Audio terminology can be downright confusing. Even familiar words often take on new meanings when used to describe sound. If you’ve ever been on an audio forum, discussed a mix with a client, or read gear reviews, you’ve likely been pelted by a multitude of technical and descriptive terms. Use the list below to improve your ability to use your software and hardware and communicate effectively with clients, engineers, and producers.
Boomy: a build-up of low frequencies—often in low-pitched drums—that causes an overpowering emphasis on the sustain of the sound
Bright: a lack of low frequencies; a sound that has more high range
Boxy: a lack of low and high frequencies; a sound that has too much midrange
Dark: a lack of high frequencies; may sound flat or boring
Dry: an unprocessed sound or a lack of effects, such as reverb, delay, saturation, etc.
Crunchy: slightly distorted as a result of over-compression, over-limiting, clipping, or intentional overdrive
Essy: Sibilance or harsh frequencies that are accentuated by S, C or F sounds
Warm: a tonal quality characterized by mild levels of even harmonic distortion
Hiss: high-frequency noise, typically without any recognizable pitch
Muddy: a build-up of low-mid frequencies that reduces the ability to clearly hear individual elements of a mix
Pumping: short-duration volume surges caused by over-compression, over-limiting, or incorrect configuration of a compressor/limiter’s settings
Subbiness/Subby: excessive level in the “subwoofer territory” (sub-low frequencies, typically below 60 Hz)
Wet: refers to the amount of effects such as reverb, delay, saturation, etc.
Attack: this refers to 1) the very beginning of a sound, and 2) the amount of time it takes after a sound begins for a sound processor to begin working. Usually measured in milliseconds (ms)
Compression: reducing a signal’s output volume in relation to its input volume to reduce its dynamic range. Basically, when a sound gets louder than a certain level, a compressor turns the sound down. This controls the dynamics to make it more consistent
Knee: A control on a compressor that changes how variable the severity of compression is once the threshold has been passed. A “soft” knee makes the compression less obvious, whereas a “hard” knee makes the compressor more obvious.
Limiter: A compressor with a ratio of ∞:1, otherwise known as a “brick wall.” This means that when a sound reaches the threshold of a limiter, it doesn’t get any louder – it stays the exact same volume. This is used to prevent a track from peaking while at the same time increasing its perceived loudness.
Makeup gain: A parameter that allows you to increase the output volume of a sound processor that makes the input sound quieter. For example, a compressor makes sounds softer, so makeup gain is needed to keep the sound at the same volume that it previously was.
Noise gate: A sound processor that cuts off the volume of a sound once it passes below a certain volume threshold.
Ratio: A parameter of a compressor that determines how hard the compressor clamps down on the volume of the audio. If a ratio is set to 2:1, then for every 2dB’s of audio that goes above the threshold, 1dB comes out. If the ratio is set to 4:1, then for every 4dB’s of audio that goes above the threshold, 1dB comes out
Release: How long it takes a sound processor to cease processing the sound. Usually measured in milliseconds (ms). For example, if the release of a compressor is set to 100ms, then the compressor will stop processing the sound 100ms after it has been activated
Threshold: A parameter of a sound processor that tells the processor to not kick in until the volume of an incoming sound exceeds the set volume limit. For example, a compressor does not start to turn down audio until the instrument gets louder than the threshold set by the user
Transient: The very beginning section of a sound. Also known as the sound’s attack. It’s the loudest and most percussive part of the sound
Ambience: background noise added to a musical recording to give the impression that it was recorded live. Often done using short room reverbs.
Decay: How fast a sound fades from a certain loudness.
Delay (or echo): A processor that creates copies of a sound source that repeat over and over, fading slowly. Commonly used with vocals and electric guitar
Feedback: When a signal is sent through an amplifier and into a microphone, which picks up the sound and sends it back through the amplifier, and so on. The loop of sound creates high pitched whines. Also refers to the parameter on a delay that adds more repetitions of the sound
Ping-Pong: A delay that alternates between the left and right speakers
Pre-delay: A short delay between a sound and when an effect begins. Usually measured in milliseconds (ms). For example, a 50ms reverb pre-delay means that there is 50ms between the actual sound and when the reverberated sound starts
Reverb: the sound of a room after a sound has been produced inside it. If more reverb is desired, it can be added to a recording digitally via a reverb plugin.
Slapback: A quick delay (30-200ms) with little to no repetitions.
