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Musichool
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Musichool
  • A (Not) – A musical note.
  • AAC – A lossy audio file format developed by Apple, with a slightly better compression algorithm for quality than MP3.
    iTunes Store purchases are 256 kbps AAC files.
  • AAX (Avid Audio eXtension) – A plug-in format that is more popular with audio engineers as opposed to manufacturers – it is exclusive to Avid Pro Tools and requires a 64-bit system.
    New version of RTAS.
  • Ableton Live – Ableton is a popular DAW created by the company.
    Ableton Live is used by many artists such as Skrillex, Flume and Diplo and is very good at live performances.
    Ableton Live is the preferred DAW of the Beatmakers Academy Team.
  • AC (Alternating Current) – An analog electric current used to power equipment.
    The default power you would find from a standard electrical outlet.
    “Alternating” refers to the sine wave shape of the current.
  • Acapella – Acapella – A vocal is a recording, typically copied or from an existing song.
    It is used in remixes, bootlegs and sampled in originals.
    It is also used as a DJ tool in DJ sets.
    It can also refer to a group of vocal singers (Pitch Perfect à la), but usually not in electronic music production.
  • Acoustic Instrument – Acoustic Instrument – An instrument that produces sound in the physical world without digital or analog technology.
    It can mean guitar, piano, drums, etc.
    It can mean guitar, piano, drums, etc.
    Referred to by older people as “real instruments”.
  • Acoustic – Acoustic – Sound characteristics of any area that change the qualities of a sound being played.
    Natural reverb, phase cancellation and/or background noise, etc.
  • Acoustic Process – Acoustic Treatment – The process of reducing acoustic inaccuracies and reflections in physical spaces by adding damping materials such as foam and bass traps to the underlying areas.

    Active – Active – A device with its own built-in power amplifier.
    The opposite of a passive device.
    Most studio monitors these days are active.
  • A / D – Analog to Digital Converter.
    Typically found on most Audio Interfaces for capturing acoustic/analog audio sources.
  • Additive Synthesis – A form of sound synthesis that mathematically outputs sound by adding harmonics (sine waves).
  • ADSR – It stands for Attack, Descent, Hold and Release – the envelope applied to a sound to shape it over time.
    It can be applied to volume, filter, range or more.
  • Aftertouch – A MIDI parameter found on most keyboards.
    It detects the pressure applied to a key after it is first played and then this can be mapped to control a specific modulation source such as volume, filter or anything else.
  • AIFF – stands for Audio Interchange File Format.
    It is a high-quality (lossless) audio file format created by Apple.
    It is comparable in quality to WAV or FLAC.
    It sounds quite nice and, unlike WAV, it actually allows for proper tagging.
  • Aliasing – Slight distortion in the digital domain that occurs when the input frequency is higher than the sampling rate.
    The sample cannot be measured accurately and therefore introduces imperfections into the sound.
  • Ambience – Ambience – It can refer to a sound that creates a sense of space or atmosphere in a track – typically achieved through the use of time-based sound effects such as delays and echoes.
    It can also refer to the volume in a recording that contains background noise, separate from the intended recording.
    Typically this background noise is undesirable, but sometimes it is an aesthetic choice.
  • Ambient – Ambient – It’s a very simplified and loop-based genre of music with extended drones and pads, typically without drums.
  • Amen Break – One of the most sampled drum beats of all time, a six-second sample from The Winstons’ Amen Brother.
    Typically used in genres such as Drum and Bass, Jungle and Breakbeat.
  • Amp (Amplifier) – Typically, it refers to the hardware or digital emulation of an amplifier, a tool that increases the level of a signal to increase its loudness.
    Different amplification methods can color the sound in a pleasing way, and an amplifier is therefore a creative tool rather than merely functional.
  • Amplitude – It refers to the loudness or loudness of a waveform – louder means louder, lower means quieter.
    An amplitude of 0 (or -∞dB) means silence.
  • Analog (ue) – Sound that occurs in physical space as opposed to bits in digital space.
    Analog signals and technology are continuous and infinitely measurable, while digital signals are limited to a defined sample rate and bit depth.
    For this reason, analog is often referred to as having a warmer, more realistic sound.
  • Apple – Apple is the designer and manufacturer of laptops and desktops and has been the choice of audio professionals for years.
    One of the world’s largest technology companies.
  • Arpeggio (Arp) – Arpeggio – A chord played in a series of repeating steps instead of simultaneously.
    It makes you look like a good producer without much effort.
  • Arpeggiator – Arpeggiator – A MIDI Effect that turns a static chord into an arpeggio.
  • Aranje – Arrangement – The way instruments and parts are placed in a track/song.
    Referred to as Instrumentation and Structure respectively.
    A very important concept in songwriting.
  • Artist – Artist – A person who creates music and publishes it.
  • Arturia – A hardware and software manufacturer responsible for many analog and analog modeled equipment.
    They make the V Collection, a synthesis collection modeling famous analog synthesizers.
  • Atmosphere – Atmosphere – A sound effect created by echo, long tails and quieter sounds.
    It is referred to as the background of a track.
  • Attack – Attack – The first part of an ADSR envelope – defines the time it takes for a sound to reach maximum amplitude in milliseconds or seconds.
    Faster attacks sound bold and arrive immediately (low milliseconds), slower attacks sound non-stop and take some time to disappear (high seconds).
  • Signal Downgrade – Attenuaniton – A reduction in the loudness of a signal, usually measured in dB (decibels).
    An attenuation knob on a piece of gear or an add-on is used to reduce increases in loudness caused by other effects such as distortion or amplification.
  • AU (Audio Unit) – A plug-in format created by Apple exclusively for macOS/OSX.
    Other formats include VST, AAX and RTAS.
  • Audacity – An audio editor for editing audio, available on Windows and macOS.
    It is powerful but lacks the functionality of a professional DAW like Ableton.
  • Audio – Audio – Technically this refers to all sounds we hear in the range of human hearing (~20Hz-20000Hz).
    Commonly, sound is used to refer to a sound recording, especially when on a sound track and played in an arrangement of a piece.
  • Sound Effect – Audio Effect – Any plug-in, stock effect or piece of hardware that processes audio and changes the sonic characteristics of the sound.
    EQ, compression, reverb, delay, distortion, etc.
  • Audio Engineering – Audio Engineering – The recording, mixing and mastering process of studio or live recordings.
  • Audio Interface – A piece of hardware that can receive sound as input and output sound at the same time.
    Most computers have a sound card built in, but it is not a full audio interface, which is a more comprehensive and high-quality solution for music production and can be used to record instruments and output to studio monitors.
  • Audio Channel – Audio Track – A channel that stores and plays the sound, unlike a MIDI Track.
  • Automation – Automation – Modulation of a parameter over time, such as filter screening or volume change.
    Usually, automation is saved in a permit regulation and automatically adjusts a parameter after it has been saved.
  • Aux Channel – Aux Channel – A send or return channel that allows additional parallel processing of multiple sources simultaneously.
    For example, most people put echo on an aux channel to allow group processing of multiple sounds that require echo.
    Not to be confused with the cable your friend wants when they want to play tunes in the car.
  • Avid – The company behind Pro Tools.
  • B (Note) C (Note)– A musical note.
  • Balance – Balance – See
    “Horizontal Scrolling”.
  • Bandcamp – A website that allows artists and record labels to set up an independent store to sell music and merchandise.
    It’s great if you don’t want to work with labels or big distribution services and stay completely independent.
    Some music niches still like to buy songs rather than streaming, and Bandcamp also allows vinyl records to be sold online.
  • Band Pass Filter – Band Pass Filter – A type of filter that acts as both a low pass and high pass and only allows a narrow frequency range.
    It can be used to make things sound lo-fi.
  • Band Stop Filter – Band Stop Filter – See
    “Notch Filter”.
  • Bandwidth – Bandwidth – The frequency range in an audio signal or stream, typically as a result of a technology limitation (such as a recording of a telephone call).
  • Bank – Bank – A group of presets that can be loaded into a synth.
    Also called a sound bank.
  • Bar – A musical term describing a measure of beats.
    In electronic and dance music this is typically a 4-beat measure, but can be more or less in different time signatures.
  • Bass – Bass – The lower frequencies in a sound – typically ~20Hz to ~400Hz.
  • Bass Drum – Bass Drum – See Kick.
  • Bassline – Note pattern that fills the bass area of the frequency spectrum – can be played with a synthesizer, bass guitar, 808 or any sound with tonal quality.
  • Bass Music – Bass Music – A form of EDM that typically features loud, compressed bass growls and sounds.
    Genres include dubstep, trap, bass house, drum and bass and many more.
  • Beat – The consistent timing and rhythm of music.
    It also appears as a term, especially in hip-hop.
  • Beatdown – Look for a malfunction.
  • Beatmatch – A DJing process where two or more tracks are matched in time and tempo to ensure a seamless transition between the two.
    When someone fails to match and you can hear it, it’s often called a train wreck.
    It sounds horrible to be honest.
  • Beat Repeat – A type of effect that takes audio as input and repeats the particle at regular intervals to create a glitch effect.
  • Beats – It is sometimes used to refer to a genre of music that combines hip-hop with electronics, or something a rapper would use as a track.
  • Bell – Bell – Tubular bells are a synth sound that aims to have the sound texture of a real bell, like a glockenspiel or similar.
  • Bell Curve – The most common curve on a parametric EQ used to boost or cut a frequency band in a natural way.
  • Berklee – A prestigious music school recognized as the world’s leading music college – a very coveted school that many people in the music world try to get into.
  • Bit Depth – The number of bits allowed for the dynamic range of an audio recording.
    Most audio is 16-bit or 24-bit, allowing a loudness of 65,536 or 16,777,215 respectively.
