Gooseneck
A flexible tube often used to support microphones or small lights. Sometimes also known as a 'Swan Neck'.
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Ground
An alternative term for the electrical Earth or 0 Volts reference. In mains wiring, the ground cable is often physically connected to the planet’s earth via a long conductive metal spike.
Ground Loop / Ground Loop Hum
A condition created when two or more devices are interconnected in such a way that a loop is created in the ground circuit. This can result in audible hums or buzzes in analogue equipment, or unreliability and audio glitches in digital equipment. Typically, a ground loop is created when two devices are connected together using one or more screened audio cables, and both units are also plugged into the mains supply with safety ground connections via the mains plug earth pins. The loop exists between one mains plug, to the first device, through the audio cable screen to the second device, back to the mains supply via the second mains plug, and round to the first device via the building’s power wiring. If the two mains socket ground terminals happen to be at slightly different voltages (which is not unusual), an small current will flow around the ground loop. Although not dangerous, this can result in audible hums or buzzes in poorly designed equipment.
Ground loops can often be prevented by ensuring that the connected audio equipment is powered from a single mains socket or distribution board, thus minimising the loop. In extreme cases it may be necessary to disconnect the screen connection at one end of some of the audio cables, or to use audio-isolating transformers in the signal paths. The mains plug earth connection must NEVER be disconnected to try to resolve a ground loop problem as this will render the equipment potentially LETHAL.
Group
A mixed collection of signals within a mixer that are combined and routed through a separate fader to provide overall control. In a multitrack mixer several groups are provided to feed the various recorder track inputs.
GS
Roland's own extension to the General MIDI protocol.
GUI
Graphical User Interface (pronounced ‘Gooey’). A software program designer’s way of creating an intuitive visual operating environment controlled by a mouse-driven pointer or similar.
Hard Disk Drive (cf. Solid-state Drive)
The conventional means of computer data storage. One or more metal disks (hard disks) hermetically sealed in an enclosure with integral drive electronics and interfacing. The disks are coated in a magnetic material and spun at high speed (typically 7200rpm for audio applications). A series of movable arms carrying miniature magnetic heads are arranged to move closely over the surface of the discs to record (write) and replay (read) data.
Solid-state Drive (cf. Hard Disk Drive)
A large capacity solid-state memory configured to work like a conventional hard disk drive, referred to as SSD. Some computers are now available with solid-state flash drives instead of normal internal hard disk drives. Also used in digital cameras and audio recorders in formats such as SD and CF2 cards, as well as in ‘pen drives’ or ‘USB memory sticks’.
Gain
The amount by which a circuit amplifies a signal, normally denoted in decibels (dB).
Active Loudspeaker or Monitor
A loudspeaker system in which the input signal is passed to a line-level crossover, the suitably filtered outputs of which feed two (or more) power amplifiers, each connected directly to its own drive unit. The line-level crossover and amplifiers are usually (but not always) built in to the loudspeaker cabinet.
Arming (Arm)
Arming a track or channel on a recording device places it in a condition where it is ready to record audio when the system is placed in record mode. Unarmed tracks won’t record audio even if the system is in record mode. When a track is armed the system monitoring usually auditions the input signal throughout the recording, whereas unarmed tracks usually replay any previously recorded audio.
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).
Bank
A specific configuration of sounds or other parameters stored in memory and accessed manually or via MIDI commands.
Binary
A counting system based on only two states: 1s and 0s. It is ideal for electronic equipment where it can be represented as high and low voltages, light on/off, N-S or S-N magnetic domains, etc.
BPM
Beats Per Minute.
Bus
(Also sometimes referred to as a buss) An electrical signal path along which multiple signals may travel. A typical audio mixer contains several (mix) buses which carry the stereo mix, subgroups, the PFL signal, the aux sends, and so on. Power supplies are also fed along buses.
Capsule
An alternative term for a transducer which converts acoustic sound waves into an electrical signal.
Carbon Microphone
(Also known as a Carbon Button Microphone). An obsolete form of microphone in which carbon granules are contained between two metal contact plates, one of which acts as the diaphragm and moves in response to sound waves. The microphone has to be biased with a DC voltage which causes a current to pass from one metal contact plate, through the carbon granules, to the other metal contact plate. The varying pressure exerted on the carbon granules by the moving diaphgram causes a varying resistance and thus a varying current which is analogous to the sound waves. Carbon Button Microphones were used in the very early days of sound recording and broadcasting, as well as in domestic telephones up until the 1980s when electret capsules became more commonplace.
Cardioid
A specific form of polar response of a unidirectional microphone or loudspeaker. It is an inverted heart-shape which has very low sensitivity at the back (180 degrees), but only slightly reduced sensitivity (typically between 3 and 6dB) at the sides (90/270 degrees).
Chip
A slang term for an Integrated Circuit or IC.