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Glossary

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Welcome to Sound On Sound's indispensible, regularly updated, explanations of technical terms from the fields of Recording, Audio Production, Music Technology, MIDI, Music Software, Audio Plug-ins, Mac and PC Computing, Live Sound, Acoustics, Electronics and more...

If we do not explain a particular term below, please email glossary@soundonsound.com and we will add it to our next update.

Last updated: 30/01/26

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Punch-in

The action of placing an already recorded track into record at the correct time during playback, so that the existing material may be extended or replaced.

Punch-out

The action of switching a tape machine (or other recording device), out of record after executing a punch-in. With most multitrack machines, both punching in and punching out can be accomplished without stopping the tape.

PWM Compression

A form of audio compressor which uses Pulse Width Modulation to detedmine the energy in the audio signal over time. In essence, the audio signal is sampled at a very high rate, but the duration (width) of the samples (pulses) is adjusted (modulated) to control the average energy over time, and thus provide signal attenuation. When done well, this is the fastest form of compressor with the lowest distortion artefacts.

PZM (Pressure Zone Microphone)

A type of boundary layer microphone.

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