Music Glossary - C

Cadence
This is the concluding phrase either at the end of a section of melody, or the end of the complete melody.

There are some standard cadence formulae:

Perfect - dominant to tonic
Imperfect - tonic to dominant
Plagal - subdominant to tonic
Interrupted - dominant to something other than tonic

Cans
'Cans' is just another name for headphones.

Capacitor
A capacitor is an electronic component that is capable of storing electric charge. Amongst the many uses for these components are there use in analogue filter circuits and the Capacitor Microphone.

Capacitor Microphone
The Capacitor microphone is also called a Condenser or Electrostatic microphone. The audio signal is generated by the variations in the capacitance between one or two diaphragms and a fixed plate. Normally this kind of microphone will require either a battery or external power source to provide a polarizing voltage. This kind of mike is commonly used for high quality audio applications.

Capstan
The Capstan is the drive spindle on a tape machine.

Cardioid Microphone
This is a unidirectional microphone. The name is derived from the distinctive polar (microphone directional response) pattern, which resembles a heart shape.

Chord
3 or more different notes played at the same time. If only 2 notes are played the third note is implied.

Chorus (Singers)
Another name for a group of singers where there are more than 1 singer performing each part.

Chorus (Song)
A chorus or refrain is a line or lines that are repeated either musically or lyrically or both musically and lyrically.

A chorus tends to musically contrast with the verse melodically, harmonically and rythmically. There is also generally a change in dynamics to create a lift in the overall musical energy.

In contemporary music this is the catchy sing along bit.

Chromatic
In essence the use of "accidental" notes.

Chromatic Scale
A musical scale where the consecutive notes are separated by a semi-tone interval.

Click Track
This is an audio track that contains a metronome beat at the tempo of the music. This allows musicians to synchronise acurately to a film or parts recorded during another performance.

Clipping
Distortion due to overloading of an audio signal. In the Analogue domain this is normally caused by the peak signal voltage being limited by the audio circuits' power supply voltage.

Coloration (Colouration)
Coloration is the change in frequency response caused by resonance.

Comping
This is the process of creating a single, composite recording from a number of 'takes'. This can be done in both the analogue and digital domains.

Compressor
A compressor is a device for automatically controlling the level of an audio signal. This has the overall effect of reducing the dynamic range of the source signal. See our guide to Compression below.
Songstuff Compression Article

Condenser
Another name for a Capacitor Microphone.

Crossfade
Fading one element or track of a mix out, as you fade another one in.

Cymbal
A piece of circular metal with a bell shape in the center used as part of a drum kit to create crashing or other glass like sounds. Cymbals can be created by using a hand hammering process or by using a lathe. Different types of cymbals include Crash, Ride, Splash, Hi-Hat, Bells, and Chinas.