Why something sounds good, and what is wrong when it does not.
Practise this list
From these 35 words, as many per round as you like — up to all of them: first what is due today, then new ones. First you choose, then you fill the gap, then you write it yourself. Mistakes come back again shortly.
More about this list
The twenty-first entry is l’annulation de phase, and the noun at the front of it is the one an English reader is likely to carry into the wrong building. « Annulment » lives in a courtroom: a marriage or a judgment is declared never to have had effect, and the word seldom goes anywhere else. French l’annulation is ordinary. It is what the departure board announces when a train will not run, what a hotel sets out under les conditions d’annulation, and what a match, a concert or an order undergoes when it is called off. The verb is annuler, and le vol est annulé says only that the flight is cancelled. With a pronoun the same verb takes on a third job, and it is the one this list needs. Deux grandeurs s’annulent when they add up to nothing, which is phase cancellation exactly: two identical signals, one of them inverted, summing to silence. Behind all three uses stands the late Latin annullare, to bring to nothing. So the safe default is « cancellation », for the train and for the waves alike, and « annulment » is kept for the rare sentence in which a judge appears.
The words
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Phrase (25)
la directivité du microthe polar patternPhraseC2
La directivité du micro décide de ce qui entre par les côtés.The polar pattern settles how much of the room gets in from the sides.
la gestion des niveauxgain stagingPhraseC2
La gestion des niveaux commence au préampli, pas à la fin.Gain staging begins at the first input, not at the master fader.
la marge sur le bruit de fondthe signal-to-noise ratioPhraseC2
La marge sur le bruit de fond tombe avec un câble trop long.A long cable run eats into the signal-to-noise ratio.
l’alimentation fantômephantom powerPhraseC2
L’alimentation fantôme reste coupée pendant le branchement.Phantom power stays off while anything is being plugged in.
la boîte de directthe DI boxPhraseC2
La boîte de direct rend le signal symétrique.A DI box turns an unbalanced signal into a balanced one.
le traitement de dynamiquedynamics processingPhraseC2
Le traitement de dynamique corrige les écarts trop grands.Dynamics processing narrows gaps between loud and soft that are too wide.
le seuil du compresseurthe compressor thresholdPhraseC2
Le seuil du compresseur était placé trop bas.The compressor threshold had been set far too low.
le temps d’attaquethe attack timePhraseC2
Un temps d’attaque court écrase les percussions.Set the attack time too short and the drums lose their punch.
le temps de rétablissementthe release timePhraseC2
Le temps de rétablissement s’entend entre deux phrases.The release time can be heard in the gap between two phrases.
le filtre passe-hautthe high-pass filterPhraseC2
Le filtre passe-haut nettoie le grave inutile.A high-pass filter clears out low end that nobody needs.
le retour de scènethe stage monitorPhraseC2
Le retour de scène est réglé pour chaque musicien.Every player hears a mix of their own through the stage monitor.
les oreillettes de retourthe in-ear monitorsPhraseC2
Les oreillettes de retour suppriment le bruit de la salle.In-ear monitors shut out the noise of the hall.
le contrôle des lignesthe line checkPhraseC2
Le contrôle des lignes précède toujours la balance.The line check always comes before the soundcheck.
le boîtier de scènethe stage boxPhraseC2
Le boîtier de scène porte le numéro de chaque entrée.Every input on the stage box has its own number.
l’annulation de phasephase cancellationPhraseC2
L’annulation de phase vide le son au lieu de le renforcer.Phase cancellation hollows the sound out instead of filling it.
le mode propre de la sallethe room modePhraseC2
Le mode propre de la salle gonfle une seule note.One room mode can make a single note boom.
le temps de réverbérationthe reverberation timePhraseC2
Le temps de réverbération change avec le public.The reverberation time drops once the audience is in.
le champ prochethe near fieldPhraseC2
En champ proche, la pièce compte beaucoup moins.In the near field the room matters far less.
l’enceinte de contrôlethe studio monitorPhraseC2
L’enceinte de contrôle ne flatte rien.A good studio monitor flatters nothing.
la normalisation de sonieloudness normalisationPhraseC2
La normalisation de sonie annule la course au volume.Loudness normalisation ends the race to be the loudest track.
la plage de niveauthe dynamic rangePhraseC2
La plage de niveau se resserre à chaque passage.The dynamic range gets narrower with every pass.
la cadence d’échantillonnagethe sample ratePhraseC2
La cadence d’échantillonnage est fixée avant la première prise.The sample rate is fixed before the first take.
la résolution en bitsthe bit depthPhraseC2
La résolution en bits décide du bruit de fond du fichier.Bit depth decides how much noise the file itself carries.
le retard aller-retourthe round-trip latencyPhraseC2
Le retard aller-retour gêne le chanteur au casque.Round-trip latency throws a singer who is listening on headphones.
la réponse de la salle videthe sound of the empty hallPhraseC2
La réponse de la salle vide ne dit rien du concert.How the empty hall sounds tells you nothing about the concert.
