The modern world is full of three-letter acronyms, or TLAs, and other jargon. The world of music and audio is no different.
Every given topic area has its own specific abbreviations and terminology that can, at first, be impenetrable to some. In this tutorial I attempt to demystify a few of the terms that you’re likely to read in our tutorials.
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EDM—Electronic Dance Music
EDM is a range of percussive electronic music genres made, predominantly, for nightclubs, raves and festivals. EDM is also produced and performed in live settings. EDM is more commonly known as dance music or simply dance.
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12 Places You Can Download Quality EDM Samples for Free
Samples. You can love them or you can hate them. But what you can’t do is avoid them, or their use in Electronic Dance Music production. In addition to paid… -
Using a Reference Track When Producing EDM
Electronic Dance Music, on its surface, may sound simple enough to produce. This mindset is what started my musical career; “How hard can it be?” I thought,…
Equalization (EQ)
EQ is he process of adjusting various audio frequencies to correct or enhance the sound. Every audible sound sits within the frequency range of human hearing.
A high pitched sound, like a drum cymbal or hissing sound, resides in the top end of the spectrum. A low pitched sound, such as a bass guitar or kick drum, resides in the bottom end of the spectrum.
Every instrument has a fundamental frequency but also has higher overtones and harmonics that give it’s character of sound. An organ sounds different to a bass guitar because of the different overtones and harmonics.
With equalization, you can adjust the character and tone of a sound by boosting or cutting these different frequencies.
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EQ For Beginners Part 1: What You Need To Know
In this two-part series I’ll give you a deep understanding of EQ and show you exactly how to apply EQ using a four-step process. By the end you will feel… -
A Master Guide to Electric Guitar EQ Part 1: The Recording Phase
In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to apply EQ to shape the guitar tone with a number of recording techniques.
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Fade
A transition to or from silence. In audio engineering, a fade is a gradual decrease or increase in the level of an audio signal.
For example, a recorded song may fade-out. That is have a gradual reduction in sound, at the end of the song, to silence. It’s a solution to musical arrangements that have no obvious ending.
Though relatively rare in songs, The Beatles would use fade out and fade back in techniques with songs such as Helter Skelter and Strawberry Fields Forever.
Feedback
Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to feed back into itself.
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How to Peak Out a Room
Feedback is the bane of any audio engineer’s existence. So learning how to smite it is a must for live sound. If feedback always seems to creep up on you,… -
How to Null Test Your Gear: Part 2
In the first part of this tutorial, I explained how to null test with software. That’s easy. Doing so with physical equipment can be more challenging, but…
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Gate
A gate is an electronic device that increases dynamic range by cutting off a signal when its level falls below a specific threshold. A gate is used to control leakage of sound source into adjacent mics, for instance drums.
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Noise Gating: The Easiest Way To Clean Up a Voice Over
Nosies gates are extremely powerful tools. Learn how to use them effectively in this short video. By the end of this tutorial, you will be able to use noise…
Gain
Gain is the amplification level of an audio signal. It’s the measure of the ability of a two-port circuit, usually an amplifier, to increase the power of amplitude of a signal from the input to the output port.
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Hertz
Hertz, and the symbol, Hz, is a unit of frequency, cycles per second as defined by the International System of Units (SI).
Named after Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, the system’s most common uses are in the description of sine waves and musical tones. It can also be used to describe the speed at which computers and other electronics operate.
High Pass Filter
A circuit that discriminates between high and low frequencies and allows only the high frequencies to pass.
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Quick Tip: Using Musical High Pass Filters
In this quick tip, we continue looking at classic workhorse effects, in this case high pass filters. We know that it’s important to use them to remove…
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Low Pass Filter
A Low Pass Filter is a circuit that discriminates between high and low frequencies and allows only the low frequencies to pass.
LFO—Low-frequency oscillation
LFO, or Low-frequency oscillation, is an electronic signal which is usually below 20Hz and creates a rhythmic pulse or sweep.
This pulse or sweep is often used to modulate synthesizers, delay lines and other audio equipment in order to create effects.
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Essential Subtractive Synthesis: LFOs
This is a series of basic synthesis workshops. We assume you’re not entirely new to synthesizers, but you’re not an expert either. Today we look at low… -
Modular Synthesis Explained
You may be wondering what is a modular synth or what is modular synthesis. In this tutorial, I’ll explain the history of modular synthesis leading to modern…
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MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface. A standard of communication between musical instruments, controllers and computers.
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Using a MIDI Controller With iPad
Whether for practice, mobile production, or even to replace a traditional studio; the Apple iPad has quickly risen to the challenge of being all musical… -
MIDI Inserts and Sends in Cubase
MIDI effects, in Cubase, offers a number of plugins that can be used to modify your MIDI data and to create something new from it. In this tutorial, I’ll…
Mixer
A mixer is a device that accepts two or more audio inputs and provides one or more audio outputs.
Mixers commonly provide a variety of controls such as tone, volume, balance and effects for each channel.
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Choosing the Right DJ Controller
Controllers themselves generally do not generate any sounds, but rather they control the tracks, samples, and virtual instruments on your computer. In this… -
Mixer Management in Logic X
One of the things many Logic users were hoping for in the Logic X release was the ability to more freely modify channel strip order in the Mixer. This has…
Modulation
Frequency Modulation Synthesis, or FM Synthesis, as it is modulation is also known is a form of synthesis where the timbre of a simple waveform—square, triangle or sawtooth—is changed by modulating its frequency.
Modulation can create harmonic and non-harmonic sounds.
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Quick Tip: Using Side Chains As Modulators
Here’s another quick tip synthesis screencast from Mo Volans. This time we’ll look at something a bit more advanced—how to use sidechaining and external… -
A Shopping Guide for Modular Synths
In this article I’ll show you some tricks and tips on how to buy modules and systems in a clever way.
Monitor
A monitor is a speaker or earphone dedicated to making it possible for a performer to hear—or monitor—his/her own performance.
Examples of monitors are floor wedges, sidefills, or mini-monitor.
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Speaker Placement: The Best Positions for Studio Monitors
Simply by moving the speakers you can create a more accurate listening environment. There’s a lot of complicated science behind this, though in this guide… -
Improve Singing Performance With In-Ear Monitors
If you’re having a hard time hearing yourself singing onstage, with or without stage monitors, then it’s time to consider in-ear monitors. This guide will…
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