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In audio engineering, ducking is an audio effect commonly used in radio and pop music, especially dance music. In ducking, the level of one audio signal is reduced by the presence of another signal. In radio this can typically be achieved by lowering (ducking) the volume of a secondary audio track when the primary track starts, and lifting the volume again when the primary track is finished. A typical use of this effect in a daily radio production routine is for creating a voice-over: a foreign language original sound is dubbed (and ducked) by a professional speaker reading the translation. Ducking becomes active as soon as the translation starts.
In music, the ducking effect is applied in more sophisticated ways where a signal's volume is delicately lowered by another signal's presence. Ducking here works through the use of a "side chain" gate. In other words, one track is made quieter (the ducked track) whenever another (the ducking track) gets louder. This may be done with a gate with its ducking function engaged or by a dedicated ducker.
A typical application is to achieve an impression similar to the "pumping" effect. The difference between ducking and side-chain pumping is that in ducking the attenuation is by a specific range while side-chain compression creates variable attenuation. [1] : 94 Ducking may be used in place of mirrored equalization to combat masking, for example with the bass guitar ducked under the kick drum, resembling subtle side-chain pumping. [1] : 96 A ducking system may be created where one track ducks another, which ducks another, and so on. Examples include Portishead's "Biscuit". [1] : 97
Used most often to turn down the music when the DJ speaks, [2] ducking may be used to combat the muffling and distancing effect of reverb and delay. The ducker is inserted into the reverb and delay line and keyed to a dry track to duck its own reverb and delay so that when the dry track exceeds the ducker's threshold by reaching a certain amplitude the reverb and delay are attenuated. Clear examples include Céline Dion's "The Power Of Love" where the reverb and delay become audible when Dion pauses; and Adele's "Cold Shoulder". [1] : 95–96
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An effects unit or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing.
A sound effect is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media.
A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals from electric or electronic instruments, or recorded sounds. Mixers may control analog or digital signals. The modified signals are summed to produce the combined output signals, which can then be broadcast, amplified through a sound reinforcement system or recorded.
Dynamic range compression (DRC) or simply compression is an audio signal processing operation that reduces the volume of loud sounds or amplifies quiet sounds, thus reducing or compressing an audio signal's dynamic range. Compression is commonly used in sound recording and reproduction, broadcasting, live sound reinforcement and in some instrument amplifiers.
An echo chamber is a hollow enclosure used to produce reverberation, usually for recording purposes. For example, the producers of a television or radio program might wish to produce the aural illusion that a conversation is taking place in a large room or a cave; these effects can be accomplished by playing the recording of the conversation inside an echo chamber, with an accompanying microphone to catch the reverberation. Nowadays, effects units are more widely used to create such effects, but echo chambers are still used today, such as the famous echo chambers at Capitol Studios.
Audio editing software is any software or computer program which allows editing and generating of audio data. Audio editing software can be implemented completely or partly as a library, as a computer application, as a web application, or as a loadable kernel module. Wave editors are digital audio editors. There are many sources of software available to perform this function. Most can edit music, apply effects and filters, and adjust stereo channels.
A sound reinforcement system is the combination of microphones, signal processors, amplifiers, and loudspeakers in enclosures all controlled by a mixing console that makes live or pre-recorded sounds louder and may also distribute those sounds to a larger or more distant audience. In many situations, a sound reinforcement system is also used to enhance or alter the sound of the sources on the stage, typically by using electronic effects, such as reverb, as opposed to simply amplifying the sources unaltered.
A noise gate or gate is an electronic device or software that is used to control the volume of an audio signal. Comparable to a compressor, which attenuates signals above a threshold, such as loud attacks from the start of musical notes, noise gates attenuate signals that register below the threshold. However, noise gates attenuate signals by a fixed amount, known as the range. In its simplest form, a noise gate allows a main signal to pass through only when it is above a set threshold: the gate is "open". If the signal falls below the threshold, no signal is allowed to pass : the gate is "closed". A noise gate is used when the level of the "signal" is above the level of the unwanted "noise". The threshold is set above the level of the "noise", and so when there is no main "signal", the gate is closed.
