The Audio Dramatist's Lexicon
copyright 1987 Yuri Rasovsky
(used by permission)
ACCOUSTIC. (sound recording) n. a sonic overtone; (music)
adj. accoustical.
ACCOUSTICAL. (music) Not electronic or prerecorded; produced
mechanically, vocally or live.
ACT. n., (drama) Originally, the major division of dramatic
action within a play; on the contemporary stage, the major
division of a play on opposite sides of intermission(s); in
broadcasting, the major division of a tele- or audio play
separated by breaks; v., to perform a role in a dramatic
production; v., to make a living performing roles in
dramatic production; to be an actor.
ACTION, DRAMATIC. (drama) Gesture, action or dialogue that
advances the plot of a dramatic work.
ACTION, FALLING. (literature) Action following the climax, in
which tension wanes and loose ends are tied up.
ACTION, RISING. (literature) Action leading up to the climax,
characterized by mounting tension.
ACTOR. One who acts, variously called comedian, player, talent,
tragedian; an often infuriating, ultimately likable,
neurotic plagued by narcissistic disorders that compound a
hopeless addiction to an impossible profession.
ACTUALITY. (broadcasting, especially broadcast journalism)
Unrehearsed or documentary sound, speech or music recorded
in the field.
ADR [Audio Direct Recording]. (film) The recording of accoustical
sounds, especially foley effects, direct to film or video
tape in post; hence ADR ROOM or ADR STUDIO, a studio designed
for such work, a foley studio, and FOLEY MIXER, an engineer
specializing in ADR and foley recording.
AFFILIATE. (broadcasting) A station accepting programs or
services under contract from, but not owned by, a national
or regional network. See also independent, o & o.
AFM. The American Federation of Musicians; the musicians' union.
AFTRA. The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists;
the talent union that has jurisdiction over radio and audio.
AGENT, CASTING. A licensed professional who assists producers
with casting.
AGENT, LITERARY. A licensed professional who represents writers
before publishers and producers.
AGENT, TALENT. A licensed professional who helps actors get work.
A theatrical agent specializes in dramatic television, film
and theater; a commercial agent handles TV and radio
commercials and voice-overs.
AIR CHECK. (radio) A recording of a program made by the
broadcaster during broadcast.
ALLITERATION. (literature) The purposeful repitition of sounds,
especially at the beginning of words. "The fickle finger of
fate."
AMBIENCE. (audio drama) A sound bed used in lieu of scenery to
indicate environment or setting. Also called atmosphere.
AMBIENCE TRACK. (broadcasting) A track devoted to atmospheres.
ANALOGUE. (in sound recording) A method of recording sound
information on magnetic tape or conventional disk; not as
clean a method of recording as digital.
ANTAGONIST. (literature) A character whose dramatic function is
to oppose the protagonist; the bad guy.
ANTICLIMAX. (literature) A minor climax or drop in dramatic
tension, which, depending on how it's used, can enhance the
climax, dilute it, and produce numerous wanted or unwanted
effects.
ARCHETYPE. (literature) The first, prototypical and
quintessential expression of a theme, character type, style,
genre, etc.
ARIA. In opera, a solo number; hence, in drama, any long speech
that suspends the flow of dramatic action, expecially a
long, reflective soliloque.
ARISTOTLE. Among his achievements, this Greek philosopher (384-
322 BC) was the first and most important dramatic theorist
of the Western World. His Poetics, apparently written as
lecture notes, describes Greek Tragedy and attempts to
explain how it moves an audience. Aristotelian terms and
principles, such as Hubris, Peripity, Catharsis, are still
useful to critics and dramatists.
ARTISTIC DISTANCE. (literature) A psychological distance between
fictive events of a literary or dramatic work and the life
experience of the audience, theoretically necessary before
the work can be appreciated as art. If a work relates too
personally to the audience, the audience will lose its
aesthetic objectivity.
ASIDE. A dramatic convention in which a character speaks his inner
thoughts aloud to himself; or speaks in a stage whisper to
another character or the audience, as if the other
characters in the scene can't hear him/her. In radio, asides
are often distinguished from regular speech by a change of
sound quality, mike position, or filter, rather than by a
stage whisper.
ASSEMBLY. (audio drama) The first part of the editing process in
which outtakes are removed from the masters and the remaining
keepers are placed in broadcast order.
ATMOSPHERE. (audio drama), The same as ambience; (literature)
The prevailing mood (calm, mysterious, gay, etc.) of a play
or other work of fiction.
ATTACK. (theater) a) v., to begin a scene, line or action; b)
n., the beginning of a scene, line or action; n., an
approach or concept for the production of a drama, writing
of a script, playing of a role, or reading of a line.
