| Amplitude | The distance above and below the centerline of a waveform |
| Dynamic Range | The lowest and highest signals volumes of a signal |
| Frequency | The rate at which a soundwave repeats any number of cycles within one second |
| Headroom | Maximum amount of level a system can
take before you cause distortion.
A system can be an amplifier, a pre-amp, digital or audio tape, a console etc |
| Hertz | A frequency measurement unit (in cycles per second) |
| I/O | This stands for input/output. It is the most basic part of a console and refers to the input output module. When you see that a console is 32x8x2, the number 32 is the number of I/O modules |
| Masking | When a louder sound covers up a softer sound of similar frequency |
| Noise Floor | The inherent noise of a device |
| On-Axis | If you envision a polar axis around
a microphone, on-axis would be at zero degrees. Or at the front of the
mic. This is the area where the microphone's frequency response is best
Off-axis is at the back of the microphone
Semi-Tone: Also called a half-step.
It is an increment of pitch equivalent to one fret up or down on a guitar.
For instance from F to F Sharp is a semi-tone.
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| SPL | Sound Pressure Level. The measurement taken of audio level at one point. Mesured in decibels |
| Transient | A short duration, high level peak. Such as a hand clap or snare drum hit |
| Unity Gain | In the simplest terms it means, what you put into this gain stage (fader etc..) you're getting out the same level. You're not adding or subtracting from the signal |
| Velocity | The speed of sound in air, 1130 ft/sec at 70 degrees F |
| Wavelength | The actual size of a soundwave. Low
frequency waves are larger than hi frequency waves and are omni-directional.
High frequency waves are uni-directional |
| x-y technique | The stereo miking technique where two
microphones' capsules are placed in close proximity and are splayed at
90 degree to 110 degree angles as in the x-y axes on a graph.
3-to-1 Rule - Stereo mic placement technique that states: For every unit of distance away from the sound source, the mics must be at least 3 units of distance apart. This applies only to equidistant close miking of a sound source |
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