Lexicon Of Computer Audio & Video Music Recording
Terminology
| 24P
|
A video term that
is an abbreviation of "24 frames per second,
progressive scan." 24P is a more recent development in digital
video technology that's quite popular due in part to its similarity
with the way in which motion picture film works. Not only does it
take on some of the visual characteristics of film, but it also
makes the transition of film to video (necessary for television
broadcast, VCR tapes, etc.) much easier. It makes the introduction
of digital video (particularly high-definition video and special
effects) in motion pictures smoother and more natural looking.
Here's the history: Most motion pictures (since the advent of sound
film) are shot (or at least shown) at a constant rate of 24
frames per second; each second, 24 separate and distinct
pictures, or "frames," pass by the lens of the camera and the
projector. Each frame is its own unique and complete image; that's
called "progressive." Video tape standards are different: original
black and white video ran at a straight 30 frames per second, while
color video runs at approximately 29.97 frames per second — only
they aren't true "frames" in the film sense. Due to video's nonstop
scanning of magnetic tape, a frame is spread across the tape as
precisely oriented magnetic particles. Furthermore, video tape
"draws" an image on the
cathode ray tube in two alternating sets of scan lines: one
composed of the even-numbered lines and the other making up the
odd-numbered lines. This is why video signals are called "interlaced."
When motion pictures (or any material shot on film) are processed
for video playback they undergo a re-scanning process (often through
a
telecine machine) that converts the
frame rate, in part by doubling some film frames in the video.
The change from progressive to interlaced scanning, in many viewers'
opinions, visibly changes the quality of the original image.
Likewise, visual effects created using existing video frame rates
sometimes do not translate well to film. Digital video created at
24P, however, requires no frame-rate conversion and can freely
translate film into video. Progressive scan combines all the
horizontal lines in the screen into a single field that lights up at
the selected frame rate. It is proving to be particularly effective
in high-definition video projects and has blurred the line between
film and video shoots. "Star Wars Episode II: The Attack of the
Clones" was the first feature-length motion picture shot using 24P
high definition digital video cameras; cameras used for Episode III
are second-generation versions of the equipment. This means that the
live action shots and computer-generated special effects have the
same resolution, same brightness, and same overall quality without
the need for additional conversion. Finally, in one of those
technological puzzles that are so common, there are actually two
versions of 24P: one is more of a "true" 24P as it applies to film
and other specialty equipment, while the other is a slightly slowed
down rate (.1% slower) used by
NTSC video equipment. That rate is about 23.976 frames per
second and is sometimes referred to simply as 23.8. The 23.976 rate
applies to progressive scan
DVD and other NTSC video applications. |
|
|
802.11 |
A family of
specifications developed by the
IEEE for
wireless
LAN use. The standards specify wireless interfacing protocols
between two or more wireless networking systems such as a series of
wireless computers and some type of base station, or even just
between two computers. There are several unique types of 802.11 in
widespread use. These have different transmission methods and/or
data rates. As of this writing the most common of these are: 802.11,
802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g. 802.11g systems can work with 802.11b
(also known as Wi-Fi) systems by simply falling back to a slower
data transfer rate. |
|
| ACPI
|
Abbreviation for
Advanced Configuration and Power Interface. A power management
specification for
Windows computers developed by Intel, Microsoft, and Toshiba.
ACPI gives the operating system the ability to control the amount of
power given to each peripheral device, and to turn off devices when
not in use. It also has future implications, such as enabling PC's
to power up simply by touching any key on the keyboard.
|
|
| ADB
|
An abbreviation
for Apple Desktop Bus. The
bus used for connecting peripheral data entry devices to
Macintosh computers. This is how things like the keyboard, mouse,
track ball, joystick, and some tablets connect to a Macintosh. Since
a bus architecture is used they can usually be connected through
each other so that only one actually has to plug into the computer
itself. The connector looks like a very small
MIDI connector with only four pins. In fact, it looks exactly
like an S-Video connector (in a pinch an ADB cable can be used for
S-Video and vice versa). The Apple Desktop Bus has been part of
every Macintosh computer to date but may begin to be phased out in
favor of the faster and more robust
USB (Universal Serial Bus). |
|
| AGP
|
Abbreviation for
Accelerated Graphics
Port, which is a dedicated video card port found on some PC and
Macintosh computers. It conforms to a
bus specification from Intel that greatly speeds up graphics
display and texture rendering, especially virtual reality and 3D
rendering and display. Rather than using the
PCI bus for graphics data, AGP introduces a dedicated
point-to-point channel so that the graphics controller can directly
access main memory. The AGP channel is 32
bits wide and runs at 66 MHz. This translates into a total
bandwidth of 266 MBps, as opposed to the PCI bandwidth of 133 MBps.
AGP provides a coherent memory management design which allows
scattered data in system memory to be read in rapid bursts, thereby
reducing the overall cost of creating high-end graphics subsystems
by using existing system memory. |
|
| AIFF
(Audio Interchange File Format) |
A common digital
audio file specification, AIFF allows a variety of applications
running on different platforms to easily share audio files.
Electronic Arts published the AIFF spec in 1985. Since then, it has
been widely used on Mac, PC, and Atari computers, as well as in a
variety of digitally based music instruments. Most digital audio
editing software will import and export AIFF files, making the
format well suited for situations where more than one program or
platform must access audio data. Kurzweil's K2000 and K2500 will
also recognize AIFF files, making them ideal for exporting samples
to and from computer-based sample editing software. |
|
|
Algorithm |
A step-by-step
problem-solving procedure, especially an established, recursive
computational procedure for solving a problem in a finite number of
steps. Algorithm's can be thought of as similar to computer
programs. They are often run as subroutines to normal operations of
computing devices. Algorithms are used in all sorts of DSP devices
to carry out specific aspects of their functionality.
|
|
| Alias
|
In the world of
computing an alias is an alternative, usually easier to understand,
or more significant name for a particular data object. In the
Macintosh
OS aliases are in the form of icons that look like files or
programs that can be launched, but instead only direct the computer
to the original. These are handy for making convenient references to
certain files or programs without having to move the originals from
their proper and logical location on your hard drive.
Alias is also a false signal that can be
created when working with digital audio data (see WFTD
Aliasing for more info). |
|
| AMS
|
Abbreviation for
Audio MIDI Setup.
Apple Computer's
audio and
MIDI
operating system, which is a component of Mac
OS X. AMS consists of two parts. The first allows you to
configure the
drivers for audio devices connected to the computer, including
defining the
sample rate and
bit depth. The second section provides configuration information
for any MIDI devices (internal or external) used. AMS replaces
Opcode Systems'
OMS (Open Music System) and
MOTU's
FreeMIDI, which were earlier Mac-based MIDI configuration
utilities. |
|
| Apple
Talk |
A network
communication protocol originally developed by Apple for the
Macintosh computer and related peripherals. Apple Talk has been
built in to most Macs sold since the late 1980's, though the
hardware connections have changed a few times along the way. While
Apple Talk is extremely easy to set up and use, it has been known to
occasionally interfere with serial communication or timing with
things like
MIDI interfaces and
synchronizers. On modern Macs (which don't even have
serial ports anymore) this is almost never an issue, but a few
veteran Mac users still like to turn Apple Talk off when doing
critical work. |
|
|
Application (Program) |
A complete,
self-contained program that performs a specific function directly
for the user. This is in contrast to system software such as the
operating system
kernel, server processes and libraries that exists to support
application programs. Many computer gurus believe that the term may
also be used to distinguish programs that communicate via a
graphical user interface from those which are executed from the
command line. |
|
|
Archive |
1. An "archive" is
a collection of historical documents or records that is being
preserved. In the computer-based music and
audio world, "archiving" is the process of collecting,
preparing, and storing
data for long-term or permanent storage. In many cases, this
means gathering all of the
MIDI and audio data that have been recorded or created for a
particular project and storing it on media that will be stable and
readable for long periods of time. But gathering the data is just
one step. The second step for a true archive is ensuring that the
project can be accurately restored or re-created at a later date
even if the
software and hardware tools used to create it are no longer
available. Making this possible may require recording MIDI
tracks as audio
files,
bouncing any audio tracks with the
plug-ins and hardware processing that were used during
mixdown, consolidating tracks that don't contain contiguous
audio
regions into one full-length track, and so on. The Producers &
Engineers Wing of the Recording Academy (NARAS) has created a
document, Recommendation for Delivery of Recorded Music Projects,
that specifies how archived data should be prepared and stored for
maximum protection from damage, obsolescence, and loss. 2. A
compressed version of a file, used to reduce bandwidth or storage
requirements. |
|
| ASCII
|
Acronym
(pronounced "askee") for American Standard Code for Information
Interchange. ASCII was developed by
ANSI (neat: acronyms that rhyme, I feel a song coming on) to
provide a standard way for computer systems to deal with the text
characters we use. When we type ASCII characters from the keyboard
(which looks like words to us), the computer interprets them as
binary so they can be read, manipulated, stored and retrieved.
Each character in the ASCII set is represented by a number from 0 to
127, which can be represented in 7 bits of binary information. For
example, and upper case "A" is ASCII character #65, which in binary
(or to a computer) would look like 1000001. ASCII files are commonly
known as text files and since it is standardized most computers can
read them, which is one big reason why it is so easy to share text
files between different operating systems on radically different
computers. There is also an extended ASCII set where an 8th bit is
added. It supports additional characters (using numbers 128-255),
which is where a lot of the special (non-English) characters and
symbols are represented. Historically one of the ways complex
computer data was (and sometimes still is) sent over the Internet is
by converting it into an ASCII format and sending it as text. That
way the receiving computer could receive it and convert it into code
that could be read locally even though the two computers (or their
operating systems) might "speak" different languages and normally
not be able to communicate with each other. |
|
| ASIO
|
An abbreviation
for Audio Stream Input/Output architecture. Developed at Steinberg,
it is the software engine that is the fundamental access method to
the audio hardware for Cubase VST and is being employed in a growing
number of hardware and software systems for doing audio on
computers.
The computer manufacturers and operating system
vendors target the "Multimedia" market and have implemented audio
playback and recording capabilities specifically for it. This market
however is based on stereo playback and recording, it did not
require synchronization between other Media in the beginning, and
multi channel operation wasn't necessary. So far the only
professional solutions have been proprietary expensive hardware
based systems.
ASIO addresses all areas for pro-audio
recording including flexibility with sample rates and bit depths as
well as synchronization between different media like audio, MIDI and
video. As a result the user gets a low latency, high performance,
easy to set-up and control recording solution. The audio hardware
can be either one or more sound cards with multiple audio input and
output ports that conform to the ASIO specifications. ASIO exists
for PC (Windows) and Macintosh systems currently. |
|
| ATA-2
|
Abbreviation for
Enhanced (some say Expanded)
IDE, or Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics. Like it sounds,
EIDE is an enhanced version of the old IDE peripheral connection
standard commonly used for hard drives and other storage media with
computers. It provides faster access to the hard drive, support for
DMA, larger capacities, and includes the functionality of
ATAPI. Sometimes EIDE is referred to as
ATA-2. |
|
| ATAPI
|
Abbreviation for
Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface. ATAPI is a lot like
IDE, but provides additional commands to enable a computer to
control optical or tape drives. |
|
| Audio
Suite |
The obvious
definition is a room or space for working with audio production.
However Audio Suite is also the name Digidesign coined for
host based
plug-ins in their systems. A
TDM Digidesign system has
proprietary DSP devoted to plug-in processing, but Digidesign
also makes a number of systems where the host computer provides all
of the processing (whether it's in
real time or not). Plug-ins designed to work on that type of
hardware from Digidesign are known as Audio Suite plug-ins. This is
analogous to VST or Direct X plug-ins, just specific to Digidesign
hardware. |
|
|
Audiowire |
The name given for
the special protocol used by Mark of the Unicorn to deliver digital
audio between some of their audio interfaces and their computer
sound cards. The connector is a conventional looking
Firewire connector, but the data is a
proprietary format developed by MOTU. Some MOTU products do use
actual Firewire, which can be plugged directly into any conventional
Firewire equipped computer. The Audiowire products all plug into a
special card that must be installed in the
PCI slot of a computer. |
|
|
Author |
When used as a
verb, the term author means to create or publish a script, program,
or document. In our business this may pertain to a computer program,
operating system (OS),
musical
score, or any of dozens of other types of produced works. For
example, quite often the word gets used in the slightly unusual
context of making some media such as an audio or video CD/DVD.
The process of authoring a DVD is not too dissimilar from writing
computer software. |
|
|
Authorization |
1. The process of
setting up a
copy-protected piece of
software so that it may be legally used. 2. Permission to use a
piece of copy-protected software. An authorization is typically a
single instance of a copy-protection code; a piece of software may
allow for two or even more
authorizations, so that the user can, for example, install and
use it on a desktop computer and a laptop. |
|
|
Automation |
In audio
production automation refers to having things programmed to happen
in
real time during a
mixdown. In the 1970's, when big multitrack tape machines were
becoming common, and overdubbing parts became a standard way of
working, the process of getting a good mix became exponentially more
difficult. No longer was the whole recording of a live performance
where the musicians pretty much balanced their own levels. Many
components were put in later and eventually it became trendy to do
mixes at other studios optimized for that purpose, thereby causing
the mix to have to be created from scratch. Anyone who has ever had
the occasion to be one of the three or four people huddled over the
mixer making adjustments during a manual mixdown can appreciate the
benefits of being able to automate most of the process. Early
automation systems were basic level controls. They were
synchronized to the tape machine by some form of
Time Code (not necessarily
SMPTE) and would remember any moves the engineer made and then
play the data back causing the level change to occur at the proper
time (assuming the automation stayed in sync with the tape - not a
given). They worked by either having motorized
faders, where the motors could be controlled by the automation,
or by using VCA's (Voltage
Controlled Amp), which was a much less expensive and
cantankerous option. VCA's, however, didn't sound as pure as the
passive fader with a motor attached so most successful systems
were "moving fader" based. Later the quality of the VCA based
systems rose (while the cost declined) and they became popular among
smaller studios, but moving fader systems are still considered the
best choice for analog. Not only because they sound better, but
because the tactile feedback of physically moving faders is
something many engineers prefer. During the 1980's many other
aspects of mixing began to be automated. Things like
aux sends,
panning, and eventually even
EQ and
compression could be put under computer control. Nowadays there
are many analog mixing boards that are totally under digital control
and virtually every
parameter can be automated. Further, with the advent of the
DAW, complete recall and automation of every aspect of a mix has
become a standard. |
|
|
Backward Compatible |
Refers to a
hardware or software system that can successfully use interfaces and
data from earlier versions of the system or with other systems. For
example, a new version of sequencing software designed so it can
properly read files from older versions is backward compatible.
Nowadays this type of compatibility is taken for granted with
software, but it wasn't always so easy. The downside of too much
backward compatibility is that software can tend to get bloated and
inefficient by having to deal with too many prior formats. With
hardware it is much more expensive to maintain a high degree of
backward compatibility. Think how much a computer would cost if it
had to have
SCSI, ADB,
serial
ports, parallel ports,
IDE, NuBus,
ISA, PCI, USB,
and
FireWire compatibility. Backward compatibility is more easily
accomplished if the previous versions have been designed to be
forward compatible. |
|
|
Binary |
Literally means
consisting of two parts. A binary numbering system is made up
entirely of only two values, usually zero (0) and one (1). This type
of numbering system has been widely used in digital computers and
other types of digital computing equipment over the years. The
binary numbering system is easy to deploy electronically because the
system only needs to differentiate two values — the 1 or the 0,
which in the
analog world can be represented by a ‘high’
voltage and a ‘low’ voltage. In a binary numbering system it can
take many digits to represent our normal base 10 numbers. There are
generally a fixed number of
bits (8, 16, 24, etc.), which determine the size of the numbers
that can be represented. The way it works is that each binary number
as you move to the left represents a value double the number just to
the right of it. A four bit binary number works as follows:
Bit 4 Bit 3 Bit 2 Bit 1
8x 4x 2x 1x
So, the 4 bit binary number 0001 = 1; 0010 = 2;
0011 = 3; 0100 = 4; 0101 = 5; 0110 = 6; 0111 = 7; 1000 = 8; 1001 =
9, and so on. |
|
| BIOS
|
An acronym for
Basic Input/Output System. Mostly germane to PC compatible
computers, this is usually an
EPROM with computer program instructions in it. A computer
motherboard BIOS controls how the hardware is defined and the basic
functions of the computer (such as controlling the keyboard,
monitor, etc.). With a
SCSI host adapter, its BIOS is used to control SCSI hard disk
drives and perform the boot function. If a host adapter does not
have a BIOS, then hard disk drives controlled by that host adapter
cannot be used to boot from (booting must be done from another
source, such as floppy, IDE, or another SCSI host adapter with a
BIOS). Hard drives can have their own BIOS as well, which defines
their operation. The BIOS can also contain useful software
utilities, and in some cases, can be reprogrammed or updated via
software to accommodate new hardware. Older PC computers often have
to have their BIOS updated in order to properly work with new
hardware. |
|
| Blind
Transfer |
A type of data
transfer mode often used in
SCSI
devices. In Blind Data Transfer mode, the
CPU allows
the SCSI chip to oversee transfers, freeing the CPU for other tasks.
The CPU checks in only once before a
block of
data is transferred, requiring constant timing of the computer,
rather than a polling method where the CPU would have to check for a
Request/Acknowledge handshake with every
byte
transferred. The polling method requires more CPU time, so blind
transfers complete much faster. However they do not work well in
some situations with certain types of hardware. |
|
| Block
|
In audio and
computing the term block merely refers to a segment of data. It is
significant because digitized data is often stored in blocks of a
predetermined size (often 512 or 1024
bytes). For example, a disk might be formatted to hold data in
blocks that are 512 bytes in size. That means if you have a packet
of data to be written that is 1,047 bytes long it will require 3
blocks to store it, even though the third block is technically
almost empty. This empty space can not be used by any other data.
This block method of data storage and retrieval is key to making it
easy for computers to be able to quickly locate specific data on
disks and other storage media. |
|
| Blu-ray
|
An
optical disc format jointly developed by the Blu-ray Disc
Association (BDA), a group of consumer electronics, personal
computer, and media manufacturers (including Apple, Dell, Hitachi,
HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung,
Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson). The Blu-ray format was developed to
enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video as
well as store large amounts of data. A single-layer Blu-ray disc can
hold 25GB,
which can be used to record over 2 hours of HDTV or more than 13
hours of standard-definition TV. There are also dual-layer versions
of the discs that can hold 50GB. Optical disc technologies such as
DVD, DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW, and
DVD-RAM use a red
laser to read and write data. The Blu-ray format uses a
blue-violet laser instead. Despite the different type of lasers
used, Blu-ray hardware is designed be made backwards compatible
through the use of a BD/DVD/CD-compatible optical pickup that allows
playback of standard CDs and DVDs. The benefit of using a
blue-violet laser (405nm) is that it has a shorter
wavelength than a red laser (650nm), which makes it possible to
focus the laser spot with greater precision. This allows data to be
packed more tightly and stored in less space, so it's possible to
fit more data on the disc. Blu-ray was designed with HDTV in mind
and supports direct recording of the
MPEG-2 TS (Transport Stream) used by digital broadcasts, which
makes it compatible with global standards for digital TV. This means
that HDTV broadcasts can be recorded directly to the disc without
any quality loss or extra processing. To handle the increased amount
of data required for HD, Blu-ray employs a 36Mbps
data transfer rate. Blu-ray's backers expect it to replace VCRs and
DVD recorders with the transition to HDTV over the coming years. The
format also has potential to become a standard for PC data storage
and HD movies in the future. |
|
|
Bluetooth |
A short-range
wireless technology that communicates via a frequency-hopping
transceiver over the 2.4-gigahertz radio frequency, a space known as
the Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band. Bluetooth was
originally conceived as a low cost, low power, short-range
technology that would replace cables on such devices as mobile phone
headsets, handsets and portable computers. However, its promoters
soon envisioned the creation of "personal area networks" in which
computers could be wirelessly connected to printers, audio could be
transmitted over short distances (for example, to the rear speakers
in
surround setups), and
remote control of PDAs or other appliances could be easily
implemented. Some people have referred to it as a sort of wireless
USB, which is a pretty apt description in many respects. First
conceived in 1994 by Ericsson Mobile Communications (now a part of
Sony), by 1998 the Bluetooth Special Interest Group included
industry giants Intel, IBM, Toshiba and Nokia. Today more than 2000
companies produce or are developing Bluetooth enabled products.
Apple Computers incorporate Bluetooth compatibility that allows
keyboards, mice and other peripherals to wirelessly connect to the
main unit. While Bluetooth originally had a transmission range of
only 10 meters, today, three power classes exist for Bluetooth
devices, the most powerful allowing transmissions up to 100 meters.
Bluetooth is a different protocol from
Wi-Fi, but both occupy a section of the 2.4 GHz ISM band that is
83 MHz wide. Bluetooth uses a technology called Frequency Hopping
Spread Spectrum (FHSS) that allows it to hop between 79 different 1
MHz-wide channels in this band whenever it encounters
interference from other transmissions. |
|
| Boot
|
Besides being an
article of footwear, boot refers to the process of starting up a
computer system, or any device with a
CPU. It is spoken as to "boot up," or "booting up." Basically
this is a colloquialism that comes from the idea of pulling itself
up by its own bootstraps. A computer booting up generally goes
through a series of self-tests and loading operational system
instructions. |
|
|
Buffer |
A temporary
storage area for data being transferred from one place in a system
to another, or to another system. Buffers are often used in the
context of computers reading from and writing to various disk
drives, but can come in to play on most any type of data transfer.
Buffers are needed because it often occurs that one or both of the
devices cannot maintain an exact and synchronized data transfer
rate. Buffers provide a place for data to sit while one of the
devices catches up to the other. Cache (see WFTD archive
Cache RAM) is a type of buffer. |
|
|
Buffer Under-Run |
Buffers are often used in
real time data operations to help allow for timing
inconsistencies between the device supplying the data and the device
requesting the data. However, there are limits to how much a buffer
can... well... buffer. Its size and the data rate determine the
limit. If the supply of data stops or slows down the buffer can only
feed the destination device until it is empty. When it runs out of
data a fault in the data will occur, the consequences of which
depend upon the equipment in question. This fault is known as buffer
under-run, which simply means the buffer was not able to supply data
to the destination because it ran out of its supply. In the early
days of CD burning this was a very common problem due to a
combination of small (or no) buffers in the burners and slow disk
access times, not to mention slower computers. Nowadays, CD burning
technology has advanced to the point where buffer under-runs are
fairly easily avoided; though they are not gone completely.
|
|
| Bug
|
Jargon often used
in the computing world to refer to a fault in software (and
sometimes hardware) that causes a malfunction. Bugs may range from
minor annoyances that are easily worked around to crippling
problems. Sometimes a software program can have so many problems it
gets characterized as "buggy." According to folklore, the first
computer bug was an actual bug. Discovered in 1945 at Harvard, a
moth trapped between two electrical relays of the Mark II Aiken
Relay Calculator caused the whole machine to shut down. It turns out
that the person who told the story was already aware of the usage of
the term as it dates all the way back to the early telegraph days.
Some claim the usage is actually older than that. These days you
will see the term applied to any system (computer or otherwise) that
runs with any type of program or set of instructions. This could be
a keyboard, a hard disk recorder, or even a calculator.
|
|
| Cache
RAM |
Most of the RAM
(Random Access Memory) that computers use is inexpensive dynamic
RAM. In modern computers, dynamic RAM is actually too slow to keep
up with the bus speeds. To compensate for this, computers
incorporate a small amount of expensive Cache (or Static) RAM, which
is fast enough to keep up with system speeds (this is also called a
Level 2 or L2 cache). All modern CPUs have a small cache built into
the chip itself (8-16k). External cache memory can also be added to
improve performance. PowerPC's require at least 256k per CPU (or
more). Pentium Pro chips have a built-in L2 (256 or 512k) cache that
runs at a full 200 MHz, greatly speeding performance. How much cache
RAM you should have depends on the amount of total RAM your computer
has. Unless you are running serious graphics systems, 256 or 512k
should be fine. Increasing to 1 Mb will only provide a minor
performance improvement. |
|
|
CardBus |
Cardbus is the
trade name for an advanced PC Card specification, which is used
primarily in notebook and portable computers. It fits into the slot
like a conventional PC Card, but its performance is enhanced over
conventional PC cards with support for
direct memory
access, use of a 32-bit
path for data transfer, and an operating speed, which is several
times greater. Cardbus allows PCMCIA cards to transfer data at rates
exceeding 100MB/sec. &mdash Older 16-bit
PCMCIA
cards transfer data at a rate of 20MB/sec. |
|
|
Carved-top Guitar |
The original
carved-top electric guitar was the 1952 Gibson Les Paul "Goldtop."
Because Gibson had the specialized tooling with which to create a
contoured top that was similar to the arched top of a fine violin,
Maurice Berlin of Chicago Musical Instruments (or CMI, Gibson's
parent company) believed this would set the Gibson
solidbody guitar far ahead of the competition (chiefly Fender at
the time). Initially, the rough carving was done by a machine
copying a 3-dimensional pattern made of steel. The cutter marks were
then smoothed by a
luthier using a stroke belt sander. The operator would hold a
cushioned pad against the running belt pressed to the top of the
instrument in order to create the desired contour. Today, much of
this is accomplished using computer-controlled carvers, after which
hand finishing adds the final touch. |
|
|
Cassette Tape |
Any of several
types of assemblies where audio tape is encased in a self contained
mechanism that provides very simple insertion and/or removal from a
tape recorder or playback machine. These self contained mechanisms
(the cassette) usually provide all of the wheels and rollers
necessary for tape to be able to be moved past a tape head. All that
is required of the tape playing/recording machine is to have motors,
capstan,
pinch roller, gears, and mechanisms designed to provide the
torque to get the tape moving through the cassette and past an
opening where the machine's tape head comes into contact with the
magnetic tape for recording and playback purposes. There have been
many types of cassette tape used over the years in audio and video,
including 8-track, Beta, VHS, 8mm, and DAT (a.ka.
R-DAT, S-DAT, and 4mm), but one type has been so ubiquitous that
it's "real" name has become less known. It is instead simply known
as the generic "cassette tape." The given name for this format years
ago was the compact audio cassette, and was sometimes known as the
musicassette. This format, developed by Phillips in the early
1960's, works similar to an open
reel tape machine, only the tape is much smaller (1/8 inch
wide), speeds much slower (1 & 7/8
i.p.s), and the reels are housed in a cassette, which made it
extremely convenient to use compared to the other options available
at the time, hence its popularity. The compact audio cassette was
largely developed with dictation machines in mind (where the "micro
cassette" later became standard), but quickly became a popular
distribution method for recorded music. The format has also been
instrumental in the explosion of home recording equipment. In the
early 1980's Teac/Tascam developed the "Portastudio," which was a
4-track recorder designed for home studio use. By doubling the tape
speed to 3 & 3/4 i.p.s and employing
dbx noise reduction some pretty decent (by the standard then)
recordings could be made in a true
multitrack fashion. Cassette tapes have also been widely used
over the years as data storage for computer systems. Some of these
have been in the form of standard (more or less) compact audio type
cassettes, while others have been more proprietary formats. Today we
still use several different formats of cassette tape (DAT,
AIT,
DLT, etc.) as a means to archive and backup important computer
data. |
|
| Cat 5
|
Short for Category
5, a common type of
twisted pair cable. Cat 5 cable is used in many networking
environments for high speed data transfer. It is the current
standard (replacing the former standard, Cat 3 cable) for
Ethernet and fast Ethernet networks, where it is generally
terminated with an RJ-45 type connector (similar to the connector
many telephones use). The "category 5" standard states the twisted
pairs must have at least 8 twists per foot. There are other category
standards with different specifications, but Cat 5 is the most
widely known and used at the consumer level right now. Most modern
computers have RJ-45 type connectors built in to them for networking
connections. Since this configuration has become such a common
standard, component parts are widely available and inexpensive,
which has caused even more widespread usage. As such we are
beginning to see these connectors and cables used on more and more
music equipment for certain types of communication. |
|
| CD
Extra |
A CD format that
combines audio and data on the same disc, usually to include extra
content such as interactive multimedia, including video, graphics
and/or other information designed to enhance an audio CD for
consumers with computers. A CD Extra is a
multisession disc, meaning that the audio and data are burned in
separate passes and are contained in different areas of the disc.
|
|
| CD+G
|
An
audio compact disc format that contains graphics data in
addition to the audio data. A CD+G disc can be played on a regular
audio CD player, but when played on a CD+G-compatible player, can
output a graphics signal (typically, the CD+G player is hooked up to
a television set or a computer monitor). After an earlier life
supporting video games, CD+G is being used for CDs for
karaoke systems, with the graphics used to display song lyrics.
A compact disc contains two kinds of data: Content data, which is
used to store audio, computer software, etc., and subchannel data
(or
metadata), which is normally used by the CD player to help
control the disc. In each sector of a CD there are 2,352
bytes of content data and 96 bytes of subchannel data. Each of
the 96 subchannel data bytes can be thought of as being divided into
8
bits. Each of these bits corresponds to a separate stream of
information. These streams are called "channels," and are labeled
starting with the letter P, so: Channel P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W
carries bit 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 Channels P and Q on a regular
audio CD are used to assist the CD player in tracking the current
location on the disc, and to provide the timing information for the
time display on the CD player. The CD+G format utilizes channels R
through W to store 16-color (4-bit) graphics for a display that is
300x216
pixels in size. The videogame consoles Sega CD, Sega Saturn,
Commodore Amiga CD32, and the Atari Jaguar CD (which was an
attachment to the Atari Jaguar) also played CD+G format CDs.
|
|
|
CD-ROM |
Short for, compact
disc, read-only memory. A CD-ROM is a compact
optical media disc used to store and play back computer data
instead of digital audio. CD-ROMs have become a favorite medium for
installing programs and distributing medium sized chunks of data,
since they cost only slightly more to manufacture than
floppy disks, and most major software applications would require
several floppies to distribute. Today, there is CD-ROM media that
can hold up to 650
megabytes
of data (74 min. is the maximum designed capacity). The
specifications for CD-ROM were first defined in the
Yellow Book standard. |
|
| CD24
|
A CD24 is a
special kind of Compact Disc that can be made and played by the
Alesis MasterLink. It allows you to store audio at higher
sample rates (up to 96kHz)
and
word lengths (up to 24-bits)
than is allowed by the standard consumer \"Red
Book\" CD format (16-bit/44.1kHz). A CD24 can also be played in
a computer\'s CD-ROM drive because it follows the common PC and
Mac-compatible CD-ROM standard
ISO 9660. Also, the audio files on the disc follow
AIFF format, which is readable by almost any audio software
available today. |
|
|
Centronics |
A standard
computer interface for connecting printers, CD-ROM drives and other
devices. Although Centronics Corporation designed the original
standard, the Centronics interface used by modern computers was
designed by Epson Corporation. For PCs, almost all
parallel ports conform to the Centronics standard. Two new
parallel port standards that are backward compatible with Centronics,
but offer faster transmission rates, are
ECP (Extend Capabilities Port) and
EPP (Enhanced Parallel Port). On the Macintosh side of the
fence, Centronic connections are of the
SCSI flavor only (See WFTD:
Centronics 50). |
|
|
Challenge/Response |
A common technique
used for software copy protection. It's comprised of an exchange of
passwords that contain hidden information that permits software to
run and to be stored on a computer's
hard disk. Usually, when an application is first run, the user
is presented with a unique challenge password. This password is
submitted to the manufacturer (or a service company they employ) who
then provides a response password that can be used to "unlock" the
software so it will run on that machine. In some cases the same
response can be used to unlock the software on other machines, but
in many cases the challenge (and consequently the response) are
unique to a given machine, or even to a particular instance of
installation (in other words, if you wipe the software from the
machine and install it again you may be presented with a different
challenge). This system has some advantages over key disk/CD or
dongle copy protection methods: you never need to deal with
anything physical and the entire authorization process can be
performed by e-mail or phone. However, there is one disadvantage,
which is that your authorization is not easily transportable from
one machine to another. Challenge/Response, while still in use,
seems to losing popularity among software developers.
|
|
|
Chipset |
In a personal
computer, the integrated circuit (IC)
chips that define the functions of a
CPU. The chipset is in charge of controlling the flow of
instructions to the CPU as well as defining the available buses.
Chipsets are normally integrated - soldered onto the
motherboard. On early personal computers these functions
required as many as 30 individual chips. Current PCs have
consolidated all these circuits into only two or three chips. Intel
(Pentium)
and AMD-based computers have two distinctive chips. The northbridge
typically handles communications between the CPU,
RAM, and
AGP or
PCI Extended graphics cards. Some northbridge chips also contain
integrated video controllers. The southbridge chip normally defines
and controls the operation of other buses and devices, including the
PCI bus, the
PS/2 interface for keyboard and mouse, the
serial port, the
parallel port, and the
floppy drive controller. The chipset used by a given
manufacturer of motherboards can have a significant impact on the
way in which that board (and the resulting computer that uses it)
will interact with various peripheral devices. Some hardware,
particularly more exotic audio recording hardware, can be pretty
picky about chipsets and their associated data protocols.
|
|
| CISC
|
Acronym for
Complex Instruction Set Computer. This is an instruction set
architecture (ISA) in which each instruction to a
CPU can indicate several low-level operations, such as a load
from memory, an arithmetic operation, and a memory store, all in a
single instruction. The original theory was to have the processor
receive fewer instructions, which would allow it to handle
"high-level" programming languages more easily. This is in contrast
to Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC)
design, which executes a rapid sequence of simple instructions.
