Brooks Cinema RM 909 Dolby

Trade name for a series of noise reduction systems that have become standard on many tape playback machines. Many film soundtracks are produced using this process. Different varieties are found from Dolby B on most personal cassette players, to Dolby SR and Digital, the current state of the art for cinema.

Foot Switch
A switch placed on the floor and pressed by a musician to do various functions.

Brooks QS-70 Headstock
The area of the guitar at the end of the neck where the strings are tuned.

Key
The control of a dynamics processing device by an external audio signal.

Brooks Cinema KP 30 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.

Buss (Bus)
A wire carrying signals to some place, usually fed from several sources.

Highs
Short for the term High Frequencies (the audio frequencies from 6000 Hz and above).

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.