Maintaining proper circuit impedance rela- tionships is important to avoid distortion and minimize added noise. Mackie input and out- put impedances are designed to work well with the vast majority of audio equipment.
knee
A knee is a sharp bend in an EQ response curve not unlike the sharp bend in your leg. Also used in describing dynamics processors.
level
Another word for signal voltage, power, strength, or volume. Audio signals are some- times classified according to their level. Commonly used levels are: microphone level
line level
A signal whose level falls between
master
A control affecting the final output of a
mixer. A mixer may have several master con- trols, which may be slide faders or rotary controls.
mixer
An electronic device used to combine vari- ous audio signals into a common output. Different from a blender, which combines vari- ous fruits into a common libation.
monaural
Literally, pertaining to or having the use of only one ear. In sound work, monaural has to do with a signal which, for purposes of commu- nicating audio information, has been confined to a single channel. One microphone is a mono pickup; many microphones mixed to one chan- nel is a mono mix; a mono signal played through two speakers is still mono, since it only carries one channel of information. Several monaural sources, however, can be panned into a stereo (or at least
monitor
In sound reinforcement, monitor speakers (or monitor headphones or
formers to hear themselves. Monitor speakers are also called foldback speakers. In recording, the monitor speakers are those used by the production staff to listen to the recording as it progresses. In zoology, the monitor lizard is the lizard that observes the production staff as the recording progresses. Keep the lizard out of the mixer.
noise
Whatever you don’t want to hear. Could be hum, buzz, or hiss; could be crosstalk or digital hash or your neighbor’s stereo; could be white noise or pink noise or brown noise; or it could be your
noise floor
The residual level of noise in any system. In a
parametric EQ
A “fully” parametric EQ is an extremely pow- erful equalizer that allows smooth, continuous control of each of the three primary EQ param- eters (frequency, gain, and bandwidth) in each section independently. “Semi” parametric EQs allow control of fewer parameters, usually fre- quency and gain (i.e., they have a fixed bandwidth, but variable center frequency and gain).
peaking
The opposite of dipping, of course. A peak is an EQ curve that looks like a hill, or a peak. Peaking with an equalizer amplifies a band of frequencies.
phone jack
Ever see those old telephone switchboards with hundreds of jacks and patch cords and plugs? Those are phone jacks and plugs, now widely used with musical instruments and audio equipment. A phone jack is the female connector, and we use them in 1⁄4"
phone plug
The male counterpart to the phone jack. See above.
31