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Cable, 1/4 inch
An unbalanced cable most often used for instruments and patch cords.
Commonly referred to as "guitar cords".
Cable, TRS
A less common balanced cable that has 3 different contacts on its 1/4
inch connectors. Most headphone jacks are a good example of a TRS
(Tip-Ring-Sleeve) connector. These are sometimes used instead of the more
common XLR connection.
Cable, XLR
A balanced cable used for low impedance microphones and sometimes for
connections between some parts of the PA. Commonly referred to as a "mic
cord".
Cancellation
A shortening of the term Phase Cancellation (the energy of one waveform
significantly decreasing the energy of another waveform because of phase
relationships at or close to 180 degrees).
Cardioid Pattern
A microphone pick up pattern, which has maximum pick up from the front,
less pick up from the sides, and least pick up from the back of the
diaphragm.
Capacitance
That property of a capacitor which determines how much charge can be
stored in it for a given potential difference between its terminals,
measured in farads, by the ratio of the charge stored to the potential
difference.
Capacitance
The property of being able to oppose a change in voltage or store an
electrical charge.
Capacitor
1) A device consisting of two or more conducting plates separated
from one another by an insulating material and used for storing an
electrical charge. Sometimes called a condenser.
2) An electronic device that is composed of two plates separated by an
insulator.
Capo
A clamp-like device that is placed vertically across the guitar neck. It
is used to change the pitch of the guitar, acting as a moveable nut.
Capsule
1) The variable capacitor section of a condenser microphone.
2) In other types of microphones, the part of the microphone that includes
the diaphragm and the active element.
Cascade
To set and interconnect two mixers so that the stereo mixing buss(es) of
the first mixer feeds the stereo buss(es) of a second mixer.
CD (Compact Disc) :
Digital sound storage medium. Provides a high quality source of music,
sound effects etc. Also used as a playback medium for sound effects etc. by
large theatres with long running shows, although CDR (Recordable CD) is
becoming more affordable by the day.
CD
An abbreviation of the term Compact Disc (a small optical disk with
digital audio recorded on it).
CD-ROM
An abbreviation of the term Compact Disc, Read Only Memory (A Compact
Disc used to store digital data, such as large programs, that can be read by
a computer).
Channels
These are divided into two separate categories. Input channels are those
channels coming into the soundboard such as microphones and direct lines.
Output channels are those leaving the board such as monitor and main
outputs.
Chorus
Common type of effect that makes sounds fuller and thicker.
Clean
Describes a distortion free sound with few effects.
Clipping
Distortion of a signal by its being chopped off. An overload problem
caused by pushing an amplifier beyond its capabilities. The flat-topped
signal has high levels of harmonic distortion which creates heat in a
loudspeaker and is the major cause of loudspeaker component failure.
Compander
Outboard sound equipment. Combination of a Compressor and an Expander.
Compressor
1) Effect used to squash the sound together. Used properly, it can take
the edge off or your sound. Used improperly, it can take the life right out
of your system and make it sound like an MTV mix.
2) A piece of sound processing equipment that ensures all wanted signals are
suitably placed between the noise and distortion levels of the recording
medium. It evens out the unwanted changes in volume you get with
close-miking, and in doing so, adds punch to the sound mix. A Limiter is
used to stop a signal from exceeding a preset limit. Beyond this limit, the
signal level will not increase, no matter how loud the input becomes. A
Limiter is often used to protect speaker systems (and human ears) by
preventing a system from becoming too loud.
Condenser Mic (Capacitor Mic)
A microphone that uses the varying capacitance between two plates with a
voltage applied across them to convert sound to electrical pulses. Condenser
microphones need a power supply to provide the voltage across the plates,
which may be provided by a battery within the case of the microphone, or it
may be provided from an external phantom power supply. A condenser mic is
more sensitive and has a faster reaction to percussive sounds than a Dynamic
mic and produces a more even response. See Electret Mic.
Cord (Speaker, Mic, Instrument)
Used to connect a sound system together. Each type of cord is made for a
specific purpose and should not be used in place of another type of cord,
not even if they look alike. Also see "cable"
Crisp
Describes a good clean high midrange sound. It can be good or bad
depending on the look on the face of the guy who said it.
