A device that is placed over a microphone or between the microphone and vocalist to prevent loud “pop” sounds created by the vocalist’s breath directed toward the microphone.
1) A connection point in computer or electronic device for transmitting and receiving digital data, similarly to how a jack receives and transmits audio signals. 2) An opening or vent in a speaker case that resonates with air movement in the speaker, used in bass reflex speakers and woofers to enhance low frequencies.
A pitch change that smoothly glides from one pitch to another. Also refers to the synthesizer mode or MIDI command that allows or causes this to happen.
Short for either “Post Production” or “Post-Fader.” (See both entries.)
Refers to an aux send position or setting that places the send after the channel fader within the signal path. Sending a signal post-fader means the fader itself affects the level of the send signal, as opposed to pre-fader. (See also Pre-Fader.)
Refers to the work of adding tracks, editing and other fine tuning after primary recording or filming has taken place. Post-production in recording includes such things as additional overdubs, editing, mixing and mastering. Post-production in film includes a wide range of additional audio and visual effects. NOTE: We mention film in this context because film post-production includes a lot of audio work (e.g., voiceovers, foley, audio mixing and editing) to the point that many audio engineers are involved in film post-production as a full-time career.
A segment of blank tape (or track silence, on a DAW) that runs past the end of the recording. (See also “Pre-Roll.”)
See “Potentiometer.”
(Abbreviated “Pot“) Often thought of as a fancy word for “knob,” a potentiometer is basically any mechanism that controls input or output voltage by varying amounts (for example, panning a signal left/right, volume control, or the amount of signal sent to an aux send or bus. Potentiometers can be knobs or faders, meaning that almost every control on a console that isn’t a button or switch is a potentiometer. However, many engineers commonly refer to faders as “faders” and knobs as “pots.”
(abbreviated “Power Amp”) A device that amplifies a line level signal to drive a speaker or set of speakers. (See also “Line Level.”)
A boosting of high frequencies during the recording process to keep the audible signal above the noise floor.
Refers to an aux send position or setting that places the send before the channel fader within the signal path. Sending a signal pre-fader means the fader does not affect the level of the send signal, as opposed to pre-fader.
A parameter on a reverb unit or plugin that determines the amount of time (delay) between the original dry sound and the early reflections of reverberation. This feature is often used to simulate the natural acoustic properties of a room, but can also be used to create interesting unnatural effects.
(Also called “Forward Echo”) A compression artifact that often occurs in digital audio in which an “echo” of a sound (or part of a sound) is heard ahead of the sound itself, often due to the data inconsistencies in certain compressed digital formats. A type of pre-echo can also sometimes occur in the end product of a recording, occurring on tape as a result of low-level leakage caused by print-through, and also on vinyl records due to physical differences and/or deformities in the grooves between silence and a loud transient. In digital formats, pre-echo is generally an unwanted problem that requires additional signal processing to resolve—but in some cases it can also be used on purpose as a sound effect (not to be confused with “Reverse Echo”).
A function on the channel strip of a mixer or DAW that allows a channel signal to be heard and often metered before the channel fader.
