Amplitude
The waveform signal level. It can refer to acoustic sound levels or electrical signal levels.
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Analogue Synthesis
A system for synthesizing sounds by means of analogue circuitry, usually by filtering simple repeating waveforms.
Anti-alias Filter
A very steep low-pass filter used to limit the frequency range of an analogue signal prior to A/D conversion, so that the maximum frequency does not exceed half the sampling rate. (See A-D Conversion)
App (Application)
Alternative term for a computer program.
Arpeggiator
A device (or software) that allows a synthesizer or MIDI instrument to sequence around any notes currently being played. Most arpeggiators also allow the sound to be sequenced over several octaves, so that holding down a simple chord can result in an impressive repeating sequence of notes.
ASCII
Acronymn for American Standard Code for Information Interchange (pronounced 'askey'). An internationally recognised code used to represent computer keyboard characters.
Attack
The time taken for a sound to achieve its maximum amplitude, or for an electronic device to reach the full extent of its action. Drums generally have a fast attack, whereas bowed strings typically have a slow attack. In compressors and gates, the attack time equates to how quickly the processor can reduce the signal level.
Audio Data Reduction
A system used to reduce the amount of data needed to represent some information, such as an audio signal. Lossless audio data reduction systems, (eg. FLAC and ALAC) can fully and precisely reconstruct the original audio data with bit-accuracy, but the amount of data reduction is rarely much more than 2:1. Lossy data audio reduction systems (eg. MPEG, AAC, AC3 and others) permanently discard audio information that is deemed to have been 'masked' by more prominent sounds. The original data can never be retrieved, but the reduction in total data can be considerable (12:1 is common).
Audio Frequency
Signals in the range of human audio audibility. Measured in Hertz and nominally between 20Hz and 20kHz.
Audio Interface
A hardware device which acts as the physical bridge between the computer’s workstation software and the recording environment. An audio interface may be connected to the computer (via USB, Thunderbolt, FireWire, Dante, AVB or other current communication protocols) to pass audio and MIDI data to and from the computer. Audio Interfaces are available with a wide variety of different facilities including microphone preamps, DI inputs, analogue line inputs, ADAT or S/PDIF digital inputs, analogue line and digital outputs, headphone outputs, and so on. The smallest audio interfaces provide just two channels in and out, while the largest may offer 30 or more.
Audio Random Access (ARA)
Jointly developed by Celemony and PreSonus in 2011, ARA relates to a data-exchange extension for DAW plug‑ins like AU, VST and RTAS, to pass information relating to an entire track, rather than just about a specific moment in time — such as pitch, tempo, rhythm etc. ARA v2 was announced in 2018 with an extended feature set including integrated undo synchronisation. Most of the popular DAWs are now compatible with ARA v2, but the only plug-ins that use it at the time of writing are Melodyne and Revoice Pro.
Autolocator
A common facility on tape machines or other recording devices that enables specific time points to be stored and recalled. For example, you may store the start of a verse as a locate point ('marker') so that you can get the tape machine or DAW to automatically relocate the start of the verse after you've recorded an overdub.
Auxiliary Sends (Auxes)
A separate independent output signal derived from one or more input channels on a mixing console, usually with the option to select a pre- or post-fader source and to adjust the contribution level. Auxiliary sends from all channels are bused together before being made available to feed an internal signal processor or external physical output via the corresponding Aux Master level control. Sometimes also called Effects ('FX'), Cue or Artist sends.
Aux Return
Dedicated mixer inputs used to receive external effects into the mix. Aux return channels usually have fewer facilities than normal mixer inputs, such as no EQ and access to fewer auxiliary sends. (cf. Effects Return)
Balance
This word has several meanings in recording. It may refer to the relative levels of the left and right channels of a stereo recording (eg. Balance Control), or it may be used to describe the relative levels of the various instruments and voices within a mix (ie. Mix balance).
Balanced Wiring
Where protection from electromagnetic interference and freedom from earth references are required, a balanced interface is used. The term ‘balanced’ refers to identical (balanced) impedances to ground from each of two signal carrying conductors which are enclosed within an all-embracing overall electrostatic screen. This screen is grounded (to catch and remove unwanted RFI), but plays no part in passing the audio signal or providing its voltage reference. Instead, the two signal wires provide the reference for each other — the signal is conveyed ‘differentially’ and the receiver detects the voltage difference between the two signal wires. Any interference instils the same voltage on each wire (called a common mode signal) because the impedance to ground is identical for each wire. As there is therefore no voltage difference between the two signal wires, any interference is therefore ignored (rejected) completely by the receiver.