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The process of activating and/or deactivating the record function on tape or DAW during playback of a passage, usually as the performer plays/sings along. This can be used either as a method of doing quick overdubs, or as a way of getting a better take on a certain passage without having to start the track from the beginning.
A tone consisting of only the fundamental frequency with no overtones or harmonics, graphically represented as a simple sine wave.
Abbreviation for Crown Audio’s Pressure Zone Microphone. (See also “Boundary Microphone.”)
(Also called “Q Factor”) – Stands for “Quality Factor,” defining the bandwidth of frequencies that will be affected by an equalizer. The lower the Q, the broader the bandwidth curve of frequencies that will be boosted or cut.
A now rarely-used system of four-channel sound where the channels are designated as left front, left back, right front, right back, intended to deliver sound from all four corners of a room. Quadraphonic sound was a precursor to the surround-sound systems of today.
1) In digital music, the process of adjusting the rhythmic performance of music by moving the notes to precise locations on the time line, effectively “rounding” the note occurrences to the nearest defined increment. 2) In analog-to-digital conversion, the use of the same mathematical quantization principles to convert an analog signal into a smaller set of steps (a digital quantity).
The effective “error in translation” between an analog signal and its sampled counterpart due to the rounding of a large number of analog values to the nearest digital quantity. This often results in additional random frequencies in the sound, often heard as noise.
The modulation noise in a signal resulting from quantization error.
Mounting brackets that can are attached to equipment so it can be mounted in a standard equipment rack.
Describing outboard gear that can be housed in an equipment rack.
A cabinet or framework with rails, used to mount and house various components of outboard gear.
The angle and pattern of coverage of a speaker.
A graphic depiction of speaker coverage. This is not unlike the polar pattern of a microphone, with the exception that a polar pattern describes the area where sound arrives at the microphone, while a radiation pattern describes how sound is dispersed from the loudspeaker.
See “Sawtooth Wave.”
The “short-term” memory in a computer that is used in tandem with the processor for performing immediate tasks (as opposed to hard-drive storage memory where projects are saved and recalled). In the recording studios, the more RAM a computer has, the more ability it has to handle large amounts of data at a time (for example, in multi-track recording or working with virtual MIDI instruments).
