06-04-2016, 03:14 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-09-2016, 10:12 AM by Otto Halmén.
Edit Reason: Updated list
)
Software:
Audio settings:
Recording & mixing:
Effect plugins:
Sample library terms:
NOTE: This glossary is by no means complete. I’m a bit busy this summer, so I’m going to revise and build upon it whenever I have a spare moment. Naturally, I’m open to suggestions. Most importantly, don’t hold yourself back if you think I got something wrong.
- A digital audio workstation (DAW) is the main computer program used to record and edit audio and MIDI tracks and mix them into finished music or other audio. Some of the most common DAWs are Logic Pro X, Pro Tools, Cubase and FL Studio.
- Plugins are software components loaded into the DAW to perform different tasks. Common plugin formats are VST, AU (Mac) and RTAS or AAX (Pro Tools).
- Instrument plugins (or virtual instruments) are plugins that generate sound from MIDI data.
- Samplers generate sound by playing back samples of individually recorded notes and phrases of a particular instrument. A collection of such recordings is called a sample library.
- Synthesizers generate sound with mathematical models of different waveforms. The timbre is often highly adjustable by the user.
- Samplers generate sound by playing back samples of individually recorded notes and phrases of a particular instrument. A collection of such recordings is called a sample library.
- Effect plugins are plugins that modify sound. Examples of effect plugins are compressors, equalizers and reverbs.
- Instrument plugins (or virtual instruments) are plugins that generate sound from MIDI data.
Audio settings:
- Buffer size determines how many samples the DAW processes at a time before sending it to the speakers.
Recording & mixing:
- Audio tracks are tracks where audio signals can be recorded digitally.
- MIDI tracks (short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface) are tracks where individual note positions, pitches, lengths, velocities, and various other properties can be recorded numerically. MIDI tracks can be recorded by playing a MIDI keyboard or by entering notes manually with a computer keyboard and mouse. MIDI tracks get routed to instrument plugins where the numerical data gets turned into an audio signal.
- Volume is typically adjusted in decibel (dB) values. +6 dB is perceived as roughly twice as loud, and -6 dB roughly half as loud.
- Panning is the left-to-right positioning of each respective track in the mix.
- Balancing, when mixing a stereo track, is adjusting the left-to-right positioning of the track by adjusting the volume levels of the left and right channels in relation to each other. The pan pots in most DAWs function like this.
- Stereo panning brings some of the left channel over to the right side when panning right, and vice versa when panning left. This enhances the stereo separation of the mix, but also affects the stereo width (and sometimes the timbre) of the signal. Some DAWs, like Ardour, have this built into them, but it is generally accomplished with effect plugins.
- Balancing, when mixing a stereo track, is adjusting the left-to-right positioning of the track by adjusting the volume levels of the left and right channels in relation to each other. The pan pots in most DAWs function like this.
- Sends are means of sending a copy of an audio signal to an auxiliary channel (often called bus or aux). They are often used for CPU-heavy effects like reverb. Sending multiple channels to a single aux allows you to use the same effects for all of the channels.
Effect plugins:
- Wet and dry controls allow you to blend the modified (wet) signal with the unmodified (dry) signal. They can be found in many plugins.
- An equalizer is used to adjust the balance of different frequencies in the signal.
- A compressor is an effect that dips the volume when the signal reaches a certain threshold.
- A delay is exactly what it sounds like. It delays the signal by a specified time. Wet and dry controls can be used to create an echo effect.
- A reverb simulates reverberation.
- An algorithmic reverb approximates reverberation using an algorithm that is often highly adjustable by the user.
- A convolution reverb simulates reverberation by applying a recorded snapshot of a physical space (or reverb device) to the signal. This snapshot is called an impulse response.
- An algorithmic reverb approximates reverberation using an algorithm that is often highly adjustable by the user.
- A saturation plugin is an effect which creates a special type of distortion that can benefit the sound. The effects are often based on properties of hardware such as tube amplifiers and mixing consoles.
Sample library terms:
- Velocity layers are samples of each note recorded at different velocities. As the timbre of a real instrument is often affected by the dynamics, a library with multiple velocity layers will often result in a more natural sounding performance.
- Round robin (RR) samples are multiple recordings of the same note at the same velocity. If the same note is played multiple times in succession, the sampler alternates between the round robin samples as simply repeating the same sample sometimes ends up sounding fake.
- Legato samples or true legato are samples of different two-note phrases. A real instrumentalist anticipates and expresses note transitions in a certain way, and legato samples are a way of simulating this.
NOTE: This glossary is by no means complete. I’m a bit busy this summer, so I’m going to revise and build upon it whenever I have a spare moment. Naturally, I’m open to suggestions. Most importantly, don’t hold yourself back if you think I got something wrong.