    Most people cannot really tell the difference.
  • Bit rate – Bitrate – The number of bits contained in an audio file each second, measured in kbps.
    320kbps is an example of what an MP3 can store, whereas WAV usually has rates of 1411kbps or higher.
    Higher usually means better quality.
    It can be CBR (constant) or VBR (variable).
    Below 128kbps is considered “low quality”.
  • Bitwig Studio – A DAW created by Bitwig, available for macOS, Windows and Linux.
    It was started by some former Ableton employees and is seen as Ableton Live’s only good competitor, having both a session and editing view and being robust enough for live performance.
  • Boost – An EQ adjustment that increases the gain of a frequency spectrum.
    See also the “Cut” section.
  • Bootleg – When you remix a song without permission – it is normally done without a full body set and with only the sound of the original track or with just an a cappella.
  • Bounce – Bounce – A bounce, not to be confused with Melbourne Bounce, is usually when audio is collected and/or exported together and/or recorded internally within a DAW.
    See also
    Freeze/Flatten.
  • BPM – Beats Per Minute.
    Refers to tempo measured in beats per minute.
    For example, a lot of House music is 128 beats per minute.
  • Brass – It can refer to an acoustic brass instrument trying to sound like a brass instrument, or to some kind of synth sound.
  • Break (Breakdown) – A lower energy section of a piece.
    Usually some or all of the rhythm elements are removed, adding macro dynamics to a piece.
  • Breaks (Breakbeat) – It can refer to a genre of music or a sampled drum beat without four-four kicks, such as Amen Break.
  • Brickwall Filter – A special, advanced type of Low Cut or Hi Cut filter that has a very steep slope (dB/oct) and visually resembles a wall due to sudden tipping.
    It is used to remove frequencies above and below the human hearing spectrum.
    It doesn’t sound very good in human hearing.
  • Brown Noise – It is a type of noise that is denser at the lower end and contains less high frequency content than both pink and white noise.
  • Browser – Browser – A feature of most DAWs that allows you to browse files in your software, such as samples, presets and stock content.
  • Build (up) – A section that leads to a feeling of climbing – it creates energy and tension on a road.
  • Buss – Enables group audio processing of multiple audio sources.
    For example, a Drum Buss can group a kick, snare, Hihat, Ride and other percussion recordings into a single channel (after initial processing) and allow group processing such as compression, EQ, etc.
    It can allow group processing such as compression, EQ, etc.
  • Bypass – When an effect is temporarily disabled so that the signal can be heard when the effect is off.
    Usually a button or switch is included as effect plug-ins.
  • C – C is a musical note.
  • Cable – Cable– It connects devices by transmitting voice or some kind of digital/analog data.
  • Camel Audio – A defunct plugin company that created Camel Crusher and Camel Phat 3.
    Not to be confused with the music duo.
  • Cardioid Pattern – A common microphone pole pattern for recording vocals, heart-shaped and designed to record in a specific direction and reject background noise.
  • CBR – Short for “Constant Bitrate”, it refers to encoding an MP3 at a bitrate that is consistent over the entire duration of the file.
    The opposite of VBR (Variable Bit Rate).
  • CD – Compact Disk stands for Disk – a physical disk used to store audio and data.
  • Canal – Canal – the way sound travels from an entrance to an exit.
  • Chill – A loosely defined term in electronic music to describe the sound of more relaxed, deeper and melody-based music.
    Sometimes people call it a genre in itself.
  • Chillstep – A subgenre of Dubstep with an emphasis on melody, pads and less aggressive and noisy elements.
    Notable artists include Blackmill, Mt Eden and Said The Sky.
  • Chord – Chord – A combination of musical notes played together (2-3 or more).
  • Chord Progression – A series of chords in time – serving as the harmonic foundation of a piece or song.
  • Chorus(Verse) – The main part of a song, usually featuring vocals or some kind of melodic hook.
    It is usually featured multiple times throughout a track.
  • Chorus – Chorus – (Sound Effect) – A time-based effect that adds multiple delays
  • Clip – Clip – The audio or MIDI section on a channel in a DAW.
  • Clipping – Clickling – Clipping is a type of distortion that occurs when sound rises above headroom within an analog or digital space.
    Analog clipping is called soft clipping, while digital clipping is called hard clipping and is less pleasant.
  • Clock Signal – A MIDI signal that provides BPM information for devices to stay in time.
    One device usually outputs the signal and the others are timing dependent.
  • Codec – An algorithm standard that compresses audio into a specific format to reduce file size (e.g. LAME for MP3).
  • Cold – It refers to when the sound is harsh and digital, as opposed to analog and pleasantly warm.
  • Compander – A compressor and an expander in one.
    Yes, it’s that simple.
  • Comping – A sound recording process in which multiple recordings of vocals are recorded and the best parts of each recording are edited together to create a more ‘perfect’ vocal.
  • Compressor – A dynamic range effect that reduces the signal level when it exceeds a certain volume level.
    Used to equalize the volume of dynamic sounds.
    Contrary to popular belief, compression alone does not make things super fat, but although it is a tool that can compress sound heavily, it also requires a gain boost after this process to bring it up to a higher level.
    See also “Ratio” and “Threshold”.
  • Condenser Microphone – Condenser Microphone – A type of microphone that is more sensitive to sounds and is ideal for capturing less dynamic sounds such as vocals.
    See also “Dynamic Microphone”.
  • Cone – Cone – The part of the speaker that vibrates due to the signal from the voice coil.
    It is a very sensitive part.
  • Controller – A MIDI hardware device that controls the parameters of a piece of software or another device (for example a MIDI Keyboard).
  • Control Signal – Data in the digital domain that tells a parameter to be modulated.
    Think LFOs, Envelopes and other modulation sources.
  • Control Voltage – CV is an electrical signal in the analog domain that signals another device to modulate according to a given voltage level.
    Basically modulation routing for analog/modular synthesis.
  • Correlation – Correlation – Measurement of phase correlation between left and right channels.
    1 means perfect correlation, 0 means no correlation and -1 means negative correlation (resulting in phase cancellation).
  • CPU (Central Processing Unit) – The “brain” of a computer that processes all the information.
  • Crash – A percussion element from a traditional drum set – a metallic rumble with a long tail to indicate the start of a new section.
    Cymbal
  • Crossfader – A control on a piece of hardware, such as a DJ Mixer, that switches between two audio sources.
  • Crossover – A point on the frequency spectrum where frequencies are divided into two signals.
    Used in subwoofers to send only bass information.
  • Cubase – A DAW created by Steinberg for Windows and macOS.
  • Cue – Control on any DJ system that allows a track to be played from a specific point while being held down.
    Helps to find a point to bring a track during a DJ mix.
  • Curve – In most cases, it refers to the frequency response.
  • Cutoff Frequency – Control over a filter that indicates where frequencies will rise.
  • Cycle – Cycle – A complete play of a waveform.
    When talking about how many cycles occur in one second, it is measured in Hertz (Hz).
  • D – Re music note.
  • D / A – Digital to Analog converter.
    Usually found in most Audio Interfaces to convert digital information from a computer to studio monitors or speakers for playback.
  • Damping – Damping – There are multiple definitions, but in general it refers to the reduction of natural reverberations, especially at high frequencies.
  • Dance Music – Dance Music A term for EDM referring to genres made specifically for dancing, such as house, techno, trance, hard dance, garage and more.
  • DAW (Digital Audio Workstation – Digital Audio Workstation) – A DAW is the centerpiece of the modern studio, the software on which music is created.
    Ableton Live, FL Studio, Logic Pro and many more are DAWs.
  • DC Offset – The amplitude offset of a sound caused by very low, often inaudible frequencies.
    Many sound effects have the option to add a DC filter to remove these frequencies.
  • Decay – The second stage of the standard ADSR envelope after the attack.
    It refers to the time it takes to reduce the amplitude of the signal to the specified sustain level (in dB) when the maximum volume is reached.
  • Decibel (dB) – Decibel – Standard measure for loudness.
    Note that dB is a ratio measurement and always requires a reference point to measure against.
    Common dB measurements include dBFS (digital audio where 0dB is clipped), dBA and dB SPL (acoustics where 0dB is almost silent).
  • De-esser – A type of multiband compressor that is particularly effective in frequency bands where sibilance is likely to occur.
    It removes “sss” type sounds from vocals.
  • Delay – A time-based sound effect that creates a series of echoes that occur at successive intervals and gradually fade into nothing.
  • Demo – An almost finished piece sent to a record label for release.
  • Detune – Refers to the amount of tuning difference between the sounds in an oscillator when Unison is enabled.
    It makes really big saw-type sounds.
  • Dialog – Dialoque – A recording or sample of spoken words that are typically not rhythmically timed, such as rap.
  • Diaphragm – Diaphragm – The part of the microphone that picks up sound.
    Depending on the application, different microphones have different sized diaphragms.
  • Digging – Digging – The process of looking through music sources to find material to use as samples in a track.
    The previous meaning was specifically vinyl record vaults, but in the modern era it can refer to digital digging through YouTube, Spotify and many more sites.
  • Digital – Digital – Sound that exists in bits and bytes in the digital domain as opposed to continuous analog signals.
  • Disco – A genre of dance music that emerged in the US in the 1970s, stylized by the use of bass lines, synths, guitar and drums.
  • Distortion – Distortion The processing of sound in such a way that extra harmonics and loudness are added, creating a fuller or more aggressive sound.
    Distortion types include tube, clipping, tape, diode, overdrive, feathering and many more.
  • Distribution – Distribution – The process of distributing your music to stores and streaming platforms.
    It can be done independently or used with a label.
  • DJ – Disk Jockey means – a person who plays recorded music in a live scenario by mixing tracks.
