Music Glossary - B

Back-tracking
This is recording the combination of a live sound with a previously recorded backing track.

Baffle
This term is applied to any wall or enclosure used for mounting a loud speaker.

Balance
The relative signal levels of the left and right channels in a Stereo Pair.

Balanced Line
This is an electronic cable that uses twin signal cables, both isolated from the earth, that are of opposite polarity but equal potential. This kind of cabling is often used for microphone connections. A Balanced Line is commonly used to reduce noise picked up by the cabling. As the polarity of each of the signal cables is opposite, this means that they are 180 degrees out of phase. Any noise introduced to the signal during transmission is picked up equally by both wires and can then be eliminated during the re-combination of the signal using Phase Cancellation.

Band Pass Filter (BPF)
A filter that attenuates frequencies above and below the selected center frequency. Frequencies within the band are boosted.

Bandwidth
1. The frequency range between the 3dB down-points in a frequency response.

2. The amount of information throughput in a system.

Bar
Known as a "measure" in the United States this is the space between two barlines.

Baritone
Voice halfway between a Bass and Tenor with a roughly 2 octave range starting at G an octave and a half below middle C.

Bass
1) Lowest adult male voice ranging for 2 octaves above E almost 2 octaves below middle C.

2)Name used for the largest (normally) instrument in a family of instruments. For example Bass Guitar.

Bass Trap
In a recording environment, putting foam in the corners of the room can help to keep the recording from sounding muffled of bass heavy, these are called “bass Traps”.

Beat
Unit of time measure in music. Time signature varies the number of beats in a bar.

Beats
Beats are the regular variations in amplitude caused when two similar sounds that are close in frequency are played simultaneously. The resulting addition of the sound waves causes a periodic pulsing in the overall sound. This is something regularly witnessed by string instrument players during the tuning process.

Bel
This is the unit used to measure the magnitudes of power. 1 Bel is equal to 10 decibels (dB).

Bias Trap
This is a low-pass filter in the replay circuit of a tape machine. This removes any HF Bias. Bi-directional This is microphone with a figure-of-eight polar pattern.

Biasing
This is caused when spill from audio or control circuitry, or an external source, spills onto the audio signal. The additional signal may be at a high frequency (HF Bias), or a DC offset (DC Bias).

Binaural
This is how sounds are perceived and the placement of the source is determined when a sound wave arrives at both ears. In Binaural Recording, this effect is captured by placing a microphone at each ear or using a simulated head that contains microphones in the position of the ears.

In the digital domain Digital Signal Processing (DSP) has been used to simulate the binaural effect by treating a mono source signal with a Head Related Transform Function (HRTF).

Bit
A Bit is an individual binary digit. A Byte is a collection of 8 bits.

Bleed
When recording several instruments at once, if there is not enough isolation you can hear a little of another instrument on a track, this is called bleed.

Boolean Algebra
This is a branch of mathematics concerned with logic analysis and manipulation of binary numbers. As such Boolean Algebra is one of the main cornerstones of Digital Electronics.

Break Beat
The sampling of a drum break as a drum loop. Originally taken from Soul tracks these drum loops are used to create the rhythm tracks for Rap and Hip-hop music.

Break Jack
A jack plug that, when inserted into a jack socket, breaks the normal circuit connection.

Breakbeat
Commercially, a post digital sampling music genre.

Bridge (Instrument)
On a stringed instrument, the bridge is mounted on the instrument body. The strings, held by the tail piece, pass over the bridge and are suspended over the neck until they pass over the nut.

Bridge (Music)
Connecting passage of contrasting music between two important themes in a composition and commonly in popular music, a musical bridge is used to prepare for the return of the original theme.

In thirty-two bar form (AABA) the bridge (B) is also known as the middle-eight or release. In verse-chorus form the bridge is less constrained.

Music contrast in the bridge is achieved by rhythm and / or tempo change, and often by a change in the key of music.

Bridge is sometimes used to describe a section between a verse and chorus, commonly called a pre-chorus. In the classical music sonata form the transition between the two themes is also called a bridge, although it is more formally called a "transition theme".

Regarding lyrics, the bridge is often used as a mechanism to reflect on the previous lyrics and to set up the listener for the pay off or climax of the song.

Bump
This is a common phrase for mixing a number of tracks together, and recording the result onto a new track, as a means of freeing up tracks on a multi-track recorder. For example mixing 5 tracks together into a stereo pair. The original 5 tracks can then be wiped clean. This also sometimes called 'jumping'.

Bus Bar
A common earth.

Buss
An audio signal path that a number of inputs may be connected. The Buss signal can then be used to feed one or more outputs. In a Mixing Desk the Buss is essentially a wire to which individual channels can be connected, using a switch. The wire is normally fed into a combining or summing amplifier to allow the signal to be mixed with others.

Bypass
A Bypass is an alternative signal path that avoids a particular circuit or system in the audio chain.