Attenuate: turn down or lower the level
Automation: changes to parameters such as gain and pan that a system can record and play in synchronization with the timeline of a project
Bit Depth: the audio bit depth determines the number of possible amplitude values we can record for each sample. The most common audio bit depths are 16-bit, 24-bit, and 32-bit. Generally recordings are in 24 or 32 bit until the mastering engineer renders them to 16-bit. Devices and streaming services are beginning to use 24-bit audio for lossless audio
Bounce: another word for export. If you are “bouncing a track,” that means you’re just exporting a session into a listenable format, like an mp3 or wav file
BPM: Beats Per Minute. It’s the tempo of the song
Brickwall Limiter: a digital limiter that prevents its output from exceeding a defined level regardless of input level (as opposed to a ‘soft’ limiter)
Chorus: a sound processor that makes a sound seem doubled by creating several delayed copies of the original sound and slightly varying the pitch of each copy. Used to “thicken” a sound
Clipping (or Peaking): another word for distorting. “Clipping” occurs when a digital signal hits or exceeds 0dBFS, while analog clipping is variable based on the voltage limitations of the equipment. Proper gain staging and allowing for head room will help to avoid clipping
Collisions/Masking: minimized audibility of a signal caused by the presence of similar frequencies in another simultaneously-occurring sound (e.g. a bass guitar with an abundance of 50 to 70 Hz may mask a kick with a fundamental of 60 Hz)
Comb Filtering: frequency cancellations occurring in intervals (e.g. 500 Hz, 1.5 kHz, 2.5 kHz, etc), typically due a delay between multiple identical signals that are being mixed together
Comping: combining several different takes of an instrument into one. Basically, copying the best parts of each recording and pasting them onto a single track, so that the performance of that instrument is the best it can be
Consolidate: Rendering or joining individual clips on a track into a single audio clip. Generally used to preserve alignment when exporting trackouts or stems
Crunch/Squash/Smash: Over-compressing a track or parallel bus track to create a pumping, distorted sound to blend into the mix. Typically used on drums
DAW: Digital Audio Workstation. The software that you record, edit, mix, and master in. Popular versions are Pro Tools, Logic Pro, GarageBand, Ableton Live, etc.
Depth: differentiation between close and distant sounds
Decay: how fast a sound fades from a certain loudness
Decibel (or dB): the main unit of volume measurement. A dB is relative, as there are several different “scales” of dB’s that are used in audio (dB-FS being the most common, along with dB-VU, dB-RMS, and dB-LUFS). Each dB scale has a certain function in audio
Dithering: adding white noise to a recording to reduce distortion when the recording is exported at a lower bit rate. Only used during the mastering process
Doubling or Dubs: recording a second or multiple takes of a part that can be layered together to create a thicker, more full sound
Phasing: timing differences when combining identical (or nearly identical) signals. This can be a result of static delay between the signals, placement between multiple microphones and can also come from extreme boosts when using non-linear phase EQs
Fade: the increase and decrease of volume at the beginning and end of a sound or a song
Fatigue: the natural degradation of the accuracy of the human ear over several hours of listening. The ear is like a muscle – when it is used a lot, it gets tired. When a mixer reaches the point of listener fatigue, he or she needs to rest their ears, or they will start to make poor mixing choices as their ears are no longer accurate
Flanger: uses the same process as a chorus, but with dramatically short delays. Rather than “thickening” a sound, a flanger is usually less subtle. It’s been described as sounding “like an airplane flying right over your head.”
Flip the Phase (a.k.a Reverse Polarity): to invert the positive and negative excursions of a signal 180 degrees. Positive excursions become negative and negative excursions become positive. This is usually done to check the phase correlation between multiple sources
Fundamental: When a sound is produced by an instrument, a series of harmonics are created that determine the tone of that sound. The lowest (and loudest) of those frequencies is the fundamental. It is the primary harmonic of that sound
Gain: this is a synonym for volume, though it’s often used as another word for distortion.