    Most manufacturers
  • DJ Mix – Not to be confused with mixdown, a DJ mix is a live recording in which a DJ mixes multiple tracks together over a period of time.
  • Doppler Effect – Doppler Effect The sonic effect of frequencies that produce a higher-pitched sound when approaching a sound source and a lower-pitched sound when moving away.
    Like when you pass a police siren.
  • Double – The process of recording a vocal twice to achieve a layered effect.
  • Download Gate – A website or service that exchanges social currency (e.g. Facebook likes or Soundcloud reposts) for free track downloads.
  • Drop – The main section of an EDM song that contains most of the energy and loudness compared to the rest of the track.
    Unlike the chorus section, it usually does not contain vocals.
  • Driver – The component inside a pair of headphones responsible for generating sound waves.
  • Drums – Drum A percussion instrument and voice that usually drives the rhythm of a piece.
  • Drum & Bass (DnB) – A subgenre of electronic music consisting of fast breakbeat patterns around 174bpm and low, rumbling bass lines.
    There are many different subgenres within DnB.
  • Drum Buss – It can refer to an audio track that combines all the drums together, or an Ableton sound effect that adds distortion, compression and bass to a sound or collection of sounds, such as drums.
  • Drum Machine – Drum Machine A hardware electronic instrument responsible for synthesizing and sequencing drum sounds.
    Notable drum machines include the Roland TR808 and 909.
  • Drum Pattern – A phrase played by a combination of drums and percussion.
    This pattern is repeatable and is usually one bar or longer.
  • Drum Rack – An Ableton instrument that allows drum samples to be triggered by MIDI notes, similar to a multisampler but for drums, like a drum kit.
  • Dry – The unprocessed version of a signal as opposed to the wet version, which is the processed version.
    The Dry/Wet knob mixes these two signals and can be used for effects such as reverb.
  • DSP (Digital Signal Processing) – Any audio processing that takes place in the digital domain.
  • Dub – A copy of a track, sometimes with arrangements applied.
    It can also refer to a genre similar to Reggae or sometimes be an abbreviation for Dubstep.
  • Dubstep – A bass music genre characterized by bass wobbles and part-time 140bpm drum patterns with intense compression.
  • Dynamic Microphone – A type of microphone that has a lower sensitivity for recording loud sources such as drums and guitars.
    It usually does not require phantom power.
  • Dynamic Range – Dynamic Range – It refers to the amount of dB between the highest point and the lowest point in the amplitude of the tracks.
    Lower differences mean lower dynamic range.
  • Dynamic Tube – A sound effect that mimics the tube distortion offered by hardware units.
    It usually produces a harmonically pleasing sound and changes character depending on the input material.
  • Dynamics – Dynamics Explains the properties of amplitude differences in sound.
    A set of dynamic processors can include a compressor, expander and limiter (+ more).
  • E (Note) – E (Music Note) – A musical note.
  • Early Reflections: The first reflections, which are part of an echo tail, define the first echo body from the natural or algorithmic echo.
  • Echo (Echo) – Echo A time-based effect that occurs with delay, however, echo usually refers to an analog delay as opposed to a digital sounding.
  • Edit – Edit It can refer to editing a track to change the structure or add a new element, or it can refer to the process of audio editing.
  • EDM – stands for Electronic Dance Music.
    EDM technically describes the general genre of anything that sounds electronic and is produced by computers and electronics, but is typically used to describe more commercial sounding electronic dance music.
  • Effects (FX) – Effects Any processing unit, digital or analog, that can be applied to an audio signal to change the result.
  • Electronic Music – Electronic Music Music produced with electronics such as computers, synthesizers and drum machines.
  • Envelope – Describes a characteristic of a sound (for example, volume or filter) that changes over time.
    It can be used as a tool to shape a sound over time.
  • E-Piano – An electronic piano instrument common in electronic music and beyond.
  • EQ (Equalization) – A widely used audio processing device that changes the gain of frequency content across the frequency spectrum by switching different frequency bands.
    EQ can be used to boost or cut low, mid, high or anything in between.
  • Erosion Erosion A sound effect in Ableton Live that adds distortion by modulating the signal with a sine wave or noise.
    It’s a very clear sound.
  • Eurorack – A standardized modular synthesis system where the modules are all designed to be compatible with each other.
  • External – External Usually refers to hardware or “off-the-shelf” instruments or hardware, such as External Instrument or External Sound Effect.
  • Expander Expander The opposite of a compressor – an expander increases the gain of the signal after passing a certain threshold.
    Good for making things super sharp.
  • F (Not) – A musical note.
  • FabFilter – Pro-Q is a software company that makes both mixing and creative plugins like Pro-L and Saturn.
    They’re pretty awesome.
  • Fade – The process of adjusting the volume over time, usually to bring a sound from silence or maximum volume to silence.
  • Fader – A physical or virtual slider on a mixer that adjusts the volume of a given track and is the primary means of mixing.
  • Fat – A term often used to describe when a sound or mix fills the frequency spectrum and is wide in a stereo image.
    Or just when something sounds good.
    “Dude, that sounds fat!”
  • Feedback (FX) – Feedback When an effect feeds the output signal back to the input signal, such as a delay or distortion, to enhance the effect.
    When a delay has high feedback, the delay has a longer tail.
  • Fidelity – Fidelity Refers to the quality of the sound.
    High fidelity means high quality and low fidelity means low quality in terms of bitrate/sample rate.
  • Field Registration – Field Recording A type of recording that records the sound of the natural sound pattern of a particular area.
    For example, a recording of a beach or a storm.
  • Filter – Filter An effect that only allows a certain band of frequencies to pass through.
    Different types of filters include low-pass filter, high-pass filter, bandpass filter and many more.
  • Fire – Honestly, I can’t believe I put this here, but this is what producers, musicians and DJs say when the music is good.
    For example.
    “This track is fire, man!”
  • Flanger – A time-based effect that occurs between 0ms and 5ms and has a metallic sweeping sound.
  • Flat (Mixing) – Flat (Mixing) Refers to studio monitors or a playback device having an even response curve across the frequency spectrum and no boosting or clipping in areas to color the sound.
  • Flat (Music Theory) – A note reduced by half a step.
  • Fletcher-Munson Curve Fletcher-Munson Curve Curve showing how the human ear responds to different frequencies at different amplitudes.
    It turns out that we hear some frequencies higher than others.
  • Flip – Another word for bootleg – usually an unofficial remix of another track.
  • FL Studio – A very popular DAW among electronic music producers created by Image-Line, popular for its flexibility and workflow capabilities.
  • FM Synthesis – FM Synthesis A form of synthesis achieved by modulating the frequency of basic waveforms with each other to create interesting harmonic content.
    It was popularized by the Yamaha DX7 synthesizer.
    FM Synthesis is used to create a large number of bell-type sounds as well as complex basses used in bass music.
  • Foldback – It is a type of speaker used in live performance so that performers and DJs can hear what is coming from speakers in front of the house.
  • Foley – Foley Recorded sounds of various objects used to imitate certain types of sounds or to achieve a certain aesthetic.
    Examples of Foley sounds could be coins in a can, tapping on a wooden table or a field recording of a train station.
  • Follow-up – Follow A feature in many DAWs where the edit view follows the playhead while the track is playing.
  • Formatter – Formant A type of filter that achieves the vocal quality and vowel-like sound of a vowel-related sound.
    If you’ve ever heard an “oooh” or “aaah”, you’ve heard what a formant sounds like.
  • Format – Format It can mean various things, but usually refers to the type of file format a file can come in (WAV, AIFF, MP3) or a plug-in format (VST, AU, etc.).
  • Freezing / Flattening – Freeze/Flatten Audio bounce operation internally in Ableton Live.
    Freezing temporarily renders it as audio while remembering previous settings (such as MIDI notes, plug-in settings, and FX settings), and smoothing permanently transfers it to audio.
  • Frequency – Frequency A tone produced by a loudspeaker or sound source, measured in hertz.
  • Frequency Range – Frequency Range It refers to the number of frequencies in a sound between a low point and a high point.
    “The frequency range of this low tom is from 100 Hz to 3000 HZ.”
  • Frequency Shifter – Frequency Shifter A sound effect that changes the entire frequency content by adding an amount of frequency to the sound.
    The resulting sound is typically dissonant because it differs from a pitch modifier, which instead multiplies the frequency content so that the harmonic relationships between frequencies are preserved.
  • Front of House (FOH) – Speakers in a space reproducing sound for an audience.
  • Basic – Fundamental The primary frequency of a sound that determines the tone of a sound.
    For example, a piano note can contain many frequencies that color the sound, but the fundamental frequency is the pitch we recognize.
    It is typically the lowest frequency, but depending on the sound you can have sub-harmonics.
  • Future – Future In electronic music, it refers to a type of sound that sounds fresh and new.
  • Future Bass – An EDM subgenre characterized by big vibrating super saws and 808 drum sounds typically with a hip-hop type beat.
    Although early producers in this genre were inspired by Flume’s music, future bass tends to be a separate genre similar to trap with more melodic content and brilliance.
  • Future Beats – A broadly defined subgenre of electronic music that combines electronic elements with elements borrowed from hip-hop, alternative and other genres.
    It often sounds very experimental and unique.
    FX – shortened form of “effects”.
  • Gabber – a genre defined in the late 1900s and a precursor to hard dance, hard style and other hard dance music genres.
    It features distorted kick drums at 140bpm+ tempo.
    The genre is very prominent among the tributes.
  • Earnings Gain An increase or decrease in the amplitude of a signal is similar to a change in volume, but amplifies/de-amplifies all aspects of a signal regardless of its content (thus also turning noise up/down if present in a sound).
    Gain can be before (input gain) or after (output gain) an effect and is useful if an effect changes the perceived loudness of a sound.
