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Glossary of Terms


If you are unfamiliar with any of the technical jargon contained within this website, see below for a full explanation.  If you need further help, email our customer services team or call 01702 702701. Customer Service is available Monday through Thursday 9am to 5pm and Friday 9am to 4.30pm.


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S

SCMS
For "Serial Copy Management System," the system used for write-protecting digital audio so that no unauthorized digital copies of the audio can be made.

SCSI
Short for "Small Computer System Interface." SCSI is a set of cabling and data standards for the passing of data between storage devices.

SCSI Bus
The data stream running through cabling connecting a series of SCSI devices.

SMF
Short for "Standard MIDI File."

SMF Library
The vast collection of interactive song files for keyboard instruction, instrumental and vocal accompaniments and contemporary and traditional church music. In addition, thousands of "play for fun" titles include lyrics and harmony for sing-alongs.

SMPTE
For "Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers"; synchronization technology used for coordinating the timing of audio and video equipment.

S/PDIF
For "Sony/Philips Digital Interface Format," a standard for the sending and receiving of digital audio data; typically uses phono connectors.

SPP
Short for "Song Position Pointer."

Sample
A recording of audio in a synth or sampler. In digital recording, one of thousands of recordings of audio captured each second.

Sample frequency
Another term for "sample rate."

Sample rate
The number of times per second a digital device captures an image of a signal. CDs use a 44.1kHz sample rate -- 44,100 samples per second.

Sampler
An instrument that digitally records audio. Playback of the recording can be triggered using a keyboard, pads or other mechanisms.

Scene
Mixer settings saved in the internal memory of a V-Studio or digital mixer. A scene can be quickly recalled, re-establishing all of its settings instantly.

Send
A bus or output jack that transmits signal.

Send-and-return effect
An effect routing that adds an effect to a signal by sending a copy of the signal to an effect, and mixing the effect's output with the original signal. Commonly used for reverbs and delay-based effects. Also called a "loop effect."

SENS
Shortened form of “Sensitivity knob”, this is a trim knob for the preamp level.

Sequencer
A MIDI recorder that captures MIDI data and can play it back in realtime.

Shelving
A type of EQ in which all frequencies above or below a selected frequency are affected; low shelving affects all frequencies below the selected frequency; high shelving all those above it.

Shielding
The electric or magnetic materials used in a cable that protect its signal from unwanted noise.

Signal
A general term for audio as it travels through audio cables and equipment.

Signal Flow
The journey a signal takes from one place to another.

Slapback
Type of reverb whose beginning is slightly delayed to simulate the reflection of sound off of a physical wall; also called- "pre-delay."

Slate
A spoken label recorded at the beginning of a take, such as "Remix, Take 1."

Slave device
One device controls the timing of synchronized devices. That device is the master. Any device controlled by the master is a slave device.

SmartMedia
A credit-card-sized memory card that can store patch and/or other kinds of data.

Snapshot
A captured group of mixer settings that reflect the state of the mixer at a particular moment within a song or project -- the mixer can recall the snapshot and re-instate its settings at the proper moment during the playback of the song or project.

Soft button, soft knob
A multi-use button or knob on a digital mixer whose function is defined by software.

Soft Control
Found on EDIROL audio interfaces, Soft Control is a part of Direct Monitoring. When Soft Control is switched off, the software settings in the input and output monitor control panels are bypassed. This provides a convenient way to temporarily ignore the software settings when you need to do things such as check connections.

Solo
When monitoring, the isolation of one signal by silencing all other signals.

Song
In some V-Studios, all of the audio and settings for a recorded work, saved as a song disk file on the V-Studio's storage device.

Song Position Pointer (SPP)
A type of MIDI message that communicates song/sequence/project location information by transmitting the number of 16th notes since the beginning of the song/sequence/project.

Sound Card
A common PC component with a D-to-A (digital to analog) converter and a set, or "wavetable," of sounds. Also a credit-card-sized storage device that holds synth and sampler patches and waveform data.

Sound module
A MIDI device whose sole purpose is to generate sounds. A sound module typically contains patches, and may contains its own effects as well.

Split
A mixer with a separate section for controlling multitrack tape returns.

