Lately I’ve been getting some questions regarding some of the terms I use during my various song critiques and presentations, so that means it’s probably a good time to break out the latest mixing glossary from my Mixing Engineer’s Handbook 6th Edition.
0 dB Full Scale. Abbreviated FS, it’s the highest level that can be recorded in the digital domain. Recording beyond 0dB FS results in distortion.
5.1. A speaker system that uses three speakers across the front and two surround speakers in the rear, along with a subwoofer.
808. One of the early drum machines made by Roland, favored for many years in hip-hop and EDM.
air. Frequencies above 10kHz that are more felt than heard. These frequencies can provide more realism to a sound when used in the correct proportion.
airplay. When a song gets played on the radio.
ambience. The background noise of an environment.
arpeggio. The notes of a chord played in quick succession.
arrangement. The way the various instruments and vocals are combined in a song.
articulations. The way a note or phrase is played or sung in terms of attack, release, and duration.
Atmos (see Dolby Atmos)
attack. The first part of a sound. On a compressor/limiter, a control that affects how quickly that the device will respond to the attack of a sound.
attenuation. A decrease in level.
attenuation pad (sometimes just called a pad). A circuit that decreases the input level by a set amount. The amount of attenuation is usually in 10dB or 20dB increments.
automation. A system that memorizes and then plays back the position of all faders and mutes on a console. In a DAW, the automation extends to other parameters, including sends, returns, panning, and plugin settings.
B-section (also known as a pre-chorus). A section of a song between the verse and chorus sections. Not found in every song.
bandwidth. The number of frequencies that a device is able to pass. A human being can theoretically hear from 20Hz to 20kHz, so the bandwidth of the human ear would be 20Hz to 20kHz.
basic track. Sometimes known as backing tracks, the foundation of a song, typically recorded first with the rhythm section (drums, bass, and sometimes rhythm guitar). These tracks provide the core rhythmic and harmonic structure upon which other elements are built.
bass management. A circuit that utilizes the subwoofer in an immersive audio playback system to provide bass extension for the five main speakers. The bass manager steers all frequencies below approximately 100 Hz into the subwoofer along with the LFE source signal. See LFE.
bass redirection. Another term for bass management.
big ears. The ability to be very aware of the sonic and musical details during recording or playback, and to rapidly dissect a track in terms of arrangement.
bit rate. The transmission rate of a digital signal.
bottom. Bass frequencies, the lower end of the audio spectrum. See also low end.
bottom end. See bottom.
bpm. Beats per minute. The measure of tempo.
Breakdown: A section of a song where the arrangement goes from being very full to very sparse.
brick wall. A limiter employing digital “look-ahead” technology so that the signal never exceeds a certain predetermined level.
bus. A signal pathway.
bus compression. The use of a compressor on a group or mix bus to glue multiple tracks together. This helps to control dynamics and create a more cohesive sound across instruments or vocals.
butt cut. Sometimes known as a straight cut, a butt cut is an audio edit with no fade.
chamber (reverb). A method of creating artificial reverberation using a tiled room, a speaker, and several microphones.
channel strip. A section of a mixing console or DAW channel that typically includes level, pan, EQ, and dynamics controls. Many plugins emulate classic hardware channel strips for a familiar workflow.
chatter. When a gate rapidly turns on and off due to fluctuating signal dynamics.
chorus. A type of signal processor where a detuned copy is mixed with the original signal to create a fatter sound.
clean. A signal with no, or unnoticeable, distortion.
clip. To overload and cause distortion.
clipping. When an audio signal begins to distort because a section of the signal path is overloaded, the top of the waveform becomes “clipped” off and begins to look square instead of rounded. This usually results in some type of distortion, which can be either soft and barely noticeable or objectionably crunchy-sounding.
clipping indicator. A visual LED or meter display that shows when a signal has exceeded the maximum level allowed, resulting in digital or analog distortion.
codec. An acronym for encoder-decoder.
color. To affect the timbral qualities of a sound.
comb filter. A distortion produced by combining an electronic or acoustic signal with a delayed copy of itself. The result is peaks and dips introduced into the frequency response.
compression. Signal processing that controls and evens out the dynamics of a sound.
compressor. A signal-processing device used to compress audio dynamics.
competitive level. A mix level that matches or exceeds the perceived loudness of comparable commercial releases.
cut. To decrease, attenuate, or make less.
DAC. Digital-to-analog converter. The device that converts the signal from the digital domain to the analog domain.
data compression. An algorithm that selectively eliminates bits from a digital stream to make it more efficient for storage and transmission.
DAW. A digital audio workstation. A computer with the appropriate hardware and software needed to digitize and edit audio.
dB. Stands for decibel, which is a unit of measurement of sound level or loudness. The smallest change in sound level that an average human can hear is 1dB.
decay. The time it takes for a signal to fall below the threshold of audibility.
delay. A type of signal processor that produces distinct repeats (echoes) of a signal.
desk. A British name for a recording console.
DI. Direct injection, an impedance-matching device for guitar or bass that allows the instrument to be connected directly to a recording console or DAW.
direct. To “go direct” means to bypass a microphone and connect the guitar, bass, or keyboard directly into a recording device.
direct box. See DI.
digital domain. When a signal source is converted into a series of electronic pulses represented by 1s and 0s, the signal is then in the digital domain.
digital over. The point beyond 0 on a digital processor level meter where the red Over indicator lights, signaling a digital overload and resulting distortion.
distortion. An alteration of an audio waveform, often caused by excessive level or intentionally through processing. Distortion adds harmonics and can range from subtle grit to harsh fuzz.
divergence. A parameter of surround panning that allows you to increase the level to channels other than the one panned to.
