An Audio Glossary

For Home Studio

Musicians
Lost for words to describe sound? Print off this glossary and
come up with the right words fast!

By Sara Carter | Simply Mixing

 An Audio Glossary For Home Studio Musicians

Aggressive – Edgy, pushy sounding and bright frequency

response, “in your face".
Airy – Spacious. Open. Instruments sound like they are in a
large re ective space.
Ambience – Impression of an acoustic space such as a large
hall or studio room where a recording was made.
Attack – The leading edge of a note or percussive transient
(snare drum hit). The immediate starting point of the note.
Balance – The mix itself. The relative volume balance of each
aspect or element of the mix. Also, stereo balance. The
relative level of the left and right stereo channels.
Bass – are you referring to the bass guitar or the bass
frequencies of the mix? Be speci c. The bass audio
frequencies sit around 60Hz to 250Hz.
Blanketed – Muf ed, not much high frequency, as if a blanket
were put over the speakers.
Bloated – Excessive mid bass around 250 Hz. Too much low
end, low frequency resonances, thick sounding. See tubby and
muddy.
Blurred – Smeared, bad transient response. Vague stereo
imaging, not focused. Soft sounding.

Simply Mixing
Page1
 An Audio Glossary For Home Studio Musicians

Body – Fullness, warmth, with particular emphasis on upper

bass. Opposite of thin.
Boomy – Excessive bass around 125 Hz. Poorly controlled low
frequencies or low-frequency resonances. Too much low end.
Boxy – Sounds as if the music or instrument were recorded in
a box. Why your kick sounds like a beach ball. Sometimes an
emphasis around 300 to 500 Hz.
Breathy – Audible breath sounds in instruments like ute or
sax. Good response in the upper mids or highs. Audible
breaths in the vocals either for mood (good) or over
compression (bad).
Bright – High end over exaggerated. A sound that emphasizes
the upper midrange/lower treble.
Brilliance – The 6kHz to 16kHz range controls clarity. Too
much emphasis in this range can produce sibilance (“ess”
sound) on the vocals.
Cheap - Too much emphasis in the 800Hz range sounding like
a budget boom box or hi system.
Chesty – A bump in the low-frequency response around 125
to 250 Hz. Proximity effect. Close, intimate sounding.
Clear – See Transparent.
Congested– Smeared, confused, muddy and at; lacking
focus. See Blurred.

Simply Mixing
Page2
 An Audio Glossary For Home Studio Musicians

Coloured – Having a sound that's are not true to life.

Cool– Lacking body and warmth, thin.
Crisp – Extended high-frequency response, especially with
cymbals or snare.
Dark – An overall tonal balance that lacks high end over
around 5khz. Opposite of bright. Fewer high frequencies.
Decay – The fadeout of a note.
De nition – The degree of distinctness of a sound. Focus,
clarity.
Depth – A sense of distance (front to back) of different
instruments.
Detail – Finer aspects of a sound, often the most delicate.
Detailed – Easy to hear tiny details in the music. Good high-
frequency response, sharp transients.
Dry – Lack of reverb or delay as if in a non-re ective space.
Opposite of Wet.
Dull – See Dark.
Dynamic – Changes in volume that generate energy and
excitement.
Edgy – Too much high-frequency response. Trebly. Distorted.
See Aggressive.
Fat – See Full and Warm.

Simply Mixing
Page3
 An Audio Glossary For Home Studio Musicians

Flabby – Loose, out of control low end.

Focus – A strong, precise sense of image and placement.
Forward(ness) – Similar to an aggressive sound, a sense of the
music being projected in front of the speakers and of being
forced upon the listener. Opposite to “Laid-back”.
Full – Good low-frequency response, with adequate levels
around 100 to 300 Hz. Male voices are full around 125 Hz;
female voices are full around 250 Hz
Gentle – Opposite of edgy. The highs are not exaggerated, or
may even be weak.
Grungy – Lots of saturation or distortion.
Hard – Too much upper midrange, usually around 3 kHz. Or,
good transient response, as if the sound is hitting you hard.
Unpleasant, forward, aggressive sound.
Harsh – Grating, abrasive. Hurts to listen to. Too much upper
midrange. Peaks in the frequency response between 2 and 6
kHz.
Highs – The audio frequencies above about 6000 Hz.
High Midrange (High Mids, Upper Mids) – The audio
frequencies between about 2kHz and 6kHz.
Hollow – Missing mid frequencies, lacks warmth.
Honky – Like cupping your hands around your mouth.

