Here is a list of the terminology used by the audio team.
- Worship: Love expressed, in any way, to God
- A1: Front of House Mix Engineer
- A2: Assists the A1 – An audio team member who manages a sound system for meetings that do not require a band
- A3: An audio team member with little or no audio or musical background – duties include changing batteries and being an attentive set of eyes focused on the stage
- FOH: Front of House – mix position - where the main audio console is located
- PCO: (Planning Center Online) An internet-based application that provides one central place to schedule and organize all aspects of your worship services
- Infuse/Development: Team development process for Worship, Audio and Production at Church of the Highlands
- Console: Any audio mixer (analog or digital)
- RF: Radio Frequency
- Battery Indicator: Shows battery power status of a device
- IEM: In Ear Monitor
- SPL: Sound Pressure Level
- dB: Decibel (audio level measurement)
- Playlist: Collection of songs in any audio playback software
- Pre-service: Collection of songs (playlist) to be used before and after services
- Crossfade: Causes songs within a playlist to overlap the end of a song with the beginning of the next song resulting in a smoother transition
- Dropbox: Storage application for shared files
- Acoustic Amplification: The process of a signal or source naturally getting louder within an environment without electronic amplification (i.e. acoustic guitar, cathedral or amphitheater)
- Public Address System “PA”: Refers to the speaker system portion of a sound system; also refers to an environment that requires a sound system for a source to be heard
- Sound Reinforcement: Refers to a sound system which reinforcements sources that can be somewhat heard in a given environment, but still require amplification for the desired result
- Reflective Surface: Refers to a boundary surface that highly “reflects” sound waves rather than absorbing them
- Absorptive Surface: Refers to a boundary surface that is prone to “absorb” sound waves rather than reflecting them
- Transferred Sound: Sound waves that pass through a boundary surface
- Audio Isolation: The practice of creating a method of stopping or reducing audio transferred between two or more mediums or environments
- Audio Pollution: Can be any unwanted or undesirable audio source being introduced into an environment
- High Volume Air Flow: A high amount of moving air
- High Velocity Air Flow: Rapidly moving air
- Source: Refers to the originating point of a sound (may be a vocal, instrument or playback device)
- DSP: Digital Signal Processor – A digital device that provides multiple audio tools for adjusting or managing an audio signal
- Audio Mixer: Any device designed to combine two of more audio sources or signals
- Analog Audio: An audio signal which has been converted from acoustic energy to an electronic waveform
- Digital Audio: A digital representation of an audio signal which has been converted from an electronic waveform to a digital format
- Audio Transducer: A device which converts mechanical energy into an electrical signal or vise-versa (speaker or microphone)
- “DI” Direct Insertion Box: interface used to convert impedance from hi to low or vise-versa
- Aviom: Manufacturer of IEM personal mixers
- Audio Mixer: Any device designed to combine two of more audio sources or signals
- Analog Audio: An audio signal which has been converted from acoustic energy to an electronic waveform
- Digital Audio: A digital representation of an audio signal which has been converted from an electronic waveform to a digital format
- Audio Transducer: A device which converts mechanical energy into an electrical signal or vise-versa (speaker or microphone)
- Signal Flow: The path an audio signal takes from one device to another
- Signal Chain: A series of connected electronic components
- Gain Stage: Any point within a signal chain where the engineer can make adjustments to levels
- Gain Staging: The process of managing the relative levels in a series of gain stages to prevent the introduction of noise and/or distortion
- Analog Snake: Multi-conductor cable that run from stage to an audio mixer, many times referred to as “copper”
- Dynamic Microphone: Mics that create sound with a voice coil attached to the back of a diaphragm
- Condenser Microphone: Mics that create sound with a metalized diaphragm which is one plate of a capacitor
- Polar Pattern: The sensitivity to sound relative to the direction or angle from which the sound arrives; how well the microphone “hears“ a signal from different directions
- Shotgun Microphone: Has a very narrow off-axis pickup pattern and an extended out-front pickup
- Parabolic Reflector: Utilizes a regular cardioid pattern microphone mounted inside of a half-sphere such that it focuses all incoming signal to the microphone
- Phantom Power: DC electric power transmitted through microphone cables to operate microphones that contain active electronic circuitry. (I.e. condenser mics)
- Proximity Effect: The change of frequency response of a microphone, having a directional pick-up pattern that produces and emphasizes the lower frequencies
- Audio Signal Processing: The intentional alteration or manipulation of audio signals or through an audio effect or effects unit
- Equalization: The process of adjusting the balance between frequency components within an electronic signal