Music Production Glossary
30 Terms that Musicians, Producers and Managers use in the Music Insdustry terms
In this glossary, I will present some terms that we use to reffer from DAWS to Live Shows or Studio Sessions
- A-D-S-R
- ADSR is an acronym standing for: Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release. ADSR represents the four subdivisions of a sound’s envelope.
- Accent
- When a specific note or phrase is emphasized with an increase in intensity above other non-accented notes
- Analog/Analog Hardware
- Signals or information symbolized by a uninterruptedly variable physical capacity.
Outboard gear is another name for analogue hardware.
- Arpeggio
- The action when a chord of notes is broken and played in sequence
- AU
- Acronym of Audio Units (Plug-in architecture provided by Core Audio in Mac OS X.)
- Backline
- The Backline non-instrumental sound-system equipment, like amps and speaker cabinets, that you need to play a gig. In many cases, depending on the gig and venue, it can also include instruments like drums (often minus the breakables) and keyboards.
- Bar
- Is a subsection of time that’s defined by a time signature. For example, a 4/4
- Cadence
- A cadence is a sequence of chords used to signify the end of a phrase.
- Canon
- A melody that is being played by one instrument or group of instruments, and then repeated a certain number of bars
- Clef
- The clef is a symbol used at the beginning of a piece of sheet music to denote the note values on the staff.
- Compressor
- Electronic unit that reduces the volume of a signal or amplifies a quiet sound.
- DAW
- DAW stands for Digital Audio Workstation
- Decibel (dB)
- The decibel is the standard unit of measurement for expressing amplitude, volume or loudness
- DI (Direct Input)
- DI creates a balanced signal. An unbalanced output can pick up unwanted noise, ruining the sound, so if you have an instrument that emits an unbalanced output (usually a keyboard, synth, or guitar), you can plug it into a DI box, which balances the output
- EDM
- EDM stands for Electronic Dance Music.
- Flat
- A flat musical note is a semitone down in intonation than the same natural note.
- Frequency
- Frequency is the number of cycles per second in an audio wave travels in time and space. Frequency is measured in Hertz (Hz) or kHz. Though the frequency spectrum goes very high and low, humans can only hear/feel 20Hz-20kHz.
- Guarantee
- This is the amount of money that you are guaranteed to get paid for a gig, regardless of net income.
- Headliner
- The headlining act is generally the big draw for a show, gets paid the most, plays the longest, and plays last.
- IEMS
- Acronym for In-Ear Monitor System. The IEMS is a way to monitor a mucisian or a MC to hear themselves and others in order to perform in a professional way
- Loudness
- Loudness is defined as the intensity of sound. Loudness is subjective. Loudness meters exist in software form to show these values, which are calculated by algorithms.
- Mastering
- Mastering is the final process in music production and audio engineering. Mastering happens after the mixing process is complete. Mastering audio is concerned with EQ,
- MIDI
- MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface and is the standard for transmitting musical data between electronic devices.
- Motif
- A specific melody or series of notes is used in different ways throughout a piece of music or song.
- Multi-track
- A device or DAW that can play multiple source audio files at once simultaneously.
- OTB (Out The Box)
- Refers to audio engineer and music production processes which happen outside of the computer. Analogue hardware processing is an OTB (outside the box) process.
- Quantize
- Quantization is used to correct timing errors, add swing, etc. Quantizing elements too strongly can take the humanness from recordings.
- Sharp
- A sharp musical note is a semitone higher in intonation than the same natural note
- Stage plot
- Is a visual representation of what your set-up looks like. It indicates where amps, drums, keys, microphones, DIs, and anything else you’ve got in your arsenal goes.
- Tempo
- Is the speed at which a piece of music is going to be played.