audio language lesson 4

That's the obligatory "self portrait of me twiddling knobs on the biggest desk I could find" photo.

Today we are going to leave microphones alone for a while a talk about some audio terms which can get a little confusing.

The mixing desk is central to many audio set ups.  It's that thing with all the knobs on it.  And yes I do know what all those knobs do.  The mixing desk, also known as mixer, console, sound board, can also simply be called the desk.  Now we all know a desk as something that you sit at to do such studious things as reading and writing, so it can be a little confusing when the mixer is also called the desk, especially if there is a desk nearby.  So when someone says they left the tape on the desk, you might find yourself looking in the wrong place.

 Incidentally, the term "desk tape" refers to a recording made directly from the live mixing console.  eg. When a band performs a gig, the engineer can make a recording of the live mix, and that's called a desk tape.  Even if you burn a CD, it's called a desk tape.

Many recording studios are hard disk based these days, but it is still very common to hear people talking in terms of tape.  Even if there is no tape machine to be seen, you will hear phrases such as "let's put it to tape", and "rolling tape".

Another confusing, but important term in audio is "monitor".  Monitor can refer to computer screens.  It can also be the term given to studio speakers.  This can be confusing when you have computer screens right next to speakers, like in the photo.  And in live sound, monitors refer to the foldback speakers.  Foldback speakers are the speakers on stage pointing at the performers so they can hear themselves.  In larger PA setups it's common to have one person mixing the foldback and and a different person mixing the main sound for the audience.  If someone is "on monitors", it means they are mixing the foldback.

"Front of house" is the term given to the space in front of the stage ie where the audience is.  The front of house sound system is that which is pointing out to the audience.  So the person mixing this is the "front of house engineer".