Before the first RISC processors were designed, many computer
architects were trying to design instruction sets to support
high-level languages by providing "high-level" instructions such as
procedure call and return, loop instructions such as "decrement and
branch if non-zero" and complex addressing modes to allow data
structure and array accesses to be compiled into single
instructions. While these designs achieved their aim of allowing
high-level language constructs to be expressed in fewer
instructions, they did not always result in improved performance.
For example, on one processor it was discovered that it was possible
to improve the performance by NOT using the procedure call
instruction but using a sequence of simpler instructions instead.
Furthermore, the more complex the instruction set, the greater the
overhead needed to decode an instruction, both in execution time and
silicon area. The term, like its antonym RISC, has become less
meaningful with the continued evolution of both CISC and RISC
designs and implementations. Modern "CISC" CPUs, such as the Pentium
4, while they usually support every instruction that their
predecessors did, are designed to work most efficiently with a
subset of instructions more resembling a typical "RISC" instruction
set. Indeed, many CISC CPUs (such as modern x86 processors from both
Intel and AMD) "break" many x86 instructions into a series of
smaller internal "micro-operations" that are then executed
internally by the processor. |
|
|
Classic |
In Macintosh
computers running the
OS X operating system, Classic is the name for a type of
shell program that runs the older
OS 9.2 operating system within OS X. Being able to run the older
OS on top of OS X allows Mac users to continue to use older software
that that doesn\'t work under OS X. |
|
| Click
and Hold |
The action of
clicking your computer's mouse on an object, but not releasing it -
holding the mouse button down. Depending on what you click upon,
this may bring up an additional menu or list of selections you can
make by pulling the mouse down and releasing the button.
|
|
| Click
Track |
A metronomic
"pulse" heard in monitor headsets by the musicians (or conductor in
film scoring) during the performance of music. The purpose of a
click track is the same as any metronome: to guide the musicians
temporally for the sake of timing consistency or some other timing
concern. In film scoring this would be to have
hits and other
cues occur at the proper time in the film. Traditionally click
tracks have been recorded to tape (hence the usage of the word
"track" in the name), but in modern production this is increasingly
rare. Click tracks are quite often generated by computer software
(such as
MIDI sequencers) and played back in real time through some MIDI
sound source. However, in many instances for the sake of
convenience, and as a fail-safe method they may also be recorded to
the multi-track being used. |
|
|
Clipboard |
In Macintosh and
PC computers, and some other systems, the clipboard is a virtual
memory holding area where data can be temporarily stored for certain
tasks. The most common use of the clipboard is for copy (or cut) and
paste operations. When you Copy a line of text, a graphic image,
audio sample, etc. it is stored on the clipboard where it remains
until you replace it with something else. In the Mac the contents of
the clipboard can be viewed under the edit menu when the Finder is
the active application. In Windows systems you can view it by
looking under the Start Menu/Accessories/System Tools/Clipboard
Viewer. Some
Windows programs allow you a choice to append data to the
clipboard or overwrite it each time something new is copied.
|
|
|
Cluster |
On hard drives and
other types of data storage systems, tracks and
sectors are broken into clusters. The cluster is the smallest
unit of storage that is addressable (can be written to or read) on
the device. The size of clusters may vary. Often you'll see sizes of
256 or 512
bytes, but this can vary widely from system to system. Each
piece of data stored on a disk requires at least one cluster. So if
you have a word processing document that's only 50 bytes in size it
will require an entire cluster to store it, even if the clusters are
much greater in size. You can't put two 50 byte files in the same
cluster because the computer (or storing device) would have no way
to address them separately. Larger file's clusters can be scattered
among different locations on the hard disk. The clusters associated
with a file are kept track of in the hard disk's file allocation
table (FAT).
When you save or read a file, the entire file is handled for you and
you aren't aware of the clusters it is stored in. The total number
of clusters available on a disk depends on how it was
formatted and the addressing system used, or more specifically
on the size of the FAT table entry. For example, the
FAT-32 system commonly used is a 32
bit addressing system, which allows enough cluster addresses to
support up to two terabytes (2000 gigabytes) of data, assuming you
have a large enough disk. |
|
| CMOS
|
Acronym for
Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (pronounced 'see-moss'). A
special type of semiconductor with very low power consumption among
other things. They are constructed very differently from a typical
'transistor' or 'integrated circuit,' but perform many of the same
functions. CMOS chips are widely used in computing products. One
specific area concerns the
BIOS or
preferences for some of the basic functionality of a computer. These
are sometimes stored in CMOS-based memory chips, which are kept
under power by a small battery somewhere in the computer.
|
|
| CNC
|
Acronym for
"Computer Numerically Controlled." This is a computer-assisted
routing machine that can shape the wood parts of a production guitar
with astonishing accuracy. As more manufacturers add CNC
capabilities, quality continues to climb higher, as these machines
produce better, more consistent parts, especially solid guitar
bodies. |
|
| Code
|
A set of symbols
that represent assigned meanings (usually used for secrecy). Also
the act of putting a communication into coded form. The word code
has come to be used by computer programmers to describe their work.
Specifically it has been used to distinguish computer instructions
from data, but is now often applied more generically to any and all
instructions used by a computing device, as well as the act of
writing those instructions. |
|
| COM
Port |
Short for
Communications Port. This is a generic term used to identify
I/O ports, usually on PC Computers, that may be used for things
like modems,
MIDI interfaces, and other peripheral devices. PC COM ports are
generally used in conjunction with a number, as in as in COM1, COM2,
COM3, or COM4. These are serial ports and analogous to Macintosh
serial ports. |
|
|
Compile |
To have a computer
translate
source code written in a computer language into an executable
form, which is generally some type of \"machine language\" a
specific computer processor uses. This is usually done by a
translator program called a compiler and represents the most common
way computer programs have been developed for the past few decades.
|
|
|
Component Video |
A video signal
where some or all of the individual components that make the signal
are sent down separate wires (as opposed to
composite video), either in the form of a multi-pin
D-Sub type cable or a five way cable terminating to five
BNC connectors (there are other types, but these two cover the
majority of it). For example, in a computer monitor you may find
that the three primary video colors (Red, Green, and Blue) are each
sent separately, and luminance (brightness) information and video
sync are separate from that, hence the five wires (it can even
be separate further into horizontal and vertical video sync). In
some applications "component" signals are still composite signals of
another kind. Formats such as the 4-pin S-Video, the 2-RCA luma/chroma
standard, or the 3-BNC YUV standard will have some combining of
information, such as the sync signal(s).
Regardless of the kind of cable used, modern
analog computer displays have separate signal and
ground wires for at least the red, green, blue, HSync and VSync
signals. This separation allows the cables to carry much higher
frequencies than would be possible if they were entirely or
partially composited with each other. These higher frequencies allow
for the high
resolutions that computer displays must support. For comparison,
a computer outputting a 640 x 480 resolution image with a 60
Hz interlaced refresh rate (similar to broadcast TV) has a
"dot-clock" frequency of approximately 12 MHz. (Dot-clock represents
the timing between adjacent screen pixels and is the highest
frequency component of any computer's display-generation circuitry.)
At 800 x 600 resolution (also 60 Hz interlaced), that dot-clock
frequency increases to approximately 35 MHz. A modern workstation's
display using 1600 x 1200 resolution at 85 Hz non-interlaced
requires a dot-clock frequency of at least 220MHz.
(Special thanks to inSync reader David Charlap
for some of the computer specific information presented here.) |
|
|
Control Panel |
Basically, this is
just what it sounds like: a panel to control something. The usage of
the term gets confusing to people in how it is applied to computers,
but it's pretty simple. In computing devices, a control panel is a
software program designed to give the user control over some
specific part of the operation of the machine. This could be a basic
function like monitor resolution, or more involved functions
relating to standard and optional hardware or software that may be
installed on a particular system. |
|
|
Control Surface |
In the music and
production world a (hardware) controller is something we use as a
human interface to other elements in a system. For example, a
keyboard controller is used to play keyboard parts, where the
performance data is transmitted to a device that produces the sound,
whether it's a rack mounted module, a software synth, or another
keyboard. A control surface is conceptually a more generic form of
controller. They come in many shapes and sizes with (in some cases)
radically different capabilities, but the thing they have in common
is that they are used to control the functions of some other device,
often a computer software program. In our business the words
"control surface" usually conjure up images of something looking
like a mixing board. These aren't actually mixing boards, but
instead devices used to control other devices, which perform the
functions of a mixing board (mixing,
aux sends,
panning,
EQ, etc.). Now that so much production is done inside of
computer software, it has become increasingly important to provide
tools that enable musicians and engineers easy access to a familiar
set of controls in order for them to most effectively be able to do
their work. As such, control surfaces in many ways mimic the look
and feel of a mixing board, even though in many cases they may
provide more or different capabilities. Some control surfaces are
designed specifically for a specific computer or software system,
while others are more generic and may work with a variety of
different systems. Nowadays many stand alone mixers are really
nothing more than software based mixing boards under the control of
a dedicated control surface, even though the outward appearance is
that of a mixer. In some cases these mixers can also be used to
control other software mixers. |
|
| Copy
|
In computer
applications, Copy is a common convention used by many applications
that allows the end user to copy a defined selection to the
computer's
Clipboard while leaving the defined selection in place and
unchanged. The defined selection is now available for use elsewhere
via the "Paste"
function. |
|
|
Corrupt/Corruption |
Political humor
aside, when we use these terms in the context of making music, we
are generally speaking of data files or media that for one reason or
another have become unusable. The usage comes from the standard
definition, which is (among other things) to spoil, taint, or alter
from the original. Computers and programs running on them expect
data, whether in
RAM or on disk, to be organized in a specific way. If something
happens to the information to alter this organization it is said to
have become corrupt, which usually results in it no longer being
usable, or at least requiring efforts to repair it. Often times when
media fails it is because the
formatting data on it has become corrupt. |
|
| CPU
|
Abbreviation for
Central Processing Unit. The chip on a computer's motherboard which
ultimately controls all the activity of the computer. Standard Macs
have a 680x0 chip (x = 0, 2, 3, or 4) manufactured by Motorola.
PowerPC Macintoshes use a new RISC (Reduced Instruction Set
Computing) chip designed by a conglomerate of computer hardware
manufactures, including Apple, IBM, and Motorola. Most IBM
compatible computes use a chip based on Intel's X86 architecture.
These days most electronic instruments (keyboards, drum machines,
etc.) and digital tape machines have a CPU which controls all of the
functions of the machine. |
|
|
CPUCycle |
In layman's terms
this is a fancy way of talking about events that your computer's
CPU
performs. Each event, which can be triggered by a pulse from the
clock, can
be considered a cycle. Or, as if often the case, the CPU has a
series of little routines it is constantly running. Things like:
check each I/O
port for incoming data (keyboard, mouse, modem, etc.), update the
screen, move data from here to there, etc. Basically a series of
events that are required to keep the computer operating. The
computer keeps repeating them over and over. A cycle can be
considered to be one pass through all of these events.
|
|
| Crash
|
In the computer
world, a crash is generally a condition in which a specific
application or a part of the computer's
operating system stops performing its specific functions and
will not respond to keyboard commands. A crash may manifest itself
in any of several ways, up to and including a complete freeze, where
the
cursor is locked into a specific place on the screen. When an
operating system
kernel is involved, this is often called a system crash.
Depending upon the severity of the crash, a restart may be all that
is required, but large scale crashes usually require restarting
(rebooting) from a system disc or specific software that is designed
to go in and and find the problem. Today crashes are less
destructive than in the early days of personal computers, when a
fresh reinstallation of the entire contents of the internal
hard drive was often required. |
|
| Cross
Platform |
Refers to hardware
or software that is capable of working on, or is compatible with,
multiple platforms. Generally the term is used in the computer world
and means that a device or software package is compatible with two
or more fundamentally different systems, such as PC and Macintosh.
Programs that work on both
Windows NT and
Windows XP, for example, would not be considered \"cross
platform\" as it is understood that those two platforms are very
similar. Sometimes the term is applied to more audio specific
products such as soundware for
synthesizers and
samplers, where it signifies that a given package works on more
than one brand of instrument. For example, a sample library might be
compatible with both Roland and Kurzweil samplers. It is more
common, however, to see the specific brands and type of instruments
listed since there are so many potential distinctions to be aware
of. |
|
|
Crossover Cable |
A type of cable
designed to connect two devices directly together that would
normally have a
hub between. This comes up often with
Ethernet cables. Ethernet RJ-45 connectors are normally wired
for the paradigm where everything runs through a hub. When two
devices are connected directly together the wiring is backwards and
does not match up. So there are crossover cables where the middle
four of the eight wires are reversed from one end to the other. This
is the type of cable required to connect two computers with Ethernet
directly together without the need for a hub or switch. Crossover
cables are also found in other domains, such as
parallel cables for computers. Here they are commonly known as
Null Modem cables. |
|
| CRT
|
Abbreviation for
Cathode-Ray Tube, the technology used in most televisions and
computer display screens. A CRT works by moving an electron beam
back and forth across the inside front of the screen. Each time a
beam makes a pass across the screen, it lights up phosphor dots on
the inside, illuminating the active portions of the screen. The beam
is controlled by electromagnetism, which causes it to scan in an
orderly fashion that is related in time to the data (image) that
causes the energy from the gun to vary, thereby producing (painting)
the images you see. By quickly drawing (scanning) many such lines
from the top to the bottom of the screen, it creates an entire
screen full of images. In order for the beam to return to the top of
the screen after it has reached the bottom a "blanking pulse" is
timed into the data to turn the beam off so it doesn't paint a
diagonal line from the lower right to the upper left hand corner.
This blanking pulse is known as
black burst and is the source of timing used in many
synchronization systems. |
|
| Cut
|
In computer
applications, Cut is a common convention used by many applications
that allows the end user to remove a defined selection (text,
images, sound clips, video clips, etc.) from an active document
while automatically placing it into the computer's
Clipboard for use elsewhere via the "Paste"
function. |
|
| D-Sub
|
D-Sub and DB are
prefixes used to describe a type of multi-pin connectors that happen
to be commonly used in audio equipment. The original manufacturer,
ITT Cannon, adopted the "D" designation as the lead character in
their part numbers signifying the connector type. The shell size, or
capacity, is next in the part number: A=15 pin, B=25 pin, C=37 pin,
D=50 pin and E=9 pin (not originally produced). This type connector
can also be specified with many different styles and quantities (up
to its capacity) of pin: high power, coax and combinations. The most
common connector, early on, was the 25-pin size, which was used on
RS232 ports (a common computer port). Hence DB25M means "D" type,
"B" shell, 25 pins, Male pin. Note that a 15-pin female would be
DA15F. D-Sub is short for the current industrial tag,
D-Subminiature, used by almost all of the manufacturers.
|
|
| DAE
|
Abbreviation for
Digidesign Audio Engine. DAE is the underlying code that Digidesign
has been using to make their audio systems work and communicate with
computer hardware and software. When you launch Pro Tools (or any
application that uses DAE to communicate with Digidesign hardware)
DAE also launches in the background. The main application (such as
Pro Tools) is really just acting as the user interface while DAE is
actually taking care of the underlying mechanics of moving the audio
data in, out, and through the system. DAE is required for software
programs to be able to access Digidesign hardware. |
|
| Daisy
Chain |
A wiring scheme in
which, for example, device A is wired to device B, device B is wired
to device C, etc. All devices may receive identical signals or, in
some instances, each device in the chain may modify one or more
signals before passing them on. Common Daisy Chain examples would be
MIDI devices connected together utilizing their THRU
connections;
SCSI connections with the last device
terminated; certain computer network schemes; reference
clock for digital studio devices; etc. |
|
| DAW
|
Pronounced "Dee -
A - Double-U", the abbreviation (not acronym) for Digital Audio
Workstation. DAW's are common in almost any studio these days. They
are typically defined as having some ability to record, manipulate,
and play back audio recordings or samples. In their early days DAW's
were primarily considered editing stations. Material was taken from
the primary recording media (usually tape) and dumped into one of
these systems for editing, and then returned to the original media
for the remainder of the project. Nowadays DAW's can act as an
entire recording studio with all mixing, processing, and mastering
on one computer. |
|
| DB-25
|
A type of
D-Sub
connector. DB-25's are commonly found on computing equipment where
they are employed to connect peripherals. They are common to
parallel ports or
RS-232
ports on PC computers, but also often used in a variety of ways in
the audio community. For example, TASCAM commonly uses the DB-25
connector for analog and/or digital
I/O on their
products, as do some other brands. |
|
| DDS
|
An abbreviation
for Digital Data Storage. DDS is a data storage format which was
developed from DAT (Digital Audio Tape) by Hewlett-Packard and Sony,
especially for reliably storing computer data. DDS is defined by
international standards and is supported by many manufacturers, but
more importantly, it is subject to thorough collaborative testing
programs which ensure that tapes written by one maker's drives can
be read by those of other manufacturers.
DDS drives are rigorously tested for format
compliance and data interchange according to a scheme that
Hewlett-Packard administers. DDS media is put through a
comprehensive set of tests designed to ensure that only data
cartridges capable of meeting the exacting environmental and
durability requirements of the DDS standards bear the DDS trademark.
This scheme is administered by Sony. |
|
| Delay
Compensation |
A process of
manipulating the timing of digital audio tracks so that any
latency resulting from the application of
plug-in effects or instruments is accounted for, resulting in
the accurate
synchronization of those tracks with other tracks which are not
affected by latency-causing processing. Even with the fastest
possible computer
CPUs and hardware-accelerated
DSP cards, routing an audio track through digital effects
plug-in creates latency in the output of the effected audio. This
latency can be almost imperceptible, such as a few
samples, or it could be greater, up to a few
milliseconds. As a result, that track's audio reaches the output
stage slightly later than tracks that aren't passed through a
plug-in. Multiply the effect of one track's latency by a potential
of several tracks undergoing processing (each with a slightly
different amount of latency) and you eventually end up with a
"smeared" audio output - one in which the tracks aren't in perfect
synchronization with each other, with audible differences in
attacks, phase and releases. Musically speaking, this may not
necessarily be a bad thing (although hardly anyone could argue it's
a good thing), but if you're layering
unison parts, for example, the combined latencies of several
processed tracks can be distracting. It's also very destructive to
building a proper
soundstage in a mix. |
|
|
Desktop |
In computers using
a
GUI the desktop is the whole screen area underneath any open
windows or icons. It is the top level in the hierarchy of the
system: hard drives and other files reside on and can be accessed
from the desktop. |
|
| DFD
|
Direct From Disk (DFD)
is
Native Instruments' term for the technology that allows a
virtual instrument to play
samples directly from
hard drive instead of loading them into
RAM. This allows for playing longer samples than will fit in the
computer's memory, among other things. A small amount of RAM is
still required to "preload" a bit of the sound before it starts
playing, to compensate for the time it takes for the computer to
find the sample on the disk and begin playing it - this is known as
the "preload
buffer." |
|
|
Dial-up |
The earliest (and
exceptionally slow) method of connecting to the
Internet was to use existing telephone lines and a modem that,
together, connected a computer to an internet service provider (ISP).
In its earliest days, the Internet could hardly live up to the hype
as the "information super highway," as the only way to get connected
was via a 2,400bps
modem and a phone line. |
|
|
Differential |
In the computer
world, a "balanced"
signal is known as "differential". The same technique is used - the
signal is sent with the inverse signal running parallel to it.
Sometimes, the two signals' wires are twisted around each other
(known as "twisted pair" wire). Differential signals are used in
10Base-T and 100Base-T Ethernet and some varieties of
SCSI.
(Special thanks to inSync reader, David C. for
this one.) |
|
| Digi
System Init |
Abbreviation for
Digi System Init. Init is a fancy word for
Extension
on the Macintosh - historically the extensions that load upon boot
up were called inits, which is short for
initialize. These days we just call them extensions, but DSI is
an old abbreviation. The DSI is, therefore, an extension that must
be loaded by the computer in order for it to be able to "see" any
Digidesign hardware that may be installed in it. It works in
conjunction with
DAE to enable recording with Digidesign systems.
|
|
|
Digital |
In a general sense
digital refers to information or data that is stored or communicated
as a sequence of discrete values, rather than some scale across a
continual set of values (analog). A digital system may use any (or
several) of many different numbering schemes, including decimal
(base 10), octal (base 8), and
hexadecimal (base 16), but for the most part we associate the
binary (base 2) numbering system with digital as it is the most
commonly used numbering system in digital hardware such as computers
and other logic based systems. For our purposes, digital refers to
the representation of a varying physical property such as sound or
light waves (as in digital audio or video), by means of a series of
numerical values (in binary, ones and zeroes). These digits are
grouped together in "words"
to represent parts (intervals) of the complex character of the audio
or video material. |
|
|
Digital Synthesizer |
A synthesizer that
uses digital signal processing (DSP)
techniques to make sounds. The very earliest digital synthesis
experiments were made with general-purpose computers, as part of
academic research into sound generation. Perhaps the best way to
begin to understand digital synthesis is to compare it to analog
synthesizers. Modular analog synthesis uses voltage to perform its
three primary functions. A voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO)
produces a tone, which is shaped by a voltage-controlled filter (VCF).
The amplitude of the resulting sound is processed by a
voltage-controlled amplifier
(VCA). (These basic building blocks can be rearranged in a
variety of ways, but they still perform similar duties.) Digital
synthesis replaces voltage with numeric representations of values;
so at its most basic, a digital synthesizer uses a digitally
controlled oscillator (DCO),
filter (DCF)
and amplifier (DCA).
However, the broader range of processing power available with DSP
has allowed many variations of synthesis techniques to emerge that
simply weren't possible with analog technologies. Early commercial
digital synthesizers used simple hard-wired digital circuitry to
implement techniques such as
additive synthesis and
FM synthesis. Other techniques, such as
wavetable synthesis,
physicalmodelingsynthesis and
granular, became possible with the advent of high-speed
microprocessor and digital signal processing technology. Some
digital synthesizers now exist in the form of "soft
synth" software that utilizes conventional computer hardware for
processing.
Virtual analog synthesizers, whether in hardware or software
form, are in fact digital synthesizers that emulate the behavior of
analog circuitry. |
|
| DIMM
|
Acronym for Dual
Inline Memory Module. A DIMM is essentially a double
SIMM. Like SIMM\'s they are small circuit boards with several
memory chips installed. The boards can be installed in computers and
other devices to increase their
RAM capacity. A lot of modern day computing hardware uses
SDRAM type memory, which requires a 64-bit data path, as opposed
to the 32-bit
path required by SIMM\'s. Initially this was achieved by installing
SIMM\'s in exact pairs, one for each 32-bit path. Now this is
accomplished with a single DIMM board. |
|
|
Direct I/O |
The trademarked
name for Digidesign's software drivers that allow programs such as
audio sequencers from various companies to directly access
Digidesign audio hardware installed in a computer. Without Direct
I/O drivers most audio programs can only interface with the Apple's
built in audio, which can then often be interfaced with the
hardware-recording card. The disadvantage is that this only allows
for two channel input and output because that is all the computer
supports. Direct I/O gives the software the ability to directly
interface with multi-channel hardware, such as Digidesign's Pro
Tools and Project systems, thereby allowing multiple inputs and/or
outputs to be used simultaneously. Direct I/O drivers have to be
specifically written for each hardware type. Most of the popular
audio sequencer manufacturers (MOTU, Opcode, EMAGIC Steinberg, etc)
have written their own Direct I/O drivers that work with Digidesign
hardware and hardware from other companies. |
|
|
Display |
In the computer
world, a synonym for video
monitor; used for both
LCD and
CRT monitors. In the audio world, "display" is used to refer to
the various types of
LED and LCD visual "readouts" found on
keyboards, processors, and other gear. |
|
| DMA
|
Abbreviation for
Direct Memory Access (or addressing). DMA is a method of
transferring data from one memory area to another without having to
go through the
CPU. In many computer systems DMA is allocated in "channels."
Computers with DMA channels can transfer data to and from devices
much more quickly than those in which the data path goes through the
computer's main processor. DMA channels are limited in number, and
you can't allocate one channel to more than one device. There are
also newer enhanced (faster) versions of DMA known as UDMA, or Ultra
DMA. |
|
| Dolby
Virtual Speaker |
An algorithm
created by
Dolby that attempts to reproduce the dynamics and surround-sound
effects of a precisely placed
5.1-channel speaker system from a consumer electronics device or
personal computer equipped with as few as two speakers. The
algorithm at the heart of Dolby Virtual Speaker technology is based
on psychoacoustic parameters that include an understanding of sound
from both a technical and an experiential perspective. Dolby Virtual
Speaker technology uses biological, psychological, and physical
understanding to create the "impression" of additional speakers
positioned exactly at the recommended locations for a
Dolby Digital sound system with five actual speakers. In other
words, audio channels are processed through filters that simulate
the sonic signature of a speaker located within an acoustic space.
Dolby Virtual Speaker technology was launched in fall 2002 to the PC
industry, and is currently available on select software
DVD players from CyberLink, InterVideo, and Nvidia, as well as
models from leading PC OEMs (including Sharp, NEC, Sony, Fujitsu,
and Hitachi). |
|
|
Dongle |
An electronic
device that attaches to a computer to control access to a particular
application. Dongles provide an effective means of copy protection.
Typically, the dongle attaches to a PC's parallel port or, on a Mac,
to an ADB port. Ideally a dongle passes through all data coming
through the port so it does not prevent the port from being used for
other purposes. In fact, it's possible to attach several dongles to
the same port. Programs that use a dongle query the port at startup
and at programmed intervals thereafter, and terminate if it does not
respond with the dongle's programmed validation code.
|
|
| DOS
|
An acronym for
Disk Operating System. Literally, the term refers that portion of an
operating system that controls writing, storage, and retrieval of
data from storage media, usually spinning disks of various types. In
common usage, the term refers to MS DOS, the complete operating
system developed by Microsoft for IBM-compatible personal computers
in text (non-Windows) modes. |
|
|
Double Precision |
A computer
numbering format in which a number occupies two storage locations in
computer memory (called "address" and "address+1"). A double
precision number, sometimes called a double, may be an integer,
fixed point, or
floating point. The term double precision is not truly accurate
because the "precision" is not really double. The word "double"
simply means that a double-precision number uses twice as many
bits as a regular floating-point number. For example, if a
single-precision number requires 32 bits to define, its
double-precision counterpart will be 64 bits long. Computers with
32-bit data stores (single precision) provide 64-bit double
precision, in a series of 8-byte
words. Most applications conform to an IEEE standard (754) that
defines the encoding of floating-point numbers using 8 bytes.
|
|
| Drive
|
Drive is a
rhythm pattern from the big band era in which the kick drum and
the snare are hit simultaneously on all four
beats of a
measure. Drive may also refer to gain for an
amplifier or
effects unit, and pushing an amp's
preamp to distort can cause
overdrive. Overdrive is generally considered to be another word
for
distortion or
clipping. When you overdrive something with too much level, it
distorts. For guitarists, however, there is a distinction between
overdrive and distortion. In the domain of guitar sounds distortion
generally means extreme distortion and is associated with a buzzing
or "fuzz" type of sound. To guitarists overdrive represents the
guitar equivalent of the general or mechanical definition above. It
is a state of (for lack of a better term) semi-distortion. A
heightened concentration of harmonic energy and presence, but not
the same as all-out distortion. Drive is also a shortened term
referring to
hard drives and CD readers/writers in computers.
|
|
|
Driver |
In the world of
computers, a virtual road map exists that tells data for each piece
of equipment or program which path to take to its chosen
destination. Just like in the real world, you need directions on how
to get from A to B. In the world of computers, we call those devices
"drivers". Drivers are bits of software code used to enable various
pieces of hardware and software so they can be recognized by other
programs in a computer and have the appropriate data routed to them
in a format they can understand. For example, Windows uses drivers
to communicate with a MIDI interface. If you do not have the proper
driver installed your computer may not recognize or work properly
with a given piece of hardware or software. |
|
| DSL
|
Abbreviation for
Digital Subscriber Line. DSL is a high-speed method of sending
computer data over standard copper telephone wires using
sophisticated modulation techniques. There are several types of DSL
connections, but they all require a special DSL modem between your
computer and the phone line. DSL's are sometimes referred to as
"last mile" technologies because they are used only for connections
from a telephone switching station to a home or office, not between
switching stations. This also means you have to be within an
acceptable range of a telephone switching station in order for it to
work well enough to be useful. DSL has become popular the last few
years as a really fast and reasonably affordable way of connecting
home or office computers to the Internet. |
|
| DSP
|
Abbreviation for
Digital Signal Processing. This term gets thrown around all over the
place these days without much regard for what it actually means.
Without getting into a lot of detail it basically just refers to a
specific type of digital processing that is optimized for dealing
with signals. In our case these are often audio signals, but they
don't always have to be. DSP can be thought of as sort of a subset
to the old math coprocessor concept. Math coprocessors were chips
that were included in computers to help the
CPU do massive calculations more efficiently. DSP chips are
designed and optimized to be able to do various (mathematical)
calculations for processing audio or image data. For example, many
of today's effects processors use a special DSP chip made by
Motorola that has been optimized for working with audio data. A
surprising number of different processors use this exact same chip,
but with different software instructions as written by the companies
to have it do what they need for their product. |
|
| DTV
|
Short for Digital
Television. DTV is the transmission of television signals using
digital rather than conventional
analog methods. Analog transmission is in the form of a
constantly variable wave; digital transmission consists of an
electrical pulse that has two possibilities: on and off (or positive
and negative),which are represented by a one and a zero (this is
binary data, the same type of information that a computer
understands), that is then
modulated into an analog transmission. A digital signal can be
more precise than analog due to the fact that the electronics at the
receiving end will either be able to retrieve enough of the digital
information to reconstruct a pretty good signal, or it will be
incapable of reconstructing anything resembling a good signal. It's
pretty much all or nothing, with very little area in between.
Although both signals are transmitted in the same basic way and
supposedly have the same range, they behave differently at the
limits of their ranges. An analog signal gradually degrades over
distance (mostly in amplitude, though there can be other
distortions introduced) and may be barely detectable at the
farther reaches of the broadcast area - this is why the signal from
a distant radio station fades in and out. As the signal reaches the
farther limits of its range, the
signal-to-noise ratio decreases and the quality of the broadcast
suffers, although the range remains the same. In comparison, when
the signal-to-noise decreases in a digital signal, the quality of
the broadcast does not visibly degrade very much (until it drops out
all together) depending upon the error correction capabilities of
the system or generally how effective it is at reconstructing a
usable signal from partial information, but the range shrinks.
|
|
| Dual
Core Processor |
The installation
of two computer
CPU execution cores on a single physical processor. A dual-core
CPU combines two independent processors along with their respective
caches and cache controllers onto a single chip. The advantages
of this approach are many: reduced power consumption (than
equivalent multi-processor systems), less space consumed on the
PCB, reduced heat, and — most importantly — the "threaded
parallelism" — the capability of the CPU to carry out two
independent instructions per
cycle rather than one. In fact, when technology such as Intel's
Hyperthreading is applied, a dual-core CPU can actually load four
instructions into its registers. A side benefit for manufacturers is
the death of the "gigahertz mania" that CPU chips have followed for
several years. The emphasis is on multithreading capacity rather
than clock speed. Dual-core CPUs require support from both the
operating system and the individual application to provide any
visible benefits. At this writing, both AMD and Intel have
commercially available dual-core processors. |
|
|
DualDisc |
A double-sided
optical disc introduced in the United States in 2004. A DualDisc
features an audio layer similar to a
CD (but not following the
Red Book CD specifications) on one side and a standard
DVD layer on the other. This allows artists to distribute
audio-only versions of their work in both 16-bit/44.1kHz
CD and high-resolution (24-bit/96 or 192kHz)
DVD-A stereo file formats, as well as include
surround versions and video content. Technically speaking,
DualDisc is not a "format" in the sense of Red Book CDs or
DVD-Audio. The media is an attempt by several industry giants (EMI
Music, Universal Music Group, Sony/BMG Music Entertainment, Warner
Music Group, and
5.1 Entertainment Group) to deliver albums that can be played on
any optical disc player, whether CD or DVD, in a single package. One
side is the "standard" full-length CD audio album. The other side
offers DVD content. This may include enhanced album audio, 5.1
surround sound, music videos, artist interviews, behind-the-scenes
footage, documentary films, photo galleries, lyrics, computer-ready
digital song files, and Web links - whatever the artist chooses to
include. Although the recording industry is enthusiastic about this
delivery system, the future of DualDisc is far from clear. As of
2005 it's still sitting under a cloud of patent-infringement
lawsuits from the European company DVD Plus, which claims to have
originally developed the technology. In addition, forthcoming
optical technology such as
Blu-Ray and
HD-DVD, with massive file storage capacity, might replace both
CD and current DVD technology. |
|
| DV
|
Abbreviation for
Digital Video. Digital Video is a format for digitizing and storage
of video images. DV is also commonly referred to as DVC, which
stands for Digital Video Cassette. The format uses 4:1:1 sampling,
5:1 compression, and a 25 Mega-bit
(3.1 Mega-byte)
data rate, and records to 1/4\" cassette tapes. What do those
figures mean? The sampling figure (4:1:1) refers to the sampling
rates of various components of the video signal (we\'ll cover more
about this in future inSync issues). The compression ratio is a
generic figure for how much the data is compressed (as in lossy
compression). Other digital video formats - ones that are not
referred to as DV - use different
sample rates (4:2:2, 4:4:4, etc.) and data compression ratios. A
subset of the DV format known as MiniDV, which uses smaller
cassettes, but is basically the same format, has become extremely
popular in the consumer marketplace due to its combination of
reasonably high quality (especially compared to inexpensive
analog systems), low cost, and convenience. Once video is
captured on a DV camera it is very easy to transfer it to a computer
editing system via
Firewire - no \"video capture\" card (and the accompanying
process) is needed. |
|
| DVD
|
Latest info says
"DVD" no longer stands for anything! It used to mean "digital
versatile disc" - and before that it meant "digital video disc." A
new type of 12-centimeter (4.72") compact disc (same size as audio
CDs and CD-ROMs) that holds 10 times the information. Capable of
holding full-length movies and a video game based on the movie, or a
movie and its soundtrack, or two versions of the same movie - all in
sophisticated discrete digital audio surround sound. The DVD
standard specifies a laminated single-sided, single-layer disc
holding 4.7 gigabytes, and 133 minutes of MPEG-2 compressed video
and audio. It is backwards compatible, and expandable to two-layers
holding 8.5 gigabytes. Ultimately two discs could be bounded
together yielding two-sides, each with two-layers, for a total of 17
gigabytes. There are three versions: DVD-Video (movies), DVD-Audio
(music-only) and DVD-ROM (games and computer use). The DVD-Audio
standard is still being defined. Meanwhile a fourth member has
joined the family: DVD-RAM defines specs for a rewritable system,
opening the door for recording. |
|
|
Dynamically Linked Library |
A DLL is a
computer program file consisting of a collection of resources or
routines that are available to other programs, as opposed to a
static library where the contents are copied into one program when
it\'s
compiled. A program that wants to use these routines is linked
with the DLL at the time it is actually started, or later. The term
DLL relates mostly to
Windows products. On the UNIX platform (including Mac
OS X), the term \"Shared Library\" is more commonly used.
|
|
| ECP
|
Abbreviation for
Enhanced Capabilities
Port. The ECP specification was developed by Microsoft and
Hewlett-Packard to increase the
throughput of the
parallel port in PC computers. It is similar to the
EPP, but even more efficient due to the use of
DMA and
buffering. |
|
| EIDE
|
Abbreviation for
Enhanced (some say Expanded)
IDE, or Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics. Like it sounds,
EIDE is an enhanced version of the old IDE peripheral connection
standard commonly used for hard drives and other storage media with
computers. It provides faster access to the hard drive, support for
DMA, larger capacities, and includes the functionality of
ATAPI. Sometimes EIDE is referred to as
ATA-2. |
|
|
Electroacoustic Music |
Electroacoustic
music is a type of music that originated in the late 1940s, and
early 1950s. Originally, there were two groups of composers who were
at strict odds with each other. In Paris,
Musique Concrete, pioneered by Pierre Schaeffer, was based on
the juxtaposition of natural sounds recorded to tape or disc. In
Cologne, Elektronische Musik, pioneered by Herbert Eimert, was based
around the construction of tones using only
sine waves, which Eimert considered to be an electronic
extension of serialism. The common link between the two schools is
that the music is recorded and performed through
loudspeakers, without a human performer. Currently, the majority
of electroacoustic pieces use techniques from both earlier styles.
Since around the early 1980s, many electroacoustic pieces have
included live performers, either as a performer playing along with a
tape, or, more recently, with live electronic processing of the
performer's sound. The term "acousmatic music" is often used to
refer to pieces that consist solely of prerecorded sound.
Electroacoustic music is a diverse, widely popular field. Important
centers of research and composition can be found around the world,
and there are numerous conferences which present electroacoustic
music, notably the International Computer Music Conference as well
as the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States
(SEAMUS). |
|
| EMI
|
EMI (Electro
Magnetic Interference) refers to interference in audio equipment
produced by the equipment or cabling picking up stray
electromagnetic fields. This interference usually manifests itself
as some type of hum, static, or buzz. Such electromagnetic fields
are produced by fluorescent lights, power lines, computers,
automobile ignition systems, television monitors, solid state
lighting dimmers, AM and FM radio transmitters, and TV transmitters.
Methods for controlling EMI include shielding of audio wiring and
devices, grounding, elimination of ground loops, balancing of audio
circuits, twisting of wires in balanced transmission lines, and
isolation transformers among others. Completely eliminating EMI in a
system ranges from easy to nearly impossible depending upon the
equipment and the environment in question. |
|
| EPROM
|
Pronounced EE-prom
(almost rhymes with eon), this is an acronym for Erasable
Programmable Read Only Memory. Various types of ROM (Read Only
Memory) chips are used in many computers and synthesizers to hold
instructions or other data (such as sound data) that the machine
uses. ROM chips must be permanently programmed at the time of
manufacture. While being relatively inexpensive, this can be a
problem because all decisions about the data must be permanently
decided at a relatively early stage in the design of the product.
PROM or Programmable Read Only Memory has the ability to be
programmed at any time. The only caveat being that once programmed,
the data is permanent. EPROM chips can be erased by subjecting them
to ultra violet light radiation. This means they can be reprogrammed
and reused as needed, hence the name EPROM. |
|
| ESB
|
Abbreviation for
Emagic System Bridge. The ESB is a software
driver that serves as a link between Emagic's native software
and Digidesign's
TDM hardware. As such it allows users to be able to bring
native processes (plug-ins
and software
synths) running on Logic Audio into the TDM mixer environment.
It consists of two components: Direct TDM and EXS24 TDM.
ESB TDM allows the insertion of up to 32
instances of Emagic's Xtreme
Sampler 24
Bit within the Aux channels of Logic Audio's TDM mixer. The
output signals of inserted EXS24 instances can be further treated,
utilizing all of the possibilities of the TDM
DSP environment. Each EXS24 instance is handled by the
computer's
CPU, and the ESB TDM routes their output signals into the TDM
DSP's. EXS24
MIDI performances are recorded on TDM Auxiliary tracks and are
controlled directly in Logic Audio. This eliminates the need for
OMS, making playback of the EXS24 TDM sample-accurate.
Direct TDM provides an additional audio engine
running in parallel with
DAE/TDM. It works like most native processing engines and offers
up to 64 audio tracks, plug-ins, the use of
VST effects and integration of Emagic or
third party VST 2.0-compatible Audio Instruments. ESB provides
up to eight outputs from this native audio engine, which can be
streamed into Logic Audio's TDM mixer - all within the computer. |
|
|
Ethernet |
A popular type of
networking technology for local area networks developed by Xerox
back in the 1970's. It allows computers, printers, and other devices
to be connected together forming a network where they have access to
one another. It works by breaking data into small "packets" and
sends them through cables as radio frequency signals. Over the years
there have been many developments and advances in Ethernet
technology, the most noticeable of which have provided increased
speeds. Terms like "Fast Ethernet" and "Gigabit Ethernet" among
others are sometimes used to describe speed capabilities with
varying degrees of precision. There is also a commonly used protocol
to describe Ethernet wiring. Ethernet cables are classified in an
XbaseY form, where the X denotes the data rate; "base" means
baseband. (Baseband, as opposed to broadband, means there is only
one data channel, and the entire bandwidth of the cable is devoted
to that single channel. Everything on that cable [transmitted or
received] must use that one channel, which is very fast. All
attached devices [printers, computers, and databases] share by
taking turns using the same cable). The Y denotes the category of
cabling. The letter T means twisted pair, whereas an F means fiber
optic. So, for example, when you see a term like 10base-T, that
means 10 megabits per second, baseband twisted pair cable. 100base-T
means 100 megabits per second, baseband, twisted pair, and
1000base-F means gigabit, baseband, fiber optic cable.
|
|
|
Export |
In the world of
data (computers,
MIDI, digital audio, etc.) exporting means to format data in a
form where it can be read by another application or device.
Sometimes an exported file (or series of files) can be read directly
by the desired application; other times the file must be \"imported,\"
which usually means further translation is required to get it into
the desired environment. |
|
|
ExpressCard |
The ExpressCard,
not to be confused with the card of the "don't leave home without
it" variety, is actually the successor of the PC Card, or
PCMCIA card, as it was known. PCMCIA actually stands for the
organization that developed the standards, which is the "Personal
Computer Memory Card International Association," and not "People
Can't Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms" as it has come to be
known. The ExpressCard standard, which replaces the older
CardBus, was developed to bring the high speed, flexibility, and
lower cost of the
PCI Express (PCIe) and
USB 2.0 interfaces to laptop computers. Theoretically,
ExpressCard will have a maximum throughput of 250MBps (megabytes
per second) for data transfer (500MBps total: 250MBps to the
computer in one direction and 250MBps to the card in the other).
This is in comparison to the 132-MBps PC Card standard.
ExpressCard's throughput is ideal for video transfers and
uncompressed files. To compare it with other throughputs:
Gigabit
Ethernet has a throughput of 125MBps,
FireWire 800 (seen only in new Apple notebooks so far) runs at
100MBps, and USB 2.0 can reach 60MBps. The ExpressCard comes in two
sizes, one 34mm wide and the other 54mm wide in an "L" shape.
Another advantage of the ExpressCard, aside from lower system and
card complexity, is their ability to be
hot plugged. |
|
|
Expression |
One of the
continuous controller commands available in
MIDI. It is one of the original definitions in the MIDI
specification that allows for the
modulation of
synthesizer sounds over time. It is often used to define the
action of things like foot pedals, modulation wheels, and sliders on
keyboards. As defined by the MIDI specification this controller
(number 11) has a range of values from 0 (all the way off) to 127
(all the way on). Most of the time expression is defined as a subset
of Volume (Continuous
Controller 7), especially as it relates to natural
crescendos and
decrescendos by sustained-tone instruments, such as strings,
wind, or synth pads. This allows you to set an overall track level
using
volume and then adjust single
notes or groups of notes by increasing or decreasing the
expression level. This can be achieved live by using a knob or
slider on your synth. In MIDI
sequencing there are many ways to insert expression messages
into a
track. Sophisticated synths and
samplers often incorporate many more elements than volume into
expression parameters, to offer maximum sonic control. These can
include
LFO modulation, increased/decreased sample
crossfades (such as the "breathiness" in flute samples) and
filter values and
resonance. A little-known MIDI fact is that there are TWO
controllers reserved for expression: #11 (coarse) and #43 (fine). In
the standard MIDI environment, controller 11 offers 128 divisions of
volume or any other parameters assigned to expression. Employing the
"fine" adjustment would increase this resolution to 16,384 available
steps! Virtually no instrument employs this, although more powerful
computers and increased sample resolutions and rates might make this
level of control practical. |
|
|
Extension |
In music and
computers an extension can very loosely be thought of as the
Macintosh equivalent to a
driver in the PC world. Extensions are little bits of software
that are loaded into the
RAM of your Mac when it boots. They provide added functionality
to your basic Mac
OS. Many peripherals that connect to a Mac require a special
extension to operate. This would include digital cameras,
MIDI interfaces, modems, fax software, your Palm Pilot, enhanced
track balls, digital audio software and hardware, graphics tablets,
and the list goes on and on. Extensions create a conduit for the
special communication that must take place between the
CPU and these devices. Current versions of the Mac OS include an
Extensions Manager Control Panel that allows the user to manage
which extensions are active and get loaded upon
boot up. There are other third party programs that allow even
more flexibility, and include the ability to change the order in
which they load. These tools exist because extension conflicts -
incompatibilities between different extensions - are a common
problem with Macintosh computers. Extension conflicts can cause
crashes and all kinds of undesirable behavior in your Mac so it's
important to keep an eye on what is installed and loaded into your
machine. The Extensions Manager helps with this, but the Mac will
also display the icon for most of the active extensions and control
panels along the bottom of the screen when it is booting. This is
handy for just keeping an eye on what is happening. Any time you
install new software on your Mac there is the potential to have new
extensions and control panels installed. A good clue that this has
happened is when the installation is complete you get a dialog box
indicating you need to restart the computer in order to use the new
software. |
|
|
Extension Manager |
A
control panel found on Macintosh computers that allows the user
to easily review and enable or disable specific
extensions and control panels. This is important because not all
extensions and control panels are compatible with one another, which
can cause erratic computer operation or crashes. Additionally too
many active extensions can eat up computer resources such as
RAM and
CPU Cycles (which effects the overall speed of the system), not
to mention causing it to take longer for the computer to load them
all on
boot-up. Extension Manager makes it easy to create different
"sets" of extensions for different tasks. One may have a set for
when the computer is used as a
DAW, a different set for playing games, and another set for
office work. |
|
|
Fairlight CMI |
Also known as the
"Computer Musical Instrument," this was the very first
keyboard-based, 8-bit
digital
sampler, with software sequencing and
additive synthesis capabilities. Making its debut in 1980 with
eight
voices (split either
polyphonically or
multitimbrally), the CMI could store a total of 1Mb of
sample data per double-sided, double-density 8-inch
floppy disk, or roughly 40 wavesamples. In all, only about 300
Fairlight CMIs (along with the Series II and Series IIx) were
manufactured from 1980 to 1984 at prices that ranged from $25,000 to
$36,000. Most were sold to the top artists of the day who could
actually afford them, including Peter Gabriel, Stevie Wonder, Jan
Hammer, and Thomas Dolby. |
|
| FAT
|
Abbreviation for
File Allocation Table. The FAT is a special file located on a disk
containing information about the sizes of files stored on the disk
and which clusters contain which files. It can also keep track of
bad spots on a disk so they are not used. Think of it as a sort of
roadmap to the files on a disk. Drives must first read the roadmap
before they can find any of the information stored, or before they
can know where to store any new information. There are a number of
different types (formats) of FATs used that have different
capabilities in terms of how (and how much) data can be stored on a
drive partition. While you don't hear
the term much these days the word "fat" has also been used to
describe Mac programs that are capable of running in the older, non
Power PC environments (68000 series processors) as well as newer PPC
computers (600 and G series processors). They were called "fat"
programs because they were bloated by virtue of having two sets of
code, one for each environment. |
|
|
Fat-32 |
A specific type of
FAT (File
Allocation Table)
format
designed to expand the capacities and capabilities of hard drives
used in a
Windows operating environment. It has all but replaced the old
FAT-16 format used before. FAT-32 was created as a quick-fix to the
problem of computers shipping with hard drives over 2 GB. Prior to
FAT-32, computer manufacturers had to messily split hard drives into
multiple
partitions under 2 GB in size apiece. FAT-32 allows for much
larger partitions and has a number of other advantages.
|
|
| FDDI
|
Abbreviation for
Fiber Distributed Data Interface. FDDI is a networking architecture
and protocol that has been standardized by
ANSI and
ISO and become increasingly popular in high-end installations
the past few years. FDDI uses fiber optic cabling and a closed loop
style of topography to network up to thousands of computers together
at very high speeds over great distances (miles). |
|
| Fibre
Channel |
A serial data
transfer architecture developed by a consortium of computer and mass
storage device manufacturers and now being standardized by
ANSI. Fibre Channel can be used to create a network using
special hardware interfaces to provide very high speed connections
between storage devices (hard drives,
RAIDs, etc.) and computers. The connections are usually done
with optical cables, but
coaxial cable and regular telephone twisted pair can be used
under some circumstances. It can be used along with or instead of
SCSI or other mass storage media and is proving to be a very
effective technology for large audio and/or video production
environments because it allows many users to access the same
physical storage media at speeds high enough to do meaningful work
without having to copy individual files to a local hard drive. Many
operators can literally be working on the same project (and in some
cases the same file) at the same time. |
|
| FIFO
|
An acronym for
First In, First Out. This expression describes the principle of a
queue: what comes in first is handled first, what comes in next
waits until the first is finished, etc. It is analogous to the
behavior of persons "standing in a line" where the persons leave the
line in the order they arrive. The expression FIFO can be used in
different contexts: In computers this term refers to the way data
stored in a queue is processed. Each item in the queue is stored in
a queue data structure. The first data to be added to the queue will
be the first data to be removed, then processing proceeds
sequentially in the same order. This is typical behavior for the
information that is sent to a
CPU. You have encountered FIFO structure if you have ever set or
altered your audio software's
buffer settings. The buffer is a software-defined queue; whether
it's defined in
samples or
milliseconds, you're increasing or decreasing the size of the
queue. In electronics a FIFO is a
semiconductor memory in which the first data to be written is
always the first data to be read. A common application of this is
computer or sampler
RAM. The function includes address counters and control logic. A
FIFO with a clock input is called "synchronous"
as in
SDRAM; otherwise it is
asynchronous. |
|
| File
|
As used by a
computer, a collection of related data or program records stored as
a unit with a single name. Almost all information stored in a
computer must be in a file. There are many different types of files:
data files, text files, program files, directory files, and so on.
Different types of files store different types of information. For
example, program files store programs, or "executable"
code, whereas text files store text, or code that's in the form
of common
ASCII characters recognizable as text. Files are always in a
particular format. For example, if you created a Microsoft Word
document, the file is saved so that Microsoft Word can read it and
open it. Often files cannot be opened to read using conventional
programs, they are simply data files the computer understands. Files
are usually represented by the filename and an extension, which
often specifies what type of file it is. |
|
|
FireWire 800 |
Also known as
1394b,
FireWire 800 is an emerging new standard for high-speed data
transfer. FireWire 800 is essentially the same as FireWire (400),
but twice as fast. Audio and video devices are already cropping up
to take advantage of the bandwidth and ease of use. The good news
for audio and video professionals is that FireWire 800 is not all
that different from FireWire 400 except when it comes to speed.
FireWire 400 compatible devices, such as MOTU\'s 828 or most
Firewire hard drives can still be used in FireWire 800 ports with
the addition of an adapter. FireWire 800 shares the same well-known
features of FireWire 400 such as plug and play connectivity, large
capacity on-bus
power (up to 45W) and large quantity single-bus connection (up to 63
computers and other devices). Due to a highly efficient
architecture, FireWire 800 also allows for longer cable runs than
FireWire 400 (up to 100 meters). Another difference is that FireWire
800 is a 9-pin protocol where FireWire 400 is 4- and/or 6-pin. Apple
has simply improved on an already useful technology. FireWire 800
allows for more through-put at greater distances and is backward
compatible.
USB and FireWire Bandwidth
Comparison:
USB 1.1: 12 Mb per sec
USB 2: 480 Mb per sec
FireWire 400: 400 Mb per sec
FireWire 800: 800 Mb per sec |
|
|
Firmware |
You can think of
it as a combination of hardware and software. Firmware is computer
programming instructions stored on a fixed hardware device such as a
ROM chip. It is basically software that cannot be changed,
except by changing the hardware. Firmware is often responsible for
the behavior of a system when it is first switched on. A typical
example would be a ROM program in a microcomputer that loads the
full
OS from disk or from a network and then passes control to it. In
many electronic instruments we use the entire operating system is in
firmware. This means that any updates require swapping out chips.
|
|
| Fixed
Point |
In computing, a
representation of a number that has a fixed number of digits after
the decimal (or
binary or
hexadecimal) point. For example, a fixed-point number with four
digits after the decimal point could be used to store numbers such
as 1.3467, 281243.3234 and 0.1000, but would round 1.0301789 to
1.0302 and 0.0000654 to 0.0001. Fixed-point differs from
floating point in that it can exactly represent decimal
fractions while still employing the base 2 arithmetic that is
efficient in most computers. When floating-point representations in
computers use base 2 values, they can't exactly represent most
fractions that are easily represented in base 10. For example,
one-tenth (.1) and one-hundredth (.01) can be represented only
approximately by base-2 floating-point representations, while they
can be defined exactly in fixed-point representations by simply
storing the data values multiplied by the appropriate power of 10.
Very few computer languages include support for fixed-point values,
because for most applications floating-point representations are
fast enough and accurate enough. Floating-point representations are
more flexible because they can handle a wider range of numbers.
Floating point is also slightly easier to use, because it doesn't
require programmers to specify a number of digits after the decimal
point. |
|
| Flash
Drive |
These are
ultra-compact
flash memory data storage devices that have an integral USB
interface. They are very small (typically 100mm or about four inches
long), ultra lightweight, removable, and rewritable. They are also
popularly called "thumb
drives" or "jump
drives" because of their size. They are capable of holding a lot
of data, yet are very reliable due to their lack moving parts. The
USB
interface is now universal, so flash drives may be supported
natively by
operating systems as diverse as
Windows,
Mac OS X,
Linux, and
Unix. There is a small
printed circuit board inside these drives, protected by a
plastic or metal casing, making them sturdy enough to be attached
(depending upon the design) to a keychain or lanyard. The protruding
USB connector is protected by a removable cap or by retracting into
the body of the device. Flash drives are active only when plugged
into a host device (typically a laptop computer or USB
hub) which provides the necessary power for the drive to become
active. |
|
|
Floating Point |
A data encoding
technique often used in computers and
DSP chips to more easily deal with the complex math required to
process large chunks of data. Floating Point data consists of three
parts: the sign (makes it a positive or negative value), a mantissa
representing a fractional value with magnitude less than one, and an
exponent providing the position of the decimal point. Floating point
arithmetic allows the representation of very large or very small
numbers with fewer bits. For example, the number 186,000 can be
represented as 1.86 * 10 to the power of 5. It may not look easier
here, but in computer terms the latter expression is much easier to
handle. By shifting the point so that the number of significant
digits in any quantity does not exceed machine capacity, widely
varying quantities can be handled with fewer actual computations.
The scale factor may be fixed for each problem, or indicated along
with the digits and sign for each quantity. Many computers have a
special FPU (Floating Point Unit) or floating point processor in
them designed specifically to carry out complex math most
efficiently. This type of mathematical efficiency doesn't really
help a computer much for word processing or surfing the Internet,
but when complex graphics, or audio, or video manipulation are
required, the addition of an FPU can greatly speed up the
computation time. |
|
|
Floppy Disk |
A data storage
medium that has been widely used in personal computer systems.
\"Floppy\'s\" get their name because the disk itself is not
generally rigid, which at the time of their development was a
distinction from other storage mediums commonly used (even disk
based ones). Often times the disk, which is made of Mylar, is
encased in a plastic envelope or case for protection, but with a way
to allow access to a drive\'s read/write heads when in use. This
case may often be rigid, but so long as the disk inside isn\'t it
qualifies as a floppy disk. While convenient and inexpensive,
floppies have a limited storage capacity and are slow to read and
write data. In recent years they have begun to be phased out in
favor of inexpensive hard drives or other media formats such as
USB-based
flash
RAM, etc. |
|
|
Folder |
In graphical user
interfaces (GUI),
such as
Windows or Mac
OS X, a computer folder is just like a physical folder that sits
on your desk. This one, however, sits on your computer's virtual
desktop and is used to organize information. It may contain
additional folders (which are sometimes called nested folders),
documents, or
files or a combination of all three. Folders are generally at
the top level once you start your computer and access the internal
hard drive. Folders may also contain applications or utilities.
In
DOS and
UNIX, folders are called directories. |
|
|
Format |
The organization
of information according to preset specifications. In digital audio
and computer applications it pertains to the dividing of media into
marked segments and determining how data will be arranged on it. The
process known as formatting prepares a storage medium, usually a
disk, to record data. In this process, the drive writes special
information onto the recording surface(s) in order to divide it into
areas (called blocks) that are ready to accept user data. When you
format a disk, the operating system erases all bookkeeping
information on the disk, tests the disk to make sure all sectors are
reliable, marks any bad sectors, and creates internal address tables
that it later uses to locate information. On many systems it is
possible to perform either a high level or low level format. A
high-level format generally only erases the address tables of a
disk, which makes it appear to be blank even though the data hasn't
been erased. Hard disks also have a low-level format, which sets
certain properties of the disk such as the interleave factor. The
low-level format also determines things like what type of disk
controller can access the disk and, last but not least, does zero
all data. |
|
|
Formatted Capacity |
The capacity of a
drive after it is formatted for a particular type of computer or
computer system. Most hard disks have their capacities rated in
absolute terms. In other words, they are rated at the total raw
amount of storage space available. However, when a drive is
formatted, various types of data are stored on the drive that are
required by the formatting device to be able to read and write data
to it. Not only does this data take up some space, but space is also
lost due to how blocks of available space are allocated, which is
different for each type of system. The amount of available space
that shows up after being formatted on a specific type of system is
the formatted capacity. |
|
| FPU
|
Abbreviation for
Floating Point Unit. Sometimes called the
floating point processor, the FPU is a special chip or a special
part of a larger
CPU chip that is optimized to do intense number crunching
calculations. FPU's are commonly found in computer systems,
especially those optimized for heavy graphic or scientific work that
requires a lot of intense calculations. |
|
|
Fragmentation |
When a computer
write or re-writes a file to a hard disk, it doesn't necessarily
write the file as one contiguous block of information. For a variety
of reasons, it may put different pieces of the file in different
places on the drive. More and more files become fragmented as time
passes. This results in more wear and tear on the drive mechanism as
it jumps around to read the files, and also in a significant
slowdown in access times. The solution to this problem is to
defragment your drive. Defragmenting (also known as "defragging" or
"optimizing") means to re-order the files so that they are each
stored as one contiguous chunk of data. A variety of disk utilities
will perform this function for you, one of the more popular packages
being
Norton Utilities. One of the things that fragments a drive
fastest is hard disk recording. It is wise to be aware of how
fragmented your drive is when recording, as this can seriously
affect system performance. Some manufacturers recommend optimizing
if your drive has as little as 5% fragmentation... |
|
|
Freeware |
This is basically
full-featured computer
software available for download at no cost to the end user.
There are literally thousands of freeware programs and
plug-ins that run the gamut from no-frills basic to
ultra-sophisticated. Freeware falls into a sort of middle of the
road category between commercial software and open source software.
Freeware authors tend to provide what they have programmed for the
benefit of the computer community as a whole, while at the same time
retaining control over the source code and thus preserving what
might at some point become a viable retail product. The only true
criterion for being considered freeware is that software must be
fully functional for an unlimited amount of time at no cost to the
user. However, most freeware authors include some way for users to
make a monetary donation to keep the software current.
|
|
|
Freeze |
A function of some
DAWs that enables a particular track (or group of tracks in some
cases) to be
rendered. In fact, in most ways freeze (which does go by other
names in some software) is just another term for render, but applies
to the unique characteristics of an audio production system. The
idea is to be able to reduce the strain on the
host computer by changing
real-time processes in audio files written to disk. For example,
let's say you have a
soft synth track being processed by a series of
plug-ins. You could freeze the track, which would basically
record the whole setup, including the results of the various
plug-ins to disk. Now each time you play the part back, your
computer is able to easily read a single audio file from disk rather
than having to do all the
synthesis and processing in real-time. If you change some
parameter or make an edit, the track becomes "un-frozen" or
unrendered again so it's back to being a live track - and you must
freeze it again to rewrite an updated audio file. |
|
| Fret
Dress |
A
fret dress is a basic one-piece number with a plunging neckline,
equally at home for fine dining or a casual night out on the town!
Joking aside, a fret dress is a process of leveling frets with some
type of flat, straight abrasive surface in order to eliminate string
buzzing. When frets become worn, they actually tend to splay outward
rather than wear away, which means that they tend to look worse than
they actually are. In most cases a fret dress can solve buzz
problems without re-fretting the guitar. To describe the process,
first, make sure the neck is straight as possible, then a file or
woodworkers' level with sandpaper attached to it may used to sand
down the tops of the frets, taking only the minimum amount needed to
make all fret tops the same height. The frets are re-crowned using a
fret crowning file and then polished to a mirror-smooth surface. New
guitars can benefit from a fret dress, as some may have uneven
frets. Gibson used Plek, a computer-based fret-dressing system
invented by a company of the same name. A fret dress can also be
used to correct minor defects in a guitar neck that might otherwise
be prohibitively expensive to repair. |
|
| FSB
|
FSB is an
abbreviation for Front Side Bus; it is the internal data channel
connecting a computer's processor (CPU),
chipset,
RAM (all flavors),
motherboard
busses and
AGP socket. FSB is described in terms of its width in bits and
it's speed in Mhz. In everyday terms, it is the doorway for the CPU
to talk to the system bus, and how fast the bus can talk to other
computer components. In architectures where the processor interacts
directly with main memory, the definition of a singular front side
bus is less clear. In such a case you would generally specify two
FSB speeds, one for the connection to main memory and one for the
connection to the processor chipset. |
|
| FSF
(Free Software Foundation) |
The Free Software
Foundation (FSF), established in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' rights to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. In this case, the concept of free software is a
matter of liberty not price. Think of "free" as in "free speech."
The FSF promotes the development and use of free software,
particularly the
GNU operating system, used widely in its GNU/Linux
variant. The commencement of the GNU project in 1984, with its goal
to give users freedom, required the establishment of new
distribution terms that would prevent the project being turned into
proprietary software. The method used was
Copyleft and the resulting license was called the GNU General
Public License (GNU GPL). Today the GNU GPL is the most widely used
Free Software license, and as its author, the FSF works to help the
wider community use and comprehend it. |
|
| FTP
|
Short for File
Transfer Protocol, FTP is the protocol used on the Internet for
exchanging files. FTP is a client-server protocol that allows a user
on one computer to transfer files to and from another computer over
a
TCP/IP
network. FTP is most commonly used, however, to allow potentially
large numbers of users to download a file or files from a server
using the Internet or to upload a file to a server (e.g., uploading
a Web page file to a server). |
|
| Full
Duplex |
Full Duplex is a
term that comes to us from the telecommunication industry. It is the
ability of a line or channel to simultaneously transmit in both
directions. In the music industry, we most commonly see this term
applied to computer sound cards. A "Full Duplex" audio card is able
to both record and playback at the same time - a handy feature if
you are performing overdubs! |
|
| Gear
Acquisition Syndrome |
Do we really have
to give you the definition of this one? Try using it in a sentence:
"Oh my, it appears that (fill in your name here) has come down with
a bad case of Gear Acquisition Syndrome!" Often referred to by its
acronym, GAS (more properly G.A.S.), it describes what typically
happens to many musicians once they commit to a life of music. It
often starts with the purchase of one item, such as an electric
guitar. That, of course, leads to the purchase of a guitar
amplifier, a
wah pedal, a series of stompboxes, and then down the road
perhaps a
multitrack recorder, a
mixing console,
microphones,
headphones, a computer, and all manner of
software and
plug-ins. Each musician is hit to various degrees by this very
real condition. One may see a fabulous Les Paul BFG in the
Sweetwater
Guitar Gallery and not be able to sleep, eat, or think properly
until he or she calls to make sure that instrument is still
available. Typically, the musician will then purchase the instrument
and begin a long road that truly has no end, as advances in music
technology almost guarantee that eventually, no matter how much gear
a musician has, he or she will eventually discover there is
something more that is required - an acoustic guitar, for example,
for playing a glossy background rhythm part on a recording. At
present, although research continues at a rather slow pace, there is
no known cure for GAS. If there were, NAMM would only take place
every three or four years. It's worth noting that Sweetwater
employees are not immune to this somewhat contagious condition. In
fact, it's often the reason they interview for a job here before
discovering it's the best place on the planet to work, particularly
if you have a bad case of gear acquisition syndrome.
|
|
|
Genlock |
Technically, the
process of
sync generator locking. The term is commonly used in the video
discipline to the synchronization of video signals from one device
with those of another video source. This is required when mixing
signals together, as in overlaying multiple images or computer
graphics on an image from a camera, VCR or videodisc player to
prevent screen flicker or rolling. Genlock is usually performed by
introducing a
composite video signal from a
synchronizer - a
master source (see WFTD
Black Burst) - to the subject, or
slave, sync generator. Then the slave is set to
lock up to, or follow, the master so that both sync generators
are running at the same
frequency and
phase. |
|
| GHz,
Gigahertz |
The gigahertz,
abbreviated GHz, is a unit of alternating current (AC)
or electromagnetic (EM) wave
frequency equal to one thousand million
hertz (1,000,000,000 Hz). The gigahertz is used as an indicator
of the frequency of ultra-high-frequency (UHF)
and microwave EM signals and also, in some computers, to express
microprocessor
clock speed. An EM signal having a frequency of 1 GHz has a
wavelength of 300 millimeters, or a little less than a foot. An
EM signal of 100 GHz has a wavelength of 3 millimeters, which is
roughly 1/8 of an inch. Some radio transmissions are made at
frequencies up to hundreds of gigahertz. Personal computer clock
speeds are increasing month by month as the technology advances, and
reached the 1 GHz point in March of 2000, with a processor from AMD
closely followed by a 1 GHz
Pentium 3 from Intel. Other commonly used units of frequency are
the kHz, equal to 1,000 Hz or 0.000001 GHz, and the MHz, equal to
1,000,000 Hz or 0.001 GHz. |
|
| Gig
|
Short for
gigabyte, which is one billion bytes as determined by the prefix
'gig,' meaning one billion, in front of 'byte.'
