Sequencer
A device for recording and replaying MIDI data, usually in a multitrack format, allowing complex compositions to be built up a part at a time.
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Shockmount
a mechanical isolator intended to prevent the transfer of vibrations which may be transmitted through a microphone stand from reaching a microphone where they would otherwise produce unwanted low frequency sound.
Short-Circuit
A very low resistance path that allows electrical current to flow. The term is usually used to describe a current path that exists through a fault condition. (See Open Circuit)
Sibilance
A high-frequency whistling or lisping sound that affects vocal recordings, due either to poor mic technique or excessive HF equalisation.
Tube
see Valve
Tweeter
The colloquial term to describe a loudspeaker drive unit optimised for the reproduction of high frequencies. (See Woofer).
Unbalanced
A 2-wire electrical signal connection where the signal conductor is surrounded by a screen which provides a 0V reference and also guards against electrical interference.
Unison
To play the same melody using two or more different instruments or voices.
Unity Gain
A condition where the output signal is the same amplitude as the input signal; the overall system gain is then x1 or unity.
USB
Universal Serial Bus. A computer interface standard introduced in 1996 to replace the previous standard serial and parallel ports more commonly used. The USB1.1 interface operated at up to 12Mb/s, but this was superseded in 2000 by USB2.0 which operates at up to 480Mb/s. Most USB interfaces can also provide a 5V power supply to connected devices. USB3.0 was launched in 2008 and is claimed to operate at rates up to 5Gb/s.
USB connectors can be indentified by having a blue insert in the Type-A sockets and the letters SS (SuperSpeed). The latest edition, USB3.1 (launched in 2013) offers transfer rates of 10Gb/s, approaching that of the first generation of Thunderbolt interfaces. Like earlier USB interfaces, the USB3 format provides a 5V power supply, but the current rating has been increased from USB2.0's 200mA (1.0 Watts) to 900mA (4.5 Watts), and sockets designated as charging sockets can manage 1500mA (7.5 Watts).
Valve
Also known as a ‘tube’ in America. A thermionic device in which the current flowing between its anode and cathode terminals is controlled by the voltage applied to one or more control grid(s). Valves can be used as the active elements in amplifiers, and because the input impedance to the grid is extremely high they are ideal for use as an impedance converter in capacitor microphones. The modern solid-state equivalent is the Field Effect Transistor or FET.
Vari-Mu Compressor
An audio compressor that employs a valve (tube) as the variable audio attenuator. Mu is an engineering term for gain, so this is a variable-gain compressor. In essence, the side-chain signal continuously adjusts the bias o the valve to alter its gain appropriately. Vari-Mu compressors are fast and smooth, with low distortion.
VCA
Voltage Controlled Amplifier. An amplifier in which the gain (or attenuation) is controlled by an external DC voltage. VCA's are used in a wide range of audio and musical equipment, such as fader-automation systems in large format mixing consoles, audio compressors, and synthesizers.
VCA Compressor
See VCA. VCA compressors tend to be fast-acting (at least in comparison to opto-compressors), a wide dynamic range, and low distortion.
VCA Group
Found in large mixing consoles. The fader levels of a number of separate channels assigned to the VCA group can be adjusted together by the VCA Group fader but without mixing their signals together. Usually referred to as a DCA Group in a digital console.
VDU
Computer display screen (See also Monitor).
Vocoder
A signal processor that imposes a changing spectral filter on a sound based on the frequency characteristics of a second sound. By taking the spectral content of a human voice and imposing it on a musical instrument, talking instrument effects can be created.
Voice
The capacity of a synthesizer to play a single musical note. An instrument capable of playing 16 simultaneous notes is said to be a 16-voice instrument.
Loudness Wars
The practice of trying to make each new commercial music release sound subjectively louder than any previous release, on the misguided notion that louder is more exciting and results in more sales. A relationship between the average loudness of 45rpm singles and sales was noticed in America from jukebox plays, and that led to the first loudness war. However, the advent of the CD really ramped up the situation, with music becoming ever-more dynamically compressed to squeeze the average level higher and higher towards the 0dBFS peak level. This desctructive trend is, thankfully, now being slowly reversed with the ubiquity of loudness normalisation adopted by most online audio streaming services and broadcasters.
Low-range (low, lows)
The lower portion of the audible frequency spectrum, typically denoting frequencies below about 1kHz