AUDIO ART. A kind of performance art, which often includes
dramatic as well as other elements, designed for sound
recording or radio.
AUDIO DRAMA. See Drama, Audio.
AUTEUR. (cinema) A director of a dramatic production, who creates
such a strong and pervasive artistic vision over a stage,
optisonic or audio production, often contributing decisively
to the script, that s/he is for all intents and purposes,
the production's author, no matter how many other creative
persons contribute to it. The term is rarely used in the
theater, because a production most often needs to be fixed
and definitive before it can be said to have an auteur.
American radio drama auteurs include Norman Corwin, Arch
Oboler, and Orson Welles, also a cinema auteur.
AUTHOR. (law) In copyright law, the person entitled to hold a
copyright, usually the "author" in the usual sense, but not
always, as in a "work for hire" situation, in which the
individual or organization commissioning a work may become
the author for copyright purposes.
AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL or AGC. (studio) A compressor or limiter.
BACK. (audio drama) A script indication signalling that a sound
or voice is in the background. Usually applied to outdoor
sounds. See off mike.
BACKGROUND MUSIC. See music, background.
BACK TIME. (broadcasting) To determine the length of a program
fragement, or to line up two production elements, such as
selected lines and a musical bed, by timing them backwards
from their end points.
BAFFLE or SOUND BAFFLE. (sound production) n., A mobile
partition used in studio to isolate or cushion sound; v.,
to isolate or cushion sound by using a portable partition.
BATHOS. (literatrure) Excessive pathos, often unintentionally
funny.
BEAT. n., (drama) A stage direction indicating a brief pause
the length of one stroke in the rhythm of the scene,
signified by the expression BEAT or an ellipsis (. . .);
The smallest unit of dramatic action; it is sometimes handy
for preparation, rehearsal or taping purposes to divide
scenes into beats.
BED. (sound production) Sound or music playing continuously under
speech, as a musical bed for announcements, or a sound bed
(ambience) under a scene.
BG. Background.
BIAS. (sound recording) An ultrasonic tone that an analogue tape
recorder inserts on the tape while recording, to prevent
sound distortion. Different types and brands of tapes
require different biases during recording. Distortion may
result when one type of tape is used for recording on a
machine biased for another type.
BIBLE. (broadcasting) A treatment for a dramatic serial or soap
showing the continuity over a number of episodes.
BILLBOARD. (broadcasting) n., The opening announcements to a
program; 2 v., To make or record these announcements.
BILL. (show business) v. To advertise, publish, identify or
announce the name of an artist or artists involved in a
production.
BILLING. (show business) n. The order and manner of publishing or
announcing the names of the artists involved in a particular
production; hence TOP BILLING, the artist mentioned most
prominently.
BINAURAL SOUND. (sound production) Enhanced stereo, whereby up,
down, front and back can be distinguished as well as left
and right using only two tracks of sound.
BLOCK. v., (theater) To design the flow of movement and
traffic patterns of objects (such as vehicles) and
characters in a play, such as the placement of their
entrances, exits and crosses; to teach the blocking to, or
work it out with, the performers during rehearsal.
BLOCKING. n., (theater) The orchestrated movement of a play.
BOARD, MIXING. (sound production) An instrument or console that
channels all sound input devices to all output devices, and
that contains controls for volume control, EQ, pans, reverb,
etc. Also called CONSOLE or BOARD.
BOOK RATE. (studio parlance) The prices that a commercial sound
studio publishes for its services. The book rate may have no
relationship to real prices, except as a starting point for
haggling.
BOOTH. (studio) The control room of a studio.
BOY also JUVENILE. (theater) The youtrhful male love interest
in a play; an actor playing the role, or specializing in
such roles.
BREAK. (broadcasting) n., An interruption in the program for
announcements such as commercials and station I.D.s; v.,
to interrupt a program in this way.
BREAKDOWN/BREAKDOWNS. [The singular and plural are used
interchangeably.] (television) n. Written project
description used for casting purposes, of which the most
important parts are thumbnail descriptions of the cast of
characters.
BREAK-UP. (sound production) A distortion of sound caused by
overmodulation in which the sound becomes fuzzy or
intermittent.
BRIDGE. (audio drama) 1. n., Sound or, most commonly, music
linking two scenes; 2. v., to employ a bridge.
BUTT SPLICE. (sound production) In editing, to join cues tightly
together.
CADENCE. (voice training) Vocal patterns of pitch and rhythm.
CADENCE, DESCENDING. (voice training) A monotonous vocal pattern
in which the voice descends in pitch to the same musical
note at the end of every phrase or sentence.
CALIBRATION. (sound production) The adjustment of reading
devices, especially on a recorder to conform to a determined
standard or another device.
CALIBRATION TONES (also TEST tones). See tones, calibration.
