Music Production Vocab Flashcards
AAC
A lossy audio file format developed by Apple, with a slightly better compression algorithm than MP3 for quality. iTunes Store purchases are 256kbps AAC files
AAX (Avid Audio eXtension)
A plugin format more popular among audio engineers as opposed to producers – native to Avid Pro Tools only and requires a 64-bit system. The newer version of RTAS
AC (Alternating Current)
An analogue electrical current used to power hardware. The default power you’ll find from a standard electrical outlet. ‘Alternating’ refers to the sine wave shape of the current.
Acoustics
The sonic properties of any space that alter the qualities of a sound being played. Can refer to natural reverb, phase cancellation and/or background noise etc.
Acoustic Treatment
The process of reducing acoustic inaccuracies and reflections in physical spaces by introducing dampening materials, such as foam and bass traps etc., in key area
Active
A device that has its own built-in power amplifier. The opposite of a passive device. Most studio monitors these days are active.
A/D
Analogue to Digital Converter. Typically found in most Audio Interfaces to capture acoustic/analogue audio sources.
Additive Synthesis
A form of audio synthesis that outputs sound by mathematically adding harmonics (sine waves) to each other.
ADSR
tands for Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release – refers to the envelope applied to a sound to shape it over time. Can be applied to the volume, filter, pitch or more. Can make things sound plucky, soft, or ambient etc.
Aftertouch –
A MIDI parameter found on most keyboards. It senses the pressure applied to a key after it has been initially played, and then that can be mapped to control a specific modulation source, such as volume, a filter or anything.
AIFF –
Stands for Audio Interchange File Format. It is a high quality (lossless) audio file format created by Apple. Comparable to WAV or FLAC in terms of quality. Sounds pretty nice, and unlike WAV, it actually allows decent tagging.`
Aliasing
Subtle distortion that occurs in the digital realm when the input frequency is higher than the sample rate. The sample cannot be measured accurately and thus introduces imperfections into the sound.
Ambience
Can refer to a sound in a track which creates a sense of space or atmosphere – typically achieved by the use of time-based audio effects such as delays and reverbs. Also can refer to the level of sound in a recording that contains background noise, separate to the intended recording. Typically this background noise is undesirable, but sometimes it is an aesthetic choice.
Ambient
A genre of music featuring drawn-out drones and pads, typically features no drums and is very stripped back and loop-based.
Amen Break
When you stop producing to say a prayer. Not really, it’s actually one of the most sampled drum patterns of all time, a six-second clip from the song Amen Brother by The Winstons. Typically used in genres like Drum and Bass, Jungle and Breakbeat. You’ve definitely heard it before.
Amp (Amplifier)
Typically refers to a hardware or digital emulation of an amplifier, which is a tool that increases the level of a signal to increase loudness. Different methods of amplification can colour the sound in pleasing ways, and thus an amp is also a creative tool, rather than just a functional one.
Amplitude
Refers to the loudness or height of a waveform – higher means louder, lower means quieter. An amplitude of 0 (or -∞dB) means silence.
Analog(ue)
Audio that occurs in physical space as opposed to bits in the digital space. Analogue signals and technology are continuous and infinitely measurable, whereas digital signals are limited to the defined sample rate and bit depth. Thus, analogue is commonly referred to as having a warmer, more realistic sound.
Apple
Alright, you probably know this one already. But in case you don’t, Apple is the designer and manufacturer of laptops and desktops and has been the choice of audio professionals for years. Oh, and they’re one of the largest technology companies in the modern world.
Arpeggio (Arp)
A chord played in a series of repeating steps instead of at the same time. Makes you sound like a good producer without much of the effort.
Arpeggiator
A MIDI Effect that turns a static chord into an arpeggio. If that doesn’t make sense, it makes things go bleep-bleep-bleep.
Arrangement
The way that instruments and sections are laid out in a track/song. Referred to as Instrumentation and Structure, respectively. A very important concept in songwriting.
Arturia
A hardware and software manufacturer responsible for a lot of analogue and analogue-modelled equipment. They make the V Collection, a collection of synths that model famous analogue synthesisers.
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Atmosphere
A sonic effect created by reverb, long tails and quieter sounds. Referred to as the background of a track.
Attack
The initial part of an ADSR envelope – describes the amount of time for a sound to reach maximum amplitude in milliseconds or seconds. Faster attack sounds plucky and comes in straight away (low milliseconds), slower attack sounds spacey and takes a while to fade in (high seconds).
Attenuation
The lowering of the loudness of a signal, usually measured in dB (decibels). The attenuation knob on a piece of gear or on a plugin is used to reduce increases in loudness introduced by other effects, such a distortion or amplification.
AU (Audio Unit
A plugin format created by Apple for macOS/OSX only. Other formats include VST, AAX and RTAS
Audacity
An audio editor used to edit audio, available on Windows and macOS. Powerful but lacks the functionality of a professional DAW like Ableton. Some people produce full tracks in it, yeah you heard me.
