Audio Recording and Editing Flashcards

What is the primary purpose of a pop filter when recording vocals?

Answer: To reduce plosive sounds caused by bursts of air

A pop filter diffuses bursts of air from plosive consonants (p, b) before they hit the microphone diaphragm, preventing distortion.

What does 'comping' mean in audio recording?

Answer: Selecting the best sections from multiple takes to create one ideal performance

Comping involves choosing the strongest phrases or notes from multiple recorded takes to assemble a single, polished composite performance.

Which microphone polar pattern captures sound equally from all directions?

Answer: Omnidirectional

An omnidirectional pattern has equal sensitivity at all angles, capturing room sound and sources from every direction.

In a DAW, what is the function of a 'crossfade' at an edit point?

Answer: To smoothly blend two adjacent audio regions and eliminate clicks

A crossfade overlaps the end of one region with the start of the next, creating a smooth transition and eliminating any click or pop at the edit point.

What is 'gain staging' in a recording session?

Answer: Setting appropriate signal levels at each stage of the signal chain to optimize headroom and noise

Gain staging means setting each device in the signal chain (preamp, interface, DAW) to a healthy level — loud enough above the noise floor but with sufficient headroom to prevent clipping.

When recording a drummer, which mic placement technique uses a single coincident pair above the kit to capture a natural stereo image?

Answer: XY coincident stereo

XY coincident stereo places two matched cardioid mics at 90° to each other at the same point, creating a phase-coherent stereo image of the drum kit.

What is the noise floor in an audio recording context?

Answer: The lowest level of background noise inherent in a recording system

The noise floor is the residual self-noise of the recording system — the minimum sound level below which signals cannot be distinguished from system noise.