Crossover, Active
A rack mountable unit used to separate frequencies leaving the
soundboard into high's, mids, and lows with different outputs for each.
Crossover, Passive
Used inside of full range speaker cabinets to separate highs, mids, and
lows and send them to their respective speakers within the each cabinet.
These are not as efficient as active crossovers because they require all
frequencies to draw from the same source of amplification.
Crossover
1) A route leading from one side of the stage to the other, out of the
audiences view.
2) An electronic filter in a sound system that routes sound of the correct
frequency to the correct part of the speaker system. Different speakers
handle high frequencies (tweeters) and low frequencies (woofers). Sometimes
known as a crossover network. An active crossover splits the signal from the
mixing desk into high, mid and low frequencies which are then sent to three
separate amplifiers.
3) An electrical circuit that divides a full bandwidth signal into the
desired frequency bands for the loudspeaker components.
Centre Frequency
The frequency of the audio signal that is boosted or attenuated most by
an equalizer with a peak equalization curve.
Central Processing Unit
1) The main "brain" chip of a computer that performs the calculations
and execution of instructions.
2) The main housing of a computer that contains the "brain" chip as opposed
to other pieces of the computer system such as keyboards, monitors, etc.
Chamber
1) An Echo Chamber (a room designed with very hard, non-parallel
surfaces equipped with a speaker and microphone so that when dry signals
from the console are fed to the speaker, the microphone will have a
reverberation of these signals that can be mixed in with the dry signals at
the console).
2) A program in a delay/reverb effects device that simulates the sound of an
Echo Chamber.
Chase
The automatic adjusting of the speed of a recorder (or sequencer) to be
time with another recorder.
Channel
1) In multitrack tape machines, this term means the same thing as the
term Track (one audio recording made on a portion of the width of a
multitrack tape).
2) A single path that an audio signal travels or can travel through a device
from an input to an output.
Charge
The electrical energy of electrons. The energy is in the form of a force
that is considered negative and repels other like forces (other electrons)
and attracts opposite (positive) forces.
Chip
1) A slang term with the same meaning as the term IC (a miniature
circuit of many components that is in small, sealed housing with prongs to
connect it into equipment).
2) The thread cut away from the master lacquer to make the groove, while
disc recording.
Chord
Three or more musical pitches sung or played together.
Chorus
1) The part of The song that is repeated and has the same music and
lyrics each time; the chorus will usually give the point of the song.
2) A musical singing group that has many singers.
3) A delay effect that simulates a vocal chorus by adding several delays
with a mild amount of feedback and a medium amount of depth.
4) A similar effect created in some synthesizers by detuning (reducing the
pitch of, slightly) and mixing it with the signal that has regular tuning
and with a slight delay.
Chorusing
1) A term meaning the same thing as Chorus (Definition 3 or 4).
2) In some delay effects devices, a term used to mean the term Depth (the
amount of change in the controlled signal by the control signal).
Circuit
1) One complete path of electric current.
2) Similar to definition 1, but including all paths and components to
accomplish one function in a device.
Clicking
Pressing and immediately releasing the switch on a computer's mouse.
Clip
The action of deforming a waveform during overload.
Clock Signal
The signal put out by a circuit that generates steady even pulses or
steady codes used for synchronization.
Close Micing
A technique of placing a microphone close to the sound source (within
one foot) in order to pick up mainly the direct sound and to avoid picking
up leakage or ambience.
Coax
Two-conductor cable consisting of one conductor surrounded by a shield.
Coincident Microphones (Coincident Pair)
Two microphones whose heads are placed as lose as possible to each other
so that the path length from any sound source to either microphone is for
all practical purposes, the same.
Comb Filter
1) The frequency response achieved by mixing a direct signal with a
delayed signal of equal strength especially at short delays.
2) Loosely used to also describe effects that can be achieved with comb
filtering as part of the processing.
Compact Disc CD
A small optical disk with digital audio recorded on it.
Compact Disc, Interactive CDI
A Compact Disc, usually containing audio, video, and text, which the
user can interact with in that the display or playback changes after the
user performs some action.
Compact Disc, Read Only Memory CDROM
A Compact Disc used to store digital data, such as large programs, that
can be read by a computer.
Compact Disc Recordable CDR
A blank Compact Disc that can be recorded on one time.
Compander
1) A two section device that is used in noise reduction systems. The
first section compresses the audio signal, before it is recorded, and the
second section, expands the signal after recording.
2) In Yamaha brand digital consoles, a signal processing function that
applies both compression and expansion to the same signal.
Compression Ratio
How many dB the input signal has to rise above the threshold for every
one dB more output of a compressor or limiter.
Compression Driver
The unit that feeds a sound pressure wave into the throat of a horn (in
a horn loudspeaker).
Compressor
A signal processing device that does not allow as much fluctuation in
the level of the signal above a certain adjustable or fixed level.
Condenser
An older term meaning the same thing as Capacitor (an electronic device
which is composed of two plates separated by an insulator and can store
charge) but sill in common use when referring to a microphone's active
element.
Condenser Microphone
A microphone which converts sound pressure changes into changes of
capacitance. The capacitance changes are then converted into electrical
voltage variations (an audio signal).
Console
A set of controls and their housing, which control all signals necessary
for recording and mixing.
Consumer Format (Consumer DIF)
A standard adopted by IEC for sending and receiving digital audio based
on The AES Professional Interface.
Contact Microphone
A device that senses vibrations and puts out an audio signal
proportional to the vibrations.
Controller
1) In MIDI, a device that generates a MIDI signal to control
synthesizers, sound modules or sample playback units.
2) A remote control unit for a multitrack tape machine which controls
transport functions as well as monitor selection switching functions and
record ready/safe status of each track.
3) Any device generating a control voltage or signal fed to another device's
control input.
Corner Frequency
Same as Cut-Off Frequency (the highest or lowest frequency in the pass
band of a filter). (NOUN)
CPU
Abbreviation of Central Processing Unit (The main "brain" chip of a
computer or the main housing of a computer that contains the "brain" chip).
Critical Distance
The point a distance away from the sound source where the direct sound
and the reverberant sound are equal in volume.
Crossover (Crossover Network)
A set of filters that "split" the audio signal into two or more bands
(two or more signals, each of which have only some of the frequencies
present).
Crossover Frequency
1) The frequency that is the outer limit of one of the bands of a
crossover.
2) In the Lexicon 480L delay/reverberation effects unit, the frequency at
which the bass frequency reverb time is in effect rather than the mid
frequency reverb time.
Crosstalk
Leakage of an audio signal into a channel that iris not intended to be
in, from an adjacent or nearby channel.
Cue
1) The signal fed back to the musicians through headphones.
2) To set the tape or disc so that the intended selection will immediately
play when the tape machine or player is started.
3) A location point entered into a computer controlling the playback or
recording of a track or tape.
4) In MCI brand tape machines, a term meaning the same thing as Sync
Playback (where the record head is used as a playback head for those tracks
already recorded).
Cue Send Control
A control that will adjust the amount of signal sent to a cue buss from
a console channel.
Current
The amount of electron charge passing a point in a conductor per unit of
time.
Cut
1) One selection (one song) on a pre4ecorded music format.
2) A term with the same meaning as Mute (to turn off a channel or a signal).
3) To reduce gain of a particular band of frequencies (with an equalizer).
4) To not pass a particular band of frequencies (said of a filter)
Cut-Off Frequency (Turnover Frequency)
1) The highest or lowest frequency in the pass band of a filter.
2) The highest or lowest frequency passed by an audio device (the cut-off
frequency is usually considered to be the first frequency to be 3 dB lower
than a reference frequency in the middle of the bandwidth of the device)
Cut-off Rate (Slope)
The number of dB that a filter reduces the signal for each octave its
frequency past the filter's cut-off frequency (outside of the pass band).
Cycle
1) An alternation of a waveform which begins at a point, passes through
the zero line, and ends at a point with the same value and moving in the
same direction as the starting point.
2) On a Solid State Logic Console, a command to have the console computer
control the tape machine to play and replay a certain section of the tape.
Cycles Per Second
A unit used in the measure of frequency, equivalent to Hertz. Cycles Per
Second is an outdated term replaced by Hertz in 1948.
Cyclic Redundancy
Checking Code
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