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Television Production Chapter 6

Terms in this set (36)

Voice track
The audio portion of the program created through dialog or narration.
On-camera narrator
Talent who provides program narration while being seen on camera.
Off-camera narrator
Talent who provides program narration, but is not seen by the viewer. Also called voiceover (V.O.).
Background sound
The noise that is normally associated with a particular location.
Natural sound (nat sound)
Environmental sound that enhances a story and is important to the shot.
Room tone
The sound present in a room or at a location before human occupation. Also called natural sound (nat sound).
Microphone (Mic)
The piece of equipment that picks up sounds in the air and sends them down a wire to the mixer or recorder.
Generating element
A thin surface inside the mic which vibrates when hit by sound waves in the air. The vibration moves a tiny wire back and forth through a magnetic field creating an electrical signal. Also called a diaphragm.
Wireless mic
A mic that uses a short cable to connect the mic to a radio transmitter with an antenna, or the transmitter may be built into the mic itself. The transmitter wirelessly sends the signal to the receiver, which sends the mic signal through a cable to the recorder.
Dynamic Mic
A very rugged, virtually indestructible type of mic that has good sound reproduction quality.
Condenser Mic
A type of mic that requires an external power supply (usually a battery) to operate. Also called an electret condenser mic.
Ribbon Mic
The most sensitive mic, primarily used in music recording studios. A thin ribbon of metal surrounded by a magnetic field serves as a generating element.
Pop filter
A barrier made of shaped wire covered with a piece of nylon that is placed between a sensitive mic and the talent to avoid damage to the diaphragm of the mic.
Boundary Mic
A microphone used to pick up a sound on a stage or in a large room and is most commonly a condenser type. Boundary mics work on the principle that sound is reflected off hard surfaces and are usually placed on the table, floor, or wall.
Parabolic reflector mic
A very sensitive mic that looks like a satellite dish with handles and is designed to pick up sounds at a distance.
Pick-up pattern
A term that describes how well a mic hears sounds from various directions.
Omni-directional mic
A mic with a pick-up pattern that captures sound from nearly every direction equally well.
Cardioid mic
A mic with a pick-up pattern that captures sound from primarily one direction. Also called a uni-directional mic or directional mic.
Hypercardioid mic
A directional mic with a narrower and longer pick-up pattern than a cardioid mic.
Supercardioid mic
A directional mic with a narrower pick-up pattern than a hypercardioid mic.
Shotgun mic
A directional mic with an extremely narrow pick-up pattern.
Feedback
A high-pitched squeal that occurs when a microphone picks up the sound coming from a speaker that is carrying that microphone's signal.
Hand-held mic
A mic that is designed to be held in the hand, rather than placed on a boom or clipped too clothing.
Boom
A pole that is held over the set with a microphone attached to the end of the pole. Any type of mic may be attached to the end of the boom.
Fishpole boom
Type of boom that must be physically held over the heads of talent.
Lapel mic
The smallest type of mic that can be worn by talent and is attached to clothing at or near the breastbone with a small clip or pin. Sometimes referred to as a "lav".
High Impedance (HiZ)
A type of mic that is typically inexpensive, low-quality, and cannot tolerate long cable lengths longer than 8'.
Low Impedance (LoZ)
A type of mic that is costly, high-quality, and can tolerate long cable lengths.
Mic level
The level of audio that comes froma microphone. It is designed to be sent to the "mic in" on a recorder or mixer.
Line level
The level of audio between pieces of audio equipment. For example, the level of audio going from the output of a CD player to the input of an amplifier.
Power level
The audio level from the output on an amplifier to the speaker.
Mic mixer
A piece of equipment that combines only the microphone signals into a single sound signal.
Audio mixer
A piece of equipment that takes the sounds from a variety of sources, such as mics, a CD player, or tape player, and combines them into a single sound signal that is sent to the recorder.
Potentiometer (Pot)
A knob or slider that controls the strength of signals coming into the mixer.
Volume unit meter (VU meter)
A meter on either an audio or mic mixer that indicates signal strength.
Automatic gain control (AGC)
A circuit found on most consumer video cameras that controls the audio level during the recording process.
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