Brooks TA 60 Chord

Three or more musical pitches sung or played together.

Level
Sets output volume of individual PA input channels. Usually positioned as sliders at the bottom of the soundboard.

Brooks Cinema Projectors Ampere
The unit of current, abbreviated Amp.

Headroom
1) The level difference (in dB) between normal operating level and clipping level in an amplifier or audio device.
2) A similar level difference between normal tape operating level and the level where the distortion would be 3%.
3) The difference, in decibels, between the peak and RMS levels in program material.

Brooks XB 22 Level
The amount of signal strength; the amplitude, especially the average amplitude.

ADSR
The letters A, D, S &R are the first letters of: Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release. These are the various elements of volume changes in the sounding of a keyboard instrument.

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.

Active/Inactive Microphones
Scientific definitions aside, active microphones generally sound better than inactive ones, but they generally cost more. They also require the use of either a battery or phantom power while inactive mics need only be plugged into the mic cord in order to work. In most playing situations, the subtle improvement in sound quality from an active mic isn't worth the extra cost and hassle. One possible exception it the headset mic. Put simply, inactive headset mics just plain suck. Active headset mics put out a much stronger signal and feed back much less.