  • Gain Reduction (GR) – The reduction in gain that occurs after downward compression is applied to a sound.
    This effect is usually removed later by adjusting the output gain.
  • Garage – a genre of music popular in the UK, similar to house, but with more of a break-beat sound and a slightly faster pace.
  • Door – Gate A sound effect that reduces the volume of a sound when it falls below a certain threshold.
    Good for reducing background noise or unwanted sounds in a recording or sample.
    Just like your door at home stops unwanted people from entering your home.
  • Genre A term used to describe a subset of music with similar elements or sounds (e.g. dubstep genre ~ 140bpm, part-time drum beats with bass wobble).
  • Glue – A sonic phenomenon that occurs when a mix is well made or when compression is applied to the mix.
    Everything seems to fit together well.
  • Glue Compressor – A compressor included in Ableton, modeled after an analog SSL compressor with a unique pumping color that allows elements to blend well together.
    Available outside of Ableton as “The Glue” by the Cytomic plug-in company.
  • Golden Ratio – Golden Ratio A mathematical concept that can be used with harmonic series in music.
    Hey, this is a production dictionary, not math.
  • Grain A short piece of sound, usually arranged in rapid succession to produce a glitch-type sound.
  • Grain Delay A form of delay that splits sounds into particles and plays them in rapid succession.
  • Granular Synthesis – A form of synthesis that takes a sound file and splits it into grains to create new timbres.
  • Graphic Equalizer – A type of EQ that divides the frequency spectrum into predefined bands and allows gain adjustment for each band.
    Not to be confused with Parametric EQ, which is more customizable.
  • Ground Loop – A (usually unwanted) sonic effect where the ground signal from the power cable becomes audible due to the way certain wires are plugged in.
    It sounds like a low hum/buzz.
  • Group – When audio tracks, effects, instruments, or any physical or virtual device are grouped together for group processing or routing.
  • Groove – A timing balance from a quantized sound that adds a human feel to the track.
    Most DAWs include groove adjustments.
    Grooves are popular in genres such as house and garage.
  • Guitar – A popular instrument with 6 (or more) strings that can be played and recorded.
  • Haas Effect – A stereo effect where the left or right channel of a mono signal is delayed ~20ms from the other channel to achieve stereo width.
    Also called the priority effect.
  • Half Step – When moving one note up or down from another on a keyboard.
    Moving two notes is called a full step.
  • Hall – A type of reverb that is inside a physical hall or an emulation of a hall.
    Ideal for achieving big, spacious sounds that sound natural.
  • Happy Hardcore – ~180bpm, quadruple beats, similar to hairstyle, but faster and brighter, an EDM subgenre featuring happy sound synths and sounds.
    Not for the faint of heart.
  • Hardcore – A similar type of hairstyle, but usually ~180 beats/min, but sharing similarities in darker tones and distorted beats.
  • Hard Dance – A genre between trance and hardstyle, usually sitting between 140-150bpm and featuring a prominent kick drum and synthesizers.
  • Hard Knee – A compressor setting where the compression applied at the threshold is more abrupt and not gradual.
    Good for heavy compression and pumping sounds.
  • Hardstyle – A type of EDM with distorted beats at a rate of ~150 beats/minute, usually with a darker timbre.
  • Harmless – a native subtractive synthesizer included in some versions of FL Studio.
  • Harmonic – A frequency is an even multiple of the fundamental.
  • Harmonic Distortion – Any distortion that introduces frequency content that is compatible with the fundamental, as opposed to non-harmonic.
  • Harmony – When two or more notes are played together, often in a pleasing way.
    Chords often form harmony throughout a piece.
  • Recommended Reading: Harmony for Computer Musicians
  • Harmor – an additional synthesizer included in some versions of FL Studio, popular with users and sound designers.
    It is available as a plug-in on Windows for use in other DAWs.
  • Headroom – The number of decibels between the highest level of a sound and 0dB in the audio.
    This term is often used to describe the amount of level in the main channel that a mastering engineer can work with.
  • Hertz (Hz) – A measurement of frequency in cycles per second.
    For example, 50Hz is 50 cycles per second of a sine wave.
  • High-End – The upper content of a sound, also called treble.
    Although there is no precise definition, it usually means content at around 2.5 kHz and above.
  • High Pass Filter – A type of filter that removes all frequency content below a certain cut-off point.
    Good for removing unwanted bass from a signal and thinning out certain sounds.
    Also a bit “empty” in sound design is used to obtain a sound.
  • High Shelf – A type of curve in some EQs that boosts all frequencies from a certain point and above.
    Good for boosting treble.
  • Hi-hat – A type of percussion found in most traditional drum sets that keeps time and rhythm.
    Can be turned on and off for timbral variation.
  • Hip-hop – A genre of music slightly separated from electronic music, involving the use of drum machines, samplers and synthesizers.
    Most hip-hop songs include a rap at the top as a key element.
  • Hook – An element in a track that acts as a focal point and is often the part that people remember.
    Present in a lot of EDM and pop music.
  • Horn – A type of sound emanating from and imitating brass instruments or synths – usually refers to a lower-pitched brass sound present in hip-hop/trap as an element that adds energy.
  • House – a popular genre of electronic/dance music that emerged from the US in the early 70s with a kick drum and an unusual hat on all four floors with clapping on beats 2 and 4.
    There are many subgenres of house, ranging from mainstream to underground.
  • Hum – A low-pitched frequency that is usually unwanted in a recording.
    Some people also make this sound with their mouth, which can be annoying.
  • ID – When someone asks what a particular track is on a DJ mix, or when an unreleased track is played and the artist doesn’t want to reveal themselves and/or the track name yet.
  • ID3 Tags – Tags in an MP3 or similar audio file that identify the artist name, song title, album name, genre and more.
    Some file formats such as WAV do not have ID3 tags.
  • Display – Panning refers to the process of adjusting the stereo image using stereo width effects and time-based effects.
  • IM Distortion – Distortion that occurs when the sampling rate is not high enough to capture the full frequency content – the sound must be locked to the nearest frequency and can cause unwanted artifacts.
  • Impulse – an instrument that allows the selection and processing of 8 drum sounds in Ableton.
    Great for limitations and creative drumming.
  • Impulse Response (IR) – An audio file that can be loaded into a convolution reverb to apply the natural reverb of a room or space to any sound.
    Useful for producers who don’t have access to studios and recording spaces with a specific sound but want to apply that sound to their production.
  • Input – A broad term used to describe any audio signal that is fed into a channel or effect.
    For example, sound from a guitar can go to an input on an audio interface and into a DAW.
  • In the box (ITB) – Any software or device that resides on the computer as opposed to outboard gear and gadgets.
    It can also just mean the process of producing music on a computer or laptop.
    Most producers use only ITB tools for convenience and simplicity, especially when traveling.
  • Instrument – Any physical or virtual device that produces sound.
    A guitar is an instrument, a hardware synth is an instrument, and a software synth like NI Massive is an instrument.
  • Instrument Rack – An Ableton feature that allows a virtual instrument to be grouped with other instruments and effects as a preset.
    Useful for recording sounds and using them on the fly.
  • Interface Interface – See Interface.
    Audio Interface.
  • I/O – stands for Input/Output.
    Usually refers to a DAW part or a piece of hardware where different routing between channels can be configured.
  • Isolation – The process of creating a field that absorbs unwanted ambient sounds for recording purposes.
    Isolation is used to record vocals and instruments cleanly without other sounds being recorded.
  • iZotope – an add-on software company responsible for Ozone, Iris, RX and many more.
  • Jack – The jack, also called 1/4″ cable, is a standard connection for studio monitors, audio interfaces and much more.
  • Jackin House – A subgenre of house music that shares similarities with tech house, but has a more old school influence and focuses on a strong unusual rhythm with groove applied.
    It’s a lot of fun to dance to.
  • Jazz – Jazz – Jazz?
    EDM in the production lexicon?
    Description.
    Jazz has influenced a lot of electronic music and hip-hop since the beginning.
    If you don’t know what jazz is, it is a genre of music that was established in the late 1800s to early 1900s and was musically revolutionary at the time due to the fact that it involved improvisation and unique chord progressions that often spanned multiple keys.
    .
    It has since evolved over time, but typically features soft drums, saxophones, trumpets, piano and bass guitar.
  • Jitter – A modulation effect that adds randomness to the modulated parameter.
    For example, an LFO may have a jitter control that allows it to deviate from its current value to add more human feel.
  • J-Pop – J-Pop, short for “Japanese Pop”, is a genre of music from Japan that describes pop music that originates from and is essentially from Japan.
    Although pop is a broad genre, J-Pop typically features an intense synthesizer and very bright use of sound.
  • KBPS – an abbreviation for “kilobits per sound” (not kilobytes), refers to the data transfer rate of an MP3 file.
    Basically, more is better quality audio.
    320kbps CBR tends to be the acceptable quality standard for MP3 files.
  • Key – Specifies the notes that can be played in a piece of music.
    For example, the notes that can be played in the key of C Major are C, D, E, F, F, G, G, A and B.
  • Keyboard – Used when producing in a DAW, it may refer to a computer keyboard for typing, but in music production it refers to a MIDI Keyboard, mostly plugged in via USB and used to play audio in a DAW or plug-in.
  • kHz – Abbreviation for Kilohertz.
    1000Hz = 1kHz.
  • Kick – A type of drum that forms the basis of many tracks, usually having a thud at the lower end of the frequency spectrum and maintaining the rhythm and beat of a track.
    Also the main part of a traditional drum kit used for the same purpose.
  • Knee – A compressor control that determines how hard the compressor acts when it reaches the threshold.
    A hard knee causes the compressor to instantly run at a set rate, while a soft knee increases the rate as the signal rises, providing softer compression.
