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MUGN Vocab #1
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Additive Synthesis | Building sound by combining multiple sine waves of differing levels and frequencies. As more sine waves are combined, they begin to generate additional harmonics |
| Amplitude | The loudness or height of a waveform – higher means louder, lower means quieter. An amplitude of 0 (or -∞dB) means silence |
| Attack | The first part of a sound envelope consisting of the amount of time it takes the sound to reach its peak volume from the time the key is pressed |
| Bounce | Combines audio from different tracks into one |
| Channel | Passageways for an audio signal to travel through to the speakers |
| Chorus | audio effect: audio is split + run thru SHORT delay, where delay time is modulated LFO and the delayed, modulated signal is mixed w/ original audio. Short delay resembles one sound rather than echo + creates impression multiple instruments played unison |
| Clips | Basic musical building blocks, rectangular segments contained in a track that represents your music material |
| Clipping | A type of distortion introduced when the audio peaks above the headroom, or maximum amplitude level |
| Constructive Interference | Two waves with the same frequency and phase will combine to create a single sound of greater amplitude |
| Cutoff | Determines where the signal is cut off. Simpler synthesizers have only lowpass filters. If a signal contains frequencies that range from 20 to 4000 Hz and the cutoff frequency is set at 2500 Hz, frequencies above 2500 Hz are filtered |
| DAW | Stands for "Digital Audio Workstation," is a kind of computer software that is capable of covering every part of the music-making process including recording, editing, mixing, processing, and using virtual instruments |
| Decibel (dB) | The unit used to measure the intensity of sound pressure level in acoustics or generally a degree of loudness. Abbreviated dB |
| Decay | How quickly the sound drops to the sustain level after the initial peak |
| Decibel Relative to Full Scale | Abbreviated dBFS. Decibel measure used for amplitude lvls in digital systems, 0 dB reps max avail peak before clipping results, therefore, all peak measurements will be neg numbers. A signal that reaches 50% of the max lvl would have a value of -6 dBFS |
| Delay | stores input signal and holds for a short time before sending to the effect input/output. aka, plays a sound back after a period. Delayed signal played back multiple times, or played back into recording again, to create sound of repeating, decaying echo |
| Destructive Interference | Two identical waves 180 degrees out of phase will completely cancel each other out. Also called phase cancellation |
| Distortion | Created by increasing gain, clipping the signal to produce a "fuzzy", "growling", “dirty”, or "gritty" tone. When pushing the signal past its maximum level, this compresses the peaks and troughs, which adds sustain and alters the signals harmonic content |
| Dry | An unprocessed version of a signal, as opposed to wet, which is the processed version. A Dry/Wet knob blends these two signals, and it can be found on effects such as reverb |
| Envelope | Describes how a sound's amplitude changes over time. This is made up of the attack, decay, sustain, and release of a sound. Fundamental in electronic synthesis |
| EQ | Equalization, or EQ for short, means boosting or reducing (attenuating) the levels of different frequencies in a signal |
| Feedback (parameter) | Type of delay parameter that takes a certain percentage of the delayed signal and feeds it back to the input to create the echo type effect |
| Filter | A frequency-dependent amplifier that is designed to either amplify (boost), pass, or attenuate (cut, also referred to as negative amplification) certain frequency ranges |
| FM Synthesis | Freq modulation synthesis. Uses a mod8r ol8r + a sine wave carrier ol8R. mod8r ol8r mods freq of the wvfrm gen8d by the carrier ol8r w/in audio range, thus new harmonics. bell timbres, metallic, + the tine electric pianos, punchy bass + synthetic brass |
| Frequency | The number of occurrences of a repeating event per second of time, which determines a sound’s pitch. Measured in hertz. The range of human hearing is from 20Hz to 20kHz |
| Fundamental | The primary frequency of a sound that determines the tone of a sound. For example, a piano note may contain many frequencies that color the sound, but the fundamental frequency is the pitch that we recognise |
| Gain | An inc/dec in amplitude of signal, like volume change. Boosts/cuts all parts of a signal, will turn up/down noise if it is present in a sound. Gain can be before effect (input gain) or after (output gain) and is use if effect alters percieve loud of sound |
| Harmonic | A frequency that is an even multiple of it's fundamental frequnecy |
| Hertz | The unit of frequency. The number of events or cycles per second |
| High-pass Filter | Attenuates everything below the defined frequency |
| High-shelf Filter | Adjusts all frequencies above the defined frequency |
| LFO | Low frequency oscillator, in which a carrier signal is varied by a subaudio/infrasonic frequency modulation signal |
| Low-pass Filter | Attenuates everything above the defined frequency |
| Low-shelf Filter | Adjusts all frequencies below the defined frequency |
| MIDI | "Musical Instrument Digital Interface." Communication standard that allows transfer and manipulation of musical data parameters among different capable devices. Some of these parameters include: velocity, pitch, tempo, panning, vibrato, and many more |