Standard MIDI File (SMF)
A file that contains a MIDI recording of music in the Standard MIDI File format. Such as file can be played by any SMF-compatible sequencer or playback device. The most common SMF types are Type 0 files with multiple tracks combined into a single multi-channel track, and Type 1 files comprised of separate individual tracks.

Stereo
A two-dimensional image created by two signals, each of which is assigned to one of a pair of speakers arranged left and right of each other.

Stretch tuning
Traditional acoustic piano tuning that slightly sharpens the highest keys and slightly flattens the lowest keys for psychoacoustic purposes.

Strip
Short for "channel strip."

Style
A musical passage that can contain all of the elements of a musical arrangement and can be played as a single object.

Subframe
A subdivision of a SMPTE or MTC frame equaling 1/98th of a frame.

SuperNATURAL
SuperNATURAL pianos are equipped with technology, which brings together Roland V-Piano technology, 88-key stereo multi-sampling technology, organic tonal change and natural decay

Sustain pedal
Pedal that, when pressed, causes sustaining notes to continue to play until the pedal is released.

Sustain
In a traditional envelope, the level at which an enveloped setting remains after the Attack and Decay stages until the key is released.

Sweep
In EQ, to quickly listen to all of the frequencies in a signal one after another.

Synchronization
Or "sync"; the coordination of timing between audio and/or video devices.

Synth, Synthesizer
An instrument that synthesizes new sounds from raw audio materials such as waveforms. A synth may also generate its own completely original sounds using oscillators.

SysEx, System Exclusive
A type of MIDI message that contains instructions that can be understood only by a specific MIDI device identified by manufacturer, model and SysEx ID number.

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T

TOC
For "Table of Contents," the directory on an audio CD that allows its player to find each selection on the CD.

TRS
Short for "Tip/Ring/Sleeve." A type of 1/4" audio cable connector that uses three wires for carrying audio signals and for grounding. The wires are attached to the connector's tip, ring and a second ring called a "sleeve."

TVA ("Time Variant Amplifier")
The component within a tone or partial that controls the level of its audio, and sets its stereo position, or "panning."

TVF ("Time Variant Filter")
The component within a tone or partial that controls the frequency content of its audio.

Take
In a V-Studio, a take is an audio file recorded on your hard drive. In general studio usage, "take" refers to an attempt to record a performance, successful or otherwise.

Tempo
Synonym for speed or rate.

Terminator
A separate device or internal drive mechanism that electrically terminates a SCSI chain of devices. Each SCSI chain must have a terminator at both ends. V-Studios and Roland sample-based devices provide termination for one end of a SCSI chain.

Tick
The smallest division of a quarter note.

Tone
The basic building block of a patch. A tone contains several components that play and shape a waveform. These are the WG (wave generator), TVF (time variant filter), TVA (time variant amplifier), envelope and LFO. One or more tones are the foundation of every patch.

Track
In a V-Studio, a set of V-Tracks, one of which can be active at a time. In editing on pre-VS-2480 V-Studios, a section of time within a song, defined by the placement of IN and OUT edit points -- it's the portion of the song that falls between these two edit points. In a sequencer, one stream of MIDI data on one or more MIDI channels.

Timeline
The dark vertical line at the center of a playlist that represents your current position in the playlist. Also called a "now line."

Threshold
A designated level that triggers an action in a compressor, gate or expander.

Track
A stream of recorded audio data.

Track Minutes
A method of expressing the available recording time by measuring the maximum length of a single monaural track of recorded data.

Transient
A very brief high-level signal.

Treble
The higher frequencies in a signal.

Tremolo
A rhythmic fluctuation in level.

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U

USB Audio interface
A USB interfaces allows the transfer of audio to and from a computer via a USB connection, the use of software drivers is required.

USB MIDI interface
An interface for connecting a MIDI device to a computer using a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector. The industry-standard USB cable is convenient for users who frequently change between Mac and PC platforms.

Unbalanced
A type of connection that utilizes only two of the leads -- the high and ground -- of a cable, connector and jack.

Undo
A V-Studio's Undo feature allows you to reverse your most recent recording and editing actions. This is called "undoing" the action.

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