Unit 6 - Audio Equipment

• Ducking

• An editing feature that lowers the volume of a particular track when another audio

source is present

• Commonly used for voiceovers with background music

• Scrubbing

• Clicking and dragging the playhead of an audio project through the timeline to
get to a particular section

• The user is able to hear the audio while scrubbing, making navigation of the
project more efficient

• Normalization

• The process of making sure all of the audio levels in a project are at a consistent level and sound
good together.

• Equalization

• The process of adjusting the different levels (bass, treble, mid-tones, etc.) in an audio recording in
order to produce the best sound

• VU meter

• Also called Volume Unit Meter

• A visual representation of the audio volume level; used to ensure all audio clips recorded are at the
same level.

• Over-modulation

• Sound interference that occurs during recording when audio levels are too high and

causes the signal to distort or lose clarity.

• Audio Channels

• The amount of individual audio channels used during playback. The more channels
of audio, the more realistic the sound.

• Monaural (Mono) - All sources of audio play out of one single channel.

• Stereophonic (Stereo) - Audio sources can be separated into two different
channels (left and right).

• Surround Sound - Multiple audio channels; usually 5-7 channels.

MP3

• Most popular audio file format.

• Standard for downloading and

• storing music.

• Commonly used for streaming

over the Internet.

WAV

• Standard file format for PCs.

• Native sound format for Windows

environment.

• Foley is the art of re-creating

sounds to give realism in movies
and TV.