MC

en-noun

MC (countable and uncountable, plural MCs or MC's)

Coordinate term: MM

(electronics, audio) Initialism of moving coil, a type of phono cartridge.


NC

noise cancellation
noise cancellation#English

(audio) Initialism of noise cancellation.


attack

Borrowed from French attaque, derived from the verb attaquer, from Italian attaccare (“to join, attach”) (used in attaccare battaglia (“to join battle”)), from Frankish *stakka (“stick”). Doublet of attach. Displaced native Old English on rǣsan (“to attack”) and onrǣs (“an attack”).

aanval

attempt to cause damage, injury, or death

(audio) The amount of time taken for the volume of an audio signal to go from zero to maximum level (e.g. an audio waveform representing a snare drum hit would feature a very fast attack, whereas that of a wave washing to shore would feature a slow attack).

aloitus

amount of time it takes for the volume of an audio signal to go from zero to maximum level


wow

wow (countable and uncountable, plural wows)

Sound films have to be loaded so that the sound is 5 seconds before the sound drum so a wow does not result when the film is punched up on the air.

1970, Larry G. Goodwin, Thomas Koehring, Closed-circuit Television Production Techniques, page 80:

(audio) A relatively slow form of flutter (pitch variation) which can affect both gramophone records and tape recorders.


scrub

en-verb

scrub (third-person singular simple present scrubs, present participle scrubbing, simple past and past participle scrubbed)

scrubs (present singular third-person)
scrubbing (participle present)
scrubbed (participle past)
scrubbed (past)

From Middle English scrobben (“groom a horse with a currycomb”); from Middle Dutch schrobben (“clean by scrubbing”).

der

(audio) To move a recording tape back and forth with a scrubbing motion to produce a scratching sound, or to do so by a similar use of a control on an editing system.

(audio, video) To maneuver the play position on a media editing system by using a scroll bar or touch-based interface.


discrete

en-adj

discrete (comparative more discrete, superlative most discrete)

more discrete (comparative)
most discrete (superlative)

From Old French discret, from Latin discrētus, past participle of discernō (“divide”), from dis- + cernō (“sift”). Doublet of discreet.

(audio engineering) Having separate and independent channels of audio, as opposed to multiplexed stereo or quadraphonic, or other multi-channel sound.


MM

Coordinate term: MC

(audio, electronics) Initialism of moving magnet, a type of phono cartridge.


driver

desctree

→ Japanese: ドライバー (doraibā)
→ Hakka: 多拉把 (tô-lai-pá, tô-lai-pà, tò-lái-pà)
→ Hokkien: 螺賴把 /螺赖把 (lo͘-lài-bà)

→ Hokkien: 嚦峇 /呖峇 (lē-bā)

→ Scottish Gaelic: draibhear

From Middle English drivere, dryvere, dryvare, equivalent to drive + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Drieuwer (“driver”), Dutch drijver (“driver”), German Low German Driever (“driver”), German Treiber (“driver”).

(audio) A device that converts an electrical signal to sound waves; the principal component of loudspeakers and headphones.


scrubber

graphical user interface
graphical user interface

(graphical user interface, audio, video) A horizontal bar allowing the user to set the playback position.


side chain

side chains (plural)
sidechain (alternative)
side-chain (alternative)

(audio) Auxiliary audio input fed to a synthesizer etc. and used to selectively trigger an effect.


side chain

en-verb

side chain (third-person singular simple present side chains, present participle side chaining, simple past and past participle side chained)

side chains (present singular third-person)
side chaining (participle present)
side chained (participle past)
side chained (past)
sidechain (alternative)
side-chain (alternative)

(audio) To use auxiliary audio input in that manner.


ANC

en-noun

ANC (countable and uncountable, plural ANCs)

active noise control
w:active noise control

(audio) Initialism of active noise control.


presence

presence (countable and uncountable, plural presences)

presences (plural)
præsence (alternative)

Through Old French presence, from Latin praesentia (“a being present”), from praesentem. Displaced native Old English andweardnes.


DAT

DATs (plural)
D.A.T. (alternative)
D. A. T. (alternative)

(computing, audio) Digital Audio Tape, a digital data storage tape format using a dual-spooled cartridge and magnetic tape, used for digital audio and data storage.


compressor

From compress + -or, or from New Latin compressor.

(audio, sound engineering) A device that reduces the dynamic range of an audio signal.

kompressori

device that reduces the range of an audio signal


fade in

en-verb

fade in (third-person singular simple present fades in, present participle fading in, simple past and past participle faded in)

fades in (present singular third-person)
fading in (participle present)
faded in (participle past)
faded in (past)

(music, audio, transitive, intransitive) To commence with silence in a song and then slowly increase the volume of the music until the intro of the song is over.


fade out

fade out (third-person singular simple present fades out, present participle fading out, simple past and past participle faded out)

fades out (present singular third-person)
fading out (participle present)
faded out (participle past)
faded out (past)

(music, audio, transitive, intransitive) To decrease in volume, such as at the end of a song, until there is only silence.


flutter

en-noun

flutter (countable and uncountable, plural flutters)

From Middle English floteren, from Old English floterian, flotorian (“to float about, flutter”), from Proto-Germanic *flutrōną, frequentative of Proto-Germanic *flutōną (“to float”), equivalent to float + -er (frequentative suffix). Cognate with West Frisian flodderje (“to flutter, beat”), Dutch flodderen (“to flutter, wave”), Low German fluttern, fluddern (“to flutter”), German flittern (“to sparkle, glitter”). More at float.

cog

Coordinate term: wow

(audio, electronics) The rapid variation of signal parameters, such as amplitude, phase, and frequency.


panning

en-noun

panning (countable and uncountable, plural pannings)

The new console supports pannings and fades.

(audio) The act by which a sound is panned.


redline

en-verb

redline (third-person singular simple present redlines, present participle redlining, simple past and past participle redlined)

redlines (present singular third-person)
redlining (participle present)
redlined (participle past)
redlined (past)

From red + line, originating with the frequent use of red pen or pencil to mark corrections on drawings and documents (1), and the red markings on a tachometer (2).

(audio engineering) To achieve audio levels that will cause clipping (indicated by red in an audio meter).


pan

pan (third-person singular simple present pans, present participle panning, simple past and past participle panned)

pans (present singular third-person)
panning (participle present)
panned (participle past)
panned (past)

(audio) To spread a sound signal into a new stereo or multichannel sound field, typically giving the impression that it is moving across the sound stage.


demix

demix (third-person singular simple present demixes, present participle demixing, simple past and past participle demixed)

demixes (present singular third-person)
demixing (participle present)
demixed (participle past)
demixed (past)

(audio engineering) To reverse the downmixing process for (a track), recovering channels or stems.


soundboard

(audio engineering) A mixing console used to combine and blend different audio sources to a single output.


layback

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-layback.wav

From lay + back (presumably from confusion between lay and lie).

(audio editing) The process of recording the final sound onto the master track.


fold down

fold down (third-person singular simple present folds down, present participle folding down, simple past and past participle folded down)

folds down (present singular third-person)
folding down (participle present)
folded down (participle past)
folded down (past)

Folding down to mono can create problems if essential material has been recorded into the surrounds, as it will be lost.

2012, Hilary Wyatt, Tim Amyes, Audio Post Production for Television and Film:


supra-aural

supraural (alternative)
supraaural (alternative)

(audio, headphones, sound engineering) Pressing onto the ears, and sealing the outer ear (as opposed to being placed in the ear, or hanging onto the ear, or surrounding the ear).


power alley

(audio engineering) The line between two subwoofers where both are in phase.


wowless

en-adj

wowless (comparative more wowless, superlative most wowless)

more wowless (comparative)
most wowless (superlative)

This damping device results in absolutely uniform and “wowless” rotation of the synchronous turntable.

1930 March, “RCA ‘Type G’ Reproducing Equipment”, in The Motion Picture Projectionist, volume 3, number 5, page 17:

If for no other reason, the difficulty of obtaining a wowless speed at 16⅔ rpm should be enough to unsell any music lover for his high-quality listening system, especially with changers or low-priced turntables.

1956 January, “Editor’s Report”, in Audio Magazine, volume 40, number 1, page 10:

1990, Stanley R. Alten, Audio in Media, Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing, 4th edition, 1994, Chapter 16, “Insert Editing,” p. 517,
To get a wowless insert edit, you will have to preroll not only the master tape but the insert tape as well


ips

The contest calls for a 15 to 17 minute mixed program (on cassette or 7½ ips quarter-track tape reel) of West End material only, and a five minute radio edit, marked with the DJ's name and address on the box.

July 3, 1982, Brian Chin, Billboard, page 40:

(audio engineering) Initialism of inch(es) per second.


upmix

en-verb

upmix (third-person singular simple present upmixes, present participle upmixing, simple past and past participle upmixed)

upmixes (present singular third-person)
upmixing (participle present)
upmixed (participle past)
upmixed (past)

(audio engineering) To demix a downmixed track and increase the number of channels: convert mono into stereo, or stereo into surround sound, etc.


clean feed

(audio engineering) The setup of a mixing console or matrix mixer such that the output contains everything except a designated input; often used to prevent echoes or feedback.


time-aligned

(audio, electronics) Of a sound system, in which the speakers are configured correctly to eliminate timing problems, so that the sound produced by each driver arrives in the listener's ear at the same time.


time alignment

(audio, electronics) The process of delaying the sound emanating from one or more drivers in a loudspeaker or sound system to correct the transient response so that the sound output is simultaneous.


high shelf

en-noun

high shelf (countable and uncountable, plural high shelves)

(audio engineering) A filter that gradually increases or decreases frequencies above a certain point in the frequency spectrum.


mix-minus

(audio engineering) Synonym of clean feed