Words from studio and music talk that appear in the sections. Underlined words in each section's help lead here.
The snare on beats two and four of the bar. A "lazy backbeat" puts the snare slightly after the beat, so the groove leans back and feels heavier.
Where it matters: Groove
One hundredth of a semitone. Two tones a few cents apart sound nearly the same pitch, but slow beating can be heard between them.
Where it matters: Bass and kick
How much louder the peak is than the average level (RMS), in decibels. The smaller it is, the more compressed the sound. Sometimes called peak factor.
Where it matters: Compressor, Saturation, Tonal balance, Sounding expensive
Dry sound has no effect, as recorded. Wet sound has the effect, most often reverb. Mix sets how much wet there is in the end.
Where it matters: One room, Reverb, Depth of stage
The lowest frequency of a note, which gives its pitch. Everything else in the sound is overtones.
Where it matters: Mud, Bass and kick, Small speakers
A short note before the main one, a lead-in to it. On the groove chart it is a hit moved so early that it is heard apart from the main one.
Where it matters: Groove
The snare once per bar, on beat three, while kick and hat play as usual. Same tempo, but it feels twice as slow and heavier.
Where it matters: Groove
The row of overtones of one note: octave, fifth, another octave, third and so on. Chord notes that sit on this row above the bass sound steady and do not muddy.
Where it matters: Chord Voicing
A loudness unit that follows how the ear hears, not the peak. Platforms compare tracks in LUFS and bring quiet and loud ones to one level.
Where it matters: Loudness and limiter, Tonal balance
Higher frequencies that sound together with the fundamental and make the timbre recognisable. Their frequencies are multiples of the fundamental: two, three, four times higher.
Where it matters: Mud, Saturation, Small speakers, Chord Voicing
Reverb like a steel plate: dense, bright, without the early reflections of a room. Suits vocals.
A small gap between "on the grid" and "by feel" where the groove swings. A snare slightly late or a hat slightly early creates it.
Where it matters: Groove
The pause between the dry sound and the start of the reverb. The longer it is, the clearer the sound itself, while the tail stays behind.
Where it matters: Reverb, Depth of stage
The average level of a signal over a short time. It tells loudness, not momentary peaks.
Where it matters: Compressor, Tonal balance
Short reverb of a small space that glues the sound to a place and is hardly heard as an effect.
The smallest step between neighbouring keys. An octave has 12 semitones; "+12 st" in the sections means "an octave up".
Where it matters: Chest punch, Chord Voicing, Groove
A branch of a track's signal to a shared effect, such as reverb. The send level sets how much of the track goes into the effect.
Where it matters: One room