Audio
Technically, this just refers to all sound that we hear in the range of human hearing (~20Hz-20000Hz). Commonly, audio is used to refer to a recording of a sound, particularly when on an audio track and it being played in a track’s arrangement.
Audio Effect
Any plugin, stock effect or piece of gear that processes audio and alters the sonic properties of a sound. Can refer to EQ, compression, reverb, delay, distortion etc.
Audio Engineering
The process of recording, mixing and mastering studio or live recordings.
Audio Interface
A piece of hardware that can take sound as an input and also output sound. Most computers include a built-in sound card, but it is not a full audio interface, which is a more comprehensive and high-quality solution for music production and can be used to record instruments and output to studio monitors.
Audio Track
A track that stores and plays audio, as opposed to a MIDI Track.
Automation
The modulation of a parameter over time, such as a filter sweep or volume change. Usually, automation is recorded into the arrangement of a track and automatically adjusts a parameter once recorded.
Aux Channel
A send or return channel that allows for additional parallel processing of multiple sources at once. For example, most people put reverb on an aux channel to allow group processing of multiple sounds that need reverb. Not to be confused with the cable that your friend asks for whenever they want to bump tunes in the car
Avid
The company behind Pro Tools.
Balance
See ‘Pan
Band Pass Filter
A filter type that acts as both a low-pass and a high-pass, allowing only a narrow range of frequencies through. Can be used to get things to sound lo-fi.
Bandwidth
The range of frequencies in an audio signal or stream, typically as a result of a limitation of technology (like a phone call recording).
Bank
A group of presets that can be loaded on a synth. Also called a soundbank. I wouldn’t put my money here, though.
Bar
A musical term describing a measure of beats. In electronic and dance music, typically this is a measure of 4 beats, but in different time signatures, it can be more or less. Can also refer to a lyrical section in a rap song. Or where you might DJ on the weekend. It’s a broad word, alright?
Bass
The lower frequencies in a sound – typically from ~20Hz to ~400Hz. Usually ‘dropped’ at some point in a track, if you know what I mean.
Bassline
The pattern of notes that fills up the bass area of the frequency spectrum – can be played by a synthesiser, bass guitar, an 808 or any sound with tonal quality.
Bass Music
A form of EDM that typically features loud, compressed bass growls and sounds. Genres include dubstep, trap, bass house, drum and bass and many more.
Beat
The consistent timing and rhythm of the music. Also can refer to a track, especially in hip-hop.
Beatmatch
A DJing process whereby two or more tracks are matched in time and tempo to ensure a seamless transition between the two. When someone has failed to beat-match and you can hear it, it is usually referred to as a trainwreck. It sounds awful, to be honest
Beat Repeat
A type of effect that takes audio as an input and repeats the snippet back at timed intervals to create a glitch effect.
Beats
ometimes used to refer to a genre of music that combines hip-hop with electronic, or something that a rapper would use as a track.
Bell
A synth sound that aims to have the sonic texture of a real bell, like tubular bells, a glockenspiel or similar.
Bell Curve
The most common curve on a parametric EQ, used to boost or cut a band of frequencies in a natural manner.
Bit Depth
The number of bits allowed for the dynamic range of an audio recording. Most audio is 16bit or 24bit, allowing for 65,536 or 16,777,215 levels of loudness, respectively. Most people can’t tell the difference, really.
Bitrate
The number of bits that are contained in an audio file every second, measured in kbps. 320kbps is an example of what an MP3 can store, whereas WAV usually has 1411kbps or higher. Higher usually means better quality. Can be CBR (constant) or VBR (variable). Below 128kbps is considered ‘poor-quality’.
Bitwig Studio
A DAW created by Bitwig available for macOS, Windows and Linux. Started by some former Ableton employees and is regarded as the only decent competitor to Ableton Live, having both a session and arrangement view and being robust enough for live performance.
Boost
an adjustment on an EQ that increases the gain of a frequency spectrum. Also, see ‘Cut
Bootleg
When you remix a song without permission – normally done without a full set of stems and only with the audio from the original track or just an acapella.
Bounce
Not to be confused with Melbourne Bounce, a bounce is usually when audio is summed together and/or exported and/or internally recorded within a DAW. Also, see Freeze/Flatten.
BPM
Beats Per Minute. Refers to the tempo, measured in the number of beats per minute. For example, a lot of house music is 128bpm.
Brass
Can refer to an acoustic brass instrument or a type of synth sound that attempts to sound like a brass instrument. Think of cheesy 80’s music.
Break (Breakdown)
A lower-energy section of a track. Usually has some or all of the drums removed, and adds macro dynamics to a track
Breaks (Breakbeat
Can refer to a genre of music or a sampled drum pattern that is not four-on-the-floor, like the Amen Break.
Brickwall Filter
A specific, advanced filter type of low-pass or high-pass filter that has a very steep slope (dB/oct), which visually looks like a brick wall, due to the sudden rolloff. Used to remove frequencies above and below the human spectrum of hearing. Doesn’t sound too nice in the realm of human hearing.
