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M
Abbreviation for Mega or million.
mA
Milliamp or one thousandth of an amp.
MACHINEHEAD
The tuning mechanism of a guitar.
MAGNETIC FLUX
The amount of magnetic force or induction passing through a plane within a magnetic field; expressed in Maxwell's.
MAGNETIC RECORDING
A process by which media are recorded using magnetic recording media such as tape, or disk.
MAGNETIC TAPE
A ribbon, usually of metal or plastic, of varying thickness and width, coated with material, which is sensitive to electromagnetic impulses; used to make magnetic recordings.
MAGNETIC TAPE RECORDER
A device, which employs magnetic tape to record media such as sound.
MAGNETISM
The science of magnetics.
MAIN BOARD
Circuit board and interface for various computer components and peripherals.
MAINS HUM
Noise caused by the induction of mains current into the signal path.
MAJOR
Western music term. Major may refer to an interval, a chord, or a scale or key.
MARCATO
Lit. Western music score direction meaning marked, slightly detached and accented
MASKING
Process of veiling, covering or disguising.
MASTER CONTROL
Controller, which controls a subgroup of controls.
Mbps
(Mb/s) Megabits (millions of bits) per second.
MCA
Micro Channel Architecture. 32 bit data transfer technology developed by IBM in 1987 for its PS/2 series of computers. Did not turn out to be as successful as the manufacturers would have hoped for.
MEAN FREE PATH
The average distance travelled by sound waves in an enclosure between successive reflections.
MEAN TEMPERAMENT
Alternative means of tuning to equal temperament.
MEASURE
Alternative (American) term for Bar.
MEG
Abbreviation og Mega (1,000,000)
Megahertz
One million hertz (1,000,000 Hz or 106 Hz)
MERGE
See MIDI MERGE
METAL TAPE
See MAGNETIC TAPE
METERS
An instrument designed to measure flow.
MIC LEVEL
Term used to indicate the low signal levels output by microphones. see Standard Signal Levels
MICROPHONE
An electro acoustic transducer used to convert acoustical waves into analogue electrical signals.
MICROPROCESSOR
An electronic chip; it is this chip that reads and acts upon instructions the computer receives.
MICROWAVES
An extremely short electromagnetic wave having a very high frequency range generally regarded as being between as wavelength of 1 millimetre and 30 centimetres.
MIDDLE EAR
The middle section of the hearing system, stretching from the eardrum to the cochlea. It contains the ossicles.
MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface. MIDI is an architectural protocol, created to allow electronic musical equipment of different manufacturers to communicate. Synthesizers, sequencers, computers, rhythm machines, etc. can be interconnected through a standard interface. MIDI is an asynchronous, serial interface, which is transmitted at the rate of 31.25 KBaud or 31,250 bits per second.
MIDI CLOCK
A multi-unit MIDI setup may be triggered synchronously from a central MIDI clock
MIDI CONTINUOUS CONTROLLERS/MIDI CONTROLLERS
Ranges within the agreed MIDI protocol that affect the way that the sound is produced. E.g. Volume, pitch bend, modulation.
MIDI MERGE
A device that allows two or more MIDI data streams to be combined
MIDI PORT
One of the three possible connections a MIDI device will have IN, OUT, THRU.
MIDI THRU BOX
Device that accepts the data from the MIDI OUT port of a device and outputs it to several MIDI THRU ports. It is used to avoid daisy chaining many devices together.
MIDI SPLITTER
See MIDI THRU BOX
MIDI SYNCH
A collective name for the synchronisation systems available for MIDI devices MIDI Clock and MIDI Time Code.
MILLISECOND
One thousandth of a second.
MINIM
A fixed note length equal to two beats in a 4/4 time signature. In US notation, it is the equivalent of a 1/2 note.
See also time signature.
MINOR
Western music term. Minor may refer to an interval, a chord, or a scale or key.
MIPS
Millions of instructions per second.
MIXDOWN
The process of combining different recorded tracks to a stereo track.
MIXER
A device designed to accept a varying number of audio inputs, to treat these inputs discretely or in combination, and to output combinations of audio signals. .
MMC
MIDI Machine Control
MODAL RESONANCE
Room resonance caused by the presence of a mode.
MODE
1.Acoustic A room resonance. There are Axial (caused by parallel walls), Tangential (caused by four room surfaces) and Oblique modes (caused by all six surfaces). The effect of modes is more pronounced in small rooms and at low frequencies. 2.Musical A set of notes taken from the twelve semitones of the chromatic scale.
MODEM
Modulator - Demodulator
A device, which converts digital signals to a form suitable for analogue transmission.
MODULATION
1. The process of altering one parameter of a signal according to the changes of a parameter in another signal. 2. The process of passing from one musical key to another.
MOL
Maximum Output Level
MONAURAL
See MONOPHONIC.
MONITOR
Computer visual display. see also Monitor Speakers
MONITOR SPEAKERS
1. A loudspeaker used in the control room of a recording studio. 2. In a PA sound situation, a speaker providing the musicians on stage with a reference mix.
MONOPHONIC
Single-channel sound.
MONO-TIMBRAL
A synthesizer or sampler that can play only one part (or voice) at a time. See Multitimbral.
MOSFET
Metal Oxide semiconductor Field Effect Transistors
MOTHER BOARD
See MAIN BOARD
MOUSE
A device used externally to the computer that allows the user to control the position of the pointer on the computer display. Various buttons on the mouse (depending on the type of mouse used) provide further selection actions.
MOVING COIL MICROPHONE
A microphone employing a diaphragm placed inside the magnetic field of a magnet for transducing acoustical waves into electrical signals. The diaphragm moves in the magnetic field, perpendicular to the lines of the flux that link the poles of the magnet, inducing a current in the wire.
MOVEMENT
Change involving motion and energy. In Western music often used to define a subsection of an entire work; e.g. a movement within a symphony.
MPEG
Motion Picture Experts Group. An ISO motion video and audio compression standard providing both lossy and lossless compression.
MS
Middle and Side stereo format
MSB
Most Significant Byte.
MSN
Most Significant Nybble
MTC or MIDI TIME CODE
A synchronisation implementation based on the SMPTE time code protocol.
Multitask
Said of computer operating system performing more than one task at the same time. This is achieved by dividing the processor time between the different tasks. DOS will only perform one task at a time but operating systems from Windows 3.1 onwards can perform multitasking more or less successfully by employing processor 'time slicing'.
MULTI-TIMBRAL
Refers to a synthesizer or sampler that can play more than one part (different sound voices) at the same time, each controlled via a different MIDI channel.
MULTI-TRACK
1. A recording device able to record several separate track of music on a single piece of magnetic tape. 2. Colloquial expression for recording using a multitrack recorder.
MULTS
Jackfield paralleling
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