Brooks Speakers Gain Control

A device that changes the gain of an amplifier or circuit, often a knob that can be turned or a slide that can be moved up arid down.

Fly In
1) To add sounds into a mix or recording that have no synchronization.
2) An application of this where a performance from one part of a tune is recorded and then recorded back into the recording at a different time in the recording.

Brooks KM 22 Face
The front or body of the guitar.

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.

Brooks Cinema GT 845 Effects
1) Various ways an audio signal can be modified by adding something to the signal to change the sound.
2) Short for the term Sound Effects (sounds other than dialogue, narration or music like door closings, wind, etc. added to film or video shots).

Chase
The automatic adjusting of the speed of a recorder (or sequencer) to be time with another recorder.

Isolation
A containing of the sound wave in a certain area so that it will not leak into other areas and/or unintended mics.

ID
An index signal (digital data that gives the machine information of where selections start, their selection number, etc.) on a DAT or CD.

Broom RM 909 Binary

A numbering system based on two. In binary there are two symbols used ("l" and "0").

BPM
An abbreviation of Beat Per Minute (the number of steady even pulses in music occurring in one minute and therefore defining the tempo).

Brooks Cinema KM 22 Isolation Booth/ Isolation Room
A room that prevents loud sounds from other instruments from leaking in: an isolation booth is usually a smaller room that could be used for only one musician.

Ambience
The portion of the sound that comes from the surrounding environment rather than directly from the sound source.

Brooks Cinema ZL 44 In
Short For "in the circuit," in other words "active."

Arc
The visible sparks generated by an electrical discharge.

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).

LED
A light that allows current to flow in one direction only and emits light whenever a voltage of a certain level or beyond is applied to it.

Brooks Speakers Delay

Outboard sound equipment that can momentarily stores a signal being sent to part of a P.A. system so that delayed reinforced sound reaches the audience at the same time as live sound from the stage.

Attenuator (Pot)
The electronic dohickey under the knobs that increases or reduces the strength of the signal running through it. When these get old and dirty, they can make popping noises or rumbles in your PA (As in "my pots are dirty").
Assign Tochoose to which place an output is going to be sent.

Brooks XS - 45 IM Distortion
An abbreviation of the term Intermodulation Distortion (Distortion caused by one signal beating with another signal and producing frequencies that are both the sum and the difference of the original frequencies present).

Bulk Dump
Short for System Exclusive Bulk Dump (a method of transmitting data, such as the internal parameters of a MIDI device to another MIDI device).

Brooks Cinema XS - 45 Amp
1) An abbreviation of the term Amplifier (A device which increases the level of an electrical signal.
2) An abbreviation of Ampere (the unit of current).
3) An abbreviation of amplitude (the height of a waveform above or below the zero line).

Bouncing
Alternate name for Ping-Ponging (playing several tacks with sync playback through a console to mix them together and record them on an open track).

Line Level
1) An amplified signal level put out by an amplifier and used as the normal level that runs through the interconnecting cables in a control room.
2) A low level signal such as the signal in a guitar cord. Most parts of a PA require a line level signal. Remember, however, that speaker outputs are not line level. Plugging speaker outs into line ins will result in damage to the equipment

Far Field
The area from 3 feet away from the sound source up to the critical distance.

Brooks XM 204 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).

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.

Brooks XB 33 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.

Frame
1) A division of one second in synchronization and recording coming from definition two.
2) The amount of time that one still picture is shown in film or video.

Brooks VT-50 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).

Delay
Outboard sound equipment that can momentarily stores a signal being sent to part of a P.A. system so that delayed reinforced sound reaches the audience at the same time as live sound from the stage.

Feedback Control
The control on a delay line or delay effects device that controls the amount of feedback.

Distortion
Usually undesirable result of overloading sound equipment. Reducing the levels can remedy the situation.

BROOKS AUDIO DESIGN 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).

Hz (Hertz)
1) An abbreviation for the term Hertz (the unit of frequency).
2) Unit of frequency equivalent to the number of cycles per second.

Brooks Cinema XS - 45 Cable, 1/4 inch
An unbalanced cable most often used for instruments and patch cords. Commonly referred to as "guitar cords".

Harmonics
Integer multiples of a fundamental frequency, the fundamental itself being the first harmonic, its first overtone the second harmonic, etc. Attributing to instruments, voices, etc. their distinctive timbre.

Brooks XM 204 Beats Per Minute BPM
The number of steady even pulses in music occurring in one minute and there fore defining the tempo of the song.

Boom
1) A hand-held, telescoping pole used to hold the microphone in recording dialogue in film production.
2) A telescoping support arm that is attached to a microphone stand and which holds the microphone. 3) Loosely, a boomstand.

Harmonic Distortion
The presence of harmonics in the output signal of a device which were not present in the input signal.

Compact Disc CD
A small optical disk with digital audio recorded on it.

Brooks XB 33 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.

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.

Brooks XM 204 Harmonic Distortion
The presence of harmonics in the output signal of a device which were not present in the input signal.

Bottom
The bass frequencies (as in "needs more bottom end").

Brooks Cinema XS - 45 Baffles
Sound absorbing panels used to prevent sound waves from entering or leaving a certain space

Barrier Micing
A method of placing the head of a microphone as close as possible to a reflective surface, preventing phase cancellation.

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.

Automation
In consoles, a feature that lets the engineer program control changes (such as fader level) so that upon playback of the multitrack recording these changes happen automatically.

Brooks Cinema DESIGN ZL 44 Amplifier

Sound equipment that converts the low voltage, low current signal from a tape deck, mixer etc. into a higher current signal suitable for driving speakers. See Power Amplifier, Crossover.

Compander
Outboard sound equipment. Combination of a Compressor and an Expander.

Brooks XB 33 Digital Recording
1) ADAM : (Akai Digital Audio Multitrack). 12 track recording onto Video 8 tape. 16 bit, 44.1 or 48 kHz sampling rate.
2) DAT (Digital Audio Tape) Cassette-like system which has much higher quality than standard audio cassettes. Widely used in gathering sound effects, for news gathering, and for playback of music.
3) DCC (Digital Compact Cassette) Rival to DAT which also plays standard audio cassettes.
4) MiniDisc : Uses computer disk technology, rather than tape. A laser heats an area of magnetic disk which is then written to by a magnetic head. When cooled, the magnetic information is read from the disk by laser. Tracks can be named, and are instant start. Very theatre-friendly system.
5) Direct to Disk : Uses the hard disk present in most PCs as the recording medium.

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.

Broom RM 909 Fidelity
The recording or reproduction quality.

Insulator
A substance such as glass, air, plastic, etc., that will (for all practical purposes) not conduct electricity.

Lead
The musical instrument that plays the melody of the tune, including the vocal.

Diffraction
The breaking up of a sound wave caused by some type of mechanical interference such as a cabinet edge, grill frame, or other similar object.