  • Kontakt – a multi-sample plugin created by Native Instruments; an industry standard for multiple samples of traditional instruments such as strings, pianos and much more.
    It’s quite heavy on the processor but worth it for the high quality sounds of authentic instruments and synths.
  • Korg – a manufacturer of instruments, synths and drum machines from Japan, responsible for synthesizing a lot of old hardware (now available in various emulations).
  • K-Pop – Similar to J-Pop, K-Pop is a genre of pop music from Korea and is characterized by traditional Korean music and various influences such as EDM, jazz and R&B.
  • Layering – The process of placing two complementary (or contrasting) sounds on top of each other in the arrangement of a track to achieve a unique and/or “bigger” sound.
    You can layer a deeper synth with a loud/bright synth to fill out the sound spectrum and achieve a different effect than you might have with just one or the other.
  • Laser – a type of sound made by a synth containing fast moving pitch envelopes to create a “pew pew” type effect.
    It sounds quite nice.
  • Lead – A synth or voice that carries the melody in a track and usually stands out in the mix.
  • LennarDigital – the company responsible for the Sylenth1 synth plugin.
  • Level – A measurement of the loudness of a sound in decibels.
    There are many different types of levels in a sound, including peak level (actual loudness), RMS (average loudness) and perceived loudness.
  • Libary – A feature of most DAWs that carries all the stock sounds and devices, usually with the option to add more.
    Usually navigated with a built-in browser.
  • An LFO, short for LFO – Low Frequency Oscillator, is an oscillator typically below the range of human hearing and is used as a modulation source to add vibrato, tremolo and other effects to sounds.
    LFOs are found in most synthesis.
  • Limiter – ∞: A sound effect that acts as a compressor at a ratio of 1, meaning that no sound can exceed the threshold.
    Typically the threshold is set at 0dB and does not allow clipping of the sound and provides maximum loudness when gain is applied.
    For this reason, some limiters are also called maximisers.
  • Line – Any physical channel through which sound travels.
    A line can, for example, point to a microphone being recorded.
  • Link – a technology standard developed by Ableton that allows software to communicate with each other across platforms and devices and play synchronized audio in real time.
    You can use it to synchronize iPad apps wirelessly with Ableton.
    It’s really cool.
  • LinnDrum – A vintage drum machine from the 80s responsible for the sound of disco and related genres
  • Liquid DNB – A subgenre of DNB that focuses on pads, melodies and is generally more “chill” than other subgenres.
    I do this one.
  • Live – Any action or performance done in real time in front of people.
    Usually refers to an artist playing a “live set” rather than a DJ set.
  • Logic Pro – a popular DAW owned by Apple and only available on macOS.
    It includes a heap of great built-in sounds and effects.
  • Loop – An audio/MIDI clip or part of a track that can be looped to repeat.
  • Looper – A device that allows audio looping over a specified time interval.
    Can be used to loop recorded items in live situations.
  • Lossless – Any audio format that uses no compression and has full sound quality.
  • Lossy – Any audio format that compresses the quality of the file to save space.
  • Loudness – Amplitude of a track
  • Speaker – longer form of the word “loudspeaker”.
    A loudspeaker is a device that reproduces sound information as physical sound waves.
  • Low End – The low end, also called bass, is the low frequencies in the frequency spectrum.
    This is not specifically defined, but is usually in the range 25Hz-350Hz.
  • Low Pass Filter – A type of filter that only allows a band of frequencies below a certain cut-off point.
    Good for making everything more intimate and less bright.
    The action of a low pass filter can provide a “wobble” type sound, especially at high resonance levels.
  • Low Shelf – A curve in most parametric EQs that boosts all frequencies below a certain point.
    Used to boost the bass in a signal.
  • Lyrics – Words written by an artist/vocalist to be sung or raped in a song.
  • Mash-up – A combination of two or more tracks (usually with similar tempos and elements) blended together to create a new “track”.
    Typically achieved by placing the vocal of one track over the other (usually the latter is instrumental).
  • Masking – A phenomenon where two sounds with similar frequency content are caused to be “buried” due to phase cancellation or due to differences in loudness.
    For example, two piano sounds playing at the same time can cause one to sound less powerful and weaker in the mix.
  • Main – The channel through which all other channels in a track pass.
    Usually the channel where a mastering chain is applied to master the track.
    It can also mean a mastered copy of a track.
  • Mastering – The art and science of preparing a mixed track for release by standardizing its loudness and often applying other effects to make sure it is ready to be presented to the world.
    In the past, mastering involved preparing the track and ripping it to a CD and/or vinyl, but in the digital age, it mostly refers to creating a track at a ‘professional’ loudness.
    It is therefore possible to self-master your own tracks for release.
  • Mastering Chain – A sequence of effects and processes applied to the main channel of a track.
    A mastering chain almost always includes a limiter (or soft clipper) and may include a compressor, an EQ, distortion or any other related effect.
  • Measure – A time interval consisting of beats and bars.
  • Melody – A phrase of notes played by an instrument in sequence (one at a time) that forms the focal point of the piece.
    This is the part of a song that you hum or sing throughout the day, the part that gets stuck in your head.
  • Meter – Refers to the time signature of a track or how many pulses are on a bar and how long each pulse is.
    Most electronic music is 4/4, i.e. 4 1/4 notes per bar.
  • Metronome – In DAWs and in the physical world, a device that reproduces a specific tempo audibly by playing a series of timed clicks.
    It usually has a different sound for the 1st beat to indicate the start of a new bar.
    It has a different sound for the 1st beat.
  • Mic/Line (Inst/Line) – A switch found on many audio interfaces that allows inputs to record a microphone or a direct line input from an instrument.
    Basically, this switch changes the amount of pre-gain in the signal, as microphones tend to have a quieter signal.
  • Microphone (Microphone) – An audio device that captures acoustic sound and converts it into an electrical signal.
    There are many different types of microphones for different purposes.
  • Midrange (Mids) – the central frequency range from ~500Hz to 2000Hz.
  • MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface.
    It is a standard protocol that software and hardware devices use to send information to each other, such as note information and parameter controls.
    When you plug a keyboard into your laptop to play sounds in your DAW, it most likely works via MIDI.
  • Mini jack – The mini jack, also called 3.5mm, is a smaller version of the 1/4″ jack, mainly used as a headphone connector.
    It’s what you plug into your phone or laptop to listen to music (at least you’re used to it).
  • Mix (Mixdown) – Adjusting the parts (volume, EQ, dynamics) in a finished song helps to make the final product sound harmonious and professional.
  • Mixer – Physical or virtual devices that allow multiple audio channels to adjust volume, dynamics and frequency content.
  • Mix – The art and science of blending the individual audio channels of a track so that they function as a single track.
    The mixing process usually involves volume/gain adjustments, EQ, compression, group processing, layering and parallel processing, among other things.
  • Modulation – In music production, modulation refers to the adjustment of a parameter relative to a source.
    A filter can be modulated by an envelope, creating a change in a sound.
  • Modulation (Theory) – In music theory, modulation refers to an important change.
  • Module – A module is a specific device (usually hardware) that creates or processes sound.
    Most often it refers to modules such as Eurorack as part of a modular synthesis system.
  • Mod Wheel – A control on most keyboards and synths that allows a specific parameter to be changed in real time.
    For example, moving a mod wheel can increase the amount of vibrato in a lead synth sound.
  • Monitors – A type of loudspeaker used in studios because of their “flat” frequency response.
    This allows the sound to be reproduced as accurately as possible.
  • Mono – Refers to the situation where a sound has only one channel for both the left and right speakers.
    Since there is no difference between the left speaker and the right speaker, it sounds “center”.
  • Monophonic – When only one note can be played at a time on a synth or sampler.
    Suitable for outlines when you don’t want multiple notes muddying a track.
  • Mud – The sonic content in the low mids that makes the mix sound dirty and messy.
    Usually in the 200Hz-500Hz range.
  • Music – Music is essentially sound arranged in a pleasing and artistically valid form.
    We could talk about this all day, oh wait we can, we wrote this dictionary.
  • Music Production – Following the theme of clear definitions, music production is the art of creating music and transforming sound into a musical form.
    While music production is still a very new discipline (compared to being a musician), some producers do not write their own music (instead they embed other people’s songwriting into a full track) and some are responsible for the entire creative process including writing, sound design, mixing and mastering.
    sound design, mixing and mastering.
    It can be anything you want it to be.
  • Music Theory – A collection of knowledge and terms used to explain how music works (e.g. chords, melodies, notes, scales, rhythm, etc.) It is usually taught when learning a traditional instrument and is very useful for learning songwriting and arranging if you are a music producer.
  • Multiband Dynamics (Compression) – An effect that splits the frequency band into multiple segments and applies compression/expansion to them individually.
    Great for technical details and to get a compressed sound without distorting certain parts of it.
  • Multi-sample – A sampler that maps each keyboard note to a different sample.
    This allows a traditional instrument like a piano to be recorded and mapped to a digital sampler so that it can be played on a computer.
    Think of it as a bank of real, organic instruments and sounds on your hard drive.
    Usually, multi-sample libraries are quite large in terms of file size, so be careful.
  • Multitimbral – When a synth or electronic instrument can produce two different sounds at the same time.
    This can mean that playing different parts of the keyboard creates a different sound, or switching MIDI channels can activate a different sound.
  • Multitrack – The process of recording multiple audio sources on separate channels.
    Most DAWs are essentially multitrack recorders on steroids.
  • MP3 – short for MPEG Audio Layer III, is a lossy audio file format that compresses audio to save space.
    High bitrate MP3 files are indistinguishable from WAVs to most listeners on most systems.
  • Mute – A switch on a track in most DAWs that turns it off and ensures that the sound is not output.