Dolby Atmos. An immersive sound technology developed by Dolby Laboratories. It expands on existing surround sound systems by adding height channels, allowing sounds to be interpreted as three-dimensional objects.
double. To play or sing a track a second time. The inconsistencies between both tracks make the part sound bigger.
double time. When one or more instrument plays the song at twice the tempo.
downmix. When a multichannel immersive mix is electronically converted into a playback format with fewer speakers.
dynamics (audio). Audio processors that control the dynamic range of an audio signal. These include compressors, limiters, gates, levelers, de-essers, and clippers.
dynamics (music). The volume at which mix elements are played. Songs that vary in dynamics are found to be expressive and interesting.
dynamic range. A ratio that describes the difference between the loudest and the quietest audio. A higher number indicates a greater dynamic range.
dubbing mixer. A film mixer who works on a dubbing stage, which is a film theater optimized for mixing audio with a console located in the listening position.
edgy. A sound with an abundance of midrange frequencies.
element. A component or ingredient of the mix.
envelope. The attack, sustain, and release of a sound.
equalizer. A tone control that can vary in sophistication from very simple to very complex. See parametric equalizer.
equalization. Adjustment of the frequency spectrum to even out or alter tonal imbalances.
exciter. An audio effects processor that uses phase manipulation and harmonic distortion to produce high-frequency enhancement of a signal.
feedback. When part of the output signal is fed back into the input.
feel. The groove of a song and how it feels to play or listen to it.
flanging. The process of mixing a copy of the signal back with itself, but gradually and randomly slowing the copy down, causing the sound to “whoosh” as if it were in a wind tunnel. This was originally done by holding a finger against a tape flange (the metal part that holds the magnetic tape on the reel), hence the name.
flip the phase. Selecting the phase switch on a console, preamp, or DAW channel in order to find the setting with the greatest bass response.
football. A slang term for a musical whole note, typically used for long, sustained chords.
frequency spectrum. The full range of audio frequencies that can be heard or reproduced, from about 20Hz to 20kHz.
FS. Full scale. A digital peak meter that reads at 0dB shows the full scale of the meter. It represents the maximum amplitude of a digital system.
gain. The amount that a sound is boosted.
gain reduction. The amount of compression or limiting.
gain staging. Setting the gain of each stage in the signal path so that the audio level from one stage doesn’t overload the next one in line.
grid. The spaced lines on a DAW timeline that represent each beat and sub-beat.
groove. The pulse of the song and how the instruments dynamically breathe with it. It can also refer to the part of a vinyl record that contains the mechanical information transferred to electronic signals by the stylus.
Haas Effect. A psychoacoustic effect where any delay signal below 40 milliseconds is indistinguishable from the source event. In other words, instead of hearing the sound and then a delay (two events), you hear both the source and the delay together as a single event.
harmonic distortion. The distortion of a waveform due to the presence of unwanted frequencies that are multiples of the fundamental frequency. These unwanted frequencies are called harmonics. Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) is a common measurement used to quantify the amount of harmonic distortion in a signal.
headroom. The amount of dynamic range between the normal operating level and the maximum level, which is usually the onset of clipping.
Hz. An abbreviation for hertz, which is the measurement unit of audio frequency, meaning the number of cycles per second. High numbers represent high-frequency sounds, and low numbers represent low-frequency sounds.
high end. The high frequency response of a device.
high-pass filter. An electronic device that allows the high frequencies to pass while attenuating the low frequencies. Used to eliminate low-frequency artifacts like hum and rumble. The frequency point where it cuts off can be fixed, switchable, or variable.
hook. A catchy phrase either played or sung.
hyper-compression. Too much bus compression or limiting during mixing or mastering in an effort to make the recording louder. This results in what’s known as hyper-compression, a condition that essentially leaves no dynamics and makes the track sound lifeless.
I/O. The input/output of a device.
immersive audio. Multi-dimensional sound that completely envelops the listener because of speakers placed around the listening environment and overhead.
input pad. An electronic circuit that attenuates the signal, usually by 10 or 20dB. See also attenuation pad.
in the box. Mixing with the software console inside a DAW application on a computer instead of using a hardware console.
iso booth. An isolation booth. An isolated section of the studio designed to eliminate outside sound from coming into the booth or sound leaking out.
intonation. The accuracy of tuning anywhere along the neck of a stringed instrument like a guitar or bass. Also applies to brass, woodwinds, and piano.
knee. The speed at which a compressor turns on once it reaches the threshold. A soft knee turns on gradually and is less audible than a hard knee.
kHz. One kHz equals 1,000 hertz (example: 4kHz = 4,000 Hz).
lacquer. The vinyl master, which is a single-sided 14″ disc made of an aluminum substrate covered with a soft cellulose nitrate. A separate lacquer is required for each side of a vinyl record. Since the lacquer can never be played, a reference or acetate is made to check the disc.
latency. A measure of the time it takes (in milliseconds) for an audio signal to pass through a computer system during the recording process. This delay is caused by the time it takes for the computer to receive, understand, process, and send the signal back to the output.
Watch for Part 2 coming up next week.
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