Glossary

This glossary contains some of the terms and jargon used in The Home Recording Studio website. Here are the terms and a brief discription of each word.

The glossary does not include every word or jargon that you might come across but I have tried to include most of the common words. 


    Air
  • A feeling of spaciousness. Refers to frequencies above 12 kHz


    Amplitude
  • The volume of the signal


    ADSR
  • Attack, decay, sustain, release


    Analog
  • Recordings that use magnetic tape to store the sound.


    ASIO
  • Audio Stream Input Output. A type of software driver.


    Audio
  • Recorded sound or sound to be recorded.


    Audio Interface
  • A hardware device to send and receive audio data.


    Body
  • The instruments frequency range that produces the richest tone.


    BOOMY
  • To much low frequency


    Boxy
  • To much 400 to 600 kHz frequency in the signal.


    Bright
  • Lots of high frequency in the signal.


    Buss
  • A group of channels


    Clipping
  • Digital distortion that occurs when the signal to the audio input is to great.


    Cold
  • Refers to digital recordings that lack the warmth of analog recordings.


    Compressor
  • A device that reduces that high signals so the overall signal can be increased.


    Condenser
  • A type of microphone that requires a power source.


    DAW
  • Digital Audio Workstation. Software for music production.


    DE-esser
  • An effect to reduce sibilance in vocal recordings


    Delay
  • Repeated sound that produces and echo effect.


    DI Box
  • A device used to plug a guitar into an audio interface.


    Dry
  • A audio that is record without effects.


    Dynamics
  • The difference between the loud and quiet parts of a recording.


    effects
  • A processor that changes the sound of a instrument or vocals.


    Edgy
  • Punchy and on the edge.


    EQ
  • Audio effect that changes the frequency within the sound.


    Filter
  • An effect that removes frequencies from the sound .


    Firewire
  • A type of connector that provides high speed data transfer between devices.


    Gate
  • A dynamic processor that eliminates the signal below a set volume.


    Grainy
  • Poor resolution of the digital source.


    Headroom
  • The amount of volume that can be added before distortion occurs.


    Host
  • A software program capable of running other software.


    Insert Effect
  • An effect put between the input and output of a signal, so it is only used by the channel it is put into.


    Latency
  • The delay between the input and output of audio being processed.


    Limiter
  • A dynamic processor that stops the volume going above a set level.


    Midi
  • Musical Instrument Digital Interface. A method of transmitting audio data.


    Midi Controller
  • A device that sends midi data.


    Muddy
  • A sound lacking in definition.


    Multitrack
  • Recording or playback of more than one track.


    Pan
  • The position between the left and right side of a stereo image.


    Plosives
  • The sound created when singing p sounds.


    Plug-ins
  • Software that is used with a host program.


    Pop Shield
  • A device to reduce the sound when singing or saying a word with a p or s in it.


    Preamp
  • A device for amplifying the signal from a microphone.


    Presence
  • A balance between the attack and main tone of a instrument.


    Punchy
  • A sound that has a fast attack and short release.


    Reverb
  • A effect that simulates a rooms reflections.


    Round
  • A sound that has a lot of mid range frequencies.


    Sample
  • A short recording of an instrument.


    Sampler
  • A device that records samples


    Send Effect
  • An effect channel that can be used by multiple channels.


    Sequencer
  • A program that records midi and audio data.


    Sibilance
  • The sound produced when singing or saying a word with s in it.


    Signal
  • Audio data


    Smooth
  • Sounds with even levels.


    Synthesizer
  • A device that creates new sound using waveforms.


    VST
  • A plug-in format created by Steinberg.


    Warm
  • Sound that lacks harshness.


    Waveform
  • The single cycle of a signal.


    Wet
  • An instrument with effects.


The Glossary will be update with new words and jargon.
When the glossary is updated it will be included in the site blog. 

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