Simply Mixing
Page4
 An Audio Glossary For Home Studio Musicians

Imaging – The sense that a voice or instrument is in a

particular place in the room.
Laid-back – Relaxed, distant-sounding, opposite to Forward
Low-Level Detail – The quietest sounds in a recording.
Low Midrange (Low Mids) – The audio frequencies between
about 250Hz and 2000Hz.
Lush – Very Rich/Full, inviting.
Mellow – Reduced high frequencies, not Edgy.
Midrange (Mids) – The audio frequencies between about 250
Hz and 6000 Hz.
Muddy – Not clear. Too much in the 200Hz area, uncontrolled
low end.
Muf ed – Dull. Sounds like it is covered with a blanket.
Musical (or musicality) – A sense of cohesion in the sound.
Nasal – Honky, singing through your nose, a bump in the
response around 1k to 1.5k
Naturalness – Realism.
Open – Sound which has height and “air”, relates to clean
upper midrange and treble.
Pace – A strong sense of timing and beat.
Piercing – Strident, hard on the ears, screechy.

Simply Mixing
Page5
 An Audio Glossary For Home Studio Musicians

Presence Range – The presence range between 4kHz and

6kHz is responsible for the clarity and de nition of voices and
instruments. Without it things sound dull but too much and
the mix can sound thin.
Punchy – Good song dynamics. Good transient response, with
a strong impact.
Rich – See Full.
Round – High-frequency dip. Not edgy. Smooth.
Saturation – Gentle distortion
Shrill – Strident, Steely. High-frequency edge
Sibilant (or Sibilance) – “Essy”, exaggerated “s” or “sh” sounds
in vocals.
Sizzly – See Sibilant. Also, too many high frequencies on
cymbals.
Smooth – Easy on the ears, not harsh. Flat frequency
response, especially in the midrange.
Soundstage – The area between two speakers that appears to
the listener to be occupied by sonic images. Like a real stage,
a soundstage should have width, depth, and height.
Spacious – Conveying a sense of space, ambience, or room
around the instruments. Stereo reverb.
Steely – Emphasised upper mids around 3 to 6 kHz. Peaky,
non- at high-frequency response. See Harsh, Edgy.

Simply Mixing
Page6
 An Audio Glossary For Home Studio Musicians

Sub-Bass – The very low audio frequencies between about

20Hz and 60Hz.
Sweet – Not piercing. Delicate. A at high-frequency
response, low distortion. Lack of peaks in the response. Highs
are extended to 15 or 20 kHz, but they are not bumped up.
Often used when referring to cymbals, percussion, strings,
and sibilant sounds.
Telephone Like – See Tinny.
Texture – A perceptible pattern or structure in reproduced
sound.
Thick – A lack of articulation and clarity in the bass.
Thin – Bass light. Lacks low end, often the 250Hz range
Tight – Good low-frequency transient response and detail.
Timbre – The tonal character of an instrument
Timing – A sense of precision in tempo.
Tinny – Narrowband, weak lows, peaky mids. The music
sounds like it is coming through a telephone or tin can.
Transient – The leading edge of a percussive sound. Good
transient response makes the sound more live and realistic.
Transparent – Easy to hear into the music, detailed, clear, not
muddy. Wide at frequency response, sharp time response,
very low distortion and noise.

Simply Mixing
Page7
 An Audio Glossary For Home Studio Musicians

Tubby – Having low-frequency resonances as if you’re singing

in a bathtub. See bloated.
Upper Midrange (Upper Mids, High Mids) – The audio
frequencies between 2 kHz and 6 kHz.
Veiled – Like a net curtain is over the speakers. Slight noise or
distortion or slightly weak high frequencies. Loss of detail.
Warm – Good bass, adequate low frequencies. Not thin. Also
too much bass or mid bass. Also, pleasantly spacious. Also see
Rich, Round.
Wet – A sound with added reverb or delay. Opposite of Dry.
Weighty – Good low-frequency response below about 60 Hz.
A sense of substance and foundation produced by deep,
controlled bass.
Woolly – Loose, abby, bloated bass frequencies.

Want to be able to talk to like-minded people about mixing and music?

The come over to our private Facebook group and say hello!

Check out Sara's Rock Mixing Masterclass!

Learn to mix from the ground up with my Mixing Essentials courses over
at the Pro Mix Academy (af liate link).

Simply Mixing
Page8