To be more thorough, the quantifier 'gig' can specify different
exact values depending upon context. For example, when working with
things that typically come in standard units of 10 like money or
distances it is accepted as meaning 1000 to the power of 3 (one
billion). However, when working in things that tend to come in
multiples of 2 like computer bytes it is thought of as 2 to the
power of 30 (or 1024 to the power of 3), which is precisely
1,073,741,824 - a little over a billion, but who's counting?
Gig also refers to a performance by a musician or
group of musicians, especially in modern or pop music. |
|
|
Gigabit |
Gigabit
Ethernet, primarily used in computer networks, supports a
maximum data rate of 1000 Mbps. At one time, it was believed that
these speeds required fiber optic, but Gigabit Ethernet has now
successfully been implemented on
CAT5 cable (& CAT 6 cable). Currently available on various
computers including the Apple Macintosh, Gigabit is also backward
compatible for use on slower networks as well (such as 100-Base T or
10-Base T). While Gigabit has yet to take a market hold as the front
running network delivery protocol, it works wonders on high
bandwidth information such as digital audio and video.
|
|
|
Gigaflop |
Not a new word,
but one that many people are just now beginning to hear for the
first time due to recent advances in computer technology. The
gigaflop is a measure of speed used in computers. One gigaflop
equals one billion floating-point operations per second. The word
comes from giga (often pronounced jiga), which is a prefix meaning
billion; and flop, which is a clever abbreviation for FLOating
Point. |
|
|
GigaFLOPS |
When dealing with
computers, FLOPS stands for
Floating point Operations Per Second, a standard used to measure
a computer's performance. A gigaFLOPS essentially means that a
computer is capable of performing 10,000,000,000 (ten billion)
operations per second. |
|
|
Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) |
The
microprocessor of a graphics card (or graphics accelerator) for
a computer or game console. Computer graphics involve complex
algorithms that must be translated at very high speeds, and GPUs
are very efficient at manipulating and displaying these graphics.
Their highly
parallel structure makes them more effective than typical
CPUs for this purpose. A modern GPU implements a number of
graphics "primitive" operations — such as simple character
instructions - in a way that makes running them much faster than
drawing directly to the screen with the host CPU. Common operations
for early 2D computer graphics included drawing rectangles,
triangles, circles and arcs. Modern GPUs also have support for 3D
computer graphics, and typically include digital video-related
functions as well. |
|
| GUI
|
Acronym for
Graphic (or Graphical) User Interface. This term loosely applies to
any system in which control, navigation, or commands are issued
through a series of icons, pictures, or other graphic elements that
represent specific parts or functions of that system. The purpose is
to provide a user interface that is simple and intuitive to use. The
most well known example is the Macintosh computer, which was the
first commercially available home computing system with a true GUI
OS built right in. Nowadays many systems have GUI's, including
some synthesizers and effects processors. |
|
|
Hamming Code |
A type of
error-correction scheme named for its inventor, Richard Hamming,
who worked at Bell Labs in the 1940s on the Model V relay-based
computer. He developed his error-correction ideas in 1949 and first
published them in 1950. Hamming codes are commonly used in
telecommunications and in computer
RAM. They are
binary-linear
codes that use seven
bits to represent four bits of
data; the additional three bits are for
parity checking. Hamming codes can detect two errors, but can
only fix a single error. |
|
| Hard
Drive |
As used with a
computer, a hard drive is the mechanism that controls the
positioning, reading, and writing of the hard disk, which provides
the largest amount of data storage for the computer. Although the
hard drive (sometimes referred to as the "hard disk drive") and the
hard disk are not the same thing, they are packaged as a unit, and
so either term is sometimes used to refer to the whole unit. While
there are several interface standards for passing data between a
hard disk and a computer, the most common are
IDE and
SCSI. |
|
|
Harmonic Distortion |
Since no
electronic device is perfectly linear (meaning the output exactly
equals the input) harmonic distortion is a fact of life in all audio
components. Most audio signals have harmonics associated with them
(a perfect sine wave is one notable exception), and that is what
gives them their characteristic sound. An oboe sounds different from
a violin mostly because of the harmonic series produced as part of
their distinct sounds. The corresponding difference in the shape of
their respective waveforms is easily distinguished when viewed on an
oscilloscope or a computer audio editing program. Harmonic
distortion is the result of a device subtly, or not so subtly,
changing the shape of the waveform which alters the relative levels
of various harmonics associated with that sound. The more harmonic
distortion there is the more the sound will begin to take on the
quality we all know and love that we call "distorted".
In spec land you will often see the
specification for THD which stands for Total Harmonic Distortion.
This is a rating given to most gear for the overall percentage of
harmonic distortion added to the signal passing through the device
while operating at (presumably) nominal levels. There are dozens of
ways to measure this spec that can skew the results so keep that in
mind when comparing product literature. |
|
| HD
DVD |
Abbreviation for
High Density Digital Versatile Disc. A digital
optical media format that is being developed as a standard for
high-definition
DVD. HD DVD is similar to the competing
Blu-ray Disc, which also uses the same
CD-sized optical media and 405nm-wavelength
blue
laser. HD DVD is promoted by Toshiba, NEC, Sanyo, Microsoft, and
Intel, and is backed by New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures,
Universal Studios, and Warner Bros. HD DVD has a single-layer
capacity of 15GB
and a dual-layer capacity of 30GB. Toshiba has announced a
triple-layer disc is in development, which would offer 45GB of
storage. This is smaller than the competing Blu-ray disc, which
supports 25GB for one layer and 50GB for two, but HD DVD proponents
point out that multi-layer Blu-ray discs are still in development.
The surface layer of an HD DVD disc is 0.6 mm thick, the same as DVD
but thicker than the Blu-ray Disc's 0.1 mm layer. HD DVD media
promises to cost less to manufacture than Blu-ray, as HD DVD only
requires modification of existing DVD disc production lines. Both
formats will be backward compatible with DVDs and both employ
MPEG-2 as their primary video
compression techniques. One advantage HD DVD has is its support
by the DVD Forum, a group of hardware and media manufacturers that
sets specifications and standards for DVD-based content. Blu-ray was
developed outside of the DVD Forum, and was never submitted to the
forum for consideration. In April 2005, Apple Computer, a member of
the DVD Forum, updated
DVD Studio Pro to support authoring HD content. DVD Studio Pro
allows for the burning of HD DVD content to DVDs, and HD DVD media
will be supported as burners become available. |
|
|
Header |
In computers and
digital audio a header is a unit of information that precedes a data
object. In file management, for example, a header is a region at the
beginning of each file where bookkeeping information is kept. The
header may contain the date the file was created, the date it was
last updated, the file's size, the
sample rate,
bit depth, whether it's
stereo or
mono, or any other information that may be important to the
system. The header can generally only be accessed by the operating
system or by specialized programs and usually their format and
content conforms to some standard. For example, one of the major
differences between
S/PDIF and
AES/EBU
digital audio signals is the information contained in their headers.
|
|
|
Hexadecimal |
Hexadecimal, or
Hex for short, is a numbering system based on counts of 16 - as
opposed to decimal (the system most of us are most familiar with),
which is based on counts of 10, or
binary, which is based on counts of 2 (ones and zeros). The Hex
characters range from 0 through F in the following order: 0, 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8, A, B, C, D, E, F, where A represents our
decimal "10," B "11," and so on. The
hexadecimal numbering system is commonly used as a handy way to
describe computer data because it can represent every
byte as a simple two digit value. For example, the binary
numbers (or byte) 01101001 can be quickly seen in hex as 5D (in
decimal this value would be 105). "Quickly" in the above context is
a relative term; it does take a little practice to be able to "see"
it. In order to be able to recognize when hex numbers are written
they are usually accompanied by the dollar sign ($) or the letter
"H" (or small "h") immediately before or after. So the hex number
above might be written $5D.
MIDI is a data protocol that relies heavily on hex values for
user input. Though these days most of the nuts and bolts of MIDI are
well hidden from users, you will still see some hex values in many
MIDI implementation charts that accompany most MIDI gear, and in
some of the deeper MIDI
sequencing programs. |
|
| HFS
(& HFS+) |
Abbreviation for
Hierarchical File System as is used by the Macintosh computer system
for hard disk data organization. HFS has been used by the Macintosh
since about 1986 and is still in widespread use today. Recently
Apple has introduced an updated architecture they are calling HFS+.
HFS+ addresses a variety of shortcomings in the old HFS, including
the ability to handle files over 2 gig in size, allowing names up to
255 characters long, using more of the available hard disk space and
packing the data more tightly on the drive, thus conserving space.
|
|
| High
Sierra |
An early standard
for CD ROM data based on the
Yellow Book disc format. High Sierra was defined by a group of
12 manufacturers dubbed the High Sierra Group back in 1985. The
group included Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Phillips, etc. The idea was
to provide a single CD ROM format that could be read by Macintosh,
DOS, Unix, and VMS computers. The
ISO 9660 format often used today is based on a modified version
of the High Sierra format. |
|
| Host
|
There are a number
of different meanings for this term. Even when narrowed down to
computers and technology there are still a few different meanings
that are subtly different depending upon the context. Generally it
refers to a device or program that provides services to other
devices or programs. In some computing environments a host is a
(presumably large and powerful) mainframe computer or server that
has clients or terminals attached to it, and provides for their
computing needs accordingly. A computer configured to serve web
pages or other information to users (clients) is known as a host.
Services that provide web serving capabilities are known as hosting
services. A computer connected to a network with full two-way access
to the Internet can be known as a host. Such a computer is given a
"host" number that, together with the network number, forms its
unique
IP address. |
|
| Host
Based |
Refers to
DAW systems that rely mostly upon the host processor (CPU)
of the machine they reside in to provide their processing power. In
the years before computers were able to do much more than provide a
graphics platform for digital audio work a lot of proprietary
hardware was required. Early systems would stand on their own and
just use the computer as the user interface. As computing power rose
over the 1990's, manufacturers began to design systems to take
advantage of the additional capabilities to the point where now it
is common to have an entire virtual studio inside of a typical
desktop PC, complete with mixing,
plug-in processors and synthesizers, and many tracks of
recording just by running software. These systems are known as "host
based," which means they rely on the host CPU (and its related
components) to do all the dirty work as dictated by the software.
The only hardware involved is usually some kind of computer card
and/or external box providing
analog and digital connectivity to the outside world. Host based
systems do still have to compromise in some areas of performance,
but as computer technology continues to advance the differences
between them and their dedicated hardware counterparts continues to
blur. |
|
| Hub
|
In computing a hub
is a device where several devices are connected together, a place of
convergence where data arrives from one or more directions and is
forwarded out in one or more other directions. This may be many
computers on a network, or many devices to one computer. A passive
hub serves simply as a conduit for the data, enabling it to go from
one device (or segment) to another. So-called intelligent hubs
include additional features that enable an administrator to monitor
the traffic passing through the hub and to configure each port in
the hub. Intelligent hubs are also called manageable hubs. A third
type of hub, called a switching hub, actually reads the destination
address of each packet and then forwards the packet to the correct
port. |
|
|
HyperText |
A user interface
system for displaying documents which, according to an early
definition, "branch or perform on request." The most frequently
discussed form of hypertext document contains automated
cross-references to other documents called "hyperlinks." Selecting a
hyperlink causes a computer to display the linked document. This is
one of the foundations of the World Wide Web. The point of hypertext
is to deal with the problem of information overload. In print
reference works (dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc.), cross
references consisting of setting a term in small capital letters,
were employed as an indication that an entry or article existed for
that term within the same reference work. However, that system made
for a slow research process with frequent interruptions to locate
the reference. Computer-based hyperlinks created the opportunity to
display such cross references quickly with minimal interruptions. A
hyperlink can lead to additional text, an image, chart, or graph, or
an entirely different website. Ted Nelson coined the word
"hypertext" in 1965 and helped develop the Hypertext Editing System
in 1968 at Brown University. |
|
| I/O
|
Abbreviation for
Input/Output. Strictly speaking any device that does anything has
input and output. A seesaw, for example, utilizes the energy from
children's legs (the input) to rock back and forth (the output) on a
fulcrum. But the term is mostly used in electronics, especially as
it pertains to computers or any kind of logic functions, but also
with audio and video equipment. Computers have all sorts of I/O,
from serial ports, to
SCSI, to monitor and keyboard ports. Audio and video equipment
is obviously all designed with the ability to get signals in and out
as well. These inputs and outputs, when spoken about collectively,
are sometimes called I/O for short. |
|
| IAC
|
Abbreviation for
Inter Application Communication or Channel, depending upon whom you
talk to. Either way the purpose is the same. IAC is a Mac
driver that was developed years ago and included as part of
OMS to provide a way to link timing and other information
between two different programs running on the same computer. It has
most commonly been used to link a MIDI
sequencing program and an audio recording program together to so
they run in sync on one computer. It does this by providing a
selectable software conduit for
MTC,
MIDI Clock, or other timing and location information to pass
between the two pieces of software. Once enabled timing and location
information can be sent from one program to another causing them to
locate, start, and play in sync. |
|
| Icon
|
In the computer
world, icons are graphic symbols that appear on the virtual desktop.
Each one represents a specific program, disk, file, or document. In
general, the icons representing programs (applications) have the
most sophisticated designs. |
|
| iLok
|
A type of hardware
dongle developed by the
PACE copy protection people and currently used by several
software manufacturers to ensure only authorized (paying) users are
able to run their software. The
iLok plugs into the
USB port of a computer just as many dongles do. The unique
feature of iLok is that the key is purchased separately and can be
programmed to work with many different products. This means the user
doesn't have to end up hanging several different dongles off of a
computer, which often results in conflicts and other erratic
behavior of the system. |
|
| Image
File |
An image file is
used to store an exact replica of a specific set of data on some
type of disk drive or in computer RAM. For example: One might keep
an "image" of a particular floppy disk stored on a hard drive so it
can be retrieved at a later date. The procedure for retrieval
usually involves running some software that recreates the image of
the original floppy disk on a new disk. Image files are also
frequently used with CD writers to prepare data to be written to a
CD. In this case all of the desired files are copied into an "image"
of the CD that is on a hard drive. Once ready, this image can
quickly be written to the recordable CD. Sometimes this procedure is
required in order to be able to write a suitable CD, but this will
vary upon the software and hardware being used. |
|
| iMIDI
|
iMIDI is a
freeware application from Granted Software (currently at beta
version 0.2b) that runs in the background on OS 10.2 or higher, and
allows for
virtual connection between two computers on an Ethernet network.
(iMIDI uses
TCP/IP
to transmit
MIDI information between networked computers.) Using a "local
loopback" feature, iMIDI also supports running a MIDI program such
as Finale or Sibelius connected to a
slave program such as Reason as a source for
sounds and
samples, all on one computer. In that regard, it's like IAC, and
somewhat similar to
ReWire, though it carries MIDI information only, not
audio. |
|
| In
The Box |
A term used to
refer to music or
audio production that takes place entirely - or as entirely as
possible - within a computer-based
DAW. "In the box" generally refers to
mixing the audio in the DAW, using
plug-ins for processing rather than going outside the computer
to external
analog or
digital hardware processors. |
|
| In
The Box |
Term used to
describe a track or project that has been processed and
mixed a project entirely within a computer using a
DAW and
plug-in, without using external hardware processing or
summing/mixing
gear. |
|
|
Installer |
Most
applications and plug-in bundles today come on a disc, often in
a compressed form. Most come with a specialized
software
utility called an installer, which does exactly what the name
suggests: It helps walk the user through the installation process
and often the process of registration and
authorization, as well. All the relevant data is uncompressed
(if required) and then placed exactly where it needs to be in order
for the program or plug-in to operate properly. Often, after
installation and registration, the computer must be restarted in
order for the
operating system to read and recognize the new software.
|
|
|
Instantiate |
Comes from the
word "instance." An instance is a particular realization of some
abstraction or template such as a class of objects or a computer
process. To instantiate is to create such an instance by, for
example, defining one particular variation of object within a class,
giving it a name, and locating it in some physical place. In
DAW parlance, instantiate has become the $3 word for enabling
plug-ins within a session. For example, when you bring up a
reverb in your session it is common to say you have instantiated
your reverb plug-in. |
|
|
Inter-Application MIDI |
Many modern
MIDI based software applications have the ability to communicate
MIDI data with each other inside the computer. Generally this takes
the form of some type of
synchronization information such as
MIDI clock,
MTC, or actual MIDI performance data. The idea is to allow two
programs that may or may not be independent applications to directly
communicate necessary MIDI data with each other without having to
route that data out of the computer's
MIDI interface and then right back in on another
port. Inter-Application MIDI has sort of taken over where the
IAC left off a few years ago, but it is essentially the same
technology. |
|
|
Interface |
This term is used
in a number of different contexts in the world of computers, audio
and video production. In general, an interface is a boundary across
which two systems communicate. It might be a hardware connector used
to link two or more other devices, or it might be a software
convention used to allow communication between two systems. The
MIDI Interface is an example that uses both of these components.
Remember that MIDI is an acronym for "Musical Instrument Digital
Interface." The MIDI specification defines both the hardware
connections - the now-familiar 5-pin
DIN connector, plus the circuitry inside a MIDI device, and the
software code that provides a common language all MIDI devices
understand. With the arrival of computer-based audio recording,
interfaces were developed to transmit audio (after it had undergone
an
A/D conversion) to the computer hardware and software.
Essentially these interfaces serve to encode digital audio data into
a communication
protocol (for example,
SCSI,
USB,
FireWire or proprietary formats) for transmission to a computer
and translate it at that end. A similar approach is involved when
using external storage devices such as FireWire hard drives.
Technically speaking, there is no such thing as a "FireWire drive."
FireWire is simply the data transmission protocol; most drives used
in this context are
ATA or
SATA devices. They require a two-way interface that translates
incoming data from the FireWire cable into a format the ATA drive
can handle when writing to disk, and re-translates data read from
the drive to be transmitted back over the FireWire cable. Last but
not least, the term interface is used to define the connection that
allows interaction between hardware or software and a human user.
The
GUI, or graphic user interface, is a visual representation of
the hardware or software operating system that makes operation
easier (at least in most cases!). Even the small
LCD or
LED displays on synth modules or effects processors are examples
of user interfaces. |
|
|
Internet |
The Internet (most
often written using a capital "i" because it is a proper noun) is a
publicly accessible series of interconnected computer networks that
are capable of transmitting
digital data via packet switching, based on the Internet
Protocal standard or IP. Quite often people make the mistake of
using the terms World Wide Web and Internet interchangeably, but
they are not synonymous. What's the difference? As stated, the
Internet is a series of interconnected computer networks that are
physically linked by either copper wire, fiber-optic cable, or more
recently,
wireless connection. Meanwhile the Web (also capitalized) is
more accurately a series of interconnected documents and other
resources that are linked together by
URLs or hyperlinks. Ergo, the World Wide Web is accessible as a
service of the Internet, as well as e-mail,
file sharing, streaming media, and even online gaming. How the
Internet came into existence is a long, convoluted story, but its
commercialization and the emergence of privately owned Internet
Service Providers (ISPs)
beginning in the late 1980s has had a huge impact on both human
culture and commerce and from all indications the changes it has
brought will only continue. |
|
|
Interrupt/Interrupt Request (IRQ) |
A temporary
suspension of a process. In PC computers interrupts are used to
suspend one activity in order to give priority to another more
important activity. Interrupt signals, also known as Interrupt
Requests (IRQ) are identifiable by a unique number and can have
varying levels of priority, but in general they all cause the
OS to stop what it is doing and decide what to do next. They can
come from software or hardware devices. Many things you do on a
regular basis, such as pressing a key on your keyboard or clicking
your mouse generate an interrupt that causes the computer to take
some action based on how it is programmed to handle that particular
interrupt.
MIDI and other music related hardware connected to PC computers
generally need to have unique IRQ identities in order for
communication between the computer and the hardware to take place
properly. To that end there are methods for choosing the ID on most
hardware that is to be connected to a PC. A similar analogy would be
SCSI devices, where each one has to have a unique ID number. PC
computers have routines known as Interrupt Handlers and Interrupt
Schedulers that enable them to manage the regular flow of
I/O for the system and keep everything running smoothly and on
time. |
|
| ISA
|
Abbreviation for
Industry Standard
Architecture. A PC computer expansion
bus used for modems, video displays, speakers, and other
peripherals. PCs with ISA architecture may have some 8-bit
and some16-bit expansion slots, but the bus itself is capable of
16-bit data. |
|
| ISO
9660 |
A standard file
naming system for
CD-ROM media, published by the
International Organization for Standardization. It provides
cross-platform support for many different computer
operating systems such as Microsoft
Windows,
Mac OS, and systems that follow the Unix specification, so that
data may be exchanged. Almost all computers - and most hardware
synths and samplers - with CD-ROM drives can read files from an ISO
9660-compliant CD-ROM. The ISO 9660 specification has been around
for many years. It was originally issued in 1988, developed by an
industry group named
High Sierra. There are different levels to the standard. Level 1
restricts file names to eight characters with a 3-character
extension (the "XXXXXXXX.XXX" format commonly used since the days of
DOS). Level 1 also specifies the use of upper-case letters,
numbers, and underscore as the only accepted characters. Level 2
allows file names to be up to 31 characters long. Level 3 files can
be fragmented (mainly to allow packet writing, or
track-at-once CD recording). The restrictions on file name
length have been seen by many as a serious limitation of the ISO
9660 system. Many CD authoring applications attempt to work around
this by
truncating filenames automatically, but risk "breaking"
applications that rely on a specific file structure.
|
|
| Java
|
To many audio
engineers Java means coffee, a drink to get you started in the
morning. But to computer savvy people Java is a computer language.
Specifically a platform-neutral language that allows developers to
write programs (often called "applets") that can run on practically
any computer connected to the Internet. In fact, as you've surfed
the Web, you've almost certainly been running Java applets. They're
incorporated into many of the pages you visit on your virtual
journeys, and the software to run those applets is not only part of
the Mac OS but is designed to work seamlessly with browsers that
support it. Right now, there are thousands of Java applets in use
around the world. To see how industries from aerospace to
entertainment to real estate to utilities have been employing Java,
you can visit the
Java Web site. |
|
|
Journaling |
Journaling is a
process designed to protect the file system against power outages or
hardware failures, reducing the need for disk repairs. Journaling is
supposed to protect the integrity of the disk, keeping it from
falling into an inconsistent state by logging actions as they occur.
This allows the computer to replay the information in its log and
complete the action when system power is restored. Journaling is
especially helpful for
servers, maximizing the uptime and speeding up repairs during a
system restart. A journaled disk has a continuous record of changes
made to the files, providing a known safe-spot when the server
reboots. Journaling dramatically speeds up the process of getting a
server and file system back online since the
OS can just replay the most recent actions and have the system
up to date in a matter of seconds, resuming actions that were
interrupted by the hardware or power failure. However, with high-bandwidth
applications like
audio and video production, journaling may slow down access to
the data, resulting in system errors, and it may be advisable to
disable journaling on audio or video
drives. |
|
|
Joystick |
For anyone who
plays video or computer games a joystick is a common household word.
In audio and music production it is a controlling device that can
move along two different axes simultaneously. Similar in concept and
purpose to a
modulation wheel (or other
continuous controller) and a
fader or
pan pot, a joystick divides one input signal among four output
channels. Some keyboards have had joysticks instead of separate
modulation and pitch bend wheels (or sliders) to allow the user
access to both controllers simultaneously via one mechanical
interface. In modern audio production the joystick is starting to
become a replacement for the pan pot. This is because the proper
positioning of sounds in a
5.1 mix (for example) requires more than just left to right pan
positioning. It requires, at minimum, a combination of left/right
and front/rear positioning, which is most easily done with a
joystick. Most software dealing with surround sound will offer some
type of graphical interface based on the two axes provided by a
typical joystick. This usually takes the form of a virtual grid
where each sound can be positioned anywhere along either axis.
|
|
| Jump
Drive/Thumb Drive |
The name given to
small easily transported devices (approximately the size of your
thumb, hence the nickname) that utilize
flash memory for data storage. Jump
drives benefit from being
plug-and-play, as the computer recognizes the drive nearly
instantly and can access the drive without configuring or
installing. Thumb drives are currently available in sizes ranging
from 8MB
to 2GB.
|
|
|
Kernel |
Modern computer
operating systems are typically built in layers, with each layer
adding new capabilities, such as disk access techniques or a
graphical user interface (GUI).
But the essential layer, the foundation on which the rest of the
operating system rests, is typically called a kernel. In general,
the kernel provides low-level services, such as memory management,
basic hardware interaction and security. |
|
| Key
Command |
A key, or
combination of keys, that can be pressed on a computer's QWERTY
keyboard, that takes the place of making a selection or selecting a
menu item with a mouse. An example would be pressing Command-S
on a Mac's keyboard instead of selecting "Save" from a
program's menu. |
|
|
Keyboard |
It's hard to
believe we haven't covered this one before. Essentially, the term
refers to the group of black and white
keys on an acoustic or electric piano, harpsichord or organ, or
synthesizer or other electronic instrument. with the white notes
typically representing "natural" tones, while the black keys
represent
sharps and
flats, although some historical instruments occasionally
reversed this, with black keys for the natural tones. Historically,
keyboards were often referred to as
manuals, from the German word manualiter, which roughly
translates to "playing with the hands." Today a keyboard may also
refer to the part of a computer where data is entered
alphanumerically. (See also "Keybed.")
|
|
| kilo
(lower-case) versus Kilo (upper-case) |
- kilo - A standard prefix (abbreviated "k")
representing 1000. For example, a 4 kiloHertz (kHz) sine wave has
a frequency of 4,000 Hertz.
- Kilo - A standard prefix generally used in
reference to computer equipment. Abbreviated "K", it was developed
to represent the binary value of 2 to the 10th power (1024). Thus,
8 Kilobytes (Kb) of memory is 8 times 1024, or 8,192 bytes.
Tecnically the upper case K represents the prefix Kibi (not Kilo),
which is a more specific term that relates to these computer
oriented values (2 to the 10th power, etc.), though it isn't
commonly used.
|
|
| LAN
|
Abbreviation for
Local Area Network. A LAN is a group of computers and associated
devices that share a common communication line with each other. A
LAN may be as small as one or two computers networked together in a
home, or as large as thousands in a large organization. Typical
LAN\'s, as they are deployed in commercial installations, involve a
server that provides access to resources for various clients or
terminals around the facility. LAN\'s are sometimes connected to a
WAN (Wide Area Network, which is usually, but not necessarily the
Internet) through a switch or some hardware that regulates the flow
of data in and out of a facility. |
|
|
Launch |
To "start" or
"open" a computer
application; to make the application active so you can use it.
|
|
|
Librarian |
In music
production a librarian is software whose function is to organize and
store program information for MIDI instruments and processors.
Librarians can store thousands of different sets of patch data for
each device in a given system. In other words, they store and
organize the actual computer data the device uses to set itself up
to make the various sounds it can make - the parameter data if you
will. They sometimes employ databases so patches may be searched on
key words or attributes of the sound. They can upload or download
the data to and from instruments connected via MIDI by using strings
of
system exclusive commands. This makes it very easy to change the
entire contents of program memory of a given device for each session
or job needing to be done. |
|
| Linux
|
A trademark for an
open-source version of the
UNIX
OS. Originally written from scratch with no
proprietary
code by Finnish programmer Linus Torvalds and a worldwide
assortment of computer geeks, Linux is now probably the most famous
example of free software and of open-source development. The name
Linux strictly refers only to the Linux
kernel, but it is commonly used to describe entire operating
systems that are based on the Linux kernel combined with additional
libraries and development tools. Linux distributions typically
bundle large quantities of software with the core system. The kernel
was originally developed for Intel 386 microprocessors but now
supports a variety of computer architectures. There is a great deal
of commercial support for and use of Linux, both by hardware giants
such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Apple and numerous smaller network
and integration specialists. Linux is overtaking many proprietary
versions of UNIX. It is deployed in
applications ranging from personal computers to supercomputers
and embedded systems such as mobile phones and personal video
recorders. Proponents attribute this success to its vendor
independence, low cost of implementation, security, and reliability.
|
|
| Log /
Logging |
In video (and
audio to an extent) applications logging is a process of sifting
through raw footage with the intent to
capture part of it to be edited and used in production. When
logging is done with computer
DAW type systems the user generally selects specified
regions of tape - usually referred to by
time code values - which are accumulated in a capture log. Later
the process is capturing or
sampling the video/audio material is semi-automated. The
computer will operate the tape machine (or whatever type of machine
is being used to play the raw recordings), causing it to locate the
desired locations on tape (disc, etc.), and then have it play while
the material is captured. Often systems will allow various types of
notes and annotations to accompany the log, which is then linked to
the captured material. |
|
|
Lossless Audio Compression |
A data
compression procedure that reduces the size of (encodes) digital
audio
files without sacrificing any audio data, or fidelity, when the
files are expanded (decoded) for playback. The goal of all data
compression is to reduce file size. Originally the value of this was
conservation of hard drive space. If you've used
WinZip or Stuffit you've already compressed and uncompressed
files. But in recent years music distribution over the Internet has
made data compression very important: small files can be transferred
much more quickly and easily than large files. Word processor
documents and spreadsheets are relatively easy to compress; some
codecs use simple substitution of a single character or symbol
to represent a common word or phrase (for example, the word "The"
might encoded as "^" which is a 2/3reduction in size). Typical audio
files such as
AIFF or
WAV, though, are much more difficult to encode and decode. First
of all, each
bit of audio data represents some element of the original
sound's
timbre,
frequency or
amplitude. It can't easily be reduced using a simple replacement
scheme. Second, audio files must be decoded and played in real time
- something that's not required of a compressed document, so the
codec must be able to act quickly on the data as it streams through.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Internet users and consumers
satisfied themselves with a number of so-called "lossy" codecs such
as MP3 and
AAC, which use sophisticated
algorithms to discard selected bits contained in the original
audio that have a minimal impact on the overall sound. Some audio
professionals have been confused and frustrated by the widespread
acceptance of these formats because they do deliver lower-quality
frequency response and
dynamic range than the typical
CD. The goal has been to produce algorithms to mathematically
reduce audio data in a way that doesn't lose any of the information.
