When you produce your own music at home, you need to know the language of the music-recording industry. This glossary lets you in on the secret (or not-so-secret) language of the record producer. Read and be enlightened (or not)!
Air: Refers to frequencies above 12 kHz. A quality that allows the song to breathe a little. A feeling of spaciousness. Similar to shimmer.
Angular: This means nothing. If people use this term, ask them to explain themselves. They've just gone over the deep end.
Body: The frequency range of an instrument where it produces its richest tone, often around 800 Hz to 1 kHz.
Boomy: Too much low-frequency energy. To get rid of boominess, cut frequencies below 120 Hz.
Boxy: Too much 400-Hz to 600-Hz energy.
Bright: Lots of high end, usually referring to frequencies above 8 kHz.
Brown: A term for the sound that Eddie Van Halen used to get from his guitar amp. Brown usually refers to a low midrange quality (200 to 400 Hz) — not to be confused with muddy, however.
Cold: Lacking warmth. Often used as a derogatory term to describe digital recordings. It could also mean too much high end in a recording. In this case, reduce frequencies above 10 kHz slightly.
Crisp: See bright.
Dark: Lacking high-frequency brightness. Could also be dull.
Depth: Full-bodied sound. Often the result of enhancing frequencies just above and below the main body of the instrument.
Dry: An instrument without effects applied to it.
Dull: See dark.
Edgy: An extreme of punchy, bordering on uncomfortable, depending on the music.
Grainy: Poor digital resolution.
Harsh: Another derogatory term for digital recordings. This could also refer to frequencies in the 5-kHz to 8-kHz range that are too pronounced. Reduce harsh frequencies to suit your taste.
Muddy: Lack of definition in a sound, often as a result of too much low-mid (400- to 800-Hz) energy.
Nasally: Too much midrange energy, around 1 to 2 kHz in some instruments.
Orange: Get this guy out of your studio; he's just making stuff up!
Plosives: The result of saying or singing p or other stop consonant sounds(t, g, k, d, b).
Presence: A nice balance between an instrument's attack and its main tone. Usually attained by adding 2- to 5-kHz frequencies.
Punchy: A nice attack and sense of presence. A punchy sound can come from your performance, your instrument, or the effective use of compression (or all three). To create punch with a compressor, set the threshold to compress just a couple of decibels (dB), set the attack long enough so that the initial transient passes through uncompressed, and set the release so that it doesn't remain longer than the instrument and so that it isn't short enough to pump the compressor.
Round: Sometimes refers to sounds that have a pronounced midrange quality. When a sound is round, bass and treble are slightly reduced.
Shimmer: Frequencies above 12 kHz. Similar to air.
Sibilance: Pronounced s sounds.
Smooth: The opposite of punchy. Smooth sounds are those that have an even level to them. The body of the sound is not overshadowed by the initial attack.
Sweet: Good or great, depending on how enthusiastically you use the word.
Warm: Lacking harshness or coldness. This is a catchall term used to describe anything from analog equipment to a pleasing quality that can't be put into words. Use this term around nonrecording people whenever you want to sound like you know what you're talking about. When someone else uses this term repeatedly, take his or her recording advice with a grain of salt (a large one).
Wet: An instrument with effects applied to it.
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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/words-to-know-as-a-music-producer.html
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