Cable that has a shield around an inner conductor or inner conductors.
An elastic mount on microphone stand that reduces the impact of unwanted vibrations that may affect the stand (for example, floor vibrations from footsteps).
A direct connection between two points in a circuit that (usually) should not be connected.
Delay times under 20 milliseconds.
A technique in recording that routes the signal through the least amount of active (amplified) devices during recording.
A microphone with a long line filter, a tube that acoustically cancels sound arriving from the side, to make the microphone pick up much better in one direction than in any other direction. This gives the shotgun mic a tight, hypercardioid pickup pattern. Shotgun microphones are commonly used to record dialogue in filming situations, usually held on a boom stand with a shock mount.
Energy from a voice centered around 7 kHz, caused by pronouncing “s”, “sh” or “ch” sounds.
An auxiliary input to a signal processor that allows control of the processing to be triggered by an external source. A common use of sidechaining is in compressors, particularly in ducking effects where the presence of a particular audio signal triggers the compression of another audio signal. (See also “Ducking.”)
1) In audio, an alternating current (or voltage) matching the waveform of, or being originally obtained from, a sound pressure wave. 2) Also in audio, an alternating current (or voltage) between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz. 3) A digital audio bit stream.
1) In the general sense, the path that an audio signal travels from the sound source to the system output. (For example, from the vocalist’s voice into the microphone, through the cables, into the preamp, out of the preamp into the console, through all inserts and buses, and output into the DAW for recording.) 2) Signal flow is often specifically meant to refer to the routing of an audio signal through the console, from input to output.
The practice of altering the character or sound of an audio signal through a variety of devices or plug-ins, such as equalizers, compressors, reverb units, etc.
The comparison of the strength of a signal level to the amount of noise emitted by the device, expressed in dB.
The waveform of a “pure tone”—a sound vibrating at a single frequency. Depicted graphically, a sine wave is a smooth, oscillating curve.
Also called Slapback) A single, distinct echo of a sound, which can result naturally from higher frequencies reflecting off a non-absorbent wall, or artificially reproduced by a signal processing unit or plugin. Slap echo creates a “live” sounding effect similar to what you would hear in an arena.
1) In video/film, the identification of a scene and take at the beginning of the clip for the purpose of video editing. This is done by presenting the scene/take in written form in front of the camera on a clapboard, calling the scene/take verbally, then marking it audibly with the clapper for the purpose of syncing audio to the video. 2) In audio recording, the similar practice of identifying a take of music by an audible cue at the beginning of the recorded track. While some engineers still practice this, it was more necessary in the days of analog tape recording because it helped editors keep track of the location of takes on the recorder. Today, DAWs make it easier to keep track by identifying each take visually on the screen.