Now several such ("lossless") audio codecs do exist. They have
achieved compression rates of up to 50% and can perform well on a
number of hardware devices and computer software. Lossless audio
compression uses a combination of mathematical strategies to
accomplish its goal. Many begin by using "prediction," a somewhat
challenging concept: if the values of future audio samples can be
predicted, then it is only necessary to transmit the rules of
prediction along with the difference between the estimated and
actual signals. In other words, the codec analyzes the incoming
data, guesses what the following data might be, then stores only the
portions in which the "real" signal differs from the "predicted"
signal. Lossless codecs also use a combination of finite impulse
response (FIR) and infinite impulse response (IIR)
filters to compensate for the wide dynamic range of musical
material (MP3
and other "lossy" codecs use FIR filters, which, in common
implementations, don't capture dynamic shifts at high frequencies,
which is one element of their "squashed" sound). Finally, lossless
codecs transmit signal at a variable
transfer rate, thus making sure that full-bandwidth
signal passes while low-bandwidth material doesn't clog the stream
with a bunch of zeros. Extensive
buffering (up to 75ms)
helps pass this data to the playback device. In addition, most
codecs employ a means of collecting audio data that is similar on
multiple tracks - room
ambience or cymbal
overtones, for example - and compacting them into one data
stream. This is called "Entropy coding," a term you don't really
need to remember. Among several lossless audio codecs are: Free
Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC), which is a popular
open source code that groups like Phish and Metallica use to
post audio files on their websites; Monkey's Audio, also popular but
Windows-exclusive and dependent upon
CPU speed to deliver fast decoding; Meridian Lossless Packing,
the officially supported codec for
DVD-Audio by the DVD Study Group; WavPack, which uniquely can
generate a "lossy" file (like an MP3) plus a "correction" file that
restores the lost data. In spring 2004, Apple entered the scene with
Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC), which is supported by iTunes
version 4.5 and offers iPod users the ability to listen to tracks
that have the fidelity of uncompressed audio but require a little
more than half the storage space. |
|
| LPT
|
Abbreviation for
Line Print Terminal. On a personal computer this is the usual
designation for a parallel port connection to a printer or other
device such as a scanner or camera. LPT connections are numbered
LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, etc.; most computers have at least one. More
parallel ports can be added by installing parallel port adapter
cards. Parallel computer connections traditionally have used the
Centronics parallel interface for printer communication. A newer
standard called EPP/ECP supports the older interface while providing
faster communication for a range of devices, including scanners and
video cameras. |
|
|
Machine Room |
A room dedicated
for the housing of mechanical devices, normally for the purpose of
isolating them from areas where humans work. This may be due to
noise or heat, or other environmental considerations. As it applies
to audio studios, this is the room where you might place tape
machines, computers, decks and other devices that produce audible
machine noise. By placing these devices in a space other than your
recording and mixing environment, you are freeing your creative
space from the noise that accompanies them — thus allowing focused
recordings and mixing. You can also provide separate, and more
suitable, ventilation for them without disturbing the main
environment. Machine Rooms are found in forms such as expensively
finished rooms in professional studios, bedroom closets in home
studios and everything in between. |
|
| Macro
|
In computer
programming, a new command created by combining a number of existing
ones. For example, a word processing macro might create a letterhead
or fax cover sheet, and insert words, fonts, and logos with a single
keystroke or mouse click. Macros are also useful to automate
computer communications - for example, users can write a macro to
ask their computer to dial an Internet Service Provider (ISP),
retrieve e-mail and USENET articles, and then disconnect. In digital
audio,
MIDI and video applications the options are equally open ended
and far reaching. A macro key on the keyboard combines the effects
of pressing several individual keys. |
|
|
Mapping |
In music terms,
mapping refers to the process of placing individual
samples across a keyboard, matched to their original pitches. In
the early days of sampling, because of memory restrictions, one
sample had to cover two or three notes via
transposition. As an example, a sample of
middle C might have to transpose up and down by a
semitone or two (and sometimes even more). Today, computer-based
samples are almost always limited to a specific
pitch, so that now middle C would have its own dedicated sample,
as would neighboring notes. Sound designers from the 1980s and '90s
will tell you how time-consuming it was to map specific samples in
intervals that would transpose well and thus produce an
acceptable representation of a particular acoustic or electric
instrument. |
|
|
Marker |
Depending on
context, a marker takes on different meanings. When it comes to
editing in
DAW software, having markers can be lifesaving. Quite simple, a
marker is, as the name implies, an icon used to visually identify a
memory location in a
sequence. When creating markers, a dialog box opens allowing
them to be named as well. (e.g., Verse 1, Verse 2 Chorus 3,
and etc.) Along with providing visual reference, markers serve
another very useful function. DAW software such as Pro Tools,
Digital Performer, and Logic Pro use markers to navigate between
locations in a composition. For example, in a song, you would place
markers at the beginning of
verse,
chorus, and
bridge. By clicking on the marker icon (either displayed in a
separate window, or on the sequence's time line), the wiper will
move instantaneously to the marker's location. This is extremely
useful, if for example, you wish to insert an event that occurs in
each of the choruses. You can use the markers to jump to each
location as needed. Since computer monitor screens only have so much
real estate, markers come in particularly handy with longer forms
such as orchestral compositions. They can be used to mark rehearsal
numbers in the
score as well as provide a means of navigating through the
various movements that would otherwise require in inordinate amount
of
scrolling. |
|
| MAS (Motu
Audio System) |
A
plug-in engine developed by MOTU for use with their
DAW software (Digital Performer), offering
real time audio effects use and manipulation in a manner similar
to the use of
auxiliary sends on an outboard mixer. However, instead of using
external processing, the
DSP is done by the host computer and never leaves the digital
domain. Supporting Macs only, MAS isn't interchangeable with any of
the other plug-in engines and will only work with MAS-enabled
software. MOTU also has a third-party developer program for MAS,
which as a plug-in platform has developed a niche for Mac/MOTU
users. |
|
| Max/MSP
|
A visually
oriented programming environment for
audio and multimedia production. Max was conceived in 1986 as a
project for producing interactive music at IRCAM in Paris. The
original author was Miller Puckette. Max was offered commercially
from Opcode Systems in 1991, and in 2000
Cycling ’74 became the publisher. Since that time, Max has
expanded to include audio data (with the introduction of MSP, a
collection of audio objects) and image/matrix data (with the
introduction of Jitter). Max allows you to create your own software
using a visual toolkit of objects, and connect them together with
virtual
patch cords. The basic environment that includes
MIDI, control, user interface, and timing objects is called
“Max.” The audio processing tools comprise the companion software,
MSP. Max is based on the C programming language, but is easy to use
for those familiar with almost any other programming language, or
even for those who have never programmed before. Max was named in
honor of
synthesis pioneer Max Mathews, who first demonstrated music
synthesis on a
digital computer in 1957. |
|
| Media
Transfer Protocol (MTP) |
The Media Transfer
Protocol is a set of
extensions to the Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) and
FotoNation's PTP/IP (extensions for wireless PTP) devised by
Microsoft, to allow the protocol to be used for devices other than
digital cameras, for example digital
audio players and
MP3 players. It supports
synchronization of a device to a host computer using mechanisms
similar to Apple's iSync. The MTP is closely related to Windows
Media Player. One of the more important Microsoft's allies in
popularizing this protocol is Creative Technology who implemented it
first in their Creative Mediacenter Zen portable video player and
later in their Creative Zen audio-only devices, also through
firmware upgrades to older devices. The Microsoft certification
mark PlaysForSure is commonly used to distinguish MTP compliant
devices. However this certification is also given to other devices
utilizing the
USB mass storage device class. |
|
|
Megabyte |
The word Megabyte
is a combination of the
Mega and
Byte. As a measure of computer processor storage and real and
virtual memory, a megabyte (abbreviated MB) is 2 to the 20th power
bytes, or 1,048,576 bytes in decimal notation.
- According to the IBM Dictionary of
Computing, when used to describe disk storage capacity and
transmission rates, a megabyte is 1,000,000 bytes in decimal
notation.
- According to the Microsoft Press Computer
Dictionary, a megabyte means either 1,000,000 bytes or 1,048,576
bytes.
- According to Eric S. Raymond in The New
Hacker's Dictionary, a megabyte is always 1,048,576 bytes on the
argument that bytes should naturally be computed in powers of two.
|
|
| Menu
|
A menu is a set of
options presented to the user of a computer
application to help the user find information or execute a
specific program function. Menus are common in
graphical user interfaces (GUIs) such as
Windows or Mac
OS X. Menus are also employed in some speech recognition
programs. In a graphical drop-down menu, clicking on an item (text
word, button or icon) causes a list of new items to appear below. An
example would be clicking on one of the text words such as "File"
or "Edit" in the horizontal list at the top of the screen in a Mac
or Windows application. Clicking on an item in the menu executes the
indicated function, opens a dialog box, or generates another menu.
|
|
| MHz,
Megahertz |
Megaherz is a unit
of frequency equal to one million cycles per second.
Hertz measure cycles per second, and Mega means one million.
Thus five-megahertz is five million cycles per second. When used in
the context of radio, MHz refers to the number of oscillations of
electromagnetic radiation per second. Several parts of the radio
spectrum fall into the MHz range: LF (Low Frequency) 0.03 - 0.3 MHz
MF (Medium Frequency) 0.3-3 MHz HF (High Frequency) 3-30 MHz
VHF (Very High Frequency) 30 - 300 MHz
UHF (Ultra High Frequency) 300 - 3000 MHz The HF, VHF, UHF
references are something of a misnomer: most radio communications
today occur at higher frequencies due to congestion in the lower
frequency bands. Experts in the field of radio communications
classify these other categories of spectrum by bands. The names of
these bands are idiosyncratic, but are used often in radio
communications. Megahertz in computing: When referring to a computer
a computer processor, MHz is short for Mega Hertz and is one million
Hertz. Most
CPUs made between 1974 and 2000 were labeled in terms of
megahertz (though modern computers have processor speeds in the
gigahertz (GHz).
The number of megahertz refers to the frequency of the CPU's master
clock signal ("clock speed"). For example, a microprocessor that
runs at 200 MHz executes 200 million cycles per second. Each
computer instruction requires a fixed number of cycles, so the clock
speed determines how many instructions per second the microprocessor
can execute. To a large degree, this controls how powerful the
microprocessor is. Another chief factor in determining a
microprocessor's power is its data width (that is, how many
bits it can manipulate at one time). In addition to
microprocessors, the speeds of
buses and
interfaces are also measured in MHz. |
|
| MID
|
The common
abbreviation and file type suffix for
Standard MIDI File. A computer file with the .mid suffix should
contain standard MIDI file data and thus be able to be read by any
DAW,
sequencer, or workstation as a
MIDI file. When saving standard MIDI files, it can be important
to make sure they have the .mid suffix, otherwise some equipment
will not be able to recognize them properly. |
|
| MIDI
Interface |
A device that
allows
MIDI equipment to be connected to and work with a computer. Over
the years MIDI interfaces have come in many different sizes, shapes,
capabilities, and price ranges. The simplest interface has just one
MIDI input and one MIDI output, providing the most basic way to get
a MIDI instrument connected to a computer. More modern and
sophisticated designs may have many
discrete inputs and outputs as well as ports for
synchronization of
MDM's and other technologies. Some have the ability to resolve
MIDI data to
word clock,
LTC, or
video sync, and some even have
Superclock capabilities. A few have been able to provide MIDI
routing and patch bay features as well as MIDI processing functions
(like changing one type of
continuous controller data to another), but most newer models
have forgone these features since modern software is so
sophisticated with these kinds of tasks. Early models had to be
built specifically for each type of computer (PC, Mac, Atari, Amiga,
etc.), but recently, with the emergence of standards like
USB and the decline of other computing platforms, most MIDI
interfaces are cross platform and work equally well on Mac or PC.
|
|
| MIDI
Log Jam |
When too much
MIDI data is present in a single MIDI cable or between a
MIDI Interface and the host computer timing anomalies can occur.
This phenomenon, often called "MIDI log jam", is the result of the
MIDI processor having too many time sensitive events to manage into
a
serialized communication. Eventually the data gets dense enough
that some
bytes must wait in a
buffer to be sent. If the wait is long enough you can notice
timing problems. It is usually a good idea to "thin out" your MIDI
data some by removing any extraneous
continuous controller data, or any other types of information
that can generate lots of data if you notice these problems.
|
|
| MIDI
Manager |
Software developed
by Apple for the Macintosh computer to allow
MIDI applications to communicate with each other through virtual
MIDI connections inside the computer. Basically it works like a
virtual patch bay, allowing the user to manually route MIDI data and
sync information between components installed in the system. Due in
part to the widespread success and usefulness of
OMS and
FreeMIDI, development stopped on MIDI Manager in 1995. By
today's standards it is relatively slow and cumbersome to use, but
there is still the occasional circumstance that requires it.
|
|
| Mini
DisplayPort |
A tiny 20-pin
monitor/display connection used on Mac Pro, Macbook Pro, Mac
Mini, iMac, and other Apple computers, as well as on the Apple LED
Cinema Display. The Mini DisplayPort can drive up to 30" displays
with resolution to 2560 x 1600. In late 2008, Apple opened the
license for the Mini DisplayPort up for use by other manufacturers
free of charge, and
VESA added the Mini DisplayPort to the DisplayPort 1.2 spec.
Adapters are available to convert Mini DisplayPort to
VGA or
DVI. |
|
| Mix
to Disk |
A special command
in many
DAW systems that allows an entire session to be mixed directly
to a hard drive in the same way a
mixdown would occur with a traditional studio setup. It can also
be used to
bounce individual tracks of a dense session to one or two
composite tracks in order to free up resources. The function is
sometimes called "bounce to disk" for this reason. Mix to disk can
be advantageous when the next few steps of the project (like
mastering, for example) are going to take place on the computer
as well. The alternative is to bring the mix out to some external
device such as a DAT machine or CD recorder and then re-record it
back into the computer. While most DAW's have a mix to disk function
(it may be called other things depending upon the system) they do
vary in capability. Some systems only allow internal hard disk
tracks to be bounced to disk and do not include any live or
virtual tracks being brought into the system. Some may bounce in
real time while others can do an accelerated bounce. Some allow
automation to be captured in the bounce, while others do not. Some
systems allow many different options for bouncing. |
|
|
Mixed-Mode Disc |
Mixed-mode refers
to a CD-Digital Audio disc with computer data included. Often, the
data (programs, movies, indexes, etc.) are contained in track #1,
which conforms to the Mode 1 (ISO
9660) standard. Audio begins in track #2, and can be up to 98
standard CD tracks. Early CD players did recognize the first data
track, and would 'play' it, which resulted in loud noise at the
output of the player. Modern CD players do not have this problem.
There have been several implementations of the mixed-mode disc using
different structures. Some put the data at the end, while others
have a separate session of a
multisession CD for the data. |
|
| Mixer
|
This term broadly
refers to any device that is capable of taking two or more
audio signals and mixing them down to a single
monophonic or
stereo signal. While huge
mixing consoles are the rule in all the top studios, there are
ultra-compact, amazingly affordable, compact mixers with features
such as
FireWire and
USB connectivity, allowing them to interface with computers for
even more sophisticated capabilities. Advances in circuit design,
miniaturization, and
DSP technology have given compact mixers unexpectedly high
quality over the last two decades. Now, many project studios are
capable of
mixing 16 or more
tracks of audio, with surprisingly professional results, using
surprisingly affordable hardware. The term may also be used to cover
certain
software that duplicates the functionality of hardware,
particularly in
digital audio
workstation (DAW)
software, such as Pro Tools, Digital Performer, Logic Pro, and many
others. |
|
| mLAN
|
A digital network
designed for music. Proposed by Yamaha, mLAN uses a IEEE1394 (FireWire)
compatible cable to connect multiple(127 theoretically; about 60 or
so, realistically) electronic musical instruments and computers.
Like SCSI,
connections can be made as a daisy-chain, in a "branch" - virtually
any way except a loop. Devices can be enabled/disabled from a
computer (or other controlling device) without physically unplugging
the cable, and devices can be safely plugged/unplugged from a
network while it's in operation. A single cable can transfer both
MIDI and
audio data in digital form. |
|
|
Mnemonics |
Also known as
memoria technica, mnemonics are mental devices that help us to
remember more complex concepts or verbal sequences. The principle of
mnemonics is to use familiar ideas to incorporate a series of
unfamiliar ideas. Those familiar ideas can take the form of anything
from word schemes to acronyms. In music, in order to remember which
notes the lines of the
treble
clef represent (from bottom to top; EGBDF) some mnemonics would
be; Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge; Every Good Burger Deserves Fries,
or Elvis' Guitar Broke Down Friday. For the
Circle of Fifths (FCGDFA), another example would be; Freddy Can
Get Drunk At Every Bar (which brings a whole new meaning the term
Circle of Fifths). In computer language, mnemonic systems are used
to encode information. The most helpful mnemonics are ones that grab
you emotionally. If you found that the Elvis mnemonic was amusing,
it will most likely stay with you, hence, its function as an aid to
memory. The word "mnemonic" was derived from the name Mnemosyne, the
goddess of memory in Greek mythology (and not Johnny Mnemonic). As
to the mysterious appearance of the silent "M" &mdash the first
letter of Mnemosyne &mdash one can only conjecture that perhaps it
was felt that a goddess should have a more ineffable and
majestic-looking name and therefore, in order not to anger her, more
letters with arcane pronunciations were required. Another theory is
that Mnemosyne herself thought the whole extra "M" thing was rather
stupid and hoped we would all forget about it... |
|
| MOD
|
(Module): a file
type that contains a mixture of
MIDI
sequencing
and audio
sample playback data. A .MOD file has the MIDI sequencing
information for the MIDI instruments, and audio information in the
form of short 'samples' of audio. These samples can be looked upon
as short digital audio files of short passages (loops) or notes of
an instrument. It is up to the MOD composer to determine what
samples are included in the .MOD file. Therefore .MOD files can
sound the same on any computer and won't be limited to the
instruments and effects that are built into the sound card. On the
other hand, the number of samples you can put in a .MOD file is
limited and changes are less easy to make. The size of MOD files is
larger than regular MIDI files, because audio samples are included
and good samples require more data. However, .MOD files tend to be
significantly smaller in size than .WAVs or AIFFs. |
|
|
Modeling |
The technical
definition is: Use of mathematical equations to simulate and predict
real events and processes. Modeling has become a huge buzzword in
modern electronic musical equipment. It is already a widely deployed
technology for synthesizers and many different types of signal
processors. Modeling allows programmers to create sophisticated
computer
algorithms that behave in very specific and detailed ways
depending upon a variety of input data. Until the last 10 or 15
years modeling required so much computational horsepower that it
wasn't practical to use in commercially available production
equipment. Today you can get a modeling processor that can
accurately emulate the sounds of dozens of different devices for a
fraction of what a digital delay cost 10 years ago. That said, most
modeling systems in use today are relatively crude compared to what
is theoretically possible. As processing power becomes better and
less expensive we will continue to see more amazing things done with
modeling technology. |
|
|
Modifier Keys |
On a computer
keyboard, modifier keys are keys that when used in conjunction with
other keys or a mouse click provide an advanced function. On a
Windows keyboard, the modifier keys are Shift, Alt, Control, and
the Windows key. On a Mac keyboard, the modifier keys are Shift,
Control, Option, and Command (often called the Apple key).
|
|
|
Monitor |
This term has
several meanings as applied to audio and video technology. As a
verb, to "monitor' means to listen to a sound source such as a
recorded
track or a
mix. In a recording environment, monitors are the
loudspeakers used to play back the live signals and recorded
tracks of a project. Monitor also refers to a special mix (monitor
mix) that is provided to the talent, usually through headphones, to
give them a reference to the music they are performing. This is
sometimes called a
cue mix. In sound reinforcement, monitors refer to the system of
loudspeakers and/or in-ear systems that transmit an often-custom mix
of the audio program back to the performers. In computer usage, a
monitor is the
CRT or flat-panel
LCD display screen that provides visual images of your programs
and activities. |
|
|
Motherboard |
The main circuit
board in a computer or electronic device. The motherboard often (but
not always) contains the
CPU and is usually the board into which all of the other sub
assemblies or boards connect. For example, in a keyboard the
motherboard may house the CPU,
RAM,
ROM, and all of the processing "stuff," while the board
containing the
A/D and
D/A conversion (the audio board) connects to it. There may also
be a display or front panel board, and a number of other assemblies
(digital
I/O board, keyboard, expansion cards, etc.). The exact
architecture will vary from device to device, but in general the
motherboard is the main board and sort of acts as the "traffic cop"
for the rest of the system by controlling everything and routing
signals and data to their proper destinations. The motherboard is
generally the largest physical board in a device, if for no other
reason than to accommodate the connectors for everything that must
plug into it, though they usually have the most electronic
components as well. Some electronic equipment does not have an
obvious motherboard. These are usually older devices where resources
were divided among several equal but separate assemblies. In modern
manufacturing it is usually more cost effective to put most
everything on one main board. |
|
| Mount
|
In computers and
other technology where various storage media are used the term mount
refers to making a particular storage device available for use. For
example, when you insert a CD-ROM into a Mac, it will read the file
structure of the disc, and if it can make sense of it the disc will
be mounted. You will see a graphic representation (icon) of it on
the desktop signifying it is available for use. Sometimes media must
be mounted manually (using special commands or software) even after
you insert a disc. This just depends on the format of the media and
the configuration of the system. |
|
|
Moving Fader Automation |
A type of mixing
automation system that employs motorized faders in addition to
or instead of
VCA (Voltage Controlled Amplifier) circuits. Moving fader
systems have historically been considered preferable to VCA systems
due to their better sonic characteristics and ergonomics. When first
used, moving fader automation systems sounded better because the
alternative method of automating levels requires the use of
additional
gain stages that usually utilized some type of VCA, which
resulted in some signal degradation. Nowadays VCA's are of high
enough quality that they can be effectively used in even the most
demanding situations, though there are some engineers who still
prefer not to pass their signals through this extra stage. The
ergonomic advantages of a moving fader system center around the fact
that it's very easy to know what the automation is doing because it
only requires the engineer take a glance at the
fader positions, whereas in fixed fader systems one must utilize
some combination of computer screens and
LED indicators to know the status of individual channels.
|
|
| MP3
Surround |
MP3 Surround files
are essentially ordinary
MP3s with an additional layer of information that tells
compatible players where to place sounds. New devices designed to
support the format deliver accurate
surround sound, whether through a
5.1-channel system or simulated through a pair of
stereo
headphones. The
format adds minimal overhead, consuming just 15 additional bits
per second. And it is backward-compatible, so MP3 Surround files
will play on any device that supports your plain vanilla MP3, only
sans surround. In order for you to hear MP3 Surround today,
you'll need a computer with the playback software installed
(available at all4mp3.com). |
|
|
MPU-401 |
A MIDI interface
developed by Roland in the early 1980's for PC compatible computers.
This very early MIDI interface became the de facto standard for all
PC interfaces. Other interfaces that came out in years to follow
began to be "MPU-401 compatible." Before long the only accepted
interfaces had to be MPU-401 compatible and the core elements of the
standard lives on (though unspoken now) to this day.
|
|
| MTS
(MIDI Time Stamping) |
An abbreviation
that stands for many different things, but the one that concerns us
is the newly coined term from Mark of the Unicorn. MTS is their
technology known as
MIDI Time Stamping, which allows MIDI tracks to be recorded and
played back with an extremely high degree of timing accuracy. MIDI
Time Stamping has been a part of all MOTU
USB MIDI interfaces and is officially being deployed (activated)
with the release of Digital Performer version 2.61. It is a method
of coding MIDI data that passes through a MOTU MIDI interface with
specific timing information. Once each piece of MIDI data is time
stamped the software can control it with an extremely high degree of
accuracy, and (this is the important part) play it back with that
degree of accuracy. The key to MTS is that MIDI playback is no
longer computer
clock dependent. For playback, the time stamped event is
pre-transmitted to the USB interface from DP, and the MOTU USB
interface handles the transmission of those events to the playback
MIDI modules. MOTU boasts sub-millisecond accuracy with MTS, and has
changed the
PPQ resolution of DP to accept values up to 10,000! Now that's a
lot of pulses per quarter note. |
|
|
Multi-threading |
The ability of a
computer
operating system to execute different tasks of a program, called
threads, simultaneously. A "thread" is a set of tasks defined by an
application. Sharing a single
CPU between multiple, similar tasks minimizes the time required
to switch threads. This is accomplished by sharing as much as
possible of the program execution environment between the different
threads so that very little information needs to be saved or
restored when changing threads. Note that this only works with
software that has been written to take advantage of multi-threading.
On a computer with a single CPU, physically speaking only one task
can be addressed during each
CPU cycle. Multi-threading creates a "virtual" second CPU by
taking over management of individual threads and "scheduling" when
they pass through the CPU. It's sort of a halfway house between a
single processor and two independent processors. An example of
multi-threading might be its ability to hide latency by keeping the
processor busy with one thread that issues a long-latency
instruction on which subsequent instructions in that thread depend.
Multi-threaded programs become even more powerful on computers with
multiple CPUs. For example, an
audio program might exercise the option of routing
plug-in
effects handling to processor "B" while processor "A" handles
other recording and playback chores. Further, the application can
manage multiple threads on each processor simultaneously.
Multi-threading differs from
multitasking in that threads share more of their environment
with each other than do separate tasks under multitasking. Threads
may share a single address space and set of global variables and be
distinguished only by the value of their program counters and
pointers. There is thus very little protection of one thread from
another, in contrast to multitasking. Both
Windows XP and
Mac OS X operating systems support multi-threaded applications
and are capable of handling multiple CPUs. Intel has developed its
own advanced version of multi-threading, called Hyper-Threading,
which enhances performance on both single and multiple processor
machines. Different audio programs offer varying levels of
multi-threading support ranging from "None" to "Lots" but with the
coming avalanche of multiple-CPU hardware and increasing processing
demands it's likely most applications will incorporate this feature
within the next rounds of upgrades. |
|
|
Multiplex |
In music creation
and technology this term applies to sending two or more signals over
one channel or wire. To do this a device most commonly known as a
multiplexer takes multiple individual signals and encodes them in
such a way that they can be transmitted as a single more complex
signal. At the receiving end there is generally some type of
demultiplexer that decodes the information. This is a very
simplified and generalized explanation, but contains the gist of the
concept. A few types of multiplexing are: FDM - Frequency Division
Multiplexing, where each signal is assigned a different "carrier"
frequency;
TDM - Time Division Multiplexing, where each signal is assigned
a fixed time slot in a fixed rotation; STDM - Statistical Time
Division Multiplexing, where time slots are assigned to signals
dynamically to make better use of
bandwidth; WDM - Wavelength Division Multiplexing, where each
signal is assigned a particular
wavelength (this is frequently used in fiber optic
transmissions). Multiplexing is becoming more frequently used in
musical equipment all the time (even though in many instances it is
not apparent to the user) and is a key to making the Internet or any
computer network operate. |
|
|
Multitasking |
The concurrent
operation by one central processing unit of two or more processes.
In computers, a technique used in an operating system for sharing a
single processor between several independent jobs. There are many
different types of multitasking, each with its own strengths and
weaknesses. The first multitasking operating systems were designed
in the early 1960s. |
|
|
Musique Concrete |
Electronic music
can be divided into three categories: Musique concrete, synthesizer
music, and computer music. Musique concrete was the first type to be
created. It involves using sounds found in nature (found sound),
distorted in various ways, to create music. Live, it becomes an
exercise in
mixing together unexpected sounds into some sort of form while
studio musique concrete uses complex tape manipulations to create
the effect. Forgive us while we follow a bit of a tangent here, but
this is interesting stuff: Born in Nancy, France in 1910, (a real
Nancy-boy) Pierre Schaeffer is credited with being the inventor of
music concrete. Like many of the pioneers of electronic music,
Schaeffer was not a musician. He received his diploma from L'Ecole
Polytechnique in Paris, and did an apprenticeship at the
Radiodiffusion- Television Francaises (RTF), which led to a full
time job as an engineer and broadcaster. At RTF, Schaeffer spent
months experimenting with the technology available to him. He
discovered that he could lock-groove records. In other words,
instead of spiraling toward the center of the record, the needle
could be made to stay in one groove creating a
loop. In 1948, he studied the effect of striking percussive
instruments different ways. He observed that a single sound event
could be characterized not only by
timbre, but by
attack and
decay as well. On April 21 of that year, he recorded bell tones
to disc using a
volume control between the mic and cutter to eliminate the
attack. On the 23rd, he speculated that an instrument could be
created that would provide the sounds of an orchestral instrument by
means of a bank of prerecorded events. (The Mellotron eventually
fulfilled this prophecy.) His first official composition, Etude
aux chemans de fer ("Concert for Locomotives"), was a montage of
sounds recorded at the train depot in Paris. Sounds included six
steam locomotives whistling, trains accelerating, and wagons passing
over the joints in the tracks. Although the composition is
considered to be more of an experimental essay rather than a serious
composition, it was significant in four ways.
- An act of musical composition was
accomplished by a technological process.
- The work could be replayed multiple times.
- Replaying was not dependent on human
performers.
- Elements were "concrete."
Schaeffer then began to play records at
different speeds. This affected not only
pitch and duration, but also the
amplitude
envelopes of the sounds. In 1951, Schaeffer began working with a
tape recorder. This was an important event as the phonograph had
been his tool for composition up to that point. One of the recorders
had 5-track
capability. One, known as the Morphophone, had 12 playback
heads, which allowed for
tape echo and a pseudo
reverb effect. Two other decks known as Phonogenes, were
designed to play prerecorded loops at different speeds (one came
with a 12-note keyboard!). At this time, while
stereo was still in development, Schaeffer had the means of
playing up to five separate tracks with five separate
speakers. (MPEG-2
technology allows for five distinct outputs as used in
DVD production, here we see the idea in affect almost 50 years
ago). This allowed for spatial experimentation of sounds. Four
speakers were used for playback. Two speakers were located in front
of the stage on the left and right, one was placed directly in the
back in the middle, and one was suspended from the ceiling. The
ceiling speaker allowed for experimenting with vertical sound
placement as well as the usual horizontal placement. The fifth track
contained an additional channel spread between the four speakers
that represented a performer using a handheld
coil which could be positioned near one of four wire receiving
loops that sent the info to each speaker. Schaeffer died in 1995
from Alzheimer disease. He was remembered as the 'Musician of
Sounds.' "Unfortunately it took me forty years to conclude that
nothing is possible outside Do-Re-Mi� I think of myself as an
explorer struggling to find a way through in the far north, but I
wasn't finding a way through� There is no way through. The way
through is behind us." &mdash Pierre Schaeffer |
|
|
Native |
A word that is
thrown around quite a bit in our business and as such has some
subtly different meanings depending upon the context. It is often
used to express that some software will run on a computer system
without the need for any special hardware or software. In practice,
however, the software qualifier has been ignored more often than
not. As a result the 'native' often works out to mean something very
similar to the concept defined by the term 'host-based,'
which basically means the software uses the processor in the
computer, as opposed to dedicated
DSP, to manipulate the data. Where users often get confused with
this is when they see software and
plug-ins being made for MAS,
RTAS, VST, or other host environments that are popular for
DAW platforms. These are all considered native formats, even
though they each have an extra layer of software between the
computer (and its
OS) and the plug-in. |
|
|
Non-Linear Editing |
Any editing done
on a system that has the ability to randomly access data can
probably be characterized as non-linear
editing. The term has historically been used to differentiate
between editing with tape (whether
splicing an audio tape or an A/B roll video editor) and the more
modern conventions based on some type of computer system. But use of
a computer does not in and of itself necessarily define editing as
non-linear, nor does use of a tape machine have to mean that a
system is not non-linear. For example, there have been systems that
allow the user to enter time code values for edits, which are then
carried out automatically by controlling tape machines (usually two
playback machines and one record machine). Whether or not such a
system is "non-linear" could be debated. In most cases, however, the
line is pretty clear. A system where the user can define a
region and move it forward or backward in relation to a sequence
of other regions is clearly non-linear. |
|
|
Non-Volatile Memory |
Generally refers
to computer memory that does not lose its stored data when power is
removed. The exact criteria that makes memory non-volatile is
somewhat ambiguous. Many manufacturers place standard (volatile)
memory chips on a board with a battery and call it non-volatile.
This is pretty widely accepted since the important thing is for the
memory to hold its data while the device it is working in doesn't
have power. There are other types of memory that truly do not
require power to hold their data. These include
EPROMS,
Flash, and obviously Read Only Memory (ROM). There are many
other types. |
|
|
Normal |
- Corresponding to the usual state, not out of
the ordinary.
- Something the inSync team is NOT accused of
being (Can't figure that out; we don't think being nocturnal,
doing strange things to guitars, lusting ferociously after
electronic gear, and living in caves lit only by the blue
phosphorescent glow of computer monitors is so strange. Besides,
the resident sloths, bats and owls like it...)
- In patchbays, a normal is an internal
connection from the top row of jacks, to the bottom row.
Normalling allows connections that are normally in effect to exist
without the need for inserting a patch cable in the front of the
bay. For example, the stereo outs of a mixer are generally
connected to the inputs on a stereo mixdown deck. By connecting
the mixer's outputs to the top back row of a normalled patchbay's
jacks, and the mixdown deck to the bottom back row, a connection
is made internally in the bay, and does not require extra patch
cables.
|
|
|
Notation Software |
A unique
combination of a
sequencer, graphic design and word processor that produces
printed music. Notation software programs vary in complexity from
simple versions for creating "lead
sheets" for pop songs to full-featured programs that are capable
of visually representing the extreme notation needs of contemporary
orchestral and choral
scores. It's important to understand the difference between the
"staff
view" and printing options offered by many sequencers and the output
of notation software. Think of a sequencer this way: it is optimized
to make your music sound exactly the way you want it to sound. This
includes note durations that are exactly what you want them to be,
instrument
pitches that play in "concert" key, rather than the actual
transposition of, say, a saxophone, and intricate rhythms. The
staff or score view of most sequencers attempts to notate all of
these in the most literal fashion; i.e. that quick brass stab might
appear as a 32nd note followed by a string of 32nd
rests. Or bass guitar notes appear in the
octave in which they sound, rather than transposed up an octave
as they normally appear on paper. Further, few sequencer print
functions adequately handle special musical instructions such as
crescendos, accelerandos, or other performance instructions.
Notation programs, on the other hand, are optimized to make your
music look the way it should to make sense to musicians reading the
parts. It allows you to insert
articulations,
grace notes, dynamics changes such as "hairpins" that indicate
crescendos and
decrescendos, and much more. It thinks the way musicians who
read music think. The brass stab example above would likely be
notated as a quarter note with a dot above its head to tell the
players that the note is short. Most notation software also has
enhanced
lyric-entry capability that allows positioning lyrics under the
correct notes, plus special fonts that help distinguish musical
instructions about
tempo,
volume and other matters. Prior to the development of computers
and printers with sophisticated graphics capability almost all
printed music was hand-copied or engraved. Now notation software is
so common that little printed music, other than archival copies of
classical music and some jazz and popular "fake books," exist in
engraved form. In fact, Warner-Chappell, the world's largest
publisher of print music, employs thousands of freelance music
copyists with the stipulation that they all use Finale, a common
notation program. |
|
| Nudge
|
Perfect example of
jargon made popular by the explosion of
DAW's. Nudging is a technique for making small adjustments to
the placement of audio (or
MIDI) segments (a.k.a. "Regions", "Chunks", "Objects", or
"Blocks"). Typically the user selects a region of audio, then uses
the left/right arrows on the computer keyboard or some other user
interface keys to move it one timing increment forward or back in
time by some according to the time value increments selected.
|
|
| OEM
|
Abbreviation for
Original Equipment Manufacturer. An OEM is a company that uses
product components from one or more other companies to build a
product that it sells under its own company name and brand. It is
also commonly used to refer to companies who build products and sub
assemblies for use in other products. For example, most PC computer
manufacturers are OEMs in that they use hard drives,
RAM,
motherboards,
CPU\'s and other components made by other manufacturers, who are
considered OEM suppliers. |
|
| OMS
|
Originally an
abbreviation for Opcode
MIDI System, but was later changed to Open MIDI System, and is
now Open Music System. OMS, which was developed by Opcode, is very
similar in function and purpose to FMS, or
FreeMIDI, and actually predates it as the original standard and
widely used method of providing an environment for MIDI on Macintosh
computers. The idea is that once OMS learns the configuration of
your MIDI system any and all programs that are compatible with it
(and virtually all MIDI programs on the Mac are) can get access to
and take advantage of that information. That information could
include patch names, attributes, and locations of your instruments
as well as
synchronization sources. Like FreeMIDI it handles all the data
throughput between the various hardware and software components of a
MIDI system and can even coexist in a system with FreeMIDI.
|
|
|
One-off |
Computer and audio
industry jargon for making one copy of something. In audio this
generally refers to
burning a
CDR, as opposed to mass CD production. If you burn 10 CD's of
something from your computer each one of those is still considered a
one-off since they are made one at a time. |
|
| Op
Amp |
Short for
Operational Amp, a circuit component used in all sorts of equipment.
Though they are technically considered amplifiers they are quite
often used in circuits that do not obviously "amplify" signals.
Examples would be equalizers, crossovers,
compressors, mixers, microphones, keyboards, effects and many,
many, many more (the list is endless). Op amps acquired their name
from early uses in
analog computers (computers perform operations, get it?). They
can exhibit very high
gain and are extremely easy to build into audio circuits.
Nowadays they are available in integrated circuit chips, each of
which may have many op amps inside. In some cases they are literally
a dime a dozen. |
|
|
Opcode |
Most people who
have been involved in
MIDI
sequencing for the last decade are familiar with the name Opcode,
as the company (acquired by Gibson in 1998) that made Vision, OMS,
and Galaxy software as well as the Studio 5 MIDI interface. However,
in computer science, an opcode is the portion of a machine language
instruction that specifies the operation to be performed, or to put
it simply, the opcode tells the computer what to do. The term is an
abbreviation of Operation Code. In terms of language, it helps to
think of the opcode as the verb, and the operands as nouns. For
example, in the expression 5 + x, 5 and x are the operands, and +
(addition) is the
operator. The operands upon which opcodes operate may, depending
on
CPU architecture, consist of registers, values in memory, values
stored on the stack,
I/O
ports, the
bus, and etc. The operations an opcode may specify can include
arithmetic, data copying, logical operations, and program control.
|
|
|
Operating System |
Often abbreviated
by the letters OS. An operating system is the basic set of
instructions that defines the behavior of hardware or software.
Windows,
DOS, OS2,
Linux, and Mac
OS X are examples of operating systems that define the operation
of computers. All home computers use one or more operating systems.
Other
programs for specific tasks may be loaded in the foreground, but
the OS is always the underlying mechanism that makes everything
work. Operating systems are also part of most sophisticated
electronic equipment. That includes
synthesizers, calculators, automobiles, CD players, Palm Pilots,
and any number of other household items, all with underlying
operating systems that define their operation. |
|
| OS
|
Abbreviation for
Operating System. An operating system is the basic set of
instructions that defines the behavior of something. Windows,
DOS, OS2, Linux, and Mac OS are examples of operating systems
that define the operation of computers. All home computers use one
or more operating systems. Other programs for specific tasks may be
loaded in the foreground, but the OS is always the underlying
mechanism that makes everything work. Operating Systems are also
part of most sophisticated electronic equipment. Synthesizers,
calculators, automobiles, CD players, Palm Pilots, and any number of
other household items all have underlying operating systems that
define their operation. |
|
| OSC
|
Abbreviation for
OpenSound Control. OSC is a protocol for communication among
computers, sound synthesizers, and other multimedia devices that is
said to be optimized for modern networking technology. Open
SoundControl is a machine and operating system neutral protocol and
readily implementable on constrained, embedded systems. It was
developed by the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT
Research) at UC Berkley starting in 1996. CNMAT Research believes
that OSC offers optimized integration of computers, controllers and
sound synthesizers which will lead to lower costs, increased
reliability, greater user convenience, and more reactive musical
control. Why? The prevailing technologies to interconnect these
elements are bus (motherboard or PCI), operating system interface
(software synthesis), or serial LAN (Firewire, USB, Ethernet, fast
Ethernet, etc.), whereas CNMAT Research believes they have designed
a new protocol optimized for modern transport technologies. OSC is
currently supported by Csound, Native Instruments' Reaktor and a few
others. Only time will tell whether this new protocol will be
accepted and embraced by other manufacturers. |
|
| Out
Of The Box |
- Unusual, innovative, unique, fresh.
- An item that has been removed from its
original packaging.
- A term that refers to a recording project
that was partially or completely produced using hardware equipment
outside of the computer.
|
|
| P-Ram
- (a.k.a. PRAM) |
Short for
Parameter
RAM. Parameter RAM is memory devoted to the storage of settings
(as opposed to other raw data) for a particular device. In a Mac
computer PRAM stores network settings, screen configurations, and
many other aspects of the overall setup of the computer. In musical
keyboards PRAM is where program and general setup data are stored.
For example, an instrument may use PCM or other types of sampled
sounds as its raw waveform data, but the programs themselves (filter
settings, tuning, etc) are often stored in PRAM. PRAM is like most
RAM in that it will lose its data if power is removed so most PRAM
chips have a constant
voltage supplied by a battery in the device. |
|
| PAL
|
An acronym that
stands for many things. The most relevant to us is the
Phase Alternate Line (or Phase Alternation Line). The standard
for color television broadcast throughout much of Europe. The United
States uses the
NTSC standard, which is used in all of North America and many
other parts of the world. PAL has good color transmission and sends
an
analog signal at 625 lines of resolution, 25 interlaced frames
per second, whereas NTSC delivers 525 lines of resolution at
approximately 30 interlaced
frames per second. The two formats are incompatible with one
another, but there are video adapters that enable computer monitors
to be used as television screens to support both NTSC and PAL
signals. |
|
|
Parity |
Generally parity
can be defined as a functional equality. In mathematics it refers to
the even or odd quality of a number. If a pair of numbers are both
odd or even then they are said to have parity. In computers and data
transfer parity refers to a technique of checking whether data has
been lost or altered when it's moved from one place in storage to
another. Basically a process is applied to data elements that
produces another data element known as a parity element - sometimes
referred to as a parity
bit. A simple form of parity, for example, counts the number of
data bits in a group of data. If the number is even then a parity
bit is set on, if it's an odd number the parity bit stays off. This
can be used to quickly tell a system whether data has arrived in
tact. The system counts the bits, and if the count agrees with the
status of the parity bit it can be assumed the data is in tact.
There are much more complex forms of parity that can give much more
detailed information about the integrity of data. Many forms of
parity are actually structured in such a way as to allow limited
amounts of data to be reconstructed if it is lost or corrupted.
|
|
|
Partition |
To divide
something into parts (verb). One of the divided parts (noun). With
hard disk drives it is possible to partition them so different parts
of the drive's capacity can be used for different kinds of data, or
possibly for different hardware platforms. Drive partitions look
like individual drives to any operating system that can "see"
(recognize) them. This is often desirable with large drives because
it allows data to be categorized into smaller spaces that are faster
for the computer to search. In a case where a drive is partitioned
to work with more than one device each device may only see its
partition, and not the whole drive (unless its software allows it to
see other types of data formats). RAM memory can also be
partitioned. |
|
|
Pascal |
The International
System unit of pressure equal to one Newton (the unit of force
required to accelerate 1kg 1m per second per second) per square
meter. International standards have established 1 Pascal (Pa) as 94dB
SPL. This reference point is now accepted for measuring the
sensitivity and
signal-to-noise ratio of
microphones. A typical signal-to-noise rating might be 70dB, 1
Pa @ 1kHz.
So, subtracting 70dB from 94dB (one Pa), you can assume the mic's
self-noise to be 24dB. The term was named for
Blaise Pascal, the 17th-century French philosopher and
mathematician. Among his achievements were the invention of an
adding machine and the development of the modern theory of
probability. Pascal is also the name of a landmark computer
programming language developed in 1970. Generations of computer
students learned programming using Pascal, and variants of the
language are still widely used today. Much of the original Macintosh
operating system was written in Pascal. |
|
|
Password |
Just as you must
know the alphanumeric code you chose when you got your ATM card, a
password protects you and allows you to log into various secure web
sites (eBay, for instance) or in the case of Mac
OS X, to simply boot up your computer. In some cases, you may
get assigned a password by a specific web site, but in most cases,
you can change it to something that's easier to remember than, say
"SUNOK7XC44." |
|
| Paste
|
Inserts the
contents of the computer's
Clipboard at a defined insertion point, and replaces any defined
selection. This command is available only if you have
Cut or
Copied a defined selection (text, images, sound clips, video
clips, etc.). To "Cut & Paste" is the computer equivalent of using
scissors to clip something and glue to paste the clipping somewhere
else. |
|
| Patch
List |
Simply a list of
patch/program names. Patch lists are created and used to enable
computer programs to more effectively interact with
MIDI hardware such as keyboards and effect processors. This way
the user can recall specific programs from the software by name
instead of having to memorize the memory location (and the requisite
bank change commands) where they are stored in a given device.
Many software programs for MIDI work enable the user to input the
names of the patches for each device in a system. Further,
shell MIDI operating systems such as
OMS and
FreeMIDI allow patch names that they can then publish to any
compatible application, which enables the user to have one master
patch list for a studio setup that each program uses. In most cases
patch lists are a separate text file that can be edited with most
text editors or word processing programs. |
|
| Path
|
Literally, the
route from one location to another. In
signal flow terms, we have "signal
path," which describes how
audio or other signal is routed from its source to its final
destination - what processors it goes through, and so on. In
computer terms, "path" describes the location of a
file within a nested series of directories and
folders, with the steps in the path separated by slashes. So,
Macintosh HD/Documentation/Tutorial.pdf describes the location of a
PDF file titled "Tutorial.pdf," which is found on the
hard drive named "Macintosh HD," inside the "Documentation"
folder. (This is a very simple example; file paths can become quite
long if many folders are nested inside one another.)
|
|
| PCI
(Peripheral Component Interconnect) |
A high-performance
(by current standards) computer expansion slot designed by Intel.
PCI allows for 32- or 64-bit bus specification. PCI is described as
high-bandwidth and processor-independent data path between the CPU
and high-speed peripherals. The PCI spec allows for the capability
to transfer up to 132 megabytes per second at a bus clock speed of
33 MHz (although the current rates being claimed by manufacturers
are more commonly in the 30 Mb/sec range). This speed makes it
especially suitable for high data rate applications like digital
audio and video. PCI slots are found in the current generations of
both PC and Macintosh personal computers. |
|
| PCI
Express (PCIe) |
A version of the
PCI computer
bus that uses existing PCI programming concepts, but bases it on
a completely different and much faster serial physical-layer
communications protocol. PCI Express was developed to overcome the
limitations of the original PCI bus. As developed over a decade ago,
the original PCI bus operated at 33MHz
and 32
bits with a peak theoretical
bandwidth of 132MB
per second. It used a shared bus topology, with bus bandwidth shared
among multiple devices, to enable communication among the different
devices on the bus. As devices evolved, new bandwidth-hungry devices
began starving other devices on the same shared bus.
Gigabit
Ethernet cards, for example, can monopolize up to 95% of
available PCI bus bandwidth. The PCI Express bus is no longer a
single
parallel data bus through which all data is routed at a set
rate. Rather, an assembly of
serial, point-to-point wired, individually clocked "lanes," each
consisting of two pairs of data lines, carry data upstream and
downstream. Since it's based on the existing PCI system, cards and
systems can be converted to PCI Express by changing the physical
layer only — existing systems could be adapted to PCI Express
without any change in software. The higher speeds on PCI Express
(ranging from 250Mbps to 4,000Mbps) allow it to replace almost all
existing internal buses, including
AGP and PCI. The biggest impact that PCI Express has made to
date is with the PCIe x16 graphics slot. Found in the latest Intel
and AMD-based
chipsets, this implementation of PCI Express is now preferred
over AGP 8x as a platform for graphics card manufacturers
|
|
| PCI-X
|
Abbreviation for
Peripheral Component Interconnect Extended. PCI-X is an extension
and improvement upon the
PCI
bus technology that's been common in Mac and PC computers for
years. It increases the speed that data can move on a bus within a
computer from a maximum of around 66 MHz
to 133 MHz. With standard PCI design, one 64-bit bus runs at 66 MHz
and additional buses move 32
bits at 66 MHz or 64 bits at 33 MHz. The maximum amount of data
exchanged between the processor and peripherals using standard PCI
design is 532 MB per second. With PCI-X, one 64-bit bus runs at 133
MHz with the rest running at 66 MHz, allowing for a data exchange of
1.06
GB per second. PCI-X is
backwards compatible, meaning that you can, for example, install
a PCI-X card in a standard PCI slot, but expect a decrease in speed
to 33 MHz. You can also use both PCI and PCI-X cards on the same
bus, but the bus speed will run at the speed of the slowest card.
PCI-X is also designed to be more fault tolerant than PCI. For
example, PCI-X is able to reinitialize a faulty card or take it
offline before computer failure occurs. |
|
|
PCMCIA |
Isn't it great
when you can take two relatively known abbreviations and put them
together to get a third totally new one that has nothing to do with
the other two? Well, anyway PCMCIA has nothing to do with PCM (Pulse
Code Modulation) or the government agency. It stands for
Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, which is an
international standards body and trade association founded in 1989
to establish standards for Integrated Circuit cards and to promote
interchangeability among mobile computers where ruggedness, low
power, and small size were critical. They have defined a standard
for what we've come to call the PCMCIA card, which is often simply
referred to as a "PC Card." Originally the PC Card was developed as
a memory device that could be
hot swapped in and out of any computer with a compatible slot.
Like RAM, capacities and cost vary. Later, other applications such
as modems, networking, audio & video recording and playback were
applied to the technology. There are now many more different
applications for the technology being used. PCMCIA cards come in
several varieties of size now. All have the same rectangular size
(85.6 by 54 millimeters), but different widths: Type I cards can be
up to 3.3 mm thick, and are used primarily for adding additional ROM
or RAM to a computer. Type II cards can be up to 5.5 mm thick. These
cards are often used for modem and fax modem cards. Type III cards
can be up to 10.5 mm thick, which is sufficiently large for portable
disk drives. As with the cards, PCMCIA slots also come in three
sizes: A Type I slot can hold one Type I card. A Type II slot can
hold one Type II card or two Type I cards. A Type III slot can hold
one Type III card or a Type I and Type II card. |
|
|
Peer-to-Peer |
A type of network
in which each workstation has equivalent capabilities and
responsibilities. This differs from client/server architectures, in
which some computers are dedicated to serving the others.
Peer-to-peer networks are generally simpler and less expensive, but
they usually do not offer the same performance under heavy loads
partly because processing power becomes divided between serving
files and the task being performed locally. |
|
|
petaFLOPS |
When dealing with
computers, FLOPS stands for
FLoating point Operations Per Second, which is used to measure a
computer's performance. A petaFLOPS means that a computer is capable
of performing 10,000,000,000,000,000 operations per second.
|
|
|
Physical Modeling Synthesis |
A type of sound
synthesis performed by computer models of instruments. These models
are sets of complex equations that describe the physical properties
of an instrument (such as the shape of the bell and the density of
the material) and the way a musician interacts with it (blow, pluck,
or hit, for example). |
|
| Pixel
|
Short for Picture
Element. The pixel is the smallest element that is used to build an
image, whether it is displayed on a video screen, computer monitor,
printed photo, or newspaper. A complete monitor image is made up of
thousands of pixels. The pixel is often used as a unit of
measurement for image size and
resolution. The number of pixels (width and height) in an image
defines its size, and the number of pixels in an inch (or other
quantifiable measurement) defines the resolution of the image. The
more pixels in an image the better its resolution. |
|
|
Playhead |
When editing audio
or video in a contemporary computer
NLE or
DAW, the Playhead is a graphic line in the timeline that
represents the position, or
frame, of the material that is currently being accessed. The
term harkens back to the days when hardware video/film playback
machines used mechanical heads as part of their mechanism. When a
specific audio, video or film frame ran across the hardware playhead,
it literally "played" at that very instant. |
|
|
Plenum |
In building
construction, a plenum (pronounced PLEH-nuhm, from Latin meaning
full) is a separate space provided for air circulation in the form
of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (sometimes referred to
as HVAC) and typically provided in the space between the structural
ceiling and a drop-down ceiling. A plenum may also be under a raised
floor. In buildings with computer and/or audio/video installations,
the plenum space is often used to house connecting cables, as
opposed to special conduit, which is designed to isolate cables from
environmental factors to some degree. Because the jacket and
insulators used ordinary cable can introduce a toxic hazard in the
event of fire, building codes normally call for special plenum
cabling in plenum areas. Plenum cable is more resistant to flames
and when it does burn produces less smoke than standard cable. And,
of course, it costs more. |
|
| Plug
and Play |
Plug and Play
(PnP) simply means that a computer will recognize a peripheral
device without the need for manual configuration or the installation
of
drivers. With PnP, the device works immediately upon connection
to the computer.
Windows 95 was the first
OS to offer support for Plug and Play. |
|
|
Plug-in |
Software that is
designed to be integrated within another software environment.
Plug-ins are a common method programmers use to provide additional
tools for users of a given product. This is advantageous for
everyone because it means that the user doesn't have to switch to an
entirely different application to perform one specific task that's
its specialty. For an early example, PhotoShop - software designed
to manipulate digital images in a computer - has a plug-in
environment where users can purchase any number of add-on
technologies to enhance the capability of the program. These may be
things like special lighting effects rendering, painting and motion
effects, or anything anyone can think of to add (fans of PhotoShop
know there are now hundreds of available plug-ins). Digidesign's
Sound Designer II audio recording/editing software was one of the
first music oriented programs to adopt the plug-in architecture.
Digidesign or other third-party developers wrote software plug-ins
for additional functions such as compression, equalization, and
eventually many other things that enhanced the capabilities already
included in the program. Nowadays many sophisticated applications
(for music and otherwise) have the ability to utilize plug-in
technology for enhancements. |
|
|
Podcast |
A method for
delivering
audio and video over the Internet. A standard podcast consists
of an
MP3 file uploaded to the web for listeners to download and
listen to on a computer or portable MP3 player. The name comes from
the Apple iPod, arguably the most popular portable audio player. The
difference between an ordinary MP3 and a podcast is that the podcast
is set up to be accessed via an
RSS feed, whether from your site, the iTunes site, or some other
RSS host/directory server. A podcast differs from
streaming audio in which a file plays back from a server. With
podcasting, the listener downloads the MP3 or
MOV file onto their computer. The listener can then play it
whenever convenient on his or her computer, or choose to transfer it
to their audio player to listen while on the go. |
|
|
Polyphony |
In general,
polyphony describes music with two or more parts playing at the same
time. More specifically, the term refers to the number of actual
notes an electronic instrument may play at one time. For
instance, the original MiniMoog
synthesizer was
monophonic (it could only play one note at a time), while the
ARP Odyssey could play two, making it duophonic. Most early
samplers were capable of playing only eight notes at any time
(or four notes if the sample being played is in
stereo, as that requires two notes of polyphony). When
instruments can play multiple notes at one time, they are considered
to be
polyphonic. Today, most synthesizers and samplers can play far
more notes, in some cases up to 128 (and even more if a personal
computer is being used as the sound source). |
|
| Post
Production |
The general term
for the last stages of film or music production, conducted after all
the "raw content" (scenes or recorded songs) has been completed.
Post production for film is in fact many different processes grouped
under one name. These typically include: - Editing the picture
(according to the wishes of the director). - Adding visual special
effects (mainly computer generated imagery and digital
compositing) - Editing the dialog (including
ADR recording) - Adding audio sound effects (like
Foley and custom sound design) - Composing and recording the
soundtrack music - Mixing the combined audio tracks (dialog, sound
effects and music) For an audio project post production follows the
same basic path: - Editing the songs - Adding audio effects (such as
processing vocals through a
reverb) -
Mixdown of the tracks -
Mastering the finished tracks Typically, the post production
phase takes longer than the actual recording or film shoot, and can
take several months to complete. |
|
|
Preference File |
In computer
systems a preference file is a document that stores certain user
selectable settings for a particular application. These settings may
range from very simple
parameters (such as a default font in a word processor) to every
major aspect of the program's operation. This allows the user to be
able to customize a working environment and always have the program
boot up in a known (and preferred) state rather than having to
be configured every time. |
|
| Print
|
Most computer
users (or people who have used a pencil and a piece of paper) know
what this means, but it has a specific meaning for audio production
as well. Printing something in audio and video refers to recording
it, as in "printing to tape." The context in which this comes up is
centered around sources and signals that may not normally get
recorded to the
multitrack tape in a project. An example of this could be
sequenced
MIDI parts that are often
synchronized and flown in to a project as
virtual tracks. Another example is effects that are normally
returned to an auxiliary channel on the mixer and mixed in with the
recorded tracks. Sometimes it is useful to actually record these
things to the multitrack tape (or disk in the
DAW world). Let's say you are moving a project to another studio
for some
overdubs, but don't want to carry the entire keyboard rig there
and mess with getting all the instrument levels set in another room.
You could just print a rough mix of all the keyboard parts to tape
and use that as a reference for the overdubs. |
|
|
Program |
1.
Software instructions; a computer
application. 2. A
preset or stored setting in a device. 3. The act of creating
software. 4. The act of creating presets or
patches for a
synthesizer,
sampler, or
effects device. 5.
Audio or video material or content (e.g., program
material). 6. A paper handout given to the audience at a concert or
performance describing the event, the performers, and the pieces to
be performed. 7. A
radio or television broadcast. |
|
|
Progressive Scan |
A video term that
describes a method of displaying images in which every horizontal
line is drawn on the screen in a single pass to create a complete
frame or single full-screen video image. This is different from
interlaced video, in which each video frame is created by
drawing two
fields, one of which is made up of the odd numbered lines and
the other the even numbered lines. Traditional television video uses
interlaced scanning. With the advent of digital video and high
definition video, progressive scan technology has become much more
common. Computer monitors have used progressive scan (calling it
"non-interlaced") for quite some time. |
|
|
Proprietary |
This is a word
that is (unfortunately) used fairly frequently in the computer and
audio worlds. In the broader sense, proprietary means that a concept
or product is unique to, and the property of a manufacturer or
company. More commonly, proprietary refers to a manufacturer
designing a product to only work with other products from that same
manufacturer. For example, a manufacturer might make a synthesizer
that can only save patch information to specific, specially designed
RAM cards, rather than to more universal PCMCIA cards, floppy disks,
or whatever. In order to save that synth's information you would be
required to use the proprietary cards available only from that
manufacturer. While the word "proprietary" is often given a negative
connotation, keep in mind that building gear around proprietary
designs and options allows a manufacturer to implement features that
might not be possible if everything were standardized and generic.
|
|
| PS/2
|
PS/2 is a wiring
standard for computer peripheral devices developed by IBM, for IBM
compatible computers and at one time years ago was the name of a
series of IBM brand computers that first used these ports. The PS/2
style port uses a mini
DIN plug containing just 6 pins. Most PCs have a PS/2 port so
that the
serial port can be used by another device, such as a modem. The
PS/2 port is often called the mouse port, though there are
mouse/serial ports in use on PC's that use different (non PS/2
style) connectors. |
|
|
Pulldown Menu |
In the computer
world, there are two ways to access settings or choose specific
actions, and that's via Pulldown or Popup Menus. The main place
you'll be accessing Pulldowns is when using the Menu Bar, which
typically runs all the way across the top of your monitor's virtual
desktop. Every operating system saves space by concealing its
most important (and most frequently used) commands in Pulldown
Menus. But Pulldowns are not limited to just operating systems. When
you open an
application, you get another menu bar across the top with which
you will communicate with the specific program via Pulldown Menus.
However, the most frequently used commands can be performed by
keyboard
shortcuts, some of which are universal and others which are
program-specific. |
|
| Quick
Time Musical Instruments |
A special
component of Apple's
QuickTime software that emulates a MIDI
synthesizer. It's set up to conform to the
general MIDI standard, and generates sounds based on received
MIDI performance data, which may come from an external
controller or internal software running on the computer.
|
|
|
QuickTime |
Developed by Apple
Computer,
QuickTime is a method of storing sound, graphics, and movie
files. It has been in use on the Macintosh for a number of years as
the principal video playback technology. Although QuickTime was
originally developed for the Macintosh, player software is now
available for Windows and other platforms. |
|
|
QWERTY Keyboard |
The alphanumeric
keyboard used with a computer is sometimes referred to as a
"QWERTY" keyboard based on the arrangement of the first six keys
appearing at the left of the top row of the letter characters
(immediately below the row of numeric keys). |
|
| RAID
2 |
A
RAID level that uses a technique similar to
striping, but on the
bit level. (Data
is split at the bit level and distributed across the
disks in the RAID for storage.) An
error correction code, called a "Hamming code," is calculated
and written to a dedicated disk at the same time the data is stored.
When the data is read back into the computer, the Hamming code is
also read to ensure that no errors occurred. Due to its complexity,
substandard performance due to bit-level operation, the cost of
extra disks, and the need for a specialized hardware controller,
RAID 2 never really caught on for popular usage. |
|
| RAM
|
Okay, back to the
basics today. RAM - An acronym for
Random Access Memory. A generic for chips that are used in
computing devices to store sets of instructions, which can be
computer programs and data or, in the case of some musical
equipment, audio data. When you run an application like Microsoft
Word, the program is called up from its permanent storage area (like
the hard drive, floppy disk, or Cd_ROM) and moved into the RAM,
where the
CPU has much faster access to it. Data can be manipulated and
calculations performed very quickly and then saved back to the
storage medium. Sometimes RAM is just used as a
buffer between subsystems or as a
cache. There are many different types of RAM (DRAM, SRAM, EDO
RAM, etc.) and each has its unique properties and price/performance
characteristics. RAM is usually purchased by consumers as a small
circuit board (often inaccurately called RAM chips) that are made of
actual RAM chips and other components. These boards can be installed
in computers and other devices to expand their available memory.
Because of the widespread use of RAM in all sorts of devices the
prices have dropped significantly in the past decade while the
quantity of manufacturers and distributors has risen. RAM circuit
boards can vary widely in quality and cost. There are many subtle
and not so subtle factors that go into making very high quality RAM
boards so it is a good idea to be careful when purchasing RAM.
|
|
| RAM
Disk |
A simulated disk
drive created by allocating a portion of
RAM in a computer system. A RAM disk will generally behave just
like a regular hard disk drive, only it is usually much, much
faster, which makes them handy for operations where the drive needs
to be accessed a lot. There are software programs for most computing
platforms that allow the user to configure RAM disks. Unlike a hard
drive, however, a RAM disk is not a place for permanent storage.
When the power is removed the contents of the RAM disk will be lost.
|
|
| Real
Time |
This meaning may
seem obvious to most, but this word is jargon to many. The phrase
comes from the computer industry where it was used to specify
computer computation time. Basically it was defined as the time
required for a computer to solve a problem, measured from the time
data are fed in to the time a solution is received. Seems obvious to
us now, but there are and were obviously many other ways to specify
computer speed. Nowadays Real Time is used to describe any process
that happens "on-line" or "live" without having to stop some other
key process (such as a performance or mix) to carry it out. As
processing power increases in computers and other related
technologies more and more functions can occur in real time.
|
|
|
Reboot |
To "boot"
is to start up a computer system, so to reboot is to restart the
system. Typically, this doesn't involve actually turning off the
power to the computer, but rather closing down and restarting the
operating system, which clears out all the
RAM,
caches, and other storage spaces, and returns the computer and
operating system to their
default state. Rebooting will also quit any
programs that might be running, so any data contained in them
will be lost if it isn't saved to
hard drive or other storage medium. |
|
|
Register |
In computers, a
register is a high-speed memory location in a computer's
CPU. A register functions much like
RAM, as it serves as a temporary storage location for small
pieces of information. Registers are usually used to hold
information being worked on, or about to be worked on, by the CPU.
In musical terms, a register is the specific
pitch range of an instrument. |
|
|
Regulator (Voltage Regulator) |
A device designed
to govern the supply
voltage in an electronic circuit. Such a circuit could be in a
computer, digital reverb, or automobile. Or it could be part of a
power distribution system employed in your studio or stage rack. In
all cases the idea is the same: to work with an input voltage that
may vary and output a voltage that stays within a predefined range.
Regulators come in many sizes, configurations, and price ranges.
They do not all work the same way. Some may simply switch between
different taps on a
transformer (usually not a good idea for digital equipment
because the switching can produce spikes on the line) while others
may deploy sophisticated monitoring systems that control very
complex circuits keeping output voltage at an exact fixed point as
well as providing all sorts of
EMI,
RFI and surge suppression. Most fall somewhere in between.
Voltage regulators cannot create power so if voltage falls at the
input, the device must begin to draw more
current from the source to be able to maintain its output
voltage. You should keep this in mind when using any device that
regulates voltage. |
|
|
Render |
To render (a verb,
pronounced REHN-dir, from the medieval French rendre meaning "to
give back or yield") has a number of usages along the lines of
forming something out of something else originally given. In modern
digital video production (for example) rendering refers to the
process of building a series of video images based on instructions
and
algorithms of a computer program. For example, you may want to
add a title to a section of video. The computer will rebuild or
render the title as part of the video. Or it could be as simple as
making a video out of a group of selected clips one after the other.
In digital audio the concept is similar. When you apply a non
realtime or file based (destructive) process to a sound file a
new sound file is rendered with the attributes you defined in the
software. In essence, rendering is the "non realtime processing and
subsequent writing of a new file" function in computer programs.
|
|
|
Resolution |
There are many
definitions, but the relevant one for our purposes is that
resolution is a measurement of the fineness of detail captured in a
representation of something. This could pertain to the level of
detail captured in a photograph or displayed on a computer monitor.
It could even relate to video frames and
time code: 30 frames per second is more resolution than 24
frames per second. We most commonly speak about resolution in
terms of digital audio and how much resolution a digital audio
system has. In digital audio resolution is affected by the sampling
rate and the
bit depth of the recording: 24-bit audio is higher resolution
that 16-bit audio, and a 48 kHz
sample rate is more resolution that a 44.1 kHz sample rate.
|
|
|
Restart |
To cause a
computer system to "boot"
or start up again. This generally involves shutting down and
re-launching the
operating system, which clears out all
RAM,
caches, and
registers; shuts down any
programs or background
utilities that might be running; and returns the computer and
the operating system to their
default state. Any
data in RAM that has not been saved to a
hard drive or other storage media will be lost. Restarting may
be necessary when a program
crashes or hangs or the contents of RAM become
corrupted. |
|
|
Reverb |
The remainder of
sound that exists in a room after the source of the sound has
stopped is called reverberation, sometimes mistakenly called echo
(which is an entirely different sounding phenomenon). We've all
heard it when doing something like clapping our hands (or bouncing a
basketball) in a large enclosed space (like a gym). All rooms have
some reverberation, even though we may not always notice it as such.
The characteristics of the reverberation are a big part of the
subjective quality of the sound of any room in which we are located.
Our brains learn to derive a great deal of
information about our surroundings from the sound of a room and it's
reverberation. Consequently it is necessary to have the proper type
and amount of reverberation on recordings in order for them to be
aesthetically pleasing or to sound natural to us. This can be
accomplished with careful microphone placement, but it is often
necessary to employ artificially created reverb.
To create reverb, a device known as a reverb
unit is employed. Reverb units have historically come in many shapes
and sizes, and have used many different techniques to create the
reverberation. These days most of the reverb units employed
throughout the world are digital, where the sound of the reverb is
generated by a computer algorithm and mixed with the original
signal. We will be discussing other types of reverb units in the
future. |
|
|
Reverse Engineering |
The science of
learning the way a device functions without the aid of
documentation, usually by trial and error. In some cases reverse
engineering is used to copy the technical function of something
without copying the legally protected manner in which that function
is accomplished. Probably the most famous (and profitable) instance
of this was Compaq Computer's cloning of the original IBM PC.
