Brooks Audio Design

1) The jack or physical location of where a device receives a signal. 2) The signal being received by a device. 3) The action of receiving a signal by a device. 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. Brooks RM 909 Line Out (Line Output) Any output that sends out a line level signal, such as the output of a console that feeds a recorder. Line 1) Short for line level. 2) A cable. Brooks RM 909 reviews Integrated Circuit (IC) A miniature circuit of many components in a small, sealed housing with prongs to connect it into equipment. Early Reflections The first echoes in a room, caused by the sound from the sound source reflecting off one surface before reaching the listener. Fidelity The recording or reproduction quality. Bi-Directional Pattern A microphone pick up pattern which has maximum pick up directly in front and di...

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. 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 Hi Fi reviews FOH (Front of House) Refers to the speakers that face toward the audience. Also called the "main" speakers. Bass 1) The lower range of audio frequencies up to approximately 250 Hz. 2) Short for Bass Guitar. 3) Lower end of the musical scale. In acoustics, the range (below about 200 Hz) in which there are difficulties, principally in the reproduction of sound, due to the large wavelengths involved. 4) The lower frequencies. 5) On ...

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. Fat Having more than a normal amount of signal strength at low frequencies or having more sound than normal (by use of compression or delay). Brooks RM 909 Feedback Control The control on a delay line or delay effects device that controls the amount of feedback. Cable, 1/4 inch An unbalanced cable most often used for instruments and patch cords. Commonly referred to as "guitar cords". Brooks Hi Fi speakers Lead Sheet A written chart showing the melody, lyrics and chords of a tune with full musical notation. Current The amount of electron charge passing a point in a conductor per unit of time. Auxiliary Equipment Effects devices separate from but working with the recording console. Joystick 1) A qu...

A microphone designed to be fed into an amplifier with input impedance greater than 20 k ohms. 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. Brooks RM 909 DC Abbreviation for direct current. Graphic Equalizer An device with several slides controlling the gain of audio signal present which is within one of several evenly spaced frequency bands (spaced according to octaves). Brooks RM 909 reviews Action In guitar playing, action refers to how far the strings sit off of the guitar neck. When strings are close to the neck, it is referred to as "Low Action". When the string sit far above the neck, i...

The first echoes in a room, caused by the sound from the sound source reflecting off one surface before reaching the listener. Bank 1) A collection of sound patches (data as to the sequence and operating parameters of the synthesizer generators and modifiers) in memory. 2) A group of sound modules as a unit. Brooks RM 909 Figure Eight Pattern Another name for Bi-directional Pattern (microphone pickup pattern picking up best from the front and back of the diaphragm and not picking up from the side 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. Brooks Hi Fi reviews Input Monitor A switch position and operational mode of the electronics of a tape machine where the signal at output of the electronics will be the same as the signal coming into the electronics. I...

Short for the term High Frequencies (the audio frequencies from 6000 Hz and above). Byte A grouping of eight information bits. Brooks Hi Fi reviews Attenuation A making smaller: reduction of electrical or acoustic signal strength. Attack The rate the sound begins and increases in volume. Brooks RM 909 reviews Keying Input (Key Input) An input on a dynamics processing device to control the device by an external audio signal. Humbucker Pickups that are coupled together to get a certain sound. Field 1) In video, one half of a frame. 2) In computer-controlled devices a window display with functions and choices that the operator can make Level The amount of signal strength; the amplitude, especially the average amplitude.

A product created by the marriage of two different technologies. Meant here as the combination of a dynamic woofer with an electrostatic transducer. 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. Brooks RM 909 reviews High Hat A double cymbal on a stand which can be played with a foot pedal or by the top cymbal being hit with a stick. 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). Brooks Hi Fi speakers Folded Horn A speaker design where the speaker points back into the cabinet and bounces around finally coming out large ports in the front. It is intended to maximize low frequencies in a relatively small c...

1) A room designed with very hard, non-parallel surfaces and equipped with a speaker and microphone. 2) Any artificial or electronic device that simulates the reverberation created in a room. 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 HI FI projectors Barrier Micing A method of placing the head of a microphone as close as possible to a reflective surface, preventing phase cancellation. 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 recorde...

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. Link (Said of compressors and dynamic processing units.) To combine the control input signals of two channels of a compressor (o Brooks HI FI projectors Gain Structure The way in which the gain varies in the stages or sections of an audio system. 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). Brooks Hi Fi reviews Hearing Limitation An inability of the ear to hear important characteristics of sound under certain conditions. Characteristics that can be affected include pitch, level, clarity, presence and direction. 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...

To send an audio or control signal to. Ambient Micing Placing a microphone in the reverberant field (where the reverberation is louder than the direct sound) so as to do a separate recording of the ambience or to allow the recording engineer to change the mix of direct to reverberant sound in recording. Brooks HI FI projectors Line Input An input designed to take a line level signal. Ambient Field A term with the same meaning as the term Reverberant Field (the area away from the sound source where the reverberation is louder than the direct sound). Brooks Hi Fi reviews Lead The musical instrument that plays the melody of the tune, including the vocal. Integrated Circuit (IC) A miniature circuit of many components in a small, sealed housing with prongs to connect it into equipment. 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 des...

Having to do with sound that can be heard by the ears. AcousticsThe behaviour of sound and its study. The acoustics of a room depend on its size and shape and the amount and position of sound-absorbing and reflecting material. Echo Chamber 1) A room designed with very hard, non-parallel surfaces and equipped with a speaker and microphone. 2) Any artificial or electronic device that simulates the reverberation created in a room. Brooks HI FI projectors 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. File A collection of digital data stored in a computer's memory bank or on a floppy disc. Brooks Hi Fi reviews Electrons Negatively charged particles, which revolve around the centre of atoms. The movement of such electrons down a conductor causes electrical current. Close Micing A...