Glossary of audio terms
This glossary of audio terms was originated by the producer Tess Davidson and the production company Reduced Listening. Many thanks to both for allowing us to publish it here.
We’ll keep expanding this over time, so feel free to contact us with new submissions or expansions of existing entries - we know some lingo is used differently in different places.
ACOUSTICS – how clearly the sound is heard in a room; the quality of sound in a given area.
ACTUALITY – the voices in a story that are not the reporter's/narrator's. Usually recorded on-location or in a studio interview.
AMBIENCE – the environment in which an event takes place. It is often recorded afterwards to provide audio that can be faded in prior to and coming out of the event to ease transitions (e.g. Traffic on a road. Doors slamming. Sounds of a demonstration. Birds and wind in a forest.) Can be used as an actuality itself or mixed under narration or other actualities. To be clear, ambience is not “sound effects” but real-life sound.
ATMOS – short for atmosphere, the background sounds recorded on location.
AUDIBLE SPECTRUM – the range of sound that can be heard. Sounds are given an identification based on the number of times they vibrate per second, a scale referred to as Hertz. The range of audibility differs between species. Typical human hearing is considered to span from a low of about 50 hertz (abbreviated Hz) to a high of about 16,000 Hertz (kHz , or kiloHertz). A dog, for example, can easily hear 20kHz.
AUXILIARY INPUT (SEND) – the route back into a sound desk for a line level signal sent to a piece of outboard equipment via an auxiliary send.
AUXILIARY OUTPUT (SEND) – line level output from a sound desk which can be used for monitoring without crossing over to the main output.
ANNOS (BACK/FRONT ANNOS) – back announcing is when a presenter talks about a song that has just played, front annos is when a presenter introduces an artist/track before playing.
BACK TIME – back timing is the technique of working out how much time is left before an event. For example, if a presenter or DJ’s show is going to end, they work out the right length of a song to ensure they don't finish too early or overrun.
BANDWIDTH – the range of frequencies contained in the audio being used.
BASS – bass is the lower end of the music scale at around 60 to 250 Hz. For example, a male voice ranges from 85 to 180 Hz, whereas a female voice is from 165 to 255 Hz.
BED – sound running underneath a track or other audio. Not very dynamic – often music or background noise. Common use for ambience or instrumental music.
BILLINGS – the programme information which is used for the text in radio listings in newspapers, e.g. The Radio Times. This is submitted via the BBC’s Proteus system. This includes episode descriptions, show titles, production team etc.
BOUNCE - refers to exporting a file such as a WAV or MP3 from a DAW (i.e. a project in Reaper, Pro Tools, Audition, etc.). See also ‘RENDER.’
BRIGHT – audio with a lot of treble content. To make it brighter would be a request to increase the higher frequencies; It's too bright would be a request to remove some higher frequencies.
BUSS – a buss is a single line in a mixing desk that can receive signals from a number of sources. The buss carries the line to the master audio channel to output to a destination. E.g. you might have a vox/voice buss.
CLIPPED – when audio is missing from the beginning or end of a sound element or word. Also known as “upcut.”
CLOSED CAPTION – a closed-captioned program is broadcast with captions. It consists of a subtitle track that contains the text of the dialogue (and who is speaking it), as well as indications of other non-speech sounds that are happening while a show is playing.
COMPRESSOR – a compressor works to reduce the amount of variation in the dynamic range — the span between the softest and loudest sounds. Some BBC networks use very high levels of compression (e.g. Radio 1), to ensure everything sounds loud all the time, whereas others use little (e.g. Radio 3) to preserve the dynamic range (so the quiet bits in a piece of music sound quiet).
CONNECTOR – a plug or jack that allows equipment to be easily connected and disconnected.
CROSSFADE – an action or command that causes the current audio to decrease in volume whilst another piece of audio is simultaneously increased. The final result is uninterrupted sound.
CROSSTALK – two channels on a mixer are both talking at the same time, like wires crossing paths; unwanted leakage of signal from one channel to another.
CROSS TRAIL/ CROSS PROMO - script letting listeners know about another show / feature / event happening elsewhere on the same station or an affiliated platform.
CUE – cue is the beginning of a track. It's often used as a mark to prepare before starting something, for example, a presenter about to do a live show.
DAW [DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION] – a stand-alone product or host computer that uses customized software applications to process audio content for multimedia production. Examples include Pro Tools, Adobe Audition, Reaper etc.
DEAD AIR – dead air is a time in which the audience cannot hear any audio transmission from radio. This can be due to either operator error, computer error or an act of nature.
DECIBEL – the unit that measures the volume of sound.
DELIVERY – the process of sending a finished programme to the BBC along with any required paperwork.
DISTORTION – a harsh, fuzzy or crackling addition to the audio that occurs when the volume of the audio being played back or recorded is too loud for the device or recording medium.
DROP-IN – a short radio announcement between two songs or two broadcast elements.
ENGINEER – the technician responsible for maintaining and fixing the radio station’s equipment such as consoles, microphones and transmitters. Sound engineers also oversee recording and mixing of programmes in some cases.
EQ – changing the sound of audio by adding (amplifying) or reducing (attenuating) specific frequencies in the audible spectrum. You can use EQ to adjust tone.
FADE – the action or command that causes the audio to decrease in volume
FADEUP – the action or command that causes the audio to increase in volume.
FADER – a sliding dial on a mixing desk to control the audio levels.
FEED – a signal from one device to another, for example, 2 presenters with 2 microphones have 2 feeds. Feed is also referred to as a power supply for a piece of equipment like a mixer.
FEEDBACK – when audio is picked up from a speaker through a microphone in real time it can create a feedback loop, manifested as a rumbling or whistling noise.
