The A to Z Sound Engineer Glossary

Photo Credit: audiotechnews.com

Photo Credit: audiotechnews.com

How many of the following sound engineering terms do you know?

Attack

The rate the sound begins and increases in volume.

Baffles

Sound absorbing panels used to prevent sound waves from entering or leaving a certain space

Coax

Two-conductor cable consisting of one conductor surrounded by a shield.

Dry

Describes a sound coming from the PA with no effects on it.

Electret Condenser

A condenser microphone that has a permanently polarized (charged) variable capacitor as its sound pressure level sensor.

Fader

A control to control the gain of a channel on the console, thereby determining the level of the signal in that channel.

Ground Loop

A double grounding of a line or electronic device at two different “ground” points of differing voltage.

Hum

The 60 Hz power line current accidentally induced or fed into electronic equipment.

Isolation

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