Beat is the basic unit of time and rhythm in music. You can think of the beat as the steady pulse you feel in a song that makes you want to tap your foot or bob your head along with the music. The beat is what gives a song its sense of rhythmic motion through…
Allegro moderato is a tempo marking used in music. Tempo markings tell the musician how fast or slow to play the music. Allegro moderato means “moderately fast.” It comes from the Italian language. Allegro means cheerful or lively, and moderato means moderate or medium. Allegro moderato is not the fastest tempo. There are other tempo…
Audio file formats are different ways of storing digital audio data on computers. Audio files take the sound waves from a recording and turn them into numbers so a computer can work with them. There are many different audio file formats, each with their own qualities. The format tells the computer how to understand and…
Attenuation means making something weaker or having less of it. In audio, attenuation is when you reduce the strength of a sound signal. This makes the sound quieter. You could say the volume goes down. It’s kind of like slowly turning down the knob on your stereo. How does audio attenuation work? Sound is made…
An Analog to Digital Converter, or ADC for short, is a device that changes analog signals into digital data. Analog signals are like the sound waves that come out of a guitar or a voice. Digital data is the kind of information that computers and other electronic devices can understand and work with. You can…
Allegro is a word used in music. It’s Italian, which means the music should be played quickly and lively. When a piece of music or song says “allegro” at the top, the musician knows to play it at a fast and cheerful tempo. What exactly does allegro mean? The word allegro is pronounced “uh-LEG-grow” in…
Acoustic or sound absorbers are things made to soak up sounds in a room. They can be blocks of special material or sometimes whole devices. Sound absorbers take in sound energy and turn it into heat. This brings down the total noise in the room. How Sound Absorbers Work When you make a noise, it…
44.1 kHz is a number that gets thrown around a lot when people talk about digital audio. But what the heck does it mean? 44.1 kHz is the “sample rate” or “sampling frequency.” It has to do with how analog sound waves, like the ones that come out of musical instruments or people’s mouths, get…
The 12AX7 is a type of small electronic tube. It has two parts inside called triodes. Triodes help make electric signals stronger. The 12AX7 tube is also called the ECC83 in Europe. The 12AX7 tube was very popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It was used in many different electronic devices, such as radios, televisions,…
1U is a way to measure things that go in computer racks and audio racks. 1U is short for “one rack unit” or “one rack space.” A “rack” is a big metal box that holds equipment like computers, audio gear, and other machines. The rack keeps everything neat and tidy and safe. How Big is…