  • Native – Refers to a device designed for use in its current environment.
    For example, the Erosion sound effect is native to Ableton.
  • Native Instruments – a software and hardware company responsible for the Komplete, Maschine and Traktor series.
  • Nearfield – A type of studio monitor designed to be used closer to the user’s ear rather than further away.
    Most studio monitors are nearfield.
  • Normalization – The process of increasing or decreasing the amplitude of a sound so that the highest peak reaches 0dB or a defined target level.
    This can be used, for example, to standardize the loudness of audio samples.
  • Notch Filter – A type of filter that takes an entire frequency band out of the spectrum within a certain range.
    When moving the cutoff frequency, it creates a hollow effect and sounds cold.
  • Nudge – A timing adjustment, usually to keep one thing in time with something else.
    A DJ might nudge a recording to keep it in time with another, or an artist might nudge an Ableton tempo to keep it in time with a live musician.
  • Nyquist Frequency – The minimum frequency required to sample audio into the digital domain.
    It is usually twice the speed of the highest frequency in a recording.
    Standard frequencies are 44100Hz and 48000Hz.
  • Octave – A type of note interval that shows the same note at a higher pitch.
    Octaves are always multiples of the same frequency.
    If A4 = 440Hz, then A5 = 880Hz.
    Play on a keyboard and you will hear what we mean.
  • Offset – Can mean more than one thing, but usually refers to a timing offset in ms from the grid or DC offset, an artifact caused by very low frequencies.
  • Omnidirectional – A type of microphone pattern that picks up sound from all directions.
    Good for ambient and field recordings.
  • Omnisphere – a hybrid synthesis and sampler created by Spectrasonics.
    Incredibly powerful and at the same time very large file size.
    It can be modified and contains great sounds, ideal for atmospheric and calm music.
  • Operator – In Ableton, an Operator is an FM/Contribution synthesizer, but an operator can refer to a part of an FM Synthesizer that produces sounds similar to an oscillator.
  • Oscillator – An oscillator is a piece of synth responsible for generating a specific waveform, usually a sine, sawtooth, square or triangle.
    The pitch of an oscillator can be changed according to notes or modulation.
  • OTT – short for Over The Top.
    A preset for Ableton’s Multiband Dynamics effect, made into a standalone plug-in by serum maker Xfer.
    It is a very dense compression that results in a compressed, bright sound with a lot of energy.
  • Outboard – Any physical hardware that is not part of a laptop or computer.
  • Out of Phase – When the phases of two or more signals are not aligned with each other.
    This starts to cause a phase effect (like a phaser) and in extreme cases can cause phase cancellation.
  • Out of the Box (OTB) – Any production work done on equipment outside of a computer, such as an analog mixer or hardware FX units.
  • Makeup Gain – Output Gain – Gain applied to the signal after processing, usually compression.
    It is also called “Makeup Gain” because it compensates for the volume lost in compression.
  • Outro – A section in the structure of a road at the end.
  • Overdrive – A type of distortion achieved by increasing the gain in an amplifier too much.
  • Overdub – Recording something over an existing recording.
  • Overtone – A harmonic that is a multiple of the fundamental frequency of a sound.
  • Ozone – a mastering suite plugin created by iZotope.
    It’s great as an all-in-one mastering solution as it includes EQ, multiband compression, stereo widening, saturation and much more.
  • Pad – Usually refers to a synthesized sound type with slow attack and release and is often used to create a cold atmosphere.
  • Panning – The process of moving a sound left or right in the stereo field.
    Panning is a great mixing technique for achieving width and space.
  • Pan Law – Determines how panning works.
    Usually either by reducing the volume on one side to emphasize the other, or by moving a signal to the other side, adding to the existing material on that channel.
  • Pan Pot – A button used to pan sounds to the left or right.
  • Parallel – Any processing that occurs in conjunction with the original, unprocessed signal.
    Both the processed and original signal play at the same time, allowing the processing to sound thinner.
  • Parallel Compression – Compression applied in parallel to the original audio, usually to preserve some dynamic content from the uncompressed version.
    Also called “New York Compression”.
  • Parameter – Any control on a device that can be changed by physically modulating it or using a modulation source such as an LFO.
  • Parametric EQ – A type of EQ that includes a certain amount of customizable frequency bands.
    The shape, frequency, gain, width and slope of these curves can often be changed, allowing for very specialized and surgical EQ processing.
    Most EQs included in DAW as stock effects are parametric, such as Fruity Parametric EQ 2 and Ableton EQ Eight.
  • Partial – A harmonic in a sound that contributes to the sound, usually at the top level of the sound.
    Usually a sound contains many parts to create the sound.
  • Passive – Describes a device (usually speakers) that requires a separate power amplifier to power it.
    The opposite of active.
  • Patch – A combination of settings that is saved in a file and can be loaded into a device (such as a synth or effect).
    Similar to a preset.
  • Path – The group of devices through which a signal travels before it is sent to the loudspeakers.
    Also called a Signal Path.
  • Peak – The instantaneous sound level at any given moment.
    Different from average or perceived loudness or volume.
  • Peak Filter – A type of filter that acts as a narrow bell curve.
    Technically a peak filter does not filter any frequency, but acts as a resonator in a specific narrow frequency band.
  • Peak Meter – A meter that measures the highest sound level.
  • Pedal – Refers to a guitar pedal or a digital effect that mimics a guitar pedal.
    Usually, in a simple, easy-to-use version, a sound effect compressed with a foot pedal to turn it on and off.
  • Percussion – Any sound or instrument that keeps the rhythm of a piece.
    Percussion is unique because it doesn’t have to ‘fit’ with the melody and harmony of a piece (like percussion drums, snare drums, hats and various other sounds).
  • Phantom Power – A setting on most interfaces or mixers that sends +48V power to the input if required.
    Condenser microphones usually require phantom power while dynamic microphones do not.
  • Phase – The position of the sound at a given time.
    Usually measured in degrees from 0 to 360, where 0/360 is the starting point and 180 is completely inverted.
    If two copies of the same sound have their phases set opposite to each other (one at 0 and the other at 180), they will cancel each other out to mute.
  • Phase Distortion – A type of distortion caused by phase differences in a sound.
    It is sometimes a desirable effect for sound design purposes (included as an effect in Logic Pro), but is often an undesirable artifact.
  • Phaser – A time-based effect with a delay of less than 1 ms that produces remarkable “whooping” sounds, especially when modulated with an LFO.
    Phasing brings audible peaks to the spectrum, creating a pleasant, colorful sound.
  • Phono – refers to RCA cable inputs/outputs.
    You will find phono plugs in many audio devices such as interfaces and mixers and are great for outputting audio or capturing an audio source such as a record player.
  • Piano – A traditional 88-key instrument that forms the basis of most keyboard instruments and a modern understanding of music theory.
    The thing with white and black notes.
  • Piano Roll – A type of MIDI sequencer that lists all possible notes on the left side of the screen, arranged exactly like a piano on its side.
  • Ping-Pong – A form of delay that jumps between the left and right channels with each echo.
  • Pink Noise – A type of noise similar to white noise except that high frequencies are slightly damped.
    Manufacturers and mixing engineers use pink noise as a reference level for mixing because of its ideal response curve.
  • Pitch – refers to the frequency of a note in Hertz.
    High frequency is high pitch and vice versa.
  • Pitch Bend – A control on many keyboards and synths that changes the pitch of the note being played.
    The pitch bend range is usually 2 semitones, but this can be customized in some cases.
  • Plate Reverb – A type of reverb created by sending an electrical signal through a metallic sheet, originally known as a plate.
    This created a certain kind of reverb that sat well in the mix, as it was more ‘two-dimensional’ and less intrusive, yet still retained a sense of space.
  • Play – Playback (Playback) – If it is not on, it is when you press that triangle button.
    It moves through the audio and produces it in real time.
    Quite handy, you will use this a lot as a DJ/Producer.
  • Playlist – Songs grouped together to be played at similar times.
    You can find them on Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Music or DJ software and group similar-sounding tracks together.
  • Pluck – A kind of synth sound with a fast attack and decay, imitating something like a guitar or string.
    Deadmau5 is famous for these, pretty much.
  • Plug – something you plug the cables into.
    It’s a plug.
  • Plugin – A plug-in is a piece of software that can be used with a DAW to extend its functionality.
    These are usually not included and are a separate purchase.
    Something that new producers are very early on.
  • Polar Pattern – The way a microphone picks up sound.
    Some pickups pick up sound in many directions, others only in one direction and everything in between.
  • Polarity – refers to the phase direction and side (negative or positive) of the center line toward which the sound is directed.
    Bipolar sound crosses both sides of the line, while unipolar sound exists on one side.
  • Polyphonic – The ability of an electronic instrument to play more than one note at a given moment.
  • Pop Filter – Not a filter in your DAW, a pop filter is something that is placed on the baby of the condenser mic when recording vocals to avoid unwanted “p” sounds or similar effects, and is created when certain words are spoken/sung.
  • Portamento – A parameter on synthesizers that allows additional notes to travel between pitches when played.
    Try turning it on and playing one note, then play another note that is an octave higher and repeat.
    Kill bill time.
  • Post – Anything that is performed after some type of recording or trading.
    Often used in signal routing when choosing whether to select the signal before or after the FX is applied.
    The opposite of “Pre”.
  • Post-Production – A process that takes place after recording and production to correct problems or errors present in the previous process.
    Post-production usually includes mixing and mastering.
  • Preamp – A device that increases the gain of a signal before it is recorded or processed.
    Usually applied to vocals.
  • Predelay – A reverb setting that sets a delay before the first early reflections of the reverb arrive.
    Helps reduce mud and create a more realistic reverb.
  • Presets – Similar to a patch, a preset usually comes with a synth and is a combination of settings that can be loaded to recall a specific synth sound.
