Today, while taking a well needed break in my sunny, concrete courtyard my friend and peer Tyler sent me a beautifully descriptive and comical example of some Musical D.A.W (Digital Audio Workstation) terms and what they mean, if you’re new to the game, or just fancy having a refresher, this may be helpful to you.
This content is not created by either of us but I’m afraid there was no definitive place of origin, that I could find, however, the information is very helpful and I hope you guys will enjoy it.
Saturation – Make sound fat
Distortion – Saturation but x10
Reverb – Cool room effect
Delay – Echo FM (Frequency modulation) – wub wub
Transient – Clicky/punchy part of the drum right at the start
Compress – Squash or expand frequencies in a sound to make it overall louder or quieter
EQ – Equalization, adjusting frequencies on a sound
Dynamics – Generally the difference in volume between sounds. Heavily compressed = less dynamics
Limiter – Stops sound from digitally/analogue clipping
Mixing – Mixing and adjusting sounds to create an equal and clean project
Mastering – Achieving loudness and making it sound fucking sick
Lead – A synth with less bass frequencies (0-150hZ) think electric guitar so 500Hz upwards?
Bass – Dominantly 0-150hZ
Sub – Below 90Hz big boomy chest sex noise that makes people go “wow yes nice bass”
Percussion/Hats – Cool high freq sounds 5kHz+ hi-hats and one shot etc or foley
Wet – Processed with FX (Reverb, Delay, compressed) and ready for action
Dry – Not processed and not in the mood (no FX)
Despite the humorous undertones, I know there were some terms that I was familiar with but didn’t really understand fully until now, I hope you have a similar experience.