CALL. n. (theater) The time and date at which one or more
production personnel are scheduled to begin a casting,
rehearsal, taping or posting session. "My call tomorrow is
for 6 in the morning, but Tiffany doesn't have to show up
'til noon."
CALL BACK or CALLBACK or CALL-BACK. (theater) A secondary or
follow-up casting call, during which talent who have appeared
at a previous call are called back to audition further.
CALL SHEET. See Sheet, Call.
CAMEO. (cinema) A secondary or tertiary role in a drmatic
work, sometimes lasting no more than one scene, that is
played by a name who normally accepts only major roles.
CAN, IN THE. (studio slang) Finished, recorded. "The tracks are in
the can."
CANNED. (broadcast slang) Removed or recorded, not benefitting
from the synergetic interaction of spectators and performers
sharing the same space, said of performance media such as
video, cinema and audio; prerecorded, as canned laughter.
CANS. (studio slang) Earphones.
CART. (sound production) A cartridge containing tape that can be
instantly cued.
CAST. (theater) n., The talent hired to play the characters in
a dramatic production, or the characters themselves (cast of
characters or dramatis personae); v., to choose and hire
the talent for one or more dramatic productions.
CASTING. (theater) n. The process of choosing talent for dramatic
production.
CASTING CALL. (theater) n. The session or group of sessions
during which talent auditions for roles in dramatic
production; the try-out(s).
CATHARSIS. (Dramatic theory, from a Greek word meaning purgation)
The affect narrative and musical art sometimes has on an
audience of purging it of or purifying its emotions,
especially the emotions of fear and pity.
CATTLE CALL. (theater slang) A derisive name of the inital
session or group of sessions during which talent auditions
for dramatic production, so called because actors are herded
in and out, and given only a few moments to try out.
CHANNEL. (studio) The electronic horizontal division of recording
tape for stereo or multitrack recording, synonymous with
track.
CHARACTER MAN/WOMAN. (theater) An actor or actress specializing
in mature roles or roles that call for great skill with
superficial detail, such as regional accents and physical
quirks.
CHORUS. (drama) A narrator, as in the Elizabethan theater;
the group of singers and dancers of the ancient Greek
theater who performed choral odes commenting on the action
between scenes, and who, singly and as a group, interacted
with the actors during the scenes; (theater) the singing
and dancing ensemble of a musical theater production.
CLIMAX. (literature) The highest point of tension in the dramatic
action.
CLIP. 1. (studio) To cut off the beginning or end of a syllable,
sound or musical note, usually by accident, as in a bad edit
or improper setting of a sound-processing device, such as a
gate; (theater) to rush; to top.
CLOSE-MIKE. v., (studio) To track each actor with his or her
individual microphone, which requires close proximity of
actor and mike.
CLOSET DRAMA. See drama, closet.
COLD. adj. and adv. (show business) Unrehearsed, as to lay down
tracks cold, or without even seeing the script in advance, as
in a cold reading.
COLLOQUY. (drama) An extended passage of dialogue between two
characters in a placy.
COMMEDIA DEL'ARTE. (theater) A terrifically popular and seminal
theatrical genre originating in Renaiscance Italy, typified
by stereotyped characters played by actors wearing masks,
improvisation, recurring gags, and physical humor; it
profoundly influenced Molire, Chaplin, Buster Keaton, the
early Marx Brothers, Burlesque and Vaudeville comedy, Punch
and Judy Shows, mime, circus clowns, and contemporary
improvisational comedy.
COMEDIAN. (theater) A performer of any kind specializing in
comedy; an actor specializing in comedy; (poetic or
archaic) an actor, even one who performs serious plays.
COMEDY. (drama) A play intended primarily to amuse; any
play, especially a romantic one, with a happy ending, or
employing comic structure.
COMEDY, SITUATION. (drama) A type of comedy, usually domestic, in
which characters are made to react absurdly to farcical
situations.
COMMERCIAL SOUND STUDIO. A sound studio that hires out its
facilities, equipment and engineers to ad agencies,
producers and others, but produces little, if anything of
its own.
COMPLICATION. (drama) A factor in the dramatic action that
intensifies the conflict or a previous complication.
COMPRESSION. (studio) A type of automatic gain control that
reduces sounds above a preset ceiling and amplifies sounds
below a preset floor.
COMPRESSOR. (studio) A device for affecting compression.
CONFLICT. (literature) A factor or person that opposes the
protagonist and causes tension.
CONSOLE. See mixing board.
CONTACT SHEET. See Sheet, Contact.
CONVENTION. (art) A stereotyped artifice that an audience agrees
to accept, as, in drama, an aside, or, in audio drama, a
three-legged horse, a musical bridge or, for that matter,
background music.
COPYRIGHT. (law) n., A legal protