Tag: music production

Goniometer (Stereo Separation Metering)

The Goniometer, also known as an Audio Vector Oscilloscope, is an instrument that offers a complete image of the relationships within a stereo signal. It is a tool that shows the stereo separation signal measurement within the audio metering world. Its main task is to plot the signal on a two-dimensional zone so that the…
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VU Meters

VU stands for volume units—and VU meters are tools that display an average signal level, as they allow the user to perceive louder sounds. VU meters have a moving needle on a graduate scale. The upper part of the scale is calibrated in dB, and the lower one in percentages. Volume is quite subjective since…
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Spectrum Analyzers

Spectrum analyzers are a specific type of sound level meter. They allow the user to study the amplitude versus the frequency spectrum of any given sound. These analyzers use a wide variety of filter networks and vertical columns that show the data organized on a specific range. The range goes from low frequencies to high…
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Spectrogram

An audio spectrogram is a visual representation of a sound. In other words, it is an extremely intricate audio analyzer. As a result, it provides a very detailed and accurate image of audio. A spectrogram is a time-varying spectral representation that has a wide diversity of spectral density of any given signal with respect to…
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ROMplers

In essence, ROMplers are ROM-based sample players. People use this term to refer to software sample players that involve a fixed group of waveforms. It comes from a slang term given to sound modules that feature stock presets that are based on samples stored in ROM. The term ROMpler is a combination of ROM and…
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Soft Synths (aka Software Synthesizers)

Software synthesizers, commonly known as soft synths, are speaker computer programs or plugins that produces digital audio. Over the years, there have been many advances in terms of processing speed. These have allowed them to achieve the same tasks with simpler hardware. In brief, today soft synths are more affordable, more portable, and easier to…
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Sampler (Musical Instrument)

A sampler is a digital or electronic musical instrument that resembles a synthesizer. The main difference between the former and the latter is that the sampler can produce new sounds with sound recordings of real or artificial instrument sounds, instead of with voltage-controlled oscillators. People call these sound recordings samples. The Sampler: a Brief History…
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Step Sequencer

Originally, a step sequencer was a hardware module that produced a limited number of control signals in a stable and pulsed sequence that was continuous while active. In it, you usually sent the output of the signal to an oscillator or an audio filter. When the step sequencer was active and the musician played a…
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Woodwind Instruments

Woodwind instruments are instruments made of metal, wood, plastic, ocarinas, or a combination of these. They have a great variety of forms, although they are all narrow cylinders or pipes with holes. In addition, all have an opening at the bottom as well as a mouthpiece at the top. Metal caps, known as keys, are…
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Brass Instruments

Brass instruments, also known as labrosones, produce sounds by a vibration of air in a tubular resonator that is in sympathy with the vibration of the player’s lips. This means that they are lip-vibrated instruments, as well as aerophones, because the musician must blow air into them. There are a variety of involved in the…
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