Gain Staging: this refers to 1) the process of making sure a recording is the same volume after a plugin as it was before, and 2) the process of making sure all of the tracks in a session are low enough volume to allow for headroom both on the individual track and on the master track (all tracks combined)
Headroom: the amount of volume a channel can take before distorting. The louder the sound, the less headroom it has. For example, if a sound is peaking at -5dB, it has 5dB’s of headroom. If it’s peaking at -1dB, it has 1 dB of headroom
Harmonics: multiples of a fundamental frequency (e.g. 2 kHz is the 2nd harmonic of 1 kHz)
Harmonic Distortion: coloration or modification of a signal caused by the introduction of a series of harmonics
Harshness: an excessive amount of high frequencies
High Pass Filter (Low Cut): a filter that reduces low frequencies but allows high frequencies to pass through unaffected
Imaging: the ability to accurately position or distinguish signals in the left-to-right stereo field
Latency: the amount of delay between the input and the output of a signal. Latency usually refers to the delay that occurs when someone tries to record something when there are too many plugins on the session. The input (the instrument) is delayed so that the output (the recording) is several milliseconds behind, causing a frustrating delay in a performer’s headphones
Low Pass Filter (High Cut): a filter that reduces high frequencies at a set decibel per octave value, but allows low frequencies to pass through unaffected
LUFS: units of audio loudness. The acronym stands for loudness units relative to full scale. This is the standard scale used by streaming services
LU: Loudness Units vary depending on the length at which they are measured. This shows you the dynamic range of a track and helps measure the changes in loudness between sections
Metering: a tool used to help measure and evaluate the level of a signal in a variety of different ways
Microphone Types:
Mono: A sound with one source and no stereo field
Stereo: A 2-channel, left and right track with a stereo field. Can create the illusion of horizontal space in recordings
Null Test: the process of combining two presumably identical signals at identical volume and pan positions, with the polarity of one signal flipped. They will null (completely cancel out) and yield no output signal if they are identical
Pan: the control to move a sound left or right within the stereo field
Parallel Processing: applying processing to a copy of an original signal and mixing the copy and the original together
Phaser: A sound processor that removes certain random frequencies by creating a copy of the soundwave and moving it back and forth, causing a “phasing” sound
Pitch Shifter: A sound processor that changes the pitch of a sound
Plosives: sounds made from the mouth that blow quick bursts of air. Common examples are words with p’s, b’s, t’s, k’s, and d’s.
Plug-in: A piece of software used within a DAW that processes the sound of a recording.
Proximity effect: the closer you get to the microphone, the more low frequencies are recorded. This phenomenon is only present when using a condenser or ribbon mic.
Resonant Peaks: occasional volume boosts at specific frequencies, resulting from the sum of multiple signals creating an increase in energy that is most noticeable in a limited frequency range. Among other things, resonant peaks can be caused by filter ring, mic placement, room modes, and instruments that have uneven character.
Room tone: the tone of the reverb produced in a room. Also refers to how the room “colors” a sound
Sample Rate: the number of samples of audio recorded every second. It is measured in samples per second or Hertz (abbreviated as Hz or kHz, with one kHz being 1000 Hz). Standard recording sample rates are 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192 kilohertz. The standard for consumer audio is 44.1kHz, while the standard for film is 48kHz. Recordings are typically done at a higher sample rate, then converted down by the mastering engineer
Saturation: usually refers to the distortion that occurs when a piece of analog equipment is overloaded by a sound passing through it. Though overloading digital equipment tends to produce harsh sounds, saturation can make a sound “fat,” “round,” or “smooth.” Saturation is one of the most sought-after parts of analog equipment
Shelf: an EQ that applies a consistent boost or cut to all frequencies above or below a defined frequency
Sibilance: spikes in loudness at high-frequencies in vocal tracks, often caused by sharp consonant sounds such S’s and T’s
Sidechaining: using one signal to trigger a processor on a different signal (typically feeding the sidechain of a compressor with an altered or secondary signal). Keying is a loose synonym
Sustain: How long a sound can hold before it begins to fade
Threshold: A parameter of a sound processor that tells the processor to not kick in until the volume of an incoming sound exceeds the set volume limit. For example, a compressor does not start to turn down audio until the instrument gets louder than the threshold set by the user
Tonal balance: the distribution of energy across the audio spectrum
Transient: the very beginning section of a sound. Also known as the sound’s attack. It’s the loudest and most percussive part of the sound
Tremolo: A sound processor that either quickly turns the volume of a sound up and down, or quickly pans it left to right
Waveform: the shape of a sound wave
Wavelength: how long a wave is. The shorter the wavelength, the faster the wave
Width: the perceived difference in left-to-right spacing between signals (how “far apart” signals sound)
