Audio & Sound

Busted

• Ambience / atmos bedThe steady traffic, wind, birds, crowd, or room sound underneath a scene that keeps its world alive.
• Attack and releaseThe compressor's reflexes: attack decides how fast it grabs a loud moment, release decides how fast it lets go.
• Audio busA shared route that gathers tracks under one fader or sends copies of them through the same reverb, compressor, or effect.
• Auto-transcription and text-based editingTurning speech into editable text, so deleting a word or sentence from the transcript also cuts the matching audio.
• AutomationSaved fader and effect moves that play back on cue, like lifting one word or fading music under a sentence.
• Bed (music bed / underscore)Low-level continuous music running under narration: there to hold the energy, not to be noticed.
• Bitrate and sample rateSample rate is how many snapshots per second of the sound; bitrate is how much data per second the exported file spends.
• Bounce / render / mixdownTurning the whole session, with its tracks, plugins, and fader moves, into one finished audio file.
• ClippingThe signal tried to go louder than the maximum, so its peaks got chopped flat. That harsh crackle when audio hits the red.
• CompressionAutomatically turning down the loudest moments so you can raise everything else, making a voice sit at an even, present level.
• Compression ratioThe compressor's strength: at 4:1, every 4 dB above the threshold comes out as only 1 dB.
• DAWThe multitrack app where audio actually gets built: stacked tracks on a timeline, a mixer, plugins, and an export button.
• De-esserA compressor aimed only at the harsh 's' and 't' frequencies, so sibilant vocals stop hissing without dulling the whole voice.
• Decibel (dB)The logarithmic scale audio uses for level changes: add 6 dB and the waveform amplitude doubles, subtract 6 dB and it halves.
• DereverberationReducing room echo already baked into a recording, so distant, bathroom-like speech sounds closer and drier.
• Double-enderEach person on a remote call records their own mic locally, so the final edit is not stuck with call-quality audio.
• Dry vs. wetDry is the untouched signal, wet is the effected version. The mix knob just decides how much of each you hear.
• DuckingThe music automatically dips when the voice comes in, then rides back up in the gaps. Radio has done it for eighty years.
• Dynamic rangeThe distance between the quietest and loudest moments in audio. Wide feels cinematic, narrow feels even and easy to hear.
• EQ (equalization)Turning specific frequency ranges up or down: cut the mud at 250 Hz, add air up top, and a voice suddenly sounds expensive.
• Fade in / out and crossfadeRamping a sound's volume up or down over time, or overlapping two clips so one hands off to the other without a click.
• FoleyFootsteps, cloth, keys, and other everyday sounds performed in sync with the picture after filming.
• Frequency spectrumA map of a sound from bass to treble, showing which frequencies carry the voice, rumble, hum, hiss, and everything between.
• Gain stagingSetting the volume correctly at every step of the chain so nothing distorts and nothing gets buried in hiss.
• HeadroomThe empty space between your loudest peak and clipping, kept in reserve for the shout, drum hit, or plugin boost you did not expect.
• High-pass filter (low cut)An EQ move that rolls off everything below a set frequency, thinning out rumble and boom while leaving the voice intact.
• Integrated loudnessThe single LUFS reading for a whole song, episode, or program after every loud and quiet section has been counted.
• Lavalier microphone vs. shotgun microphoneA lav clips to the speaker and follows them; a shotgun stays just out of frame and aims tightly from a boom.
• LimiterA hard ceiling on volume: anything that would go louder gets pushed back down, so the signal stops overshooting.
• Lossless vs. lossyWAV and FLAC keep every sample; MP3 and AAC make much smaller files by permanently discarding less noticeable detail.
• LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale)The unit platforms use to measure how loud something actually sounds, so YouTube and Spotify can level everyone to the same volume.
• Makeup gainThe output boost after compression that brings the track back to its old loudness without bringing the squashed peaks back.
• Microphone polar patternThe shape of what a mic hears: front only, all around, or both sides. Pick the shape, pick how much room you record.
• Mixing vs. masteringMixing balances the parts against each other. Mastering is the one final pass that makes the finished whole loud, even, and publishable.
• Mono vs. stereo (mono compatibility)One channel versus two, and whether your two-channel mix still holds up when a phone squashes it back down to one.
• Noise floorThe constant hiss or hum sitting under everything you recorded. You only notice it in the pauses, until you boost the audio.
• Noise gateAn automatic door for audio: loud enough gets through, while hiss and room noise in the gaps get turned down or muted.
• Noise reduction / spectral repairLearning what the background noise sounds like and subtracting it, or painting a single cough out of the picture of the sound.
• NormalizationTurning a whole file up or down by one fixed amount to hit a target level, so different clips feel equally loud.
• Panning; stereo widthPlacing each sound between your left and right ear, and deciding how far apart the whole mix spreads.
• Phase cancellationTwo copies of a sound arrive out of step and subtract from each other, making the mix turn thin, hollow, or weak.
• PlosiveThe low thump a P or B sound punches into a microphone when a burst of breath hits the capsule.
• Pop filter / windscreenThe mesh screen or foam cover in front of a mic that stops P and B blasts from punching the capsule.
• Proximity effectThe extra bass a directional mic adds when you speak very close, creating that warm radio voice or an unwanted boom.
• Punch-in; pickupRe-recording one short section after a flub, then dropping the clean take into the original without redoing the whole performance.
• ReverbThe wash of reflections a space adds after a sound. It's what makes something feel like a closet, a hall, or a cathedral.
• Riser; impact; braamThe cinematic sequence that climbs in tension, lands a heavy hit, then leaves a huge low blast hanging in the air.
• Room toneRecorded 'silence' of the actual room, used to fill edit gaps so cuts don't drop into unnatural dead air.
• Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)How far the voice or music sits above the hiss, hum, and room noise. A bigger dB gap means a cleaner recording.
• Sound designDeliberately building a thing's sound world: the whoosh on a transition, the click on a button, the thud when something lands.
• Spatial audio; binaural audioHeadphone processing that makes a two-channel file feel like sound is beside, behind, above, or moving around your head.
• StemA grouped submix bounced as its own file: dialogue on one, music on another, effects on a third.
• Sting / bumperA tiny branded music cue that punctuates a logo, reveal, segment change, or trip into an ad break.
• Sync point / hit pointThe exact frame where a beat, footstep, whoosh peak, or musical accent must land on the picture.
• ThresholdThe level where a compressor, limiter, or gate wakes up and starts changing the signal.
• TransientThe split-second spike at the start of a hit or consonant that gives it punch, snap, and a clear sense of timing.
• True peak (dBTP)The real loudest point of a waveform between the samples, which can overshoot what your meter shows and clip after export.
• UI sound / earconThe tiny success ding, error beep, or connect tone that tells you an interface event just happened.
• Voiceover (VO)Narration laid over the picture instead of recorded in sync with it, whether or not you ever see the speaker on screen.
• WaveformThe audio shape on a timeline: time runs left to right, and taller peaks show larger signal amplitude.
• Whoosh (transition sweep)The rising swish laid over a move or scene change so the motion flows through the cut instead of bumping into it.

