Sounds, instruments and sample selection

Terminology

Continue to encourage the use of correct Music Technology terminology. This may differ from terms used in traditional music but will ensure consistency with Further Education courses and professional Music Technology. Encourage learners to describe their intentions and decisions using these terms:

• Audio – a recording of a real-world voice or instrument
• Clip/Region – the blocks of audio/MIDI that contain musical information; the term ‘clip’ is typically used in DAWs like Ableton Live or similar.
• DAW – Digital Audio Workstation, the software used to produce music
• FX – abbreviation of ‘effects’, which are creative enhancements to a sound that change its characteristics in some way. Some common effects are:
  • Chorus – as the name suggests, creates a choral effect by introducing multiple, slightly detuned, instances of a voice or instrument.
  • Delay – adds time-delayed versions of a sound, creating distinct echoes, e.g. ping pong, slapback, plate, spring
  • Phaser – produces a ‘whooshing’ sound by adding an out of phase instance of the original sound.
  • Pitch Shift/Autotune – altering the frequency components of a recording (typically voice) so that each note fits a defined scale or key. This can produce subtle improvements to pitch or drastic, robotic sounding effects.
  • Reverb – creates a sense of space by adding multiple, simultaneous time delayed instances of the affected sound to replicate an acoustic environment, e.g. hall, small room, church
• Loop – a short clip/region that can be played repeatedly without break to create a seamless section of music
• MIDI – Musical Instrument Digital Interface, a binary language used to communicate between electronic musical devices. The most common usage of MIDI within a DAW would be the use of MIDI data to create regions to trigger virtual instrument sounds. MIDI keyboards or pads are used to send MIDI data to a DAW and are used to capture live performance.
• Processes – sometimes referred to as ‘dynamic processes’, affect the characteristics sound in a more practical way. The most common examples are:
  • Compression – squashes the sound, making the loud parts quieter and the quieter parts louder, i.e. compressing the dynamic range of the sound
  • Gate – a way of omitting quieter noise, such as hiss or background noises, from in between louder parts of a recording. The gate opens to let the louder sounds through and closes to stop the quieter ones.  It is worth stressing to learners that the quieter noises will still be evident if happening whilst the louder sounds are present.
• Quantising – ability to snap MIDI notes to a defined note duration grid, often called the ‘piano roll’ (because the notes of the grid are in line with their positions on a piano keyboard). Learners used to the British system should be advised that the quantise function often uses the international duration definitions of:
  • Semibreve is a ‘Whole Note’ or ‘1/1’
  • Minim is a ‘Half Note’ or ‘1/2’
  • Crotchet is a ‘Quarter Note’ or ‘1/4’
  • Quaver is an ‘Eighth Note’ or ‘1/8’
  • Semiquaver is a ‘Sixteenth Note or ‘1/16’
• Sequencer – the arrangement window of a DAW
• Track – horizontal lane upon which MIDI/audio information is recorded. The playhead will move from left to right, scrolling through the track or tracks, playing the music held within.
• Velocity – how hard a MIDI note is pressed often generating a change in timbre. The term ‘dynamics’ would be an equivalence in traditional music.
• VSTi – Virtual Studio Technology instruments, software emulations of instruments, orchestral, rock/pop, electronic, etc.
• Wet/Dry – the amount of effect added to a signal; for example, a wet signal has loads of an effect added.