  • Producer – A person involved in music production.
    A very broad term, it can refer to someone who is responsible for the whole music creation process, someone who designs a track for another songwriter, or anything in between.
  • Production – short for “Music Production”.
  • Program – Can refer to a specific piece of software or a setting on a synth that can be modified to recall a patch/preset.
  • Project (File) – A file on your computer that can be loaded/saved by a DAW containing a track in progress.
  • Pro Tools – a DAW popular among sound engineers and mixing professionals due to its DSP environment and ideal workflow.
    The industry standard in many professional recording environments.
  • Psychoacoustics – The psychological effects that occur when listening to sound and music.
    It can make you think you are hearing something that is not there.
  • Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) – The process that occurs in an A/D converter that represents analog information as digital bits and bytes.
    This happens when you export a song from your DAW.
  • Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) – A synthesis process that converts a square wave into a pulse wave by “thinning” the square wave by adding silence to the wave cycle.
  • Punch In / Out – A loop function that determines when a loop should start and then end to repeat.
  • Q (Bandwidth) – The width of a curve on a parametric EQ.
    Quantization – The process of taking MIDI/audio and modifying it so that it is “on the grid” and in time.
    Useful when MIDI or audio is recorded with inappropriate timing.
  • Quantization Error (Distortion) – An artifact caused by the difference in the bit depth of a project and the bit depth of a sound in the project.
  • Quantization Noise – The resulting noise generated by the quantization error.
  • Rack – A collection of interconnected devices for creating or processing sound.
    It can be, for example, a modular system or a rack of digital units in your DAW, recorded like a preset.
  • Radio – a platform for music broadcasting that broadcasts at supersonic frequency level.
    Less widespread today, but still popular and popular in some niches.
  • Radio Edit – An arrangement of a song that is more suitable for radio – usually a version of a song with a shorter structure and the explicit lyrics removed.
  • RAM (Random Access Memory) – A piece of hardware inside your computer used to store items when needed for faster access.
    It makes it easier to create music in real time in your DAW.
    For example, it’s good to have a lot of RAM if you intend to use a lot of plugins.
    Not a Daft Punk album.
  • Rap – A form of aural poetry, usually as the focus of a hip-hop track.
    It involves rhythmic words spoken in phrases, often without a sense of melodic key.
  • Ratio – A control on a compressor that determines how much the gain is reduced when the sound reaches the threshold.
    For example, if a signal exceeds the threshold by 6dB and the ratio is set to 2:1, it will reduce the sound by 3dB.
  • RCA – A standard connector with a white left connector and a red right connector.
    Plugs into a phono socket.
  • Read – The process of interpreting data on a disk drive.
    Usually refers to the playback of sounds and samples from a hard drive.
  • Reaper – A DAW made by Cockos, which is less popular but a good and cheap option with a vague trial.
    Good if you want to start on a budget.
  • Reason – A DAW created by Propellerhead designed for users who like to work in a hardware array environment with cable routing and physically modeled equipment.
    Until recently it did not support plugins.
  • Record – Another name for a track.
    Historically, this was because all music was available as a vinyl record.
  • Recording (DAW) – A function in a DAW that allows recording of audio, MIDI or automation to editing.
    It is lowered with a big red circle.
  • Reference – The process of controlling a mixture in more than one system.
  • Reference Track – A track used as a reference point on your own as you create.
    This can help in composition, sound design and mixing.
  • Reflections Reverb – Part of a reverb that creates echoes caused by sounds hitting walls and bouncing rapidly.
  • Release – The final stage of the ADSR envelope that determines how long a sound will be muted when the note is no longer pressed.
  • Remix – A derivative piece of someone else’s original, taking the stems and using them in a new context by editing, processing, reducing the elements used and adding new elements.
  • Resampling – The process of sampling your own ideas and sounds for further processing and use.
  • Resonance (Reso) – A control on a filter that determines the level of emphasis in the current cut filter.
    Makes an ear-piercing sound when turned up too loud.
  • Return – A part to which other parts are sent for processing in parallel with the original.
  • Reverb – A time-based effect with a series of echoes that occur in rapid succession.
    There are two types of reverb; algorithmic, which calculates everything through math, and convolution, which uses an impulse response to capture the natural sound of a room and superimpose it over another sound.
  • Rhythm – An element of music that consists of when all the elements play and on what beat, bar or measure.
    It can be fast or slow.
  • Riff – A musical section of a melody, perhaps repeated throughout a piece.
  • RMS (Root Mean Square) – A standardized measurement of average loudness as opposed to peak loudness.
  • Rolloff – Cutting a filter.
  • ROM (Read Only Memory) – Data on a hard drive or elsewhere that can be accessed but not (easily) changed.
  • Room – Room – A type of echo that sounds like a smaller space with less tail and more absorption.
  • Rumble – A low-frequency effect caused by a series of random frequencies at the low end.
  • Sample – A sound section used as a sound in a track.
    Samples can be beats, snares, drum loops, fx, melodic lines, parts, another song entirely, etc.
    etc.
  • Sample Pack – A downloadable folder of samples all grouped together.
    They usually contain many different samples of different types.
  • Sampler – An analog/virtual electronic instrument that allows a large number of different samples to be loaded, processed and played back.
  • Sample Rate – The frequency at which a signal is encoded into a digital file, called the Nyquist Frequency.
    The music standard is 44.1 kHz, about twice the limit of human hearing.
  • Saturation – Distortion used in a more subtle way to add harmonic content.
  • Saw (Sawtooth) – A fundamental wave found in most subtractive synthesis.
    The sound of saws is bright and full.
  • Scratch – The process of rhythmically moving a vinyl record back and forth while it is being played, thus warping the pitch and creating an effect.
    Popular in some styles of DJing.
  • Scrub – Search through an audio file or a DAW sequencer to find a specific point.
  • Send – An auxiliary control that allows a signal to be sent to a return for processing in parallel with the original signal.
  • Sensitivity – Sensitivity refers to how sensitive a microphone can be.
    Condenser microphones are more sensitive, whereas dynamic microphones are not.
  • Sequence – A series of clips, notes and/or sounds placed in a specific order for playback.
  • Sequencer – A common element in any DAW, a sequencer allows the structuring of clips, notes and sounds to create a track.
  • Series – A processing technique that is done sequentially, one after the other.
    For example, 2 filters in series means that one processes the original signal, then the other processes that signal.
  • Shelf – A type of EQ curve that boosts all high or low frequencies after a certain cutoff frequency.
  • Shock Mount – A microphone sits on top of this so it gets bumped around and picks up bass sounds.
    Good if you’re clumsy.
  • Sibilance – refers to the amount of ‘sss’ in a vocalist’s recording.
  • Side Chain (Compression) – A form of compression that uses a second input as a trigger for threshold.
    Great for sitting the kick and bass in the mix – when the kick crosses the threshold, the bass volume rises.
  • Signal – A stream of sound passing through any analog or digital circuit.
  • Signal Flow – Refers to the path required to process the sound.
    A signal flow can mean: EQ -> Compressor -> Overdrive -> EQ -> Output.
  • Sine – A fundamental wave in synthesis and the basic waveform that makes up all sounds.
    It looks like a pure tone because it is.
    It sounds soft and deep.
  • Slapback – A type of delay that contains a high feedback echo in a short delay time.
    Great for cheesy 70s-80s stuff and great for cool-sounding stuff.
  • Slave – Something controlled by another MIDI clock source.
    The timing of a MIDI clip can be controlled, for example, by the DAW’s master tempo.
  • Snare drum – a common type of drum characterized by a peak around ~150Hz-200Hz and some high quality noise.
  • Soft Clipping – A type of distortion created by driving a signal beyond 0dB.
    Soft clipping differs from hard clipping by “rounding” the waveform rather than slicing it, making the sound more subtle.
  • Soft Synth – A synthesizer inside a computer like Serum or Massive.
  • Solo – A control that temporarily mutes all channels as well as the selected channel.
  • Song – Traditionally, a song is a piece of music with vocals.
  • Sound Pressure Level (SPL) – The decibel measure in the physical world.
    This is what the norms mean when they say “this is like 100 decibels !!!”.
  • Soundproofing – The act of using damping materials in a room to reduce reflections and stop sound entering and leaving the space.
  • Sound System – A collection of speakers, subwoofers and amplifiers that work together to produce sound, usually in a live venue.
  • Soundtoys – A plugin company creating FX plugins inspired by old hardware units with new creative features.
    Definitely check out Crrystaliser.
  • Source – Any place where the voice or data comes from.
  • Spectrum – refers to the range of frequencies in the audible range.
  • Spectrum Analyzer – Graphically represents the amplitude of all frequencies in the audio spectrum.
  • Splice – a company with a sample subscription service, a project file sharing service and many other useful tools for makers.
  • Spotify – A popular streaming service where artists can distribute their music.
  • Spring Echo – A type of echo created by sending an electrical signal through a spring.
  • Square-Square – A wave found in most subtractive synthesizers.
    It looks bright and hollow.
    Can be created from any sound if you distort it enough.
  • Stems – Separate audio tracks created from a finished track, often used for remixing purposes.
  • Stereo – Any sound that contains both left and right channel information.
  • Stereo Image – Refers to the level of difference between the content on the left channel and the right channel.
    The greater the difference in content, the wider the mix will sound.
  • Stock – Any sound, device, or preset that comes with the software it is designed to be used with.
    Ableton’s sound effects are therefore called “stock”.
  • Stop – A control that stops playback.
  • Strings – A string instrument played by a bow.
    Many synths have also recreated this sound.
  • Sub Bass – Bass below approximately 70 Hz.
  • Subgroup – A group of audio tracks that usually belongs to another group.