The territory

30 core terms mapped for this field, ranked by how often builders reach for them. Each one is a future entry. Want to bust one? One entry, one file, one pull request.

• LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale)perceived-loudness measurement platforms normalize playback to"how loud it should be for YouTube" · "the volume standard"
• Compressionnarrows loud-to-quiet range so everything sits even"make the quiet parts louder" · "even out the volume"
• EQ (equalization)boosting/cutting specific frequency ranges"make the voice warmer" · "less muddy, more crisp"
• Noise floorconstant background hiss/hum under a recording"the hiss underneath" · "background static level"
• Noise reduction / spectral repairremoving hum, hiss, or isolated unwanted sounds"clean up the background noise" · "get rid of the hum"
• Duckingmusic automatically dips when voice speaks"music gets quieter when someone talks" · "sidechain the background track"
• Clippingsignal exceeds ceiling, distorting harshly"it's crackly and distorted" · "went into the red"
• Gain stagingsetting levels correctly at each stage"not recording too hot" · "getting the input level right"
• Normalizationscaling audio to a target peak or loudness"make everything the same volume" · "auto-level it"
• True peak (dBTP)inter-sample peak level after conversion to analog"the real loudest moment" · "peaks that only show up after export"
• Limiterhard ceiling preventing any peak overshoot"stop it from ever getting too loud" · "the volume ceiling"
• Dynamic rangedistance between quietest and loudest content"the gap between loud and quiet" · "how much the volume jumps"
• Mixing vs. masteringbalancing elements versus final loudness/tonal polish"the final polish pass" · "making it sound finished"
• DAWmultitrack audio editing and mixing application"the audio editing program" · "software like Audition or Logic"
• Room tonerecorded silence of a space, used to patch edits"the sound of the empty room" · "silence that isn't dead silence"
• De-essertames harsh "s" and "t" sibilance in vocals"the spitty S sounds" · "hissy consonants"
• High-pass filter (low cut)removes rumble below a frequency"cut the boominess" · "get rid of low rumble"
• Plosivepopping burst from P and B sounds"the pop on P's" · "mic punches"
• Pop filter / windscreenscreen or foam blocking plosives and wind"that mesh thing in front of the mic" · "the foam ball"
• Microphone polar patterndirectional shape of what a mic picks up"cardioid mic" · "mic that only hears the front"
• Voiceover (VO)narration recorded separately from picture"the narrator track" · "person talking over the video"
• Reverbsimulated space tail after a sound"make it sound like a big room" · "echoey"
• Dry vs. wetunprocessed signal versus effected signal"with and without the effect" · "how much echo"
• Stemgrouped submix bounced separately (dialogue, music, FX)"the separate tracks" · "voice and music as separate files"
• Sound designcrafted non-musical sounds that sell an action"the whoosh and click sounds" · "sound effects for the UI"
• Bed (music bed / underscore)low-level continuous music under narration"background music behind the voiceover" · "the vibe track"
• Panning; stereo widthplacement across the left-right field"sound coming from the left" · "make it wider"
• Mono vs. stereo (mono compatibility)single-channel versus two-channel and safe collapsing"one speaker or two" · "still sounds right on a phone"
• Fade in / out and crossfadegradual level change or overlapped blend"ease the sound in" · "blend two clips smoothly"
• Bitrate and sample ratedata-per-second and samples-per-second quality settings"the quality setting on the export" · "kHz and kbps"

Deeper in the field

• Decibel (dB) logarithmic unit used to express level differences and gain
• Headroom safety margin between signal peaks and clipping
• Threshold level where a compressor, gate, or limiter begins acting
• Compression ratio how strongly levels above the threshold are reduced
• Attack and release how quickly dynamics processing engages and stops acting
• Makeup gain output gain restoring level after compression
• Integrated loudness average perceived loudness measured across the complete program
• Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) desired signal level compared with background noise
• Frequency spectrum distribution of sound energy across low-to-high frequencies
• Transient brief onset spike giving a sound punch and definition
• Phase cancellation signal weakening caused by mismatched waveform timing
• Noise gate mutes signal below a threshold
• Dereverberation reducing recorded room echo after the fact
• Proximity effect bass boost from speaking close to mic
• Waveform visual amplitude-over-time shape of audio
• Automation programmed level, pan, or effect changes over time
• Audio bus routing that groups tracks for shared processing or control
• Bounce / render / mixdown exporting the finished mix to a file
• Lossless vs. lossy WAV/FLAC versus MP3/AAC compressed formats
• Spatial audio; binaural audio head-related processing giving 3D placement
• Foley everyday sounds performed to picture
• Ambience / atmos bed continuous environmental background sound
• UI sound / earcon short functional tone signalling an interface event
• Whoosh (transition sweep) rising swept noise covering a cut
• Riser; impact; braam building tension then a heavy hit
• Sting / bumper short branded musical punctuation
• Sync point / hit point moment audio locks to a visual beat
• Lavalier microphone vs. shotgun microphone clip-on body mic versus directional boom mic
• Double-ender separately recorded local audio for remote sessions
• Punch-in; pickup re-recording a small section to patch a flub
• Auto-transcription and text-based editing editing audio by deleting words from a transcript