Would-be PC clone makers had to come up with a chip that would
replace IBM's ROM-BIOS
but do so without copying any IBM code. The way this is done is by
looking at IBM's ROM-BIOS as a black box -- a mystery machine that
does funny things to inputs and outputs. By knowing what data goes
into the black box - the ROM -- and what data comes out, programmers
can make intelligent guesses about what happens to the data when
it's inside the ROM. Reverse engineering is a matter of putting many
of these guesses together and testing them until the cloned ROM-BIOS
acts exactly like the target ROM-BIOS. It's a tedious and expensive
process. Reverse engineering the IBM PC's ROM-BIOS took the efforts
of 15 senior programmers over several months and cost Compaq an
estimated $1 million. In other cases, reverse engineering may take
place simply because a company wants to build a product that is
compatible with something else on the market, which is common in the
audio industry. This is not the same as getting an "idea" for a
feature from someone else. Reverse engineering is copying the
specific function. For example, if someone wanted to build a product
that worked with
ADAT optical ports they would either have to get the information
about how it works from Alesis or reverse engineer their optical
spec. There are more products on the market as a result of reverse
engineering than most people would ever expect. |
|
| RGB
|
An abbreviation
for "Red, Green, Blue." The RGB color model is an additive method of
creating colors by utilizing red, green, and blue light combined in
various ratios. The very idea for the model itself and the
abbreviation "RGB" come from the three primary colors. Primary
colors are based on the physiological response of the human eye to
light. The human eye contains photoreceptor cells called cones,
which normally respond best to yellowish-green, green, and blue
light. The color yellow, for example, is perceived when the
yellow-green receptor is stimulated slightly more than the green
receptor, and the color red is perceived when the red receptor is
stimulated significantly more than the green receptor. Although the
peak responsiveness of the cones does not occur exactly at the red,
green and blue wavelengths, those three colors are described as
primary because they can be used relatively independently to
stimulate the three kinds of cones. One common application of the
RGB color model is the display of colors on a
cathode ray tube or
liquid crystal display such as a television picture tube or a
computer monitor. Each
pixel on the screen can be represented in the computer's memory
as independent values for red, green and blue. These values are
converted into intensities and sent to the CRT or LCD display. By
using the appropriate combination of red, green and blue light
intensities, the screen can reproduce many colors between its black
level and white point. Typical display hardware used for computer
monitors uses a total of 24
bits of information for each pixel. This corresponds to 8 bits
each for red, green, and blue, giving a range of 256 possible
values, or intensities, for each color. With this system,
approximately 16.7 million discrete colors can be reproduced.
|
|
| RISC
|
Acronym for
Reduced Instruction Set Computer. A
CPU whose design is based on the rapid execution of a sequence
of simple instructions rather than on the provision of a large
variety of complex instructions (as in a Complex Instruction Set
Computer). Features that are generally found in RISC designs are
uniform instruction encoding, in which the operating
code always occupies the same
bit positions in each instruction, which is always one word
long. This allows faster decoding. RISC also provides for a
homogenous register set, allowing any register to be used in any
context and simplifying
compiler design. Simple addressing modes replace complex modes
with sequences of simple arithmetic instructions. RISC processing
was developed by IBM in the early 1970s. The most common examples of
computers with RISC-based CPUs are the Apple Power Mac series. And
if you can stand to learn one more acronym, the "Power" in that name
is IBM's acronym for "Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC."
|
|
| RPM
|
Abbreviation for
Revolutions Per Minute. Anything that spins or revolves about some
axis does so at a rate that can be related to time. Revolutions per
minute is a specification for how many times in one minute a device
spins through one complete rotation about its axis. In music
production we most commonly encounter this spec when comparing
different hard drives. A faster rotational speed in a hard drive
normally means data can be found faster. This is simple physics: the
drive head doesn\'t have to wait as long to get access to the
various
sectors of the drive because they pass by more frequently on
faster mechanisms. Drive spindle speed, as it is sometimes known,
has a direct impact on specs such as
seek time, and can have an effect on the overall
throughput of the drive. In short, higher numbers faster. In
music and/or video production fast hard drives are a requirement so
we tend to look at these specs much more closely than someone who
uses a computer in a more conventional way. A \"faster\" drive,
however, is not always necessary. It depends on the application. A
hard drive for audio or video, for example, must be fast, but only
needs to be \"fast enough\" to enable the system to do what is
required. Sometimes there is a point of diminishing returns beyond
which the added expense of a faster drive may not offer any
additional benefit for a given system. |
|
|
RS-232 |
A standard
serial
interface (EIA/TIA-232-E) configuration. The format is widely
supported for bi-directional data transfer at low to moderate rates.
It has been used on many personal computers over the years to
connect personal computers with peripheral hardware and instruments
(such as MIDI
interfaces). Use is restricted to one peripheral at a time and short
distances. The standard originally called for DB-25 connectors, but
now allows the smaller DB-9 version (see WFTD
D-Sub).
|
|
|
RS-422 |
A connection
standard adopted in 1978 by the Electronics Industry Association as
EIA-422-A
for serial
transmissions. Its significant feature is the use of
balanced
line twisted-pair wires for long distance (~1000 m, or ~3300 ft)
computer interconnections, daisy-chain style. |
|
| RTAS
|
Commonly
pronounced ARE-TAZ it is an acronym for Real Time Audio Suite.
Basically it is a newer variation on Digidedign's
Audio Suite
plug-in architecture that has been in use in their
host based and
TDM based systems for some time. RTAS has taken it to the next
logical step and used the extensive processing power of today's
computers to make these plug-ins usable in
real time, which in many ways makes them almost TDM-like in
operation. The distinction between RTAS and TDM plug-ins is that
RTAS uses the host computer for processing whereas TDM uses
proprietary dedicated
DSP on hardware cards. Each method has its own
price/performance/quality pros and cons. |
|
|
S.M.A.R.T |
An acronym for
Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology, S.M.A.R.T. was
developed by a number of major Hard Disk Drive Manufacturers in a
concerted effort to increase the reliability of drives. It is a
technology that enables the computers to predict the future failure
of hard disk drives. Through the S.M.A.R.T. system, hard disk drives
incorporate a suite of advanced diagnostics that monitor the
internal operations of a drive and provide an early warning for many
types of potential problems. When a potential problem is detected,
the drive can be repaired or replaced before data is lost. S.M.A.R.T.
monitors the disk\'s performance, bad
sectors, calibration, CRC errors, disk spin-up time, distance
between the head and the disk, temperature, features of medium,
heads, motor or servo mechanism. Armed with a failure prediction,
the user or system manager can back up key data, replace a suspect
device prior to data loss, or avoid undesired downtime. Glyph\'s
current line of hard drives feature S.M.A.R.T. |
|
| SACD
(Super Audio Compact Disc) |
SACD is one of
several emerging new standards for high-resolution audio on compact
discs. It was developed by Sony and is based on a licensed
technology called Direct Stream Digital, which was developed by Sony
and Phillips and is theoretically capable of sample rates up to 2.8
MHz.
The SACD format allows for playback of multi-channel audio and a
bandwidth of 100
kHz at over 120
dB
dynamic range while retaining compatibility with existing
compact disc technology. There are several subformats in the works
(single layer, dual layer, etc.) that are optimized for different
tasks, but Sony claims that all SACD discs have fully uncompromised
audio quality. That is, no data compression, and no computer
generated surround mixes from stereo data or vice versa. The
potential success of this format in the mainstream is currently
under scrutiny amidst other developments such as DVD Audio, but
there are a significant number of titles available on the Sony label
with promised support from other record labels. |
|
|
Sample Dump Standard (SDS) |
The MIDI Sample
Dump Standard is a method of sending digital audio sample data from
one machine to another via MIDI connections. Due to the bandwidth
limitations of MIDI, SDS transfers can be quite slow, but are an
effective way to share sample data between samplers, or between
samplers and computer-based sample editing software.
|
|
|
Sandbox |
While the term
"sandbox" has been assigned number of meanings with usages spanning
military, videogames, railroad, and even rock bands from Canada and
England, our interest in the word sandbox is as it pertains to
computer security. Metaphorically, a sandbox is a safe place for
children to play in, and it is in this context that it translates to
computer security; a safe place to run programs and scripts to avoid
possible damage to a critical system &mdash particularly one that is
difficult to restore. Such scripts and programs are either
third-party programs or software under development. A sandbox for
security purposes can be a partitioned
drive space with tightly controlled resources and a portion of
memory to run commands. For electronic musicians, a sandbox can be
very useful for operating system (OS)
upgrades (see tech tip), particularly when one has software from
numerous manufacturers. |
|
|
Screen Saver |
Long before the
first
LCD screen was plugged into a computer, owners had to depend
upon cathode ray tube monitors or
CRTs. Although capable of much greater resolution, CRTs were
essentially just sophisticated TVs, and thus at risk for phosphor
burn-in, which would occur if a specific image were to be left
on the screen too long. To prevent this, a
software program was designed to fill the screen with images or
moving patterns. These were quickly dubbed "screen savers," since a
monitor with a burned-in image would become problematic. The
earliest examples were in black and white, but as color CRTs became
the norm, screen savers grew in sophistication. Some were free,
others shareware, and still others inexpensive software that would
not only prevent burn-in, but also provide interesting images and
motion graphics that were pleasant to watch. Today, although LCD
and other flat-screen monitors are not susceptible to burn-in
(because the images are not produced by phosphors), screen savers
are still a pleasant diversion while Mac and PC users are waiting,
for instance, for a huge
file to download. |
|
|
Screen Shot |
Also known as a
screen capture, this is a
digital image that is taken by a computer (Mac or PC) that
records the elements that are visible on its
monitor. Most often, the image is captured by the host
computer's
operating system, although third-party
software and
shareware is available that can perform the same function. The
main purposes of a screen shot would likely be to demonstrate a
specific feature available within a particular
program for marketing or tutorial purposes, or to illustrate a
particular problem a user may be having with the computer (i.e.,
capturing an error message). Typically, screen shots are saved in
common image formats such as
JPEG, PNG, or BMP. These
files are usually small enough to send as an attachment to an
e-mail message. |
|
|
Scribble Strip |
A portion of the
front panel or user interface of some device allocated for
handwritten notes. A great example pertinent to the audio industry
is the area on audio mixing boards designed to accommodate notes
about what is on a given channel. This space is usually a strip
(hence the term "scribble strip") that runs the width of the mixer
just above or below the faders. This is the space sound engineers
use to name the channels (bass, kick, snare, GTR, etc.) for quick
identification. On more modern mixers and control surfaces scribble
strips have become electronic displays. The names of the channels
are saved with setups and can be recalled accordingly. The virtual
equivalent of scribble strips are also part of computer based
DAW systems. |
|
| SCSI
|
Pronounced "scuzzy,"
this acronym stands for Small Computer Systems Interface. SCSI is a
hardware interface incorporated into computers, disk-based digital
recorders, samplers, and other microprocessor-based equipment. It
allows for the easy connection of a variety of peripherals such as
hard drives, removable media drives, CD-ROM drives, scanners, and
more. One SCSI controller can support up to 7 peripherals, each
having their own unique "id" or address. The first and last items in
a SCSI chain must be terminated for proper operation. The
"theoretical" maximum length of a SCSI chain is 19 feet, but in
practice, the chain should be as short as possible! |
|
| SDRAM
|
Stands for
Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory. SDRAM is a faster version
of DRAM, which is the type of memory chips that have been used in
most computing equipment for the past several years. SDRAM began to
appear in 1997 and can
synchronize itself to the
bus speed of the computer, which is what makes it so much faster
than standard Dynamic
RAM. There are a number of other subtypes of RAM with different
names and different properties. More are being developed all the
time. |
|
|
Sector |
A section of a
computer disk, such as a hard drive disk or optical media such as CD
ROM. These media are segmented into tracks, sectors and clusters,
where a unique ID or address allows the drive system to store and
later be able to retrieve data. This file address information is
generally stored in sector number 0 on the disk in a file known as
the
FAT (File Allocation Table). The sectors as well as the rest of
the organization of the diskette or disk are set up as a result of
the process known as
formatting. |
|
|
Serial |
Refers to things
being arranged in a series, or one item after another. In computers
and data, serial is a sequential transmission of each piece of
information. Literally this means each
bit, of a
byte, one at a time over one wire. Parallel transmission uses
many wires to simultaneously transmit large packets of data. Many
types of computer data are transmitted serially. This is how modems
and fax machines communicate, for example. In music
MIDI data is transmitted serially both in the MIDI cables
themselves and into and out of the computer via a
MIDI interface. In order to transmit more data per second in a
serial system one must speed up the rate of transfer. Since all MIDI
is standardized to a set speed there is a very finite amount of MIDI
data that can be transmitted on one cable. It is possible, however,
for a MIDI Interface to be connected to a host computer at a high
enough transfer rate to be able to handle many individual MIDI
streams "simultaneously" (though we don't mean that literally, it is
still serial). |
|
|
Serial Time Code |
Editing devices
which can be controlled by computers, have a connection called a
"serial control port" or RS422 port. These devices communicate with
the computer and are controlled via commands in a serial data
protocol. Serial Time Code is a means of transmitting
time code over the same data stream that carries this control
information for the purposes of
synchronization. Some of these devices have no
SMPTE Time Code port, but send and receive time code via these
control ports. Other devices send and receive only transport
commands over their serial ports, but require a conventional time
code connection in order to read time code. |
|
|
Server |
In general, a
server is a computer program that provides services to other
computer programs in the same or other computers. The computer that
a server program runs on is generally called a server, and quite
often acts to serve some number of client computers that have some
type of client software that accesses the server and its software.
This specific paradigm has been practically expanded to refer to any
computer that's making files or services available to other
computers. For example, a Web server would store all files related
to a Web site and perform all work necessary for hosting the Web
site. Some situations require that one server "serve" more than one
role, such as both a network server and a file server. This means
that, in it's network server role, the computer is responsible for
holding the files and managing the processes that enable everyone in
the office to access and use the network. In it's file server role,
it holds the central computer files and various databases. While the
role of a server used to be seen as a luxury due to expense, many
businesses and homes now have servers in everyday use.
|
|
|
Shared Library |
A DLL is a
computer program file consisting of a collection of resources or
routines that are available to other programs, as opposed to a
static library where the contents are copied into one program when
it\'s
compiled. A program that wants to use these routines is linked
with the DLL at the time it is actually started, or later. The term
DLL relates mostly to
Windows products. On the UNIX platform (including Mac
OS X), the term \"Shared Library\" is more commonly used.
|
|
|
Shareware |
This is
software that's created most often by an individual, fully
copyrighted, but which may be downloaded by computer owners or
freely copied and distributed so that the end user can try it out
before committing to purchase a license for it. This is an offshoot
of freeware, which is also copywrited, but for which the programmer
expects to receive no payment. Shareware got its name because the
cost of its development is ultimately shared by those who choose to
use it. It typically has a tryout period during which users can run
it without making any payment. Then, after a certain amount of time,
or a certain number of
launches, the program may no longer function without the user
purchasing a license for it. In general, shareware is less expensive
than retail software, typically because the author has little or no
overhead, and does not actively market it by purchasing ads in
various industry journals. Often shareware is distributed on
CDs or
DVDs that ship with commercially distributed magazines or it may
be found on Web sites that specialize in the distribution of both
shareware and freeware. In some cases, shareware authors may not
require payment, but rather depend upon the 'honor system,' whereby
they put their faith in the end user to send payment if he or she
finds the product to be useful. |
|
| Shell
|
As contrasted with
kernel, the shell is the outermost programming layer of an
operating system. In computers it's the part that generally
interacts with user commands and feedback to the user.
|
|
|
Shortcut |
A shortcut is to
PC computers with the Windows operating system what an
alias is to Mac OS computers: an icon or file that references
another file or program. Shortcuts are handy for keeping a relevant
group of files together and stashed away in their folders while you
can reference the ones you need from a more convenient location.
|
|
|
Shuttle |
A term used mostly
in the video tape world to mean the fast forwarding or rewinding
(though much slower than an actual fast forward or rewind) of tape
while being able to see the picture (usually with no sound). The
shuttle control of a video tape machine generally works in concert
with a
jog or
scrub control. The shuttle control, which is usually implemented
as a dial or wheel type interface, lets the engineer rapidly locate
a section of the tape while viewing the picture. Then the jog or
scrub control (also a wheel type interface) lets him slowly find the
exact location desired while seeing video and hearing audio. Though
this use of the term has its roots in video tape editing it has also
been used in the audio world from time to time due to the wheel or
dial type user interface. When audio recorders implement a similar
wheel or dial for locating audio material they often refer to it as
a shuttle control. Similarly non-linear video systems have software
emulation of the same functions in order to help video engineers
feel more at home on computer based systems. |
|
| SIMM
|
Acronym for Single
In-line Memory Module. A SIMM is basically a group of memory chips
soldered to a small circuit board designed for easy installation
into computer equipment. These were created to provide some
standardization and ease of user installation for upgradable
computers in recent years. The technology was adopted by musical
equipment manufacturers in the 1990's and now almost all samplers
use some kind of standardized memory upgrades (quite often SIMMs).
This provides a more economical means of upgrading memory. SIMMs are
available in different configurations: There are 30 pin and 72 pin
versions, each available in a wide range of memory capacities
ranging from 128K all the way up to 128 MB. There are other more
subtle differences between SIMMs too. Composite versus non-composite
arrangements, parity, and many other minor circuit configuration
issues can cause SIMMs to fail to work properly in some equipment.
To say that SIMMs are "standardized" is a very loose use of the
word. Nevertheless, this technology and its scale of economy has
helped to bring the price of memory down by several hundred percent
in just a few years. |
|
|
Simplex Circuit |
Put simply, a
simplex circuit provides transmission in one direction only. Some of
the very first
serial connections between computers were simplex connections.
For example, mainframes sent data to a printer and never checked to
see if the printer was available or if the document printed properly
since that was a human job. Simplex links are built so that the
transmitter (the one talking) sends a
signal and it's up to the receiving device (the listener) to
figure out what was sent and to correctly do what it was told. No
traffic is possible in the other direction across the same
connection. Simplex communication works well in broadcast media,
such as radio, television and public announcement systems.
|
|
| Slave
|
Our common sense
understanding of the word slave pretty much clues us in to how it is
used in audio/video production. The specific literal definition we
are concerned with is; a machine or component controlled by another
machine or component. When two devices are synchronized to one
another it is necessary to have one be the master and the other the
slave. The slave unit responds to commands or information from the
master and is thus controlled by it. This is the basic principle
behind all synchronization in audio and video. For example, if a
computer system is following an analog tape machine (or video deck)
it can be said to be "slaved" to it. |
|
| Sleep
|
A type of
'stand-by' mode employed in certain types of equipment. Sleep
specifically has been associated with the Macintosh computer over
the years. In that case it turns off the video output of the
machine, spins down or turns off the hard drive, and disables
aspects of a number of other functions (networking, etc.), but
leaves power to
RAM so any running applications don't have to be restarted when
the computer is revived. The overall purpose is so it can be
returned to the state it was prior to being put to sleep much faster
than
rebooting and relaunching all of the programs. The specific
characteristics of sleep mode will differ with other equipment, but
in general you can always think of it as a stand-by mode.
|
|
| SMDI
|
A very interesting
word because it is actually an acronym within an acronym. SMDI,
pronounced "smiddy" stands for
SCSI Musical Data Interchange. SMDI allows samples to be
transferred from some sampling keyboards to a computer equipped with
SCSI. The benefit of SMDI over the MIDI
sample dump standard is speed. It can take hours for large
samples to transfer to a computer over MIDI. With SMDI this happens
in minutes. In order to do SMDI data dumps you must have an
appropriate software application on the computer, a SCSI port on
both the computer and sampler, and a sampler that is compatible with
the software program. Of course, then there are the other gyrations
you must go through getting the two devices to cooperate with each
other on the SCSI
bus. |
|
| Soft
Synth |
Short for Software
Synthesizer. A software synthesizer is a software application
designed to emulate some type of hardware synthesizer. Some software
programs focus their attention on emulating one specific synthesizer
- often a well-known vintage model, while others have a wide range
of capabilities. Some operate as stand alone applications while
others function as
plug-ins within some other environment. Quality varies
significantly, however, as computer processing power has increases
soft synths are becoming better in quality and thus more widely
used, not to mention less expensive. |
|
|
Software |
Specialized
written
coded commands that specifically tell a computer what tasks to
perform. These may be operating instructions for specific task-based
applications. The computer then processes and carries out these
instructions, performing a wide range of tasks that include image
editing, word processing, managing databases, creating music, and so
forth. These are generally called "programs." Additional procedures,
rules, and complex instructions that govern the overall performance
and user interface of a computer (or any other hardware) are called
operating systems (or OS). |
|
|
Software Update |
This is a
convenient feature of the Mac
OS X
operating systems. Software Update is found under the blue Apple
logo in the far left of the top
menu bar. Choose this with your mouse and your Mac will
automatically scan Apple's Web site for newer versions or updates of
Apple's software. Note that Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard can automatically
run Software Update checks in the background and let you know when
an update is available for your computer. (Many experts recommend
not letting your computer do this, as there can be compatibility
issues between new OS
software and third-party applications.) |
|
| Sound
Card |
An expansion board
that enables a computer to manipulate and output sounds. Sound cards
have become commonplace on modern personal computers and are
typically associated with the consumer market. Sound cards enable
the computer to output sound through speakers connected to the
board, to record sound input from a microphone connected to the
computer, and manipulate sound stored on a disk. Some sound cards
also support
MIDI,
surround sound and more. In addition, most PC sound cards are
Sound Blaster- compatible, which means that they can process
commands written for a Sound Blaster card, a standard in consumer PC
sound. |
|
| Sound
font |
The Sound font
standard, developed by Emu Systems and their parent company,
Creative Labs, is a data format that contains the detailed
information necessary to create musical notes or sound effects using
wavetable synthesis technology. A "Sound font bank" is a
collection of sounds in the Sound font standard format. Such a bank
contains both the digital audio
samples captured from a sound source, and the instructions to
the wavetable synthesizer on how to articulate this sound based on
the musical or sonic context as expressed by
MIDI. For example, a trumpet could be a particular sound in a
Sound font bank that might contain both recordings of trumpets being
played at several different pitches, as well as information which
would tell the synthesizer to
filter or mute the sounds when notes were played softly,
loop information about the sample which would allow a short
recording to be stretched into a sustained note, and instructions on
how to apply
vibrato or to bend the pitch of the note based on MIDI commands
from the musician. Sound fonts get their name because the concept
and their behavior is much like fonts we use in computers. Special
Sound font compatible hardware is required to play Sound fonts and
the quality of playback will vary somewhat depending upon the
capabilities of the playback device, just like fonts we use in our
computers can look different depending upon the output
characteristics of our screens and printers. The main advantage to
Sound fonts is they provide a tremendous amount of
real time control to sound playback while still benefiting from
the realism and computational simplicity of samples. As of this
writing their use is mostly limited to computer sound cards (Emu
does have some instruments that can use Sound fonts), but there are
more ambitious hardware plans in the future. |
|
| Sound
Manager |
The Sound Manager
is a collection of routines that native or
third-party
applications use to create sound without a knowledge of or
dependence on the actual sound-producing hardware available on any
particular Macintosh computer, prior to
OS X. More generally, the Sound Manager is responsible for
managing all sound production on Macintosh computers. Other parts of
the Macintosh system software that need to create or modify sounds
use the Sound Manager to do so. Sound Manager was first introduced
in the Macintosh system software version 6.0 and was significantly
enhanced since that time through Mac OS 9.x. Prior to Mac OS 6.0,
applications could create sounds using the Sound Driver (how's that
for some Mac trivia?). |
|
|
Soundbite |
Soundbite is
generally used in certain
DAW recording software programs such as Digital Performer, to
define a very small section of recorded
audio. The term derives from two sources: First, in
computer-speak, a
byte is a unit of data that is eight
bits (binary
digits) long. In broadcasting, a soundbite is a small segment of
audio or film footage that either encapsulates or is considered to
be the most important part of a much longer speech or interview. By
combining the two concepts with a little misspelling thrown in for
good measure, a soundbite in DAW-speak becomes a small section of
digital audio data. |
|
|
SourceCode |
The basic set of
written step-by-step instructions for a computer program. It is
referred to as source
code because this is usually not the instructions a given
computer or processor actually runs. Source code is generally run
through a \"compiler,\" which translates it into the specific
language a certain processor can deal with. A compiled instruction
set generally cannot be deciphered by a human so it\'s necessary to
return to the original \"source code\" to make most changes and
enhancements. |
|
|
Speaker |
Depending on
context, the word "speaker" can refer to many things. 1. An orator
or someone who is talking at a given time. (e.g., "The main
speaker stood before the audience and gave a lecture.") 2. The
actual loudspeaker transducer within a system. (e.g., "My
guitar amplifier features a custom-designed 12" speaker.") 3. A
particular loudspeaker system, including a speaker cabinet; a
loudspeaker; and any and all wiring, circuitry, and controls. (e.g.,
"I need a more powerful speaker for my portable PA system.") 4.
Studio monitors, generally when they are used for basic music
playback or for gaming (e.g., "I hooked up my laptop to my
new computer speakers.") |
|
|
Standalone or Stand Alone |
A term that
describes a hardware device or software
program that is capable of operating by itself, with nothing
else required. Standalone can have many contexts, but in music and
video production it is generally applied to components that can
function both with and without a computer connection or
host software. An example of software is a
virtual instrument that can run on its own without being used as
a
plug-in in an
audio/MIDI
sequencer. Such an instrument only requires the computer's
OS and support for the transfer
protocols of the audio and MIDI
interfaces, for example
ASIO,
CoreAudio or
CoreMIDI. Most virtual instruments also support one or more
plug-in formats such as
VST,
AU or
DXi. A common standalone hardware device is a MIDI interface,
which can be used by itself to route data to a number of
synths and sound modules in a live music setting. The interface
can be programmed using its front panel controls. Again, most MIDI
interfaces are also able to connect to a computer to respond to
commands from a sequencing program. Other hardware examples include
a portable
MP3 player, which can play back audio it has downloaded from a
computer, and a
RAID
server that connects directly to a network without requiring a
computer to run it. |
|
|
Standard MIDI File (SMF) |
A standardized
file format for saving MIDI sequences independent of the platform
they were created on. Standard MIDI Files allow musicians with
completely different types of computers or sequencers to exchange
MIDI sequences. There are two types, Type 0 (single track), and Type
1 (multitrack). Each type contains the same information, but on a
Type 0 all MIDI channels are combined into one track (MIDI channel
assignments and other information are not lost) while on a Type 1
each track is kept separate. |
|
|
Standby UPS |
The Standby
UPS is the most common UPS type used for Personal Computers. The
transfer switch is set to choose the filtered
AC input as the primary power source and switches to the battery
/
inverter as the backup source in case of a failure of the
primary source (AC). In the case of power failure, the transfer
switch must operate to switch over to the battery / inverter backup
power source. The inverter only starts when the power fails, hence
the name "Standby." Benefits of this model include high efficiency,
small size, and low cost. |
|
|
Standby-Ferro UPS |
The Standby-Ferro
UPS was once the dominant form of UPS in the 3-15kVA (Volt-Ampere)
range. This design depends on a special
transformer that has three windings (power connections). The
primary power path is from
AC input, through a transfer switch, through the transformer,
and to the output. In the case of a power failure, the transfer
switch is opened, and the inverter picks up the output
load. In the Standby-Ferro design, the inverter is in the
standby mode, and is energized when the input power fails and the
transfer switch is opened. The transformer has a special
"Ferro-resonant" capability, which provides limited
regulation and output
waveform "shaping". The isolation from AC power
transients provided by the ferro transformer is as good or
better than any filter available, but the ferro transformer itself
creates severe output
voltage
distortion and transients which can be worse than a poor AC
connection. Even though it is inherently a
standby UPS, the Standby-Ferro generates a great deal of heat
because the ferro-resonant transformer is inherently inefficient.
Standby-Ferro UPS systems are frequently represented as On-Line
units, even though they have a transfer switch, the inverter
operates in the standby mode, and they exhibit a transfer
characteristic during an AC power failure. High reliability and
excellent line filtering are the strengths of the Standby-Ferro
design. However, the design has very low efficiency combined with
instability when used with some generators and newer
power-factor corrected computers, which has caused the
popularity of this design to decrease significantly.
|
|
|
Startup Disk |
Many modern
personal computers can have as many as four separate internal
hard drives installed. The disk with the
operating system is designated as the startup disk, meaning the
computer boots up from the drive that has the
OS installed. In Mac
OS X, the startup disk can be selected by accessing the system
preferences, then choosing the appropriate drive to
boot from. Starting with OS X 10.5, Macs can boot from either
Windows (by using "Boot Camp") or the standard Mac OS.
|
|
|
Steganography |
Steganography
simply takes one piece of information and hides it within another.
Computer files (images, sounds recordings, even disks) contain
unused or insignificant areas of data. Steganography takes advantage
of these areas, replacing them with information, such as a hidden
"trademark" in images, music, and software, a technique referred to
as
watermarking. |
|
|
Stochastic Music |
The dictionary
defines stochastic as (from the Greek stochastikos - skillful in
aiming, from stochazesthai - to aim at, guess at, from stochos -
target, aim, guess.) as a process that involving chance or
probability. In music stochastic elements are randomly generated
elements created by strict mathematical processes. Stochastic
processes can be used in music either to compose a fixed piece, or
produced in performance. Iannis Xenakis, an architect and composer
who used probability, game theory, group theory, set theory, Boolean
algebra, and frequently computers, to produce his scores, pioneered
stochastic music. Earlier, John Cage and others had composed
aleatoric music, which is created by chance processes but does
not have the strict mathematical basis (Cage's Music of Changes, for
example, uses a system of charts based on the I-Ching). Xenakis is
particularly remembered for his pioneering electronic and computer
music, and for the use of stochastic mathematical techniques in his
compositions, including probability (Maxwell-Boltzmann kinetic
theory of gases in Pithoprakta, aleatory distribution of points on a
plane in Diamorphoses, minimal constraints in Achorripsis, Gaussian
distribution in ST/10 and Atr�es, Markovian chains in Analogiques),
game theory (in Duel and Strat�gie), group theory (Nomos Alpha), and
Boolean algebra (in Herma and Eonta). In keeping with his use of
probabilistic theories, many of Xenakis' pieces are, in his own
words, "a form of composition which is not the object in itself, but
an idea in itself, that is to say, the beginnings of a family of
compositions". The heavy reliance of Xenakis' music upon
mathematics, and probability theory in particular, led to criticism
and a lack of appreciation by both the music community and the
general public. In 1962 he published Musique Formelles-later
revised, expanded and translated into Formalized Music: Thought and
Mathematics in Composition in 1971-a collection of essays on his
musical ideas and composition techniques, regarded as one of the
most important theoretical works of 20th century music.
|
|
|
Streaming Audio |
A catch-all phrase
signifying all digitized computer audio files that are compressed to
smaller file sizes for simultaneous playback and transferal over the
internet. Non-streaming audio has to be downloaded in entirety from
its originating host site before it can be played back by the local
computer. |
|
|
Streaming Media |
Streaming media
enables real-time or on-demand access to
audio, video or any other multimedia content via the
Internet. It is transmitted via a specialized media server
application, and then played back by the end user via a player
application such as
QuickTime. In the past, such material had to be fully downloaded
and saved to disk before it could be accessed, but with the advent
of faster computers and the proliferation of
broadband Internet connections, it is now possible to view or
hear video or audio files as they are being delivered. However,
streaming media generally leaves behind no copy of the content on
the receiving device unless the user chooses to save the data to
disk. |
|
|
Synchronization |
In keeping with
the release of the Digital Time Piece, our word for today is
"synchronization." In audio terms, synchronizing, or synching, is
the process of making two devices operate together as one. One
device will be the "master", and tell the second "slave" device when
to start, when to stop, and how fast to play. Originally, synching
devices primarily meant locking two multitrack tape recorders
together to allow for more tracks, or locking audio and video decks
together when adding sound to picture. Today, synchronization also
encompasses locking recorders to computers, various digital devices'
clocks to each other, MIDI to SMPTE, and a variety of other
possibilities. Synchronizing wildly different technologies together
can be a complex process; having a central master sync device like
the DTP around can definitely make life much easier!
|
|
|
Syncrosoft Key |
Syncrosoft is the
name of a German company that developed a patented copy-protection
solution for
software
applications, using a
USB key. This small key, which looks somewhat like a USB
flash drive or "thumb drive," plugs into any USB
port on a computer or auxiliary
hub. A part of the
code an application requires to start up is actually
encrypted on the Synchrosoft Key. Thus, in order to run the
program, this key must be plugged into your computer.
|
|
|
Syquest |
Syquest is a company most noted for making
affordable volume removable storage media and related drives for
computer systems. They were so popular in the early 1990's that
their name became synonymous with the removable hard drive cartridge
to the extent that it is sometimes used as a generic name for them
(which also elevates its stature to being worthy of an inSync Word
for the Day). Early Syquest drives and media were 44 Megabytes.
Later they updated to 88 MB drives, and then on to 105 and larger
sizes. SyQuest filed a Chapter 11 petition with the United States
Bankruptcy Court in Oakland, California on November 17, 1998.
Trading in SyQuest stock was suspended on November 2, 1998. Their
assets are currently being sold to Iomega, another company known for
its removable media. |
|
|
System Bus |
Sometimes referred
to as the Frontside Bus, in computers this is the
bus that connects the
CPU to main memory (RAM)
on the
motherboard. I/O buses, which connect the CPU with the systems
other components, branch off of the system bus. |
|
|
System Exclusive |
One of the
categories of MIDI messages, System Exclusive (Sys Ex) is data
intended for, and understood by, only one particular piece of gear.
Normally, this data is used to communicate with and control
parameters specific to that item. For example, all of the
proprietary data in a Roland D-110 synthesizer representing RAM
patches might be sent as a "sys ex dump" to a computer librarian.
When the computer sends this data back out over MIDI, the only
device recognizing and responding to it will be a D-110, all other
synths and MIDI devices will ignore it. Other uses for sys ex? MIDI
control of parameters not supported by continuous controllers,
remote patch editing, patch bank select, and more - uses depend on,
and can be tailored for, each specific piece of MIDI gear - that's
the beauty of sys ex! |
|
| TCP
|
Abbreviation for
Transmission Control Protocol. TCP is a set of rules that defines
how data is shared among computers. It is often used along with the
Internet Protocol (IP)
to send data in the form of message units between computers over the
Internet. While IP takes care of handling the actual delivery of the
data, TCP takes care of keeping track of the individual units of
data (called packets) that a message is divided into for efficient
routing through the Internet. Together these two protocols are known
as TCP/IP (spoken "Tee - See - Pee over Eye Pee," or just the
letters TCPIP for short).
