Sound glossary for location and studio recording

By James Jones, founder of Granary Digital · Updated 5 November 2026

Ambience

The background sound of a place, such as traffic, a room or birds, recorded without dialogue. Editors use it to fill gaps and make a scene feel real. Record a few minutes of it at each location.

Bit depth

The number of steps used to store each sample of a digital recording. It sets how much range a file holds, so a 24-bit file leaves more room for a quiet take than a 16-bit file does.

Boom

A microphone on a long pole, held just out of shot above the actor and aimed at the mouth. It is the usual way to record a scene where people move, and it captures the room as well as the voice.

Cardioid

A pickup pattern that favours sound from the front and rejects much of the sound from behind. Most voice and studio microphones use it. Choose it when you want the voice and not the room.

Clipping

Distortion that happens when a signal is too loud for the system to handle. It is heard as crackle or flat, broken sound. Set levels with headroom so a sudden laugh or shout does not clip.

Compressor

A processor that reduces the level of the loud parts of a signal, so quiet and loud sections sit closer together. It evens out a voice, but too much makes speech sound squashed.

Dante

An audio networking system that carries many channels over ordinary network cable. Granary's digital desk is Dante-networked, so a session can be sent over the network rather than run as separate cables.

dBFS

Decibels relative to full scale, the way digital levels are shown on recorders and editors. The top of the digital scale is 0 dBFS, and anything above it clips.

Dialogue

The spoken words in a scene. Dialogue is the main thing a sound team protects on location, because a badly recorded line is hard to fix later.

EQ

Equaliser: a tool that raises or cuts certain frequencies. Use it to reduce boominess or harshness, not to hide a bad recording.

Gain

The amount a signal is turned up before it is recorded. Set the gain at the preamp so the loudest moment peaks with headroom. Turning the level up in the edit raises the noise along with the sound.

Headroom

The space between the normal level of a recording and the point where it clips. Leave room for loud moments such as a laugh or a shout.

Lavalier

A small clip-on microphone worn on the chest, shirt or lapel. It hears a voice closely and can be hidden from camera. See the lav placement guide for where to clip it.

Limiter

A processor that stops a signal going above a set level. It works as a hard ceiling rather than a gentle reduction, and it protects a recording from sudden peaks.

LTC

Linear timecode, a timecode signal recorded as audio that carries hours, minutes, seconds and frame number, often set to the time of day. It can be recorded on a spare track and read by a recorder to keep sound and picture in sync.

LUFS

Loudness units relative to full scale, the measure of how loud a programme sounds over its length rather than its peak. Delivery is often set to a loudness target in LUFS, so use the target your broadcaster or platform gives you.

Noise floor

The level of background noise in a recording when nothing is happening. The gap between the noise floor and the dialogue is what makes a voice sound clean.

Pink noise

A test signal with equal power in each octave, which sounds like steady rushing noise with more bass than white noise. It is used to check a room and a speaker system.

Plosive

A burst of air from a hard p or b that hits the microphone and makes a thump. Reduce it with a pop shield, distance and a slight angle. The mic technique for podcasts page covers the fix in more detail.

Polar pattern

The shape of a microphone's sensitivity to sound from different directions. Cardioid, omnidirectional and figure-of-eight are the common patterns.

Proximity effect

The boost in bass a directional microphone gives when it is close to the source. It warms a voice, but too much makes speech boomy. Move back a little if the bass builds up.

Room tone

A minute or so of the location's own sound with nobody speaking, recorded with everyone still. Editors use it to fill gaps and smooth edits, so record it at every location, usually at the end of the scene.

Sample rate

How many times per second a digital recording measures the sound. Match the rate your editor or the delivery spec asks for, and do not change it partway through a session.

Sibilance

Harsh hissing on s, sh and similar sounds, which a microphone can exaggerate. Move the microphone slightly off-axis, or use a de-esser to reduce it.

Slate

The spoken or clapper announcement at the start of a take, giving the scene, the take and sometimes the roll. Editors and sound teams use it to match sound and picture.

Sync

Keeping sound and picture locked together, so a mouth matches the words. It is set on the day with a clap, a slate or timecode, and checked in the edit.

Tone

Line-up tone: a steady test signal, usually a 1 kHz sine wave at an agreed level. It is used to line up levels between pieces of equipment, and is often placed at the head of a finished programme so the next stage can set its meters. It is not a way to set a microphone's gain.

Wild track

Sound recorded without picture, such as the atmosphere of a room or a line read separately. Editors use it to cover gaps and to replace dialogue that cannot be used.

Wind shield

A foam or fur cover over a microphone that cuts wind noise outdoors. A rigid basket around the microphone is called a blimp, and the furry cover that goes over it is a deadcat.

Sources

• Wikipedia, Linear timecode, read 5 November 2026

Related guides

• Location sound starter: boom, lav, room tone
• Lav placement: where to clip a lavalier microphone
• Sound report template, with a worked example
• Timecode and sync explained, with an LTC test file
• Audio test pack: tones, pink noise and sweeps
• All guides and tools

The picture at the top of this page is an illustration, not a photograph of a client or a real job.