Brown Noise
A type of noise which is denser in the low end and contains less high-frequency content than both pink and white noise.
Browser
A features of most DAWs that allows you to browse files such as samples, presets and stock content in your software.
Build(up)
A section that leads into a drop – creates energy and tension in a track.
Buss
Will not take you to the station, but will provide group audio processing of multiple sources of audio. For example, a drum buss may group a kick, snare, hats, rides and other percussion recordings into one channel (after initial processing) and allow for group processing, such as compression, EQ etc.
Bypass
When an effect is temporarily disabled so that the signal can be heard with the effect off. Usually included as a button or switch on effect plugins.
Cable
Connects devices together by transmitting audio or some form of digital/analogue data.
Camel Audio
A defunct plugin company that created Camel Crusher and Camel Phat 3. Not to be confused with the music duo.
Cardioid Pattern
A common microphone polar pattern used for recording vocals – shaped like a heart and designed to record in a specific direction and reject background noise.
CBR
Short for ‘Constant Bit Rate’, refers to the encoding of an MP3 at a bitrate that is consistent over the entire duration of the file. Opposite of VBR (Variable Bit Rate).
CD
Stands for Compact Disc – a physical disk used for storing audio and data.
Channel
a path that audio takes through an input to an output.
Chill
A loosely-defined term to describe the sound of more relaxed, deeper and melody-driven music in electronic music. Sometimes people refer to this as a genre in itself.
Chillstep –
A sub-genre of Dubstep with an emphasis on melody, pads and less aggressive and loud elements. Notable artists include Blackmill, Mt Eden and Said The Sky.
Chord
A combination of musical notes played together (2-3 or more).
Chord Progression
A series of chords over time – serves as the harmonic foundation of a track or song
Chorus (Structure)
The main section of a song that usually includes vocals or a melodic hook of some sort. Typically is featured multiple times throughout a track.
Chorus (Audio Effect
A time-based effect that adds multiple delays
Clip
A section of audio or MIDI on a channel in a DAW.
Clipping
A type of distortion introduced when the audio peaks above the headroom within an analogue or digital domain. Analog clipping is called soft clipping, whereas digital clipping is called hard clipping, and is less pleasant.
Clock Signal
A MIDI signal that provides BPM information for devices to stay in time. One device usually outputs the signal and the others are a slave to the timing.
Codec
An algorithm standard which compresses audio into a particular format for the purposes of reducing file size (e.g. LAME for MP3).
Cold
Refers to when a sound is harsh and digital, as opposed to warm, which is analogue and pleasant.
Compander
A compressor and expander in one. Yep, it’s that simple.
Comping
A vocal recording process whereby multiple takes of the vocal are recorded, and the best parts of each take are edited together to create a more ‘perfect’ vocal.
Compression
A dynamic range effect that reduces the level of a signal when it exceeds a certain volume. Used to even out the volume of dynamic sounds. Contrary to popular belief, compression by itself does not make things sound super fat, although it is a tool that can heavily squash audio, it also requires a gain boost after this process to bring it up to a louder level. Also, see ‘Ratio’ and ‘Threshold’.
Condenser Microphone
A type of microphone that is more sensitive to loud sounds and is ideal for capturing less dynamic sounds, like vocals. Also, see ‘Dynamic Microphone’.
Cone
The part of a loudspeaker that vibrates due to the signal from the voice coil. Very sensitive – not for ice cream.
Controller
A MIDI hardware device that controls the parameters of a piece of software or another device (e.g. a MIDI Keyboard.)
Control Signal
Data in the digital domain that tells a parameter to be modulated. Think LFO’s, Envelopes and other modulation sources.
Control Voltage (CV)
CV is an electrical signal in the analogue domain that signals another device to modulate based on a certain voltage level. Basically modulation routing for analogue/modular synths.
Correlation
The measurement of the phase relationship between the left and right channels. 1 means perfect correlation, 0 means no correlation and -1 means negative correlation (resulting in phase cancellation).
CPU (Central Processing Unit)
The ‘brain’ of a computer that processes all information. Bleep bloop.
Crash
A percussion element from a traditional drum kit – a metallic noise sound with a long tail, good for signalling the beginning of a new section.
Crossfader
A control on a piece of hardware like a DJ Mixer, that fades between two audio sources.
Crossover
A point in the frequency spectrum where the frequencies are split into two signals. Used in subwoofers to only send bass information.
Cubase
A DAW created by Steinberg for Windows and macOS. Has a pretty cool sounding nam
Cue
A control on any DJ system that allows a track to be played from a certain point while being held down. Helps to find a point to bring a track in during a DJ mix. Not a place to line up.
Curve
In most cases, refers to the frequency response
Cutoff Frequency
A control on a filter that specifies where the frequencies will ramp off.
Cycle
A complete playthrough of a waveform. When talking about how many cycles occur in one second, it is measured in Hertz (Hz). Not a bike.
