The Composer Glossary

All the words.

In our Beginner’s Guide to Orchestral Music Production, we introduce you to a whole new world of sound. As you start exploring this world, you may find yourself confused by some of the many new terms you've seen. No worries! 

In this glossary, we cover all the new terms that were mentioned in the guide ranging from basic terminology to more in-depth technical jargon.

Chapter 1: Requirements To Create Orchestral Music

All-in-one Orchestra: A sample library that includes all instruments of a standard orchestra.

Articulation: The manner in which a note is played or sung.

Audio interface: A device that converts the sound from your instruments and microphones into digital signals.

Cinematic: Style that lends itself well to film and TV, with its focus on tension, suspense, and drama.

Converters: Converters convert analog signals into digital ones and vice versa—for example, when recording audio onto a computer.

CPU: Central Processing Unit, which is the computer's brain.

Crash: An error that occurs when an application stops working and closes unexpectedly. 

Digital Audio Workstation (DAW): A piece of software used to record, edit and mix audio. Examples: Cubase, Logic Pro and Studio One.

Drum pad: A small, soft pad that you strike with your fingers to create music. Usually used with drum sounds.

Fader: Vertical slider that controls the volume of a track.

Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS): The desire to constantly buy gear, new instruments and software.

Hard Disk Drive (HDD): A storage device that uses a spinning disk to store data. Slower read/write speeds than SSD.

Kontakt: A sampler that allows you to play sample libraries through your DAW.

Legato: Technique of playing an instrument without any breaks between notes to create a smooth sound.

Mainboard: The central processing unit of your computer, which handles all data and communications between all of the other components.

Microphone positions: A way of recording audio in which multiple microphones are placed at different points around the sound source being recorded.

Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI): A standard protocol for transmitting musical information digitally. Stores note information like length, velocity and dynamics.

MIDI controller: A device used to control the parameters of a DAW or VST.

Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol Standard (NKS): An extended plug-in format to integrate plugins with Native Instruments MIDI controllers like Komplete Kontrol and Maschine.

Patch: A loadable part of a sample library.

Plugin: A software tool that can be used to enhance or alter the sound of a piece of music.

Preamps: Preamps boost the signal from an instrument or microphone so it can be processed by other equipment, such as a mixer or recording system.

Project: A file that contains all of your music files, like audio or MIDI files of one composition.

RAM: Random-Access Memory, which is where the CPU stores information temporarily while executing a program's instructions.

Sample library: A collection of recorded sounds, typically musical instruments.

Sampling: Recording audio from an external source and saving it as digital data.

Section: Group of instruments from the same family. Examples: Strings section, Woodwinds section and Brass section.

Sequencer: Application that allows you to create music by entering notes into a grid.

Solid-state drive (SSD): A type of data storage device that uses solid-state memory chips to store data. Faster than HDD.

Soprano, Alto, Tenor & Bass (SATB): SATB refers to a group of singers who each have their own range—soprano (highest), alto (mid-range), tenor (lowest), and bass (lowest). This grouping is used most often in choral arrangements.

Template: A default preset of settings like instruments and effects that loads up with your DAW.

The "mix": The quality of all of the sounds in an audio production blending together.

Virtual instrument (VST): Software that emulates musical instruments and devices.

Chapter 2: The Orchestral Sections and Instruments

Arranging: The process of putting together a piece of music so that all the parts are in their proper place, and all the notes sound right together.

Bar: A measure of time in music. The time signature dictates how many beats or notes fit into one bar.

Basso profundo: A deep bass voice.

Bow: A stick used to produce sounds on a stringed instrument, such as a violin.

Brass: A group of instruments that produce sounds by blowing air through the instrument to make it vibrate. Typically require more breath than woodwinds. Examples: Trumpets, horns, trombones, tubas. 

Classical orchestral music: The classical symphony orchestra, consisting of a string section, woodwinds, brass and percussion.

Cordophone: A musical instrument that produces a sound by plucking a string, similar to a guitar or piano.

Crescendo: A gradual increase volume, loudness or force.

Double-tonguing: An articulation where two alternating movements of the tongue are used to play rapid passages on wind instruments.

Drone: A steady, unchanging tone.

Fanfare: A musical composition featuring a series of rapid percussive sounds, often played by brass instruments. It is used to announce special occasions like weddings, funerals, and parades.

Fingerboard: The area where you place your fingers while playing a stringed instrument like a violin or cello.

Flutter tongue: A technique in which a winds player produces a quick, repetitive fluttering sound with the tongue.

Formant: The partials in a sound that are produced by the instrument.

Frequency spectrum: The horizontal axis of a graph that represents the range of frequencies that can be heard by the human ear.

Glissando: A sliding style of playing in which the performer uses their finger to slide over the notes instead of picking them individually.

Harmony: The arrangement of pitches in a musical composition. Often referring to a two or more part sound that adds to the melody of the song and gives it context.

Hybrid orchestral music: A style of music that combines classical orchestral music with synthesized sounds.

Mallet: A hammer used to strike a percussion instrument.

Melody: A series of notes that make up a single line of music.

Muddiness: A description for busy, unclear and intransparent mixes where instrument frequencies overlay each other. Especially frequent in the low-mid frequency in orchestral music.

Overtone: The partials in a sound that are produced by the instrument.

Percussion: Drums, cymbals, bells and other instruments that produce sound when struck.

Piano roll: A graphical representation of a musical score in the MIDI editor of a DAW.

Pitch: The highness or lowness of a sound (as determined by its frequency).

Pizzicato: A technique of plucking strings instead of bowing them.

Plectrum: A small piece of plastic, metal, or wood that is used to pluck the strings of an instrument. Typically used on a guitar.

Range: The range of the instrument's pitch, which determines what kind of sound it can produce.

Reed: A thin strip of wood used to produce sound by vibrating in response to air flowing past it when blown across its opening by a musician.

Repetitions: Short technique for wind instruments. Repetitions are the shortest type of short articulation.

Reverberate: To make a sound echo or last longer.

Rip: When there are too many instruments playing at once, it can make everything sound muddy instead of clear and crisp.

Soundboard: The part of a musical instrument that supports the strings or membranes and helps transfer their vibrations to the air.

Strings: A group of instruments that use strings to produce sound. Examples: Violins, Violas, Cellos, Double basses.

Synthesizer: An electronic instrument that uses electric signals to create sound.

Texture: Bed of soft notes in the background that support the melody.

Timbre: The quality of sound that distinguishes different voices or instruments from each other.

Tuning peg: The part on the side of a stringed instrument that you turn to adjust its pitch.

Volume: The loudness of a note or sound.

Woodwinds: A group of instruments that produce sounds by blowing air through the instrument to make it vibrate. Often require a wooden reed in the mouthpiece. Examples: Flutes, Oboes, Clarinets, Bassoons.

Chapter 3: Basic Music Theory (in under 30 minutes)

Aeolian: A natural minor scale.

Beat: A unit of time that measures the rhythm of music. Several beats fill one bar, depending on the time signature. In a 3/4 time signature, 3 quarter beats fill one bar.

Chord: A combination of three or more notes played at the same time.

Chord progression: A series of chords that follow each other.

Dissonance: A sound that is unexpected, uncomfortable, and unpleasant to the ear. It can be described as a feeling of tension or discomfort.

Dotted note: A note that has a dot written after it, indicating that it should be played for one and a half times its original value.

Eighth note: A note that lasts half as long as a quarter note in 4/4 time signature.

Half note: A note that lasts half as long as a whole note in 4/4 time signature.

Half step (semitone): The smallest possible distance between two notes on the piano keyboard. Examples: C to C#, A to Ab.

Hertz (Hz): A unit of frequency, often used to measure the pitch of a sound. 1 Hz = 1 vibration per second.

Interval: The distance between two notes.

Inversion (chord): Flipping the order of notes in a chord. Example: C-E-G (C major) inverts to E-G-C and G-C-E.

Ionian: A major scale.

Key: The scale that builds the harmonic foundation of a composition.

Lydian: A major scale with a raised fourth.

Major: A musical scale with a tonality that feels bright, happy, and positive. Corresponds to the Ionian mode of a scale.

Minor: A musical scale with a tonality that feels dark, sad, and melancholic. Corresponds to the Aeolian mode of a scale. 

Mode: Modes describe variations of a scale's step formula.

Note: A musical symbol that represents a pitch over time.

Octave: The interval between two notes with frequencies that are exactly twice or half the frequency of each other. Corresponds to 12 half steps.

Pitch: The frequency of a note, measured in Hertz (Hz).

Quarter note: A note that lasts half as long as a half note in 4/4 time signature.

Rhythm: A pattern of sound in time. It's often described in terms of the number of beats per measure, whether it's fast or slow, and what effect you're going for.

Scale: A series of notes organized in ascending or descending order that follow a specific pattern.

Tempo: The speed of a piece of music, measured in beats per minute (bpm).

Time signature: A number that indicates the meter of a piece of music. It's usually written at the beginning of a song and it tells you how many beats are in each measure.

Triad: A chord made up of three notes. The root note is the lowest note and the two highest notes are a third apart.

Triplet: A group of three notes played within the same duration as two regular notes.

Tritone: A dissonant interval that consists of three whole tones.

Voicing (chord): A way to play the notes in a chord (for example, inversion).

Whole note: A whole note is a note that lasts for four beats.

Whole step: The distance of two half steps. Examples: C to D, A to G).

Chapter 4: How to use a DAW for Orchestral Music

Audio device: A piece of hardware that processes sound and converts it into data.

Audio track: A track that contains actual recorded sounds. Requires no VST to be played.

Automation: The process of editing and controlling a parameter over time to create dynamic changes in an audio signal.

Compression: A type of signal processing that reduces the dynamic range of an audio signal so that it sounds louder at lower volumes.

Driver: The software that controls the audio device.

Dynamics: The changes of loudness and softness throughout a piece of music.

Equalization: A tool used to boost or cut certain frequencies in an audio signal.

Humanize: A feature that adds subtle variations in timing between individual notes or hits in order to give your track a more natural feel.

Master channel: The main audio track in your project.

Mastering: The final step in the process, where you apply compression, equalization and other effects to an entire mix. It's the final polish and makes sure that the track reaches the target loudness.

Metronome ("click"): A tool that helps musicians keep time by sounding a metronomic rhythm.

MIDI editor: Software that allows you to edit and manipulate the MIDI data in your song. Part of a DAW.

MIDI track: A track that contains MIDI data with note parameters like note length, velocity and dynamics. Requires a VST to be played.

Mixer: Software that allows you to mix the volume, panning and effects of tracks in your song. Part of a DAW.

Mixing: Balancing the levels and frequencies on an individual track level and then ensuring they all fit and sound well together.

Mod wheel: A wheel on your MIDI controller that be used to control dynamics, filter and other effects.

MP3: A compressed sound file format that allows for a greater amount of space to be used on CDs and other digital media.

Mute: A DAW option that turns off the sound on certain tracks or channels.

Panning: Describes the way audio is positioned left and right within the stereo field.

Phrasing: The way a musician phrases a piece of music, where they emphasize certain notes over others.

Quantize: A feature that helps you align notes within a certain tolerance (e.g., 1/16th notes, 1/32nd notes) so that your tracks are more precise.

Sample delay: The time between the playback of a note and the moment it sounds.

Sampler: A device that allows you to sample sounds from other sources and use them in your song or project. Required for using sample libraries.

Solo: An option in a Digital Audio Worktstation that only plays the sound on certain tracks or channels.

Step record: A recording mode in a Digital Audio Workstation that inputs notes to the editor as they are played on the MIDI keyboard. The recording pauses until the next note is pressed, allowing to think between notes.

Stream Deck: A highly customizable macro controller.

Track: A collection of data representing one instrument, or a group of instruments, in a song.

Track delay: The amount of time a track "waits" during playback. Used to compensate sample delay.

Velocity: The strength of a note played on a MIDI instrument, which determines how hard or soft it sounds.

WAV: A file format that allows for uncompressed sound files. Better sound quality than MP3.

Waveform: A visual representation of the sound waves produced from playing an audio file.

Chapter 5: Orchestral Sample Libraries - A Beginner's Guide

Art Conductor: A product that offers pre-mapped Expression Maps or Sound Variations for a large number of sample libraries for fast articulation switching.

BRSO Articulate: An external plugin for FL Studio that allows fast articulation switching.

Crossgrade: Getting a higher discount for a service because you own an eligible product.

Dynamic layers: Sample libraries with multiple dynamic layers are recorded with several intensities or "dynamics" per note. You can blend through these layers seamlessly with the mod wheel. More dynamic layers result in a more lively sound.

Expression Maps: Cubase's method of fast articulation switching.

Flutter tongue: A tremolo-like articulation of brass and woodwind instruments repeating one note very fast.

Freebie: A free product, e.g. free sample libraries.

Keyswitch: A keyswitch is a note on the keyboard the triggers a different articulation.

Kontakt Player: The free version of the Kontakt sampler.

Machine gun effect: Repeated notes sound exactly the same because the sample library lacks round robins. This leads to a robotic, unnatural sound.

Mic positions: The different microphones which were used while recording a sample library. The user can mix these microphone positions to shape the sound of the samples.

Native Instruments: A large music hardware and software company. Native Instruments made Kontakt, the industry-standard sampler.

Round robins: Variations of the same note to avoid a robotic machine gun effect.

Sample: A short piece of sound that is recorded and used as part of a song.

Sforzando: An articulation of notes played with accent or emphasis. Also the name of a sample player.

SINE: Orchestral Tools' sampler for their sample libraries.

Sound Variations: Studio One's method of fast articulation switching.

Spiccato: A very short articulation produced by bouncing the bow off the string rather than pressing down. Sharp percussive sound.

Staccatissimo: A very short staccato note.

Staccato: A short note articulation.

Sustain: An articulation of long notes without the legato transitions of a single bow stroke.

Tremolo: An articulation of smoothly connected notes played with a single bow stroke.

Trills: An articulation of rapid alternations between two notes, usually either a half step or a whole step apart. Larger intervals are possible.

Chapter 6: Create an Orchestral Template in 10 Easy Steps

Bus: A group of tracks in a DAW. If you apply one effect to the bus, it applies to each track inside the bus.

Cubase: A Digital Audio Workstation.

Insert effect: An effect directly applied to a track channel.

Kontakt instance: A track that has Kontakt loaded.

Logic Pro: A Digital Audio Workstation.

Multi patch: A sample library patch that includes several articulations. The articulations can usually be switched via keyswitches.

Production music: An industry where composers write for publisher companies who add their songs to a catalog. TV and other production companies can license songs from these catalogs and in return the composer gets a royalty payment.

Purging: Removing the loaded samples from RAM.

Reaper: A Digital Audio Workstation.

s1toolbox.com: A handy website by Lukas Ruschitzka for converting Cubase Expression Maps to Studio One Sound Variations and other utility tools.

Send effect: An effect is added to a separate channel. Then, all tracks that should have this effect are sending their signal to that effect channel. You can adjust the signal percentage for each track.

Single patch: A sample library patch that includes only one articulation.

Studio One: A Digital Audio Workstation.

Chapter 7: How to Write Orchestral Music

DALL-E: An AI service that creates images based on text input.

Instrumentation: The combination of instruments and voices used in a composition or performance.

Midjourney: An AI service that creates images based on text input.

Motif: A short, recognizable musical idea that gets repeated and works as a building block for a composition.

Orchestration: The practice of arranging and combining instruments, voices, and other musical elements in a composition.

Chapter 8: The Basics of Mixing and Mastering Orchestral Music

Clipping: Clipping occurs when a signal is overdriven, causing the signal to be distorted and sound muffled.

Delay: An audio processing effect that adds repeated echoes to an audio signal.

Distortion: An audio processing effect that increases the gain of a sound beyond the maximum volume capacity to add a fuzzy effect.

Exciter: An audio processing effect that adds harmonic distortion to enhance the sound.

Filter: An audio processing effect that transforms the quality of the sound by adding and removing frequencies.

Gain staging: Balancing the volumes of tracks.

High-cut-filter: An EQ setting that removes all frequencies above a certain threshold (synonym: low-pass filter).

High-pass filter: An EQ setting that removes all frequencies below a certain threshold (synonym: low-cut filter).

Limiter: A compressor that has been set to a level that cannot be exceeded. Limiters help to avoid clipping.

Low-cut filter: An EQ setting that removes all frequencies below a certain threshold (synonym: high-pass filter).

Low-pass filter: An EQ setting that removes all frequencies above a certain threshold (synonym: high-cut filter).

Reverb: A hall effect that adds reverberation to an audio signal. It creates the illusion of the instrument being placed in a room.

Stereo balance: The spatial positioning of sound in a mix.

Transient shaper: An audio processing effect that controls the attack and sustain of a sound.

Learn more