Consoles, DAWs, and Routing

Question 1

Bus

Answer 1

circuit for combining/summing signals going to a certain destination

Question 2

Auxiliary send

Answer 2

used to add effects such as reverb/delay and to send signals to musicians’ headphones

Question 3

AFL

Answer 3

after-fader listen; replaces the main mix feeding
the control-room speakers, non-destructive, post-fader

Question 4

PFL

Answer 4

pre-fader listen; allows engineer to preview signals on muted channels without having to add them or disrupt the mix, non-destructive, pre-fader

Question 5

SIP

Answer 5

solo-in-place; mutes all other channels from the main stereo bus, leaving only the signal and its effects in question intact, destructive

Question 6

Scribble strip

Answer 6

piece of tape or electronic labeling above the faders on a board to mark which source being recorded belongs to which fader

Question 7

Potentiometer (pot)

Answer 7

knob that changes level of audio signal by varying electrical resistance in its path; greater resistance, lower level

Question 8

Linear taper

Answer 8

relative position of pot/fader is equal to the resistance ratio (50% position=50% resistance)

Question 9

Audio taper

Answer 9

also called logarithmic taper; relative position of pot/fader corresponds to how humans hear sound (used for audio volume control)

Question 10

Pan pot

Answer 10

panoramic potentiometer; sends source signal to left or right channels; as level increases in one channel, level decreases in another

Question 11

Effects send

Answer 11

aux fader determines the level of signal being sent to signal processor (parallel processing)

Question 12

Summing

Answer 12

combining signals

Question 13

Auxiliary bus

Answer 13

path that is supplementary (auxiliary) to the main mixer path; used to send signals from the aux sends/returns

Question 14

Multitrack summing bus

Answer 14

path that sums up to 24 individual tracks into stereo for mixdown

Question 15

Program bus

Answer 15

two main summation lines which combine the outputs of all channels on the mixer (for stereo)

Question 16

Return

Answer 16

connector which feeds signals that have been sent from the console back to the console for mixing

Question 17

Effects returns

Answer 17

used as extra inputs to the mixer, supplied specifically for inputs from external devices such as reverberation units

Question 18

Cue mix

Answer 18

mix sent to the musicians’ headphones in order for them to har themselves and other musicians as they play

Question 19

Cue send

Answer 19

used to send signals to musicians’ headphones; usually pre-fader to allow for separate control of the control room mix and the headphone mix

Question 20

Pre-fader

Answer 20

signal processing that happens before the signal is sent to the faders

Question 21

Post-fader

Answer 21

signal processing that happens after the signal is sent to the faders

Question 22

Talkback

Answer 22

allows engineer to speak with musicians, either through the cues or the studio speakers

Question 23

Gobo

Answer 23

movable barrier to facilitate acoustic control

Question 24

Insert

Answer 24

allows for addition of a signal along different points of the audio path, for example to process the signal using outboard gear

Question 25

Insert send

Answer 25

output from the console to effects device

Question 26

Insert return

Answer 26

processed signal comes back from effects device to board

Question 27

Direct out

Answer 27

patch point found on many mixing boards for taking an individual output out of a channel as opposed to routing its output through some bussing architecture

Question 28

Channel strip

Answer 28

one single track on a console, with individual functionality; usually includes a mic preamp, compressor, and an EQ all in one

Question 29

Audio group

Answer 29

create a single audio output which is the sum of a number of channels

Question 30

Control group

Answer 30

does not give rise to a single summed audio output for the group: the levels of the faders in the group are controlled from one fader, but their outputs remain separate

Question 31

Master

Answer 31

final stereo channel before output to speakers

Question 32

Fader

Answer 32

controls the individual level of a signal

Question 33

Master fader

Answer 33

either one stereo fader or left and right faders to control the overall mix output level

Question 34

Group master

Answer 34

controls the overall levels of any channel faders assigned to them

Question 35

Solo

Answer 35

allows the engineer to monitor a single (or several) channel(s) in the absence of all others for more critical listening and adjustment purposes

Question 36

Solo bus

Answer 36

path that soloed tracks travel along; several channels can be soloed simultaneously and therefore must be grouped