Page 47 - Zone Magazine Issue 021

S
Send
A method of routing a signal from one channel to another. Often used as a way of sending a signal through an effect channel either within a DAW or on a digital or analog audio mixer.
Sibilance
Unpleasant tones often caused by pronouncing “s”, “sh” or “ch” sounds. The result can be quite harsh and often has to be edited during the mixing stage using a de- esser or an eq.
indicates the average level of an audio signal.
T
Thru Port
W
Wah Wah (Wah)
A changing filter giving more and less filtering of harmonics of an instrument’s sound.
White noise
A random noise used in measurements, as it has the same amount of energy at each frequency. It is also used as an effect to create risers and sweeps in dance music.
X
XY Micing
A method of placing two microphones for stereo recording. The microphones are placed as close as possible, pointing 90 degrees to each other and also pointing 45 degrees to the center of the sound.
XLR
A 3 pin connection often found on musical equipment or studio monitors.
Y
Y-connector or Y-cord
A three-wire circuit that is star connected. It has uses in both the audio and video realm.
Z
Zero Crossing Point — The point at which a signal waveform crosses from being positive to negative or vice versa.
Now you know your ABC’s, bounce your WAVs to MP3....sorry it had to be done. Anyway I really hope you enjoyed this 2 part special on the A to Z of Audio Engineering. Next month we will have even more studio goodness for you to feast your eyes on.
Provides a copy of a MIDI signal that is the same as the Input MIDI signal. It can be used as a way of outputting midi to several pieces of equipment. This act is often known as “Daisy Chaining.”
Transpose
The act of moving a selection of notes up or down in pitch by a set interval.
U
Unbalanced
Unbalanced audio connection use 2 wires. A signal and a ground. An unbalanced connection can act as an antenna for unwanted noise, so it should only be used for short distance connections i.e. a guitar to an amp.
Unison
When a sound is played in time with the same pitch, it is often referred to as “In Unison.”
V
VCA
Abbreviation for Voltage Controlled Amplifier. Often found on analog synthesizers or on audio mixing desks labelled as a “VCA Group”.
VU Meter
VU stands for “Volume Meter” and is a meter that
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