  • Subtractive Synthesis – A form of synthesis that works starting with fundamental waves (sine, saw, square, triangle) and “subtractions” using envelopes, filters and LFOs.
  • Subwoofer – A speaker designed to reproduce only frequencies below ~200Hz.
  • Supersaw – A saw wave with harmony and detune, usually with about 8 sounds.
    It sounds very wide and big.
  • Surround Sound – A sound system with a ratio of 5 speakers arranged in a space at different angles and 1 subwoofer for bass.
    The angles of the speakers give the illusion of a 360-degree sound.
  • Sustain – An ADSR control on a synthesis that determines the level (in decibels) at which the synthesis will degrade.
  • Sync – A type of oscillator modulator that copies the wave in the same loop field and creates a kind of step effect while still maintaining the same basic pitch.
  • Sylenth1 – A subtractive soft synth created by LennarDigital, ideal for creating analog type sounds.
  • Synthesizer (Synth) – An electronic instrument that creates sound using oscillators and a series of processes.
  • Take – A singular sound recording.
    Usually more than one take is taken to get a good recording.
  • Talkbox – A vocoder-like effect that uses voice to modulate an instrument such as a guitar.
    Unlike a vocoder, speech is often not intelligible and only vowel sounds are heard.
  • Tape Delay – The delay caused by writing an audio file to tape and playing it back at a certain interval.
    There is usually a pitch sound due to imperfections.
  • Tape Hiss – A by-product that occurs when recording something to a tape or cassette due to the low noise floor.
  • TDM (Time Division Multiplexing) – OK, apparently this is a thing.
    Apart from sounding like something straight out of Doctor Who, TDM refers to Pro Tools plug-ins used on systems with dedicated DSP processors for high quality processing without straining your computer – only found in very high end studios.
    I guess it frees up the CPU for more Serum.
  • Tempo – Measured in Beats Per Minute, tempo determines the speed of the track.
  • Test – An incomplete track view used for testing on multiple systems.
  • Thin – Used to describe a sound that does not have a lot of body, usually containing only mid and high tones.
  • Threshold – A control that determines when the compressor (or other devices) will start compressing (a certain dB level).
  • Timbre – The quality of a sound that distinguishes it from other sounds depending on factors such as frequency content, amplitude, modulation and other factors.
  • Top-line – A vocal or outline that serves as the highlight of a track, usually with a strong melody or catchy lyrics.
  • Toms – A type of drum with low to medium rs that keeps the rhythm.
    Usually comes in sets of 3-4 set to different pitches.
  • Tone – A single frequency.
  • Tone Generator – A device that generates tone, usually for pitch correction.
  • Track – A track is either a complete piece of digital music or a single audio channel in the production process.
  • Traktor – A DJing system created by Native Instruments that includes a set of controllers and Traktor Pro software.
  • Transient – The first starting point of a drum sound where the sound goes from almost silence to sudden loudness.
    There is a rattling sound.
  • Transient Shaper – An effect designed to analyze where transients are in a sound and make them louder or softer.
  • Transpose – Moving notes or sound up or down in semitones.
  • Transport – A DAW section with play, stop, record and other buttons.
  • Trap (Genre) – A music genre that combines elements of hip-hop and rap with elements of bass music (a la dubstep).
  • Tremolo – Subtle sound modulation with an LFO to achieve a movement in the sound.
  • Triangle – In most subtractive synthesis, a wave that sounds like a sine wave with a few more harmonics.
  • Trigger – When you press a button on a MIDI controller, it activates something on a piece of software, usually a sound.
  • Trim – A gain control on some sound effects to counteract the increase in volume caused by some effects.
  • Cut – What happens when a wave is clipped hard – it cuts the top of the wave with sharp edges at 0db.
  • Tube – A type of distortion that sounds (and mimics) as if the analog is being passed through a vacuum tube.
  • Tuning – Control over an electronic instrument that determines the pitch (in cents) of an oscillator.
  • Tuner – A device that listens to the sound to measure whether it is in tune.
  • Turntable – A player that plays vinyl records.
    Can be used for playback and/or DJing.
  • Tweak – Adjusting a control on a device.
    DJs pretend to do this to look cool.
  • Tweeter – A loudspeaker designed to reproduce high frequencies around 10-20 kHz.
    Usually located above the main cone in a pair of studio monitors.
  • VBR – Variable Bit Rate.
    When an MP3 or lossy audio file has a bitrate that varies according to the type of content in the file.
    Good for maximizing audio quality while saving space.
  • VCA – Voltage Controlled Amplifier.
    Part about an analog synth that controls the ADSR envelope and volume.
  • VCF – Voltage Controller Filter.
    An analog synthesis related section that controls the filter and the filter ADSR.
  • VCO – Voltage Controlled Oscillator.
    An oscillator on an analog synth.
  • Velocity – A MIDI parameter for each note played, usually determining the loudness of those notes.
    It simulates the effect of playing a piano or physical instrument at different loudness.
  • Verse – The section of a vocal part that normally follows the introduction.
    Individual verses usually appear only once per track, and future verses sound similar but contain different lyrics.
  • Vibrato – A sound effect achieved by modulating the pitch of a sound with an LFO of a small amplitude.
    It sounds wavy.
  • Vinyl – A physical music format created by writing the waveform onto a wax disk, reproduced by playing it with a needle on a turntable so that the needle vibrates in real time, reproducing the sound.
  • Vinyl Distortion – A type of distortion represented by poor dynamics on an old/broken vinyl record.
  • Virtual Instrument – An instrument in the digital domain, usually in the form of a plug-in, that is used to create sound as a traditional instrument would.
  • Vocal – A recorded sound track in which someone is singing.
  • Vocal Booth – A small soundproofed and insulated space designed for recording vocals.
  • Vocoder – A sound effect that uses a carrier (affected sound) and a modulator (effective sound) to create a superposition of sound.
    Usually, the voice acts as a modulator and a synth acts as a carrier and this creates a robotic type of sound.
    Still not sure?
    Listen to Daft Punk.
  • Sound – Something created by a synthesizer.
    Adding unity to an oscillator or using multiple oscillators will increase the amount of sound generated by a synth.
  • Volume – The amplitude of a sound.
    Usually, it is a parameter that can be adjusted on a device.
  • Vox – short for vocals.
  • VST (Virtual Studio Technology) – a plug-in format developed by Steinberg (for Cubase) and considered one of the industry standards.
    Probably the most popular plugin format.
  • VU Meter – stands for “Volume Unit Meter” and is a way of measuring sound in analog space.
    All VU meters, digital or analog, have a needle that moves with the sound and has a slower response to represent the average loudness as opposed to the loudest volume.
  • Warm – A vague term describing anything with an analog feel.
    This can mean anything with noticeable low-mid information, subtle noise in the signal, reduced high-end frequencies and many more audible effects.
  • Warping – It has many meanings, but it usually refers to the warping algorithms in Ableton or other DAWs, mostly altering the timing and pitch of the sound to keep it in time with the DAW’s clock tempo.
    DAWs have different skipping algorithms to suit different types of sounds, such as drums, synths or vocals.
  • Wavefolding – A sound effect that processes sound by folding the waveform back onto itself when it reaches a threshold in various ways, usually by folding the waveform back onto itself instead of clipping or compressing it.
    Creates an interesting type of distortion.
  • Waveform – An audio signal visually represented as a wave.
  • Wavelength – The length of one cycle of a sine wave.
    The wavelength decreases as the frequency increases.
  • Waveshaper – A sound effect that recreates various distortion algorithms through an input/output envelope.
    All types of digital distortion are essentially ‘possible’ with a waveshaper, but it is not ideal for recreating analog distortion.
  • Wavetable – A series of waveform loops that can be scanned in a wavetable synthesizer.
  • Wavetable Synthesis – A form of synthesis similar to subtractive synthesis, but instead oscillators can have a wider variety of waveforms, sometimes with the ability to customize them.
    Xfer Serum, NI Massive and Ableton Wavetable are three very popular Wavetable Synthesisers.
  • WAV (Waveform Audio File Format) – A standard lossless audio file format used for its high quality.
    Most samples, stems and other production-related audio files usually come in WAV format.
    WAV cannot have the same ID3 tags as an MP3 or AIFF.
  • Wet – The processed version of the signal, as opposed to a dry signal which is the unprocessed signal.
    A wet signal can be mixed with a Dry/Wet knob.
  • White Noise – Noise produced by many synthesizers and the result of playing the entire frequency spectrum simultaneously.
  • Whole Step – The movement of two notes in a given direction.
  • Woodwind – A group of traditional instruments that produce sound by passing through the wind.
    They include flutes, saxophones, clarinets, oboes and more.
  • Woofer – A speaker driver that produces low-mid frequencies, usually from ~40Hz to ~500Hz.
    Similar to a subwoofer, but with a higher range.
  • WOW – A type of filter that creates formants.
    Usually refers to the plugin created by Sugar Bytes, a filter that does exactly that.
    Sometimes people make this sound when trying to recreate dubstep with their mouths.

XLR – A standard electrical cable/connector in audio that features three pins and is round.
Found on many mixers and audio interfaces.

  • Zero-crossing – A point on a waveform that passes through the central zero line (silence).
  • 303 – An old basic synthesis created by Roland.
    It is famous for creating the “acid” basic sound.
    There are many 303 emulations in hardware and software.
    4/4 – 4/4, also called common time, is a time signature that determines that there are 4 beats in 1 bar.
  • 707 – A drum machine created by Roland.
    It is used in many discos and home tracks.
  • 808 – Another drum machine created by Roland.
    It is used in many home and hip-hop tracks.808’s drums pretty much define the trap genre.
    Especially trap.
  • 909 – Another drum machine, again created by Roland.
    Primarily used at home and in techno.