CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY – II
MELODY
Sequence of notes (usually monophonic), which is the main part of a musical theme.
HARMONY
Chords (group of polyphonic notes) that accompany the melody.
BATTERY
Drums, cymbals, charles,… which, together with the bass, make up the rhythm.
DIGITAL SOUND
It is the recording of sound in a digital format that allows playback.
AUDIO FORMAT
Interval sound waves are digitized. The smaller the interval the higher the quality.
WAV and AIFF formats are uncompressed. MP3 is compressed format.
MIDI FORMAT (Musical Instruments Digital Interface)
Notes are digitized to form midi messages. The main midi messages are: Note on, Note off, Instrument assignment, Quarter time assignment,… .. The messages also contain the execution time. There are information messages (scale and tempo).
The midi format is very useful for editing.
SEQUENCER
It is a midi device that records music sequences from connected instruments, stores them (files), reads them and sends them to sound modules at the right time. It can be implemented on a PC.
SYNTHESIZER
It is a sound module that emits a wave when it receives a command sent by the sequencer. A synthesizer is usually multitimbral and polyphonic. It can be implemented on a PC.
MULTITIMBRAL SYNTHESIZER
It is a synthesizer capable of playing various instruments.
POLYPHONIC SYNTHESIZER
It is a synthesizer capable of playing several notes at once.
CLIP
It is a musical fragment.
LOOP
It’s part of a clip that plays iteratively.
TRACKS
It is a support for storing clips. They can be audio tracks (for audio format clips) or midi tracks (for midi clips).
TERMINOLOGY USED BY CLIP EDITORS (eg Ableton live or Cubase)
PREFERENCES
These are configuration options or default options for a music editor.
VIEWS
There are different graphical interfaces: Settings, session, help, clip and devices
ARRANGEMENT
View dedicated to editing and changing clips.
EDITING
Options for deleting, copying, duplicating,… parts of a clip
CONSOLIDATE CLIPS
Build a new clip that contains the selected part of a track.
SESSION
Vista dedicated especially to live music production.
SCENE
Group of clips located on different tracks that sound simultaneously (in session view).
HELP
View dedicated to explaining the meaning of the different options. Hovering the cursor over the option presents the explanation.
CLIP VIEW
Presents clip information, playback options, and wave (audio) or notes (midi).
DEVICE VIEW
Presents all loaded devices to a track.
DEVICE
It is any object that modifies sound: Instruments, sounds, drums, audio effects, midi effects, racks, ……
BROWSER
It is the browser of an editor. Manage folders.
LIVE PROJECT
It is a series of live sets grouped under one theme.
LIVE SET
They are all the documents we have operational at a time (in all views). They are stored in a project.
LIVE CLIP
It is the information of a clip that is saved for use in another live set.
PRESETS
It is a group of data of variables that represent the values of the different controls of a device.
INSTRUMENTS, SOUNDS, AND DRUMS
They are devices with presets that provide sound to midi clips. Midi clips without these devices do NOT sound. When you apply one of these devices, the notes are converted into sound waves.
MIDI EFFECTS
They are sound modifications of the midi clips. They have to be applied before the notes become sound waves using instruments, sounds or drums.
AUDIO EFFECTS
They are modifications of the waves. They can be applied to an audio track or to a midi track once converted to waves.
GROOVES
They are modifications to a track to produce a more humane (and less machine) interpretation.
WARPING
These are a series of actions aimed at synchronizing the tracks.
QUANTITATIONS
These are a series of actions aimed at making the notes start and last longer than the tempo specifications.
FADERS
It is the volume control at the beginning and end of a clip.
MIXER
It is a Master track that receives the sound of the tracks being played before sending it to the TGT sound.
RETURN TRACKS
These are intermediate tracks that can receive the sound (or part of the sound) of the tracks being played (all or part of the tracks). Devices can be applied to the return tracks.
CROSFADER
It is a Fader located in the mixer that simultaneously affects two tracks, so that one decreases and the other increases.
ENVELOPES
They facilitate the automation of volumes or other device controls.