Low-frequency oscillation (LFO) is an electronic frequency that is usually below 20 Hz and creates a rhythmic pulse or sweep. This is used to modulate musical equipment such as synthesizers to create audio effects such as vibrato, tremolo and phasing.
Delay is an audio signal processing technique that records an input signal to a storage medium and then plays it back after a period of time. When the delayed playback is mixed with the live audio, it creates an echo-like effect, whereby the original audio is heard followed by the delayed audio. The delayed signal may be played back multiple times, or fed back into the recording, to create the sound of a repeating, decaying echo.
Gated reverb or gated ambience is an audio processing technique that combines strong reverb and a noise gate. As one of the more prominent effects in many British pop and rock songs of the 1980s, it was brought to mainstream attention in 1979 by producer Steve Lillywhite and engineer Hugh Padgham while working on Peter Gabriel's self-titled third solo album, after Phil Collins played drums without using cymbals at London's Townhouse Studios. The effect is most quintessentially demonstrated in Collins' hit song "In the Air Tonight".
Panning is the distribution of an audio signal into a new stereo or multi-channel sound field determined by a pan control setting. A typical physical recording console has a pan control for each incoming source channel. A pan control or pan pot is an analog control with a position indicator which can range continuously from the 7 o'clock when fully left to the 5 o'clock position fully right. Audio mixing software replaces pan pots with on-screen virtual knobs or sliders which function like their physical counterparts.
Re-amping is a process often used in multitrack recording in which a recorded signal is routed back out of the editing environment and run through external processing using effects units and then into a guitar amplifier and a guitar speaker cabinet or a reverb chamber. Originally, the technique was used mostly for electric guitars: it facilitates a separation of guitar playing from guitar amplifier processing—a previously recorded audio program is played back and re-recorded at a later time for the purpose of adding effects, ambiance such as reverb or echo, and the tone shaping imbued by certain amps and cabinets. The technique has since evolved over the 2000s to include many other applications. Re-amping can also be applied to other instruments and program, such as recorded drums, synthesizers, and virtual instruments.
Live sound mixing is the blending of multiple sound sources by an audio engineer using a mixing console or software. Sounds that are mixed include those from instruments and voices which are picked up by microphones and pre-recorded material, such as songs on CD or a digital audio player. Individual sources are typically equalised to adjust the bass and treble response and routed to effect processors to ultimately be amplified and reproduced via a loudspeaker system. The live sound engineer listens and balances the various audio sources in a way that best suits the needs of the event.
In sound recording and reproduction, audio mixing is the process of optimizing and combining multitrack recordings into a final mono, stereo or surround sound product. In the process of combining the separate tracks, their relative levels are adjusted and balanced and various processes such as equalization and compression are commonly applied to individual tracks, groups of tracks, and the overall mix. In stereo and surround sound mixing, the placement of the tracks within the stereo field are adjusted and balanced. Audio mixing techniques and approaches vary widely and have a significant influence on the final product.
Record is a music software program developed by Swedish software developers Propellerhead Software. Designed for recording, arrangement and mixing, it emulates a recording studio, with a mixing desk, a rack of virtual instruments and effects and an audio and MIDI sequencer. Record can be used either as a complete virtual recording studio in itself, or together with Propellerhead Software's Reason.
A mixing engineer is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition, whether in music, film, or any other content of auditory nature. The finished piece, recorded or live, must achieve a good balance of properties, such as volume, pan positioning, and other effects, while resolving any arising frequency conflicts from various sound sources. These sound sources can comprise the different musical instruments or vocals in a band or orchestra, dialogue or foley in a film, and more.
Send tape echo echo delay is a technique used in magnetic tape sound recording to apply a delay effect using tape loops and echo chambers.
In audio, recording, and music, pumping or gain pumping is a creative misuse of compression, the "audible unnatural level changes associated primarily with the release of a compressor." There is no correct way to produce pumping, and according to Alex Case, the effect may result from selecting "too slow or too fast...or too, um, medium" attack and release settings.
A reverb effect, or reverb, is an audio effect applied to a sound signal to simulate reverberation. It may be created through physical means, such as echo chambers, or electronically through audio signal processing.
