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Free Logic Training for SRT visitors (ExCel - June 12-15)
Alchemea College are teaming up with Apple to offer free Logic 8 training at this years new Sound Recording Technology Show at ExCel (part of…
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Alchemea Diploma Students recently visited the legendary Metropolis Studios to meet prominent mastering engineer Mazen Murad (recently mastered Elbows The Seldom Seen Kid). Students were able to talk to Mazen…
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Korda Marshall and his daughter Summer recently visited Alchemea to give our Diploma students an insight into the music industry.
Korda talked about how he chartered…
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ALCHEMEA COLLEGE
The Winsdor Centre
Winsdor Street T: 020 7359 3986
London N1 8QG E: info@alchemea.com
The Audio Engineers Dictionary S-Z
| S/PDIF | Computer | Digital audio interface, shorthand for Sony-Philips Digital Interface to IEC-958 Standard. 2 Channels Max 24Bit, generally uses phono {RCA} (coaxial) connector. |
| SACD | Digital | Super Audio CD, Sony (r) system using a DVD disk & 1 bit Delta modulation Direct Stream Digital (DSD) Competitor to DVD-A |
| SASS | Microphones | Stereo Ambient Sampling System trade name of a stereo mic technique using 2, head spaced & angled PZM's with a centre baffle |
| Sawtooth wave | Synthesis | Cyclic ascending or descending linear transition between a high level and a low level. Return to original level occurs in no time. Contains an infinity of (odd and even) harmonics. Looks like a saw, hence the name. |
| SCMS | Digital | Serial Copy Management System; generally pronounced Scums. System to allow 1 digital copy only of a CD etc |
| SCSI | Computer | Small Computer System Interface. Parallel connection 8 or 16bit wide @ various speeds either Balanced {Know as Differential} or unbalenced Popular on Samplers, used with some Disc drives. Will probably be superseded by USB & Firewire. |
| SDDS | Film | Sony Dynamic Digital Sound; 7.1 channel Surround system for cinema, uses data reduction |
| SDS | MIDI | MIIDI Sample Dump Standard; protocol to allow Audio data & loop info to be sent (very slowly) over a MIDI cable |
| SECAM | Video | Sequentiel Couleur Avec Memoire; French system to encode colour information with luminence (B&W) 625 lines. 50Hz - 6MHz bandwidth |
| self noise | Electronics | Inherent noise floor of microphone or electrical circuit/component |
| Sequencer | MIDI | a program that can record, manipulate & play MIDI performance data |
| Serial | one after another. Daisy chain connection Eg for digital 1 bit at a time. | |
| server | Computer | Host computer that supplies files & services like printers to client Computer |
| shareware | Computer | Software that the author/owner licences one to use without mandatory charge |
| Silicon Chip | Computer | An Integrated Circuit (IC) a collection of circuit elements such as transistors & capacitors fabricated on 1 piece of silicon |
| simple harmonic motion | Eg a pendulum. If plotted on a Time/Amplitude graph shows a Sine wave | |
| sine wave | Result of simple harmonic motion and uniform linear motion. It is the only waveform that has no harmonics. Called a sine wave because the displacement is proportional to the sine of the angle. | |
| SLIP | Computer | Serial Line Internet Protocol. Allows TCP/IP connection to the internet |
| SMTP | Computer | Simple Mail Transport Protocol. Used for sending & receiving E-mail |
| software | Computer | Binary coded instructions. Eg applications & operating systems |
| sonic | Pertaining to sound | |
| sound pressure level | sound pressure referred to a standard level, the threshold of hearing; expressed in dB | |
| SoundField microphone | Microphones | Mic with 4 capsules set in a regular tetrahedron. See ambisonic, B Format |
| spatial | Pertaining to space. | |
| speed of sound | see velocity of sound | |
| spot microphone | microphones | Mic placed close to a performer to augment a main stereo/ surround Mic |
| Square wave | Regular oscillation between 2 fixed levels. The transition theoretically occurs in no time. Thus contains an infinity of (odd) harmonics. | |
| standing wave | When a wavelength = the distance between a pair of walls (or it fits X number of times) the wave will have no apparent velocity | |
| stapes | The Ear | 1 of the 3 bones in the middle ear |
| Star Network | MIDI | Parallel connection (Eg of MIDI devices using a Thru Box) |
| Status Byte | MIDI | Starts with a 1, indicates type of message on 3 bits (8 types possible) and channel on 4 bits (16 possibilities). |
| stereo | (from Greek) meaning solid, IE with depth, breadth and height implied | |
| stereoscopic | Optics | Ability of eyes/brain to perceive depth / distance |
| stimulus | Something that causes a sensation | |
| Subband | Digital | aka Critical Bands, approximately 1/3rd Octave frequency band used in Perceptual coding |
| Sustain | Level at which the parameter will stabilise for as long as the note is sustained once decay is over. | |
| SVA | Film | Stereo Variable Area; Used in Dolby Stereo/Pro Logic, 2 soundtracks in the space previously used for 1, See Variable Area |
| SVGA | Computer | Super Video Graphics Array. VDU monitor standard for the PC etc gives a picture 800x600 Pixels in size |
| sweet spot | Optimum listening position for multi loudspeaker playback. | |
| Sync Pip | Film | Exactly 1Fm of 1kHz tone is put at a point 2seconds (3ft of 35mm cinema film) before 1st frame of picture. |
| SYSEX | MIDI | System Exclusive, machine code transmitted within the MIDI protocol specific to each manufacturer. |
| sysop | Computer | SYStem OPerator. Person who runs a bulletin board or on-line service |
| Systems Common messages | MIDI | Messages which are not channel specific. Includes SYSEX. |
| TA | Computer | Terminal Adaptor; as a Modem allows digital comunication over an analog line a TA interfaces a computer to an ISDN line |
| tangential mode | Acoustics | Room resonance that involves four of the six surfaces of a room. |
| TAO | Computer | Track At Once you can write 1 track do something else then another track aka Multisession |
| TCP | Computer | Transmission Control Protocol. See TCP/IP |
| TCP/IP | Computer | Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. Protocol system including TCP, IP, SMTP, FTP, Telnet and many other network protocols |
| Telecine | Film | Machine to convert Film images & sound to TV compatible Video & Audio |
| Temporal | Pertains to Time | |
| tera | SI Units | prefix Symbol T Eg teragram (Tg) = 1000000000000grams Or 10^12 |
| terminal | Computer | A VDU & Keyboard with access to Server is a Dumb Terminal. A smart Terminal also has a CPU |
| Tetrahedron | maths | A 4 sided solid |
| Text | Computer | Data consisting of standard ASCII or ANSI characters only |
| TFT | Computer | Thin Film Transistor display. As in the display on our Euphonix, Protools or the SSL G4 |
| threshold | Level/amplitude at which a stimulus is just strong enough. Eg Threshold of hearing = just audible | |
| Thru Box | MIDI | Box with one MIDI In and multiple MIDI Thru ports. |
| THX | Film | Tomlinson Holman Experiment; A set of playback specifications laid down by Lucasfilm Ltd & licensed to movie theatres & manufacturers of home cinema equipment. |
| timbre | Perceived tonal quality of a sound based on the pitch and harmonic content. | |
| transducer | Device that converts one form of energy into another. Eg a Microphone converts sound to volts. | |
| Transient | Acoustics | Abrupt change in signal amplitude at the start of a sound Eg percussion |
| Tympanic membrane | The Ear | Eardrum |
| Ultrasonic | Acoustics | Above audible range generally taken to be >20 kHz |
| U-Matic | Video | 3/4in Cassette based Video format from Sony. Also used for Stereo Digital Audio |
| Unbalanced Line | Electronics | A coaxial cable with the outer screen at 0 volts or ground potential & an AC signal carried by the central conductor. Used for domestic & Semi-Pro equipment. |
| unidirectional | microphones | Microphone whose sensitivity is dominant in one direction. Implies a Cardioid polar pattern |
| unity Gain | Electronics | an electronic system where the signal is output at the same level as is input |
| UNIX | Computer | Operating system, generally command line. Nearly all big servers run Unix |
| URL | Computer | uniform resource locator. Syntax to describe WEB locations. Eg http://www.alchemea.com |
| USB | Computer | Universal Serial Bus.Hot swappable, serial computer connection. Vers 1.1 |
| User Bits | Timecode | SMPTE/EBU timecode has 32 bits (generally arranged as 8x 4bit words) for any information, including a second set of timecode values, the user wishes. |
| uuencode | Computer | Popular method of sending Binary files via ASCII based E-mail. Originally a UNIX application |
| Variable area | Film | Analogue optical soundtrack. The Soundtrack area is either black or clear, the width of the clear portion varying with amplitude. See variable density |
| Variable density | Film | Analog Optical soundtrack, shading, opacity or density of the track varies with sound amplitude change. |
| VBAP | Surround Sound | Vector Based Amplitude Panning, aims to create phantom images between playback loudspeakers by splitting a single signal between them & varing the level. |
| VCA | Electronics | Voltage Controlled Amplifier; a circuit or IC the gain of which is controlled by a DC voltage. Much used in Dynamics units & mix automation |
