit that generates a cyclic waveform.

Overdub:

To add another part to a multitrack recording or to replace one of the existing parts.

Overload:

To exceed the operating capacity of an electronic or electrical circuit.

Pan:

The control on a mixer that moves a signal to any point in the stereo spectrum, by varying the relative level fed to the left and right stereo outputs.

Parametric Equalizer:

An equalizer in which the cut/boost, frequency and bandwidth are all adjustable.

Patch Bay:

I system of panel-mounted connectors used to bring inputs and outputs to a central point from where they can be routed using plug-in patch cords.

Patch Cord:

A short cable used with patch bays.

Phase:

The timing difference two electrical waveforms expressed in degrees where 360 degrees corresponds to a delay of exactly one cycle.

Phaser:

An effect which combines a signal with a phase shifted version of itself to produce creative filtering effects. Most phasers are controlled by means of an LFO.

Post-Fade:

Aux signal taken from after the channel fader so that the aux send level follows any channel fader changes. Normally used for feeding effects devices.

Pre-Fade:

Aux signal taken from before the channel fader so that the channel fader has no effect on the aux send level. Normally used for creating Foldback, or Cue mixes.

Punch In:

The action of placing an already recorded tape track into record at the correct time, one the fly, so that the existing material may be extended or replaced.

Punch Out:

The action of switching a tape machine out of record after executing a punch-in. With most multitrack machines, both punching in and out can be accomplished without stopping tape. Most new machines have auto punch in/out where you set points in advance, and let the machine do the work.

Q:

A measure of the sharpness of a bandpass filter. the higher the value of Q, the narrower the and of frequencies that passes through the filter.

R-DAT:

Ditital tape machine using a rotating head system.

Resonance:

Same as Q.

Reverb:

Accoustic ambiance created by multiple reflections in a confined space.

Roll-Off:

The rate at which a filter attenuates a signal once it has passed the filter cut-off point.

Sequencer:

Computer-based system for the recording, editing and replay of MIDI music compositions.

Sibilance:

When a vocalist's sibilants (s or z or p) are exaggerated. ex. A popped p.

Signal-to-noise Ratio (s/n ratio):

The ratio of maximum signal level to the residual noise expressed in dBs.

SMPTE:

Time code developed for the film industry but now extensively used in music and recording. SMPTE is a real time code and is related to hours, minutes, seconds, and film or video frames rather than to musical tempo.

SPL:

Sound pressure level, measured in dBs.

Stereo:

Two-channel system feeding left and right speakers.

Stripe:

To record time code onto one track of a multitrack tape machine.

Tracking:

Often used to describe the action of recording the same performance many times onto different tape tracks to achieve a richer sound.

Unbalanced:

Conventional audio connection with a single signal conductor surrounded by a screen.

Valve:

Vacuum tube amplification component.

Watt:

Unit of electrical power.

Waveform:

Graphic representation of an electrical signal.

XLR:

Type of connector commonly used to carry balanced audio signals including the feeds from microphones.

Y-Lead:

Lead split so that one source can feed two destinations. Y leads may also be used in console insert points in which case a stereo jack plug at one end of the cable is split into two mono plugs at the other.

Parts of this were recopied from the Spirit Guide to Studio Recording