| Absorption |
The most important controlling factor in room acoustics. The absorption of particular sound frequencies. |
| Attack |
Commonly a control on compressors and gates. Used to set how fast the processor affects the sound. |
| Auxiliary |
Auxiliary send/cue send. Used as a split from a mixer channel to feed an effects unit or foldback system. |
| Cardioid |
Polar pickup pattern on most handheld microphones. Exhibits a large bias towards sounds from the front of the microphone capsule. |
| Compressor |
Dynamic processor, used to control the dynamic range of a sond source. |
| Condenser Microphone |
A particular type of mycrophone that useds a charged capicitor with one moving plate to transduce sound into electrical signal. |
| dB |
The decibel (dB) is used to measure sound level, but it is also widely used in electronics, signals and communication. The dB is a logarithmic unit used to describe a ratio. The ratio may be power, sound pressure, voltage or intensity or several other things. |
| Diffusion |
Another very important controlling factor in room acoustics. Techniques that are incorporated to diffuse sound around a space. |
| Dynamic Microphone |
A particular type of mycrophone that uses a moving diaghram, moving a magnet through a coil to generate an electrical current. |
| EQ |
Equalisation. Frequency dependent amplifiers to boost/cut particular areas of the frequency range. |
| Figure 8 |
A polar pickup pattern that is equally responsive from the front of the microphone and the rear, with a large null at either side. |
| Frequency |
Frequency of a sound wave normally audible to humans. Unit, hertz (Hz). audible frequencies range roughly from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. |
| Gain reduction |
Term used to describe the amount of gain reduction applied by a compressor. |
| Hyper Cardioid |
Simliar to cardioid, although this polar pattern exibits a much thigher response, with a larger null at the sides, and a slightly higher sensitivity from behind. |
| Level |
Term used to describe the amount of signal being fed into a particular piece of audio equipment. |
| Mac |
Abreviation for Apple macintosh computer. |
| Microphone |
Trasducer, designed to convert moving air particles into electronic current. |
| Mixer |
Short term for mixing console. |
| Monitors |
Term used to describe speakers that are specifically designed for recording/mixing of audio projects. |
| Mono |
Single channel of audio |
| Omni Directional |
A polar pattern that has an equal response for all sides of the microphone. |
| Patchbay |
Device used to simplify and improve connectivity of audio equipment. |
| PC |
Abbreviation for Personal Computer. |
| Pink Noise |
Random noise with energy distributed equally over the audio frequency range such that there is an equal sound pressure level in each octave band |
| Preamp |
Pre-amp[lifier. A peice of equipment used to boost the level of a microphone signal up to line level. |
| Producer |
Person responsible for completing a master recording so that it is fit for release. They control the recording sessions, coach and guide the performers, and supervise the mixing process. |
| Ratio |
Common control on most compressors, this defines how much the gain of the signal will be reduced, in relation to the input level and threshold control. |
| Release |
Common control on most compreesors and gates. Defines how quickly the processor stops processing the audio signal. |
| Reverberant |
Description of a rooms acoustic response. A reverberant room is a room that has reflective surfaces that sound can bounce from back to the listener. |
| Sound engineer |
The field of audio engineering integrates many disciplines, including electrical engineering, acoustics, psychoacoustics, and music |
| Speakers |
A loudspeaker is a device which converts an electrical signal into sound. The term is used to refer to both the transducer or driver itself, and a complete system consisting of one or several transducers in an enclosure. |
| Spectrum analyser |
Device used to determine the frequency spectrum of a sound. |
| Standing Waves |
A standing wave is the term used when a sound bounces back onto itself 2 or more times, resulting in phase cancellation and addition. |
| Stereo |
2 channels of audio. |
| Volume |
Term used to describe how loud a sound is. |
