shop talk
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Posted on Dec 04, 2002 08:24 am
crux
Typo Szar
Member Since: Jul 04, 2002
Theres like online dicts for all the extensive terms used in recording but god man... im 17. i dont understand half of teh definitions... and i still dont understand truly all this compression and stuff, even with the great articles on db... i wish there was somekind of recording for idiots like serious, with no shop talk. just like, a track is the thingy where the sound goes, yay!
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Dec 04, 2002 08:40 am Well, a certain amount of shop talk is necessary to accurately explain things, but the primary goal of Noize2u and myself has always been to be a "recording for dummies" type of website, and I think we do it pretty well. Here is the one problem, as our visitors have stuck around through the years they have gotten better and better, therefore the topics covered have gotten more and more in depth, so it's a fine line to ride.
If, however, you have any suggestions, or anything like that, please, let us know, another goal or ours is also to have something here for everyone.
And, as always, ask questions here, that is what it is here for, and you have been an active member here from time to time we are always here to help, which is why I recruited more mods and such to help out. We have a lot of knowledgable peeps around here willing to help.
Dec 04, 2002 10:56 pm I too found all the techincal jargon a real mystery until I found HRC on a Google.com search awhile back. FOr months I just lingered and read threads and articles until all the pieces of the puzzle just started to come together. Even today more than 2 years after purchasing my DAW system, i'm still learning things and honing my skills. If you ever have any questions about the definitions of terms or the functions of sfotware or hardware or anything for that matter, just ask. This is the most intellegent, mature and well-behaved home audio community I've found (and there's quite a few out there) and someone here will be willing to lend a hand.
Which gets me to compression. I'm sure you know the compression is an effect that in essence makes things seem louder. But in order to effectively use this tool it helps to understand exatly whats happening to the audio. Two important thing occur while the signal is being processes, and both deal with "dynamics", the differnces between loud and soft. Imagine the graphic representaion of the waveform as seen in a multitracker or a wave editor.
Now the first thing that happens to the audio is that any time the "amplitude", how loud the sound is, reaches a certain point ("threshhold") the volume is cut back to prevent it from peaking any higher. So this first step squashes the waveform each time it tries to get loud.
Now that the audio is "compressed" (the loud parts are soft and the soft parts were uneffected and therefor still soft) the second part of the effect occurs. Now the whole level is brought up to be loud again, so now what was loud is loud again and what was soft is now also loud.
In essence the waveform is squished to prevent peaks in the audio, then the whole thing is corrected by bringing it up. I hope I havn't further complicated an already complex concept. -j
cruxTypo SzarMember
Since: Jul 04, 2002
Dec 05, 2002 08:02 am Thanx a bunch, and yes that lil synopsis about compression really helped! i always suspected thats what it did... but now for all tat soft knee terminology to... ohwell, back to the books for me eh? i guess ill be lingering the db archives for months...
but thanx!
Dec 05, 2002 08:06 am soft knee compression and hard knee compression refer to how hard the threshold is hit, in soft knee compression the signal begins compressing slightly a little before the threshold to create a smooth, more human sound. With hard knee compression it goes up until it hits the threshold and then compresses right there for a very sharp cut.
does that make sense?