FIELD RECORDING - field recording is the practice of capturing an audio source outside of a studio environment, typically with portable equipment.
GAIN – the gain allows you to adjust levels and is a unit of measurement for loudness of audio.
GENEALOGY – the metadata containing tracklist information, including track info and in/out timestamps. Most music programmes require this to be completed before delivery in VCS.
HERTZ (Hz) – hertz is the standard unit of measurement used for measuring frequency.
JACK – a jack is an audio connector on nearly every audio device. There are different types of jacks like mono, stereo, A-type, and B-type.
JINGLE – a short audio clip played on a radio show used for promotion. Sponsors or advertisers use jingles between tracks, usually accompanied with voice-overs and sound effects to engage listeners.
LEAD – the first sentence of a news story, which should concisely reveal the story's basic events and provide an introduction to the details given in the rest of the story.
LEVEL – the volume at which audio is delivered/controlled.
LIMITER – an audio cap to limit the volume level in case it gets too high. High volumes tend to distort the stream and damage equipment.
LINK – links are sandwiched in between songs, usually featuring info about what's up next, news, or competitions.
MIXER – a mixer is a console desk with several inputs for audio equipment. Each input is a channel, outputting into one master channel, and finally to a computer or device to broadcast.
MONO – a single channel sound recording which uses two channels (left and right).
MONTAGE – several pieces of audio combined sequentially to create a single sound element.
MULTITRACKING – recording sound-on-sound; overdubbing, stacking tracks.
PEAK PROGRAMME METER (PPM) – PPM is a needle that flickers up and down a range of 1 to 6 that shows how loud sound levels are. It’s a common tool for mixing BBC shows and they are present in most BBC radio studios.
PEG - an event or anniversary that you can schedule a feature or programme around - e.g. interviewing Archie Shepp is pegged to his appearance at the London Jazz Festival.
PHASE – a phase refers to two sound waves which are synchronized. If unsynchronized, the sound waves are out of phase.
PLOSIVES / POPS – low frequency distortion caused by powerful p and b sounds that overload the microphone.
PREFERRED SUPPLIER – in order for a production company to pitch ideas to the BBC during their commissioning rounds, the company needs to become a ‘preferred supplier’. This is a procurement term which means a company has been approved to supply work (such as a programme making) to another organisation (in this case, the BBC).
PRE-RECORD – recording an audio stream before officially broadcasting to listeners.
PRESENTATION FORM – a sheet that you fill in when delivering a show that includes the key details, such as transmission date and time, production team, and any relevant notes or information before broadcast such as name pronunciations.
PROTEUS – the BBC’s system for managing programme proposals, commissions and programme metadata.
QUADRAPHONIC – four speaker/channel sound reproduction; surround sound.
RENDER - refers to exporting a file such as a WAV or MP3 from a DAW (i.e. a project in Reaper, Pro Tools, Audition, etc.). See also ‘BOUNCE.’
REVERB – close echo; produced naturally by the qualities of the acoustic space where a recording takes place. Can be reconstructed digitally with EQ.
ROOM TONE – the ambient sound in a room caused by the hum of machinery (air conditioners, motors in another room, typewriters, cash registers) conversation; footsteps; any constant background sound. It’s best practice to record 30 seconds of this when recording interviews on location to mask edits.
RUSHES - a word originating in film, referring to the raw, unedited footage from each day of shooting. Sometimes you’ll hear people with a film/video background use this term for audio too.
SEGUE (pronounced seg-way) – moving from one musical selection to another without any announcing or interruption.
SELECTS - loosely edited audio, where a producer has chosen the ‘best bits’ or loosely edited the sections they expect they’ll want for a production.
SIBILANCE – sharp, exaggerated ess sounds caused by natural speaking tone or by adding too much treble equalization. Sounds like S, SH, or CH are emphasised.
SOUND BYTE – a snippet of audio usually cut from an interview and used in conjunction with a news story. Its length may vary anywhere from: 05 to :15 seconds.
SOUND EFFECTS (SFX) – noises played during shows to add a layer of creativity, like car horns, lightning, and footsteps
SPLIT-TRACK – an interview with different audio in the left and right channels. For example, in the field, a producer or engineer might record the host in the left channel and the guest in the right channel. This allows for independent control of levels during production.
STEREO – multichannel sound; two channels or “legs”, used to recreate the dynamics of human hearing.
SYNDICATED – a radio program offered by a network or an independent organisation that is for sale or on a barter basis to other radio stations or platforms.
TAPE – recorded sound.
TAPE SYNC – a recording where the interviewer and guest(s) are recorded in different locations. Once edited, to the listener, it may sound like the host and the guest are in the same room.
THROW FORWARD / THROW AHEAD - when a presenter makes reference to something that is going to happen later in the show / series.
TRAIL – a short advertisement or clip of what is coming up later on the programme.
TRANSITION – There are different kinds of transitions:
1) sound - changing from one location to another through cross-fading or a moment of silence 2) content - using writing to smoothly weave copy and audio together
TRANSMISSION (Tx) – the time and date when the programme is broadcast.
TWO-WAY – an on-air conversation between two people, usually a host and an interviewee. (A “three-way” is a host and two guests … and so on.)
VCS / HIGHLANDER – the BBC system you use to deliver BBC music strands, e.g. Late Junction
VOICEOVER – narration or commentary connecting script/scenes.
VOLUME UNIT (VU) – used on audio equipment to show a track's loudness/gauge measuring units of sound.
WAVELENGTH – the distance from one point on a vibrating wave to the same point on the next wave.
XLR – a three pin connector for audio equipment. An XLR cable is commonly used with microphones and other audio devices.