| VCO | Electronics | Voltage Controlled Oscillator |
| VDU | Computer | Visual display Unit. A computer monitor |
| velocity of sound | acoustics | Speed of sound in air @ 0degC & 50% relative humidity is 331.6 m/s. As speed is proportional to the square root of absolute temperature = about 12 m/s greater at 20degC. It's nearly independent of frequency, slowing down slightly with frequency. Will be altered by wind velocity. The formula to give a good approximation for the speed of sound in other gases at standard temperature and pressure can be obtained from c = sqrt (gamma x P / ?) where gamma is the ratio of specific heats, P is 1.013E5 Pa and ? is the density. {? = Greek letter rho} Sound travels much faster in solids, typically about 5,000m/s. |
| Vertical Sync | Video | Sync pulse at start of each field of a TV image, 50Hz {Europe etc} or 59.94 {Americas etc} |
| VGA | Computer | Video Graphics Array. VDU monitor standard for the PC etc gives a picture 600x480 Pixels in size |
| VGA connector | Computer | 15 pin sub miniture D connector of same size as standard 9pin D connector. Carries separate Red Green Blue + sync + audio signals |
| VHS | Video | Video Home System; Cassette based, 0.5 tape generally CrO2 type |
| VITC | Timecode | Vertical Interval Time Code. On a video image, a pair of lines (generally outside normal viewing area) can be used to carry Timecode Including user bit information. T/c will be readable even when tape stationary |
| Vocoder | Fx Unit | Unit that analyses the frequency content of an exciter signal (usually voice) in real-time (FFT) and reproduces this spectrum on another sound (carrier: guitar, synth) with a dynamic graphic equalizer. Makes instruments talk. Very popular effect. |
| VRAM | Computer | Video RAM. Even faster than regular RAM |
| VTR | Video | Video Tape Recorder |
| WAN | Computer | Wide Area Network. Network covering a large area Eg many buildings |
| Watt | Electronics | Unit of electric power =one joule per sec. Or 1 Amp DC & load resistance of 1 Ohm |
| wave form | Shape of a signal wave. | |
| wavelength | Distance between successive similar points on a wave. | |
| White noise | Acoustics | Equal probability of any frequency component.Sounds like Intense hiss. White is an analogy to light where equal frequency content gives white light (see pink Noise) |
| Wild Track | Film | Wild = not synchronized to picture. Audio recording made without the camera running |
| wildcard | Computer | as in the game of Poker. But a single Character is equivilent to a range of characters. Eg * mean any number of char, ? Means any single char. |
| Windows 2000 | Computer | Microsoft 32 bit graphically based operating system. Developed from Win NT |
| Windows 95 | Computer | Microsoft 32 bit graphically based operating system. |
| Windows 98 | Computer | Microsoft 32 bit graphically based operating system. |
| Windows NT | Computer | NT = New Technology. 32bit operating system from Microsoft (r) |
| Word | Computer | Collection of Bits eg 8bit or a Byte size word |
| WORM | Digital | Write Once Read Many, Eg CD-R & DVD-R IE data storage with no Re-Writing possible |
| Wow and Flutter | Analog | Wow {an onomatopoeia} is low frequency speed/pitch variations to replayed audio, Flutter being high speed variations |
| WWW | Computer | World-Wide Web, like a LAN or WAN but covers the world |
| X.25 | Computer | A networking protocol |
| Xmodem | Computer | A File transfer protocol, able to transfer binary files, has error correction |
| XVGA | Computer | XtraSuper Video Graphics Array. VDU monitor standard for the PC etc gives a picture 1024x768 Pixels in size |
| Y | Video | Luminance or B&W part of a video signal. Confusingly in Graphic /print media It's Yellow as in YMCK |
| Ymodem | Computer | file transfer protocol, able to transfer binary files, has error correction. |
| yocto | SI Units | prefix Symbol y Eg yoctogram (yg) = 1E-24grams Or 10^-24 |
| yotta | SI Units | prefix Symbol Y Eg yottagram (Yg) = 1E+24grams Or 10^24 |
| Z | Electronics | Symbol for Impedance measured in Ohms at a specific frequency (often 1kHz) |
| zepto | SI Units | prefix Symbol z Eg zeptogram (zg) = 1E-21grams Or 10^-21 |
| zetta | SI Units | prefix Symbol Z Eg zettagram (Zg) = 1E+21grams Or 10^21 |
| Zmodem | Computer | a file transfer protocol, able to transfer binary files, has error correction. |
| Ω | Electronics | Ohm, unit used to measure resistance & Impedance frequency, the perception of pitch also can be affected by other factors such as intensity and spectrum. |
| wall of sound A theoretical concept employed by early workers in stereo at Bell | ||
| Laboratories; a two-dimensional wavefront. | ||
| XY stereo The arrangement of two directional microphones in a coincident stereo | ||
| pickup. |