When data is sent to you from some server (say,
a web server, for example) the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
program in that server divides the file into one or more packets,
numbers the packets, and then forwards them individually to the IP
program. Although each packet has the same destination IP address,
it may get routed differently through the network. At the other end
(the client program in your computer), TCP reassembles the
individual packets and waits until they have arrived to forward them
to you as a single file.
TCP is known as a connection-oriented protocol,
which means that a connection is first established, confirmed, and
then maintained until such time as the message or messages to be
exchanged by the application programs at each end have been
exchanged. TCP is responsible for ensuring that a message is divided
into the packets that IP manages and for reassembling the packets
back into the complete message at the other end. |
|
|
Template |
Generally
something that establishes or serves as a pattern or gauge, such as
a thin metal plate with a cut pattern that is used as a guide in
making something accurately in woodworking. In our discourse this
normally refers to a computer document or file having a preset
format that is used as a starting point for a particular application
so that the format does not have to be recreated each time it is
used. This could be a loan amortization template for a spreadsheet
program; a memorandum template for a word processing program, a
mixer configuration for Pro Tools, a
MIDI setup
for
sequencing software, a basic two
zone
layer for
a keyboard controller, or any of dozens of other applications.
Anytime one is working with a device that is programmable and has
many different
parameters
templates can save a lot of time configuring new sessions, mixes,
setups, and so on.
An overlay that fits over all or part of a
keyboard or other type of hardware control panel and has labels
describing the functions of each key within a particular application
is also known as a template. |
|
|
Terabyte |
A unit of computer
memory or storage capacity equal to one trillion
bytes. It is commonly abbreviated TB. Because of irregularities
in the definition and usage of the term "kilobyte,"
the exact number of bytes identified as a terabyte may be either of
the following: � 1,000,000,000,000 bytes - 1000 to the 4th power or
10 to the 12th power � 1,099,511,627,776 bytes - 1024 to the 4th
power or 2 to the 40th power Let's put this figure into context. The
average video store contains about 8 terabytes of video. The books
in the United States Library of Congress contain about 20 terabytes
of text in total. Personal computers with 64-bit
CPUs and
operating systems are theoretically capable of accessing one
terabyte of memory. 1TB
hard drives are available, although their 2005 cost keeps them
out of reach of most individual users. |
|
|
TeraFLOPS |
When dealing with
computers, FLOPS stands for
Foating point Operations Per Second, a standard used to measure
a computer's performance. A teraFLOPS essentially means that a
computer is capable of performing 10,000,000,000,000 (ten trillion)
operations per second. |
|
|
Terminal |
In hardware terms,
a terminal is a device that allows a computer to send or receive
data. The type of hardware found on a terminal varies depending on
the type of information the terminal handles. Early terminals
consisted merely of a keyboard and a computer screen, and handled
only alphanumeric data. Most personal computers have terminal
software that emulates a physical terminal and allows the user to
manually enter commands into a computer. |
|
| TFT
|
Abbreviation for
Thin-Film
Transistor. This is the technology used to build active-matrix
LCD screens found on laptop computers, flat-panel monitors,
synthesizer workstations, cell phones, and other display devices.
Flat-panel displays are lightweight, portable, and relatively
rugged. They require less power than a
CRT and offer high
resolution. Active-matrix TFT displays are composed of a grid
(or matrix) of picture elements (pixels).
Thousands or millions of these pixels together create an image on
the display. Thin-film transistors act as switches to individually
turn each pixel "on" (light) or "off" (dark). The TFTs are the
active elements, arranged in a matrix, on the display.
|
|
| Third
Party |
Refers to an
entity outside of the buyer and seller arrangement. The buyer is
considered the first party (similar to "I" being a first person
pronoun), the seller the second party, and anyone supplying things
from outside that sphere of influence is considered third party. It
is a commonly used term in the high tech world we live in today
because many working systems involve third party add-on items. For
example, if you add
RAM to a
computer that comes from some other vendor it is considered third
party. Sounds you add to your keyboard that come from some other
maker are considered third party sounds. A ProCo cable added to a
studio setup consisting of many different kinds of equipment is not
normally considered third party. An Apogee
A/D converter
card installed into your Yamaha recorder is considered third party.
A Yamaha converter card would not be third party...unless the card
is made by someone other than Yamaha (a third party), which is a
fine distinction. As often occurs with jargon, the phrase isn't used
with a great deal of precision in terms of exactly what it means.
|
|
|
Thread |
In computers, a
series of instructions. A process, or single task, on a
CPU may be broken up into multiple threads (multi-threading),
which are subsets of the overall process that work together to
increase efficiency. Think of it as "division of labor" for computer
programs: each thread focuses on its particular assigned small
part of the process resulting in faster execution than a single
string of instructions. Threads inside a process can share
resources, such as memory. |
|
|
Throughput |
Refers to the
amount of data transferred from one place to another or processed in
a specified amount of time. Data transfer rates for disk drives,
networks, and many other types of data transmission are measured in
terms of throughput. Throughput is also sometimes used to describe
the computational power/speed of a computer system. |
|
| Time
Machine |
Unfortunately this
is not actually a machine that can take you back through time (let's
say back to 1959, where you could buy a dozen Sunburst Les Paul
Standards at mere $280 each). This is actually the name of a feature
in Apple's Mac
OS X 10.5 "Leopard"
operating system that
backs up your system
files,
applications, accounts, preferences, music, photos, movies and
other documents. What makes Time Machine different from other backup
software is that it not only keeps a spare copy of every file,
it also remembers how your system looked on a given day, so you can
revisit your Mac as it appeared in the past. It makes hourly backups
for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month, and weekly
backups for everything older than a month. For the initial backup,
Time Machine copies the entire contents of the computer to your
backup
hard drive, skipping caches and other files that aren't required
to restore your Mac to its original state. Every hour, every day, an
incremental backup of your Mac is made automatically as long as your
backup drive is attached to your Mac. |
|
|
Timeline |
A schedule of
events presented in a
linear fashion such that a viewer can see the order and timing
of them. In
audio and video production we often work in a timeline based
environment, particularly where computers or devices that represent
projects graphically are involved. In many cases audio and/or video
is represented by graphical "blocks" or
regions that can be moved about to change their relative timing.
There is also usually some form of
cursor to represent one's current location within the timeline.
|
|
|
Transfer Rate |
The amount of data
which can be transferred between two points in a given period of
time. You will usually see this term used in conjunction with
storage media like hard drives, CD-ROMs, DAT backups, etc. Transfer
rates become important when trying to determine if a drive can
support the demands placed on it by applications like recording and
playing digital audio, video, or multimedia files.
Two things to keep in mind with transfer rates:
- A drive's transfer rate may be different for
reading and writing data.
- Transfer rates are CPU dependent. Regardless
of how fast your drive is, your computer can only accept data as
fast as the CPU can handle it.
|
|
|
Turnkey |
Turnkey refers to
a system or software package that has been built, installed or
supplied by the manufacturer complete and ready to operate. In the
computer industry, the term is used to promote a system that can be
easily set up and operated "right out of the box." If you think of
it in terms of an engine, a turnkey engine comes with all the parts
and can be tossed into a car and work immediately. An engine that
isn't Turnkey will need additional parts and integration before it
will run. In essence, Turnkey is a term that requires qualification.
For example, a Sweetwater PC that is optimized for
audio in and of itself is a Turnkey system. However, a system
that includes a Sweetwater PC, Pro Tools software, and an Mbox that
enables you to set up easily and begin recording immediately can
also be considered a Turnkey system. |
|
| UART
|
An acronym
standing for Universal
asynchronous receiver/transmitter. A UART is an integrated
circuit (chip) found in most modern computers that interfaces a
microprocessor to a serial I/O port. |
|
| UDMA
|
Abbreviation for
Ultra Direct Memory Access. UDMA is a protocol developed as an
improvement to recent
ATA devices that effectively doubles the available
transfer rate by allowing the device direct access to the
computer memory, bypassing the
CPU. This also takes a lot of load off of the CPU. UDMA
standards are generally UDMA/33 or UDMA/66, which provides for the
current 66MB/s data transfer rate available in modern ATA devices.
(See also
DMA) |
|
| Undo
|
A function in most
computer programs with some type of editing feature that allows the
user to reverse, or undo a change that has just been made, thereby
reverting the open document to the state it was in prior to the
change. Most programs that have an undo capability also have a redo
function, which simply reinstitutes the change. Nowadays many
programs have expanded on this function and allow many levels of
undo so a user can step back through a long history of modifications
and revert them back to how they were before the changes.
|
|
|
Unformatted Capacity |
The opposite of
formatted capacity (see WFTD archive
Formatted Capacity). It is the capacity of a disk drive (in
number of bytes of data that can be stored on the disk) before it is
formatted for a particular kind of computer. Unformatted capacity is
a physical property of the drive, relating to the number of platters
and the density of data on the platters. |
|
|
Universal Binary |
As Apple Computers
make the transition from PowerPC processors to x86 (Intel)
processors, software needs to be made compatible with either
processor type, and this software is known as "universal binary."
Universal
binary is an executable file that can run
natively on either processor type. When a universal binary
software disc is placed in a drive on a computer, the
OS detects the universal binary in the disc's
header, and boots the appropriate software version depending on
the processor in use. This allows software to run at full speed on
either processor type with no impact on performance. No additional
memory is needed for universal binary software, since only the
appropriate copy of the software is loaded. One of the biggest
differences between the PowerPC and Intel processors is how multi-byte
data is stored. PowerPC chips store the most significant byte first
and x86 chips store the least significant byte first. This is called
"byte ordering," or "endian"
format. PowerPCs use "big endian," while Intels (x86) use "little
endian." |
|
| UNIX
|
A computer
operating system developed by Bell Labs in 1969, that is now being
developed by many other corporations. UNIX is mainly used as a
multi-user server environment, which is ironic since its name is a
play on the name Multics, a time-sharing
operating system jointly developed by Bell Labs, M.I.T. and
General Electric. UNIX was billed as a simpler OS than Multics,
while still supporting
multitasking in a multi-user environment. UNIX is often used to
run computer systems at universities and large corporations. UNIX
market share was starting to dwindle before the Internet explosion,
when the need for fast, reliable Web
servers sparked its revival. Most of the first web servers were
developed in UNIX environments. There is a free,
open source version of UNIX called FreeBSD. UNIX was initially a
command line-only operating system, but now supports many
graphical user environments. Most recently, UNIX/FreeBSD
code has been adapted to create Apple's
OS X for the Macintosh. Trivia: One of the former Multics
developers from Bell Labs was Ken Thompson, who became a primary
developer of UNIX. For this and other reasons, aspects of the
Multics design that may have been "stolen" in UNIX remain a topic of
occasional debate among hackers. |
|
| UPS
|
Abbreviation for
Uninteruptable Power Supply. A device that is designed to provide
electrical power to critical equipment in the event of brown outs or
black outs of the normal electrical service. They exist in a wide
variety of sizes, shapes, and capabilities, but are all based on the
same principles. They employ a battery that stays charged while the
electrical service is in operation. In the event of a power event
such as a brown out or black out the battery takes over and supplies
the required power to keep equipment online. In the modern day era
of critical computer (and other) systems it is common to find these
devices in most businesses and a growing number of homes. Because of
their cost, however, their use is usually limited to critical
systems that need to run constantly. Obviously a battery has a
limited time it will operate, but the idea is to cover short-term
power events and/or at least provide some time to properly shut down
volatile systems. |
|
| USB
|
An abbreviation
for Universal Serial
Bus. USB is an emerging standard for interconnecting PCs with
peripheral devices. The USB standard was developed by Compaq, DEC,
IBM, Intel, Microsoft, NEC, and Northern Telecom to provide an
intelligent serial
bus for low to mid-speed peripherals. The USB standard allows
new peripherals to be configured automatically upon attachment
without the need to reboot or run setups. USB will also allow up to
127 devices to run simultaneously on a computer with the capability
to perform
isochronous data transfers, which can be assigned to meet
specific bandwidth targets to support audio and/or phone and data
conversations. There is not enough bandwidth, however, to do video
as
FireWire does. USB is a real boon to the Windows based PC
community because it all but eliminates frustrating set up issues
historically encountered when new peripherals must be connected.
Further, as a standard it reduces the overall cost and confusion of
getting devices connected to any computer.
Not only is USB a new standard for interfacing
computer hardware, but it also stands for Upper Side Band. This is
the name given to the by-product of the new signal created when
modulating a signal with another signal, as happens in broadcast
and
FM synthesis. The Upper Side Band is the result of summing the
two signals together. |
|
|
Utility |
In the computer
world, a "utility" is a specialized software tool that's
specifically designed to carry out what might best be called
housekeeping functions. There are utility programs for monitoring,
tuning, tweaking, and troubleshooting. Apple realized by
OS X 10.3 that users were using these programs more than ever
and added a Menu command that takes you directly to the Utilities
Folder: In the
Finder, choose Go > Utilities. (The shift-command-U
keystroke will also take you directly there.) |
|
| VAST
|
An acronym for
Variable
Architecture Synthesis Technology. VAST was developed by
Kurzweil's Research & Development Institute prior to the release of
the original K2000 (1991). Back when most synthesizers utilized one
main configuration of
oscillators,
envelope generators, and
filters to produce all their sounds (which is still largely true
of many synths today) the idea was to make a synthesizer in which
its individual building blocks could be changed and/or connected in
different configurations (which they call
Algorithms). This, of course, was not a new concept. Modular
synthesizers have always had this flexibility. But the problem with
modular synths is you have to patch each component manually, which
not only takes time, but also requires a great deal of knowledge
(experience) in predicting the outcomes. Kurzweil simplified the
process by putting 31 useful algorithms under computer control and
building the functionality to easily utilize them into their
OS. VAST basically is all of those architecture choices as well
as the ability to modulate their parameters from a wide list of
control sources. That's the strict
definition of VAST. As time went on, however, the concept of VAST
began to encompass the many other unique aspects of the Kurzweil OS.
Things such as Functions (FUNs), multiple
LFOs,
ADSRs, and Envelopes can all really be thought of as part of the
VAST architecture since they provide unique and very powerful
capabilities that are generally not found in most other synths on
the market. Many soundware designers who've delved into the depths
of VAST claim it is the most powerful overall synthesis engine on
the market.
Kurzweil now has a new and improved VAST in the
works. Soon the K2600's VAST architecture will include over 100
unique synthesizer configurations. Given the astounding things that
have already been done with the current version of VAST (anyone
who's heard Daniel Fisher's
Dark Side patch knows what we mean by astounding) there's
absolutely no telling what will be possible with these new tools. |
|
|
Virtual Dolby Digital |
Dolby has specifically
developed three types of "virtual" surround processing for
computers, computer games, and video games. In "virtual"
implementations, "phantom" speakers are created, as processing
provides perceived sound sources in addition to the actual speaker
complement. Virtual Dolby Digital is a computer format
implementation of
Dolby Digital. For this method, first a Dolby Digital decoder
decodes the digital
bit stream and
5.1 channel signals are produced. Then, a "phantom" channel is
created providing a perceived center channel where none exists, and
the two surround channels are processed through an additional DSP
circuit and changed to "virtual" surrounds. All channels of
information are provided through only two speakers. This system
works best for a single listener who is centered between the left
and right speakers. In the Virtual Dolby Digital implementation,
some computers will decode the digital bit stream via a Dolby
Digital decoder with the ability to "downmix" the 5.1 channels into
a Dolby Surround encoded stereo signal. These two channels will then
go through a two-channel sound card and be processed through an
outboard or inboard
Dolby Surround Pro Logic decoder to provide four channels of
sound -- Left, Center, Right and Surround. The center channel can be
switched to "phantom" mode if desired, but four speakers are needed
for the left and right front and the two surround speakers at the
sides or rear of the listening position. |
|
|
Virtual Instrument |
A computer program
that emulates the performance of an
analog or digital synthesizer, a sampler or an acoustic
instrument. Virtual instruments earn this name because they operate
entirely as software with no physical "box." However, this is not
actually correct, as virtual instruments simply utilize the host
computer's
CPU and internal or external audio hardware to generate sounds
in place of the dedicated, proprietary hardware of most of the
keyboards and synthesizers we've been used to over the years.
Virtual instruments can be of relatively simple design, such as a
collection of
samples with a playback engine, or they can use complex
modeling algorithms to emulate analog synths of the past (called
"virtual analog" synths). Most of these instruments will respond
to
MIDI
continuous controller messages in the same manner as a hardware
synthesizer. Virtual instruments often can operate in two modes.
First, they function as a
plug-in in compatible
host programs such as Pro Tools, Digital Performer, SONAR, or
other audio/MIDI
sequencers. To do so, the virtual instrument must be written to
support the audio format used by the host program, such as
VST,
MAS,
DirectX or
Audio Units. In addition many virtual instruments can function
in standalone mode, which means they can be played and programmed
without requiring a host program to be open. |
|
|
Virtual Network Computing |
VNC stands for
Virtual Network Computing. It is remote control software, which
allows you to view and interact with one computer (the "server")
using a simple program (the "viewer") on another computer anywhere
on the Internet. The two computers don't even have to be the same
type, so for example you can use VNC to view an office Linux machine
on your Mac or
Windows PC at home. VNC is freely and publicly available and is
in widespread active use by millions throughout industry, academia
and privately. Remote control software such as VNC has a variety of
uses. It allows a person at a remote computer to assume control of
another computer across a network, as if they were sitting in front
of the other computer. The possibilities for musical collaboration
via computer becomes readily apparent, and for recording studios
with mobile recording facilities, the ability to network with the
remote and main control room computer can be extremely useful for
troubleshooting and production as well. For the business user, VNC
can be used to provide a flexible hot-desking and road-warrior
environment by allowing employees to access their office desktop and
server machines from any machine in the company's offices or from
other remote sites, regardless of the type of computers involved at
either end. An equally popular business application of VNC is in
remote system administration, where VNC is used to allow
administrators to take control of employee machines to diagnose and
fix problems, or to access and administer server machines without
making a trip to the console. VNC can also be used in educational
contexts, for example to allow a distributed group of students
simultaneously to view a computer screen being manipulated by an
instructor, or to allow the instructor to take control of the
students' computers to provide assistance. Of course, as these
examples illustrate, the variety of uses of VNC is really as diverse
as the number of VNC users, a number that is big and growing all the
time! |
|
|
Virtual Slave Reel |
A term sometimes
used in computer based recording and editing systems to denote a
space or location (in memory or on a drive) where additional tracks
for a given session are located. It is conceptually similar to real
slave reels as they are used in tape based multitrack
recordings. |
|
|
VirtualMemory |
A commonly used
memory addressing scheme that allows a computer to use hard disk
space as substitute for
RAM. This technique is often used where a program or programs
and the required data cannot be effectively fit into the physical
RAM of the computer. A specified area of a hard drive is set aside
to act as additional RAM addresses. When a program makes calls to
addresses that are not in RAM (but on the drive instead) the
computer does a swap whereby some of the data in RAM is written to
the drive and then the pertinent data is brought from the drive into
RAM. If all goes well the application never knows it is happening,
though the user may observe a slight decrease in the speed of the
program. |
|
| VOC
|
An audio file type
used in computer digital audio. The .VOC file is one of the more
commonly found sample sound formats found on PC-compatible
computers. It was developed by Creative Labs and supports a packed
data format that some programs can unpack prior to importing a file.
The .VOC format also supports information for silence, looping, and
varying sample rates. |
|
|
Volatile Memory |
This is a type of
memory usually used in computers and hardware and
software
samplers whose contents vanish irretrievably if the unit is shut
down or if it loses electrical power because of a neighborhood
blackout or if the plug is accidentally removed from the power
source. Many musicians use backup battery power in case of brief
power loss to make certain their
samples are not lost, particularly if the samples or programs
have been edited. Most synths use internal battery-powered
non-volatile memory so that the programs and
presets will not be lost once the instrument is powered down.
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|
|
Volume |
A word with
several meanings. There are two that most pertain to us in music
making. Volume is obviously the most common word used to specify the
loudness of sounds. It also pertains to the control on many
electronic devices that is used to control the loudness.
In computers and hard drives a volume is a
fixed amount of storage on a disk or tape. It is often used as a
synonym for the actual storage medium itself, but it is possible for
a single disk to contain more than one volume, or for a volume to
span more than one disk. |
|
| VST2
|
The German
software publisher Steinberg developed
VST in the mid 1990s to provide a way to incorporate
DSP
effects processing into their Cubase family of
MIDI
sequencing/audio
recording software. Steinberg made the VST software
code available to software developers worldwide. This generated
lots of interest, enthusiasm for the format and, ultimately, a
growing list of third party developers who began producing VST-compatible
effects and
virtual instruments. Emagic incorporated VST
hosting into Logic Audio software, as did Opcode in Vision for
the Macintosh. VST 1.0 had limitations; effects and instruments had
to operate as separate
applications running alongside the host software. This could
cause system instability and computer crashes. Further, you had to
redirect MIDI and audio between applications using additional
applications - so-called virtual cables such as the Mac's IAC
Bus or Hubi's Loopback on the PC. In 1999 Steinberg released the
VST 2.0
plug-in specification. It addressed the previous version's
shortcomings in a BIG way. First and perhaps most important, VST 2.0
plug-ins gained a MIDI
port. With VST 2.0 you could send any MIDI data to a plug-in.
Similarly, the plug-in could generate MIDI data itself and send it
back to the host application. This helped truly "plug in" plug-ins.
With the ability to coordinate audio processing with other musical
tasks directly within the host software, there was no need for
virtual instruments to run as separate, standalone applications. VST
2.0 also introduced support for 24-bit/96kHz
sampling rates and sample-accurate editing. Second, VST 2.0
offered software developers a user interface library, making it easy
to design graphic interfaces for plug-ins (previously plug-ins were
generically handled by the host application, or they provided their
own interface mechanism). With this easy entry into design, plug-in
developers really took off. By 2004 there were an estimated
1000-plus VST effects and instruments on the market or available
online. It's important to note that, although Steinberg calls VST
2.0 a "specification," it isn't a true specification in the sense
that, for example, the
AES/EBU audio spec is. Such a spec is approved by international
scientific organizations that promote the standardization of
technological properties. The VST 2.0 specification only requires
plug-ins to operate with Cubase VST. Consequently, using VST
instruments in other programs can sometimes be problematic. When you
run VST plug-ins in hosts other than Cubase, especially using
wrapper or
shell software you might find that some features and functions
are disabled. |
|
| Wave
File |
The format for
computer system audio files defined by Microsoft for use with
Windows. Wave files are indicated by a .wav suffix in the file name
and are often spelled wav (instead of wave) in writing. The .wav
file format is an expandable format which supports multiple data
formats and compression schemes. Wav files are pretty much the de
facto standard for serious audio work on the PC Windows platform.
|
|
|
Waveform |
The waveform of a
signal is a graph of its instantaneous
voltages versus time. In audio, for example, we are always
dealing with periodic waveforms that make up what we hear. These
periodic waveforms can be plotted on a graph and will show up as
some type of squiggly (how's that for a word?) line. From left to
right is time (usually a very short slice of time) and from top to
bottom is the amplitude of the sound (or relative voltage) at those
instants in time. The familiar sine wave is an example of this.
Waveforms, or Waves (a
Wave File, for example) are also the names sometimes given to
samples or snippets of sound that are used in various electronic
sound generating or playing instruments. The usage of the word comes
from the definition above and has become commonplace in the modern
day era of audio production where one is often looking at waveforms
on a computer screen while editing sounds. |
|
|
Waveshell |
A specific type of
shell software developed by Waves to provide an interface
between their
plug-ins and a particular operating system. The Wavesheell acts
as a sort of "pool" where all the corresponding Waves plug-ins are
stored. If you have multiple host applications on the same computer,
you will not need to copy or install these plug-ins into each
application as the applications themselves will have their own
Waveshell plug-in, which will direct the software to the appropriate
plug-in elsewhere on the drive. This also allows Waves to better
manage usage of plug-ins. On some systems the user is able to use
different types of plug-ins on proprietary
DSP circuitry and accompanying host software that is otherwise
much more limited in flexibility.
TDM systems running under
DAE are an example of this. Normally a particular DSP chip would
only be able to run one particular process.
Instantiate an
EQ plug-in, which takes a fraction of the power of one chip, and
that chip would only be able to run more instantiations of the same
plug. With the Waveshell, the chip and DAE would only see and be
concerned with the Waveshell software. The Waveshell could then take
care of the management of the various Waves plug-ins that ran in
addition. So you could have EQ, compression, etc. all running on one
DSP chip. |
|
|
Wavetable Synthesis |
A method of sound
synthesis in which
waveforms are generated by loading their characteristics from a
special set of parameters stored in a lookup table in computer
memory. Advanced wavetable synthesizers are able to
crossfade between different waveforms while notes are sounding,
which can produce very complex sounds. The resulting complex
waveforms are often further modified by other
filtering techniques and
envelope generators. |
|
| WIMP
|
In human-computer
interaction, WIMP stands for "Windows, Icons, Menus, and Pulldowns,"
denoting a style of interaction using these elements. It was often
used as an approximate synonym of graphical user interfaces. WIMP
interaction was developed at Xerox PARC in 1973 and popularized by
the Macintosh in 1984. Nowadays, if you're calling your computer a
wimp, it's probably due to a lack of
RAM or processor power, however, prior to the use of the
graphical user interface (GUI),
the acronym WIMP was also used in a derogatory manner by those who
preferred more traditional command-line interfaces. |
|
|
Windows |
A family of PC
(Personal Computer) operating systems developed by Microsoft. Before
Windows, most PC's were limited to
DOS, or a very DOS-like user interface. These old systems did
not really have many (if any) graphics and usually required special
commands and codes to be typed in order to carry out even simple
functions. Not long after the Macintosh arrived on the scene with
it's GUI (Graphic User Interface) Microsoft came out with Windows,
aptly named because pertinent information is contained in layers of
windows that can be opened on the screen (much like the Mac).
Windows is by far the most dominant
OS used on PC's today, and there are many different versions,
including Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows CE, Windows
NT, etc. |
|
|
Windows NT |
A computer
operating system. The NT stands for New Technology. Often called NT
for short,
Windows NT is part of the Windows family of operating systems,
but is quite different than some earlier versions of Windows in that
it is not based on
DOS, but instead is a whole new
OS written from the ground up as a 32-bit
system, which provides many improvements. NT has been out for a
number of years and has found its niche in higher end workstations,
especially where networking and security are major concerns.
|
|
| WMA
|
Acronym for
Windows Media Audio, a proprietary audio
compression format developed by Microsoft. Although Microsoft
originally developed the WMA
codec to compete with the
MP3 format (possibly to avoid paying licensing fees for MP3
usage), it never managed to overcome MP3's popularity. Apple's
iTunes Music Store, dispensing
Advanced Audio Coding format song files, has now become WMA's
target. In addition to its position as the default media player on
Windows computers, WMA file compatibility is found on thousands
of consumer devices, ranging from portable hand-held music players
and cell phones to home and portable
DVD players. Windows Media Audio 10 Professional is a flexible
codec that supports
24-bit/96kHz audio in stereo, in addition to
5.1 and 7.1
surround sound. It also provides efficient mobile capabilities
at 24Kbps to 96Kbps for stereo, and 128Kbps to 256Kbps for 5.1
surround. |
|
|
Workstation |
Generally any type
of equipment and/or workspace set up for specific sets of tasks. The
term often refers to a general-purpose computer designed to be used
by one person at a time and which offers higher performance than
normally found in a personal computer, especially with respect to
graphics, processing power and the ability to carry out several
tasks at the same time. In music workstations are sometimes built
around keyboard type products as well. Generally the idea is to give
a keyboard "all-in-one" capabilities for composition, recording,
sound design and performance. This is distinct from a
synthesizer, which might only contain a sound-generating engine
with a keyboard controller attached, and an Arranger, which usually
has limited sound design abilities but often has built-in musical
sequences that "automatically" generate introductions,
accompaniments, and fills. The general requirements for a keyboard
workstation are that it include:
- Controller(s) - the keyboard itself, plus
additional knobs, faders, switches, ribbons, etc.
- Synthesizer Engine - capable of creating,
editing, playing back and storing sounds
- Drum Sounds - whether part of the
Synthesizer Engine or separately accessible
-
Sequencer - MIDI, and
increasingly, audio
- Effects Processing - which can range from
simple global effects to complex channel-specific processing
Some well-known workstations include the Korg
Triton, Kurzweil K2600, Roland Fantom, and Yamaha Motif, all
available in different configurations. Some of these workstations go
farther to include CD burners, computer interfaces and expansion
cards to add new sounds or effects. Songwriters often like
workstations because they can compose, arrange and mix without
disturbing their creative flow - they never need to leave the
keyboard to deal with computers,
hard disk recorders or other equipment. All workstations allow
multitimbral playback and MIDI sequencing on multiple channels.
In live performance, keyboard players can create massive stacks of
sounds (often called Combinations, Performances, Multis or Setups)
to play across the entire keyboard, or they can divide the keyboard
into zones, each of which will play different sounds. Players can
also load and play sequenced material to enhance their live playing,
use the workstation's controllers to
modulate the sounds they are playing live and make effects
changes on the fly without having to rely on an outboard processor
or mixing board. With the advent of hard disk recording and
computer-based audio systems, another definition of workstation has
arisen: the Digital Audio Workstation. See the Word for the Day
definition of
DAW to learn more. |
|
| XMF
|
Abbreviation for
eXtensible Music File specification. XMF is a relatively new (1999)
family of music file formats adopted by the
MMA for gathering together into a single file the media assets
(and/or links to external media assets) required to render a
MIDI note-based piece (or suite of related pieces) in a
computer-based player (or possibly an instrument) with consistent
audio playback across many players and platforms. Type 0 and Type 1
XMF formats (approved by the MMA in 2001) employ both standard MIDI
files (SMF)
and custom
DLS files with
general MIDI instruments. More XMF information is available and
the MMA website. |
|
| Y2K
|
Abbreviation for
Year 2000. The Y2K abbreviation is now the buzz word for referencing
all of the potential problems that lie ahead for big computer
systems when they begin to have to deal with dates after the year
2000. The problem stems from the fact that many older systems were
designed to accommodate only two-digit year codes. So a date might
look like 8/13/98 as opposed to 8/13/1998. After the year 2000 the
date might look like 8/13/00 and it is unknown how the software on
many computer systems will interpret this date. There is currently
an explosion of new companies whose sole offer is to evaluate
complex computer systems for vulnerability to this problem and
correct where necessary. |
|
| Zero
Latency |
Latency is the time a
message takes to traverse a system. For music recorded via computer,
latency is major concern. A human playing an instrument, for
example, needs nearly instantaneous feedback from that instrument in
order to play it correctly. While this is generally not a problem
with non-digital instruments, audio routed through a computer always
has some delay in the
signal path. Latencies higher than 100
ms make working with real-time music programs or instruments
impossible, and many musicians find much lower latencies
objectionable. While virtually every digital process involves some
latency (just converting a signal to digital and back to analog
takes some small amount of time) there are some systems where it is
much more of an issue than others. Historically host based computer
recording systems (ones that don't rely on dedicated audio
processing hardware, but use the computer's CPU for instead) have
been the worst offenders. A
TDM based Pro Tools
DAW, for example, has virtually no latency because the computer
is merely acting as a host while most of the audio processing is
done on the DSP cards residing in the computer. Out of the need for
low-latency interconnects, Steinberg created
ASIO, a protocol designed for low-latency transmission (on the
order of a few ms) of digital instrument and other music data. The
term 'Zero Latency
Monitoring' was introduced in 1998 by RME with the DIGI96 series
of audio interfaces and refers to the technique of routing the input
signal directly to the output on the audio card. This has become one
of the most important features of modern, host based hard disk
recording. Progress is continually being made in lowering the
latency of these systems. With ASIO Direct Monitoring (ADM, since
ASIO 2.0), Steinberg has not only introduced Zero Latency Monitoring
to ASIO, but also extended it substantially. ADM also allows for
monitoring the input signal via the hardware in real-time. Over and
above that, ADM supports
panorama,
volume and routing, which requires a mixer (i.e.
DSP functionality) in the hardware though. Thus it is possible
to copy a routing through a software mixer into the hardware in
real-time, so that the sound difference between playback and
monitoring is very small. In total, ADM renders a substantial step
towards 'mixer and tape recorder inside the computer'. There are
similar advancements being achieved with other brands. On the whole
zero latency monitoring is a reality now, but there are still some
compromises to be made in terms of workflow to achieve it. The only
easy way around this is still to go with more costly solutions until
processing speeds allow the power and flexibility of dedicated
systems to be truly replicated with host based systems.
|
|
| Zip
|
Zip - Nothing,
nil, nada, zero, zilch. Zip is one of those words that actually has
about a hundred different meanings and uses between being an acronym
for a dozen different things and being an abbreviation for a dozen
more. For our purposes, two definitions are most relevant.
- An open standard for computer file
compression and decompression used widely for PC download
archives. The file extension given to ZIP files is .zip.
- A popular storage media type developed by
Iomega that began as a 100-MB hard disk data cartridge about the
size of a 3.5-inch floppy disk. Originally conceived as a sort of
"super floppy," Zip drives and media are now available in 100 and
250 MB sizes with ATAPI, parallel,
USB, and
SCSI configurations. There will probably be further
enhancements in the future. While Zips look a lot like floppy
disks, their speed performance is much closer to that of a hard
drive.
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