<aside> ‼️ This manual was taken from the Church of the Highlands production team manuals and modified for our use.
</aside>
Here is a list of the terminology used by the audio team.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |