Buffer
Buffer — An electronic circuit designed to isolate the output of a source device from loading effects due to the input impedance of destination devices.
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AES3
A digital audio interface which passes two digital audio channels, plus embedded clocking, control and status data, with up to 24 bits per audio sample and supporting sample rates up to 384kHz.
ADAT
Acronym for Alesis Digital Audio Tape, referring to the company's popular range of digital eight-track tape machines released in the early 1990s. Now more commonly used as a shorthand term for the ADAT Lightpipe digital connection format.
AES17
An AES standard that defines a method of evaluating the dynamic range performance of analogue-to-digital (A-D) and digital-to-analogue (D-A) converters.
AES42
An AES standard which defines the connectivity, powering, remote control and audio format of ‘digital microphones’. The audio information is conveyed as AES3 data, while a bespoke 10V phantom power supply conveys remote control and clocking information through an ingenious modulation technique.
Aftertouch
A means of generating a control signal in a synthesizer based on how much pressure is applied to the keys of a MIDI keyboard. Most instruments that support this do not have independent pressure sensing for all keys ('polyphonic aftertouch'), but rather detect the overall pressure by means of a sensing strip running beneath the keys. Aftertouch is typically used to control such functions as vibrato depth, filter brightness, loudness and so on.
Algorithm
A sequence of instructions describing how to perform a specific task. Algorithms are often implemented in a computer language and compiled into a computer program. In the context of effects units, algorithms usually describe a software building block designed to create a specific effect or combination of effects.
Aliasing
When an analogue signal is sampled for conversion into a digital data stream, the sampling frequency must be at least twice that of the highest frequency component of the input signal. If this rule is disobeyed, the sampling process becomes ambiguous as there are insufficient points to define each cycle of the waveform. This resulting in unwanted anharmonic distortion component frequencies (not musically related) being added to the wanted signal.
Ambience
A description of sound reflections in a confined space which add to the original direct sound. Ambience may also be created electronically by some digital reverb units. The main difference between ambience and reverberation is that ambience doesn't have the characteristic long delay time of reverberation; the reflections mainly give the sound a sense of space and the room a sonic character.
Amp/Amplifier
An Amplifier is an electrical device that typically increases the voltage or power of an electrical signal. The amount of amplification can be specified as a multiplication factor (eg. x10) or in decibels (eg. 20dB).
Amplitude
The waveform signal level. It can refer to acoustic sound levels or electrical signal levels.
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.
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.