| MIDI controller | Hardware that can send and manipulate MIDI parameters of a performance by means of a physical keys, knobs, sliders, and other input methods |
| Modulation | In electronic music, the adjustment of a parameter based on a source. A filter might be modulated by an envelope, creating change in a sound |
| Mono | Refers to when a sound only has one channel for both the left and right speakers. It sounds like it is coming from just one position, or centered as there are no differences between the left speaker and the right speaker |
| Notch Filter | A narrow filter shape that sharply cuts frequencies within a narrow range |
| Oscillator | In synthesizers, oscillators produce original sound, which is fed through the rest of the signal path. Oscillators generate particular waveform, usually a sine, sawtooth, square or triangle. Oscillator’s pitch can be changed based on notes or modulation |
| Panning | Short for panoramic. The process of moving or positioning a sound either left or right in the stereo field. Panning is a great mix technique to achieve width and space |
| Partial | A harmonic in a sound that contributes to the sound, usually in the high-end of the sound. Usually, a sound will contain multiple partials to make up the sound |
| Patch | A combination of saved settings, which can be loaded into a device |
| Peak | The momentary level of audio at any given moment. Different to the average or perceived loudness or audio |
| Peak Filter | A bell-shaped filter used to boost or cut over a range of frequencies |
| Phase | Phase denotes a particular point in the cycle of a waveform, measured as an angle in degrees |
| Phaser | Electronic sound processor filter signal create series of peaks+ troughs in freq spec aka, the amplitudes of two signals hav high and low points at slight diff times. Pos peaks + troughs of wvfrm affected usu mod so vary overtime, creating sweeping effect |
| Plug-in | Plug-ins are a broad term that includes many different types of tools that add or enhance audio-related functionality in a computer program. Such functionality typically includes digital signal processing |
| Q | Bandwidth parameter. Allows control the range of freq that you adjust in EQ. A low Q setting results in a wide bandwidth, which means it’s affecting a large range of freq. A high Q setting results in a narrow bandwidth and a smaller range of freq affected |
| Quantize | The process of adjusting when the beginning of a musical event (or multiple events) takes place by moving each event instance to its closest mathematically predetermined grid location |
| Release | The time it takes for a sound to fade after the key or input device is released. It is the final part of the sound envelope |
| Resonance | Amplifies the frequencies right at the filter cutoff point |
| Reverb | series acoustic reflections occur w/in space when sound created. Time, freq, and volume reflections vary depend size, shape, +contents space. Natural/artificial, reverb give depth + provides clue abt enviro performed. Careful! excess reverb result muddy |
| Sideband | The sum and difference frequencies produced through frequency modulated (FM) or amplitude modulated (AM) |
| Signal Processing | The alteration of audio, often through an audio effect or effects unit. As audio signals may be electronically represented in either digital or analog, signal processing may occur as digital signal processing or analog signal processing |
| Stereo | Any sound that contains both left and right channel information |
| Spectrum | Distribution of frequencies contained in any given sound |
| Subtractive Synthesis | Starting with a simple oscillator and produces a waveform with different frequency spectrums by filtering or cutting away the parts of the frequency spectrum that you do not want such as various harmonics |
| Sustain | Sound envelope: begin when attack + decay portions have run course, and conts until the key is release. Sustain cntrl determine the lvl at which envelope will remain. Attack, decay, + release cntrl are rate/time cntrld, the sustain cntrl is a lvl control |
| Synthesizer | An electronic musical instrument, typically operated by a keyboard, producing a wide variety of sounds by generating and combining signals of different frequencies |
| Track | Horizontal rows you use to organize your music. There are three types of tracks audio tracks, software instrument tracks, and drummer tracks |
| Tremolo | Tremolo modulates the amplitude of the incoming signal, resulting in periodic volume/amplitude changes and creates a wavering effect in a musical tone, typically a rapid reiteration of a note |
| Velocity | The force with which a note is played and it is vital component in MIDI |
| Vibrato | Phase-shift modulation where low-frequency oscillator (LFO) delayed to offset the phase btwn carrier and modulator signals. Creates periodic variation in freq, of a sustained musical note where the freq alts subtly and very quick. Pop FX in Hammond organs |
| Waveform | An audio signal represented visually as a wave |
| Wavelength | Refers to the length of one cycle of a wave. As frequency increases, wavelength decreases |
| Wet | A processed version of a signal, as opposed to the dry, which is the unprocessed signal. A wet signal can be blended in with a Dry/Wet knob |
| White Noise | Contains all frequencies—at full level—around a center frequency. Noise is useful for emulating percussive sounds, such as snare drums, or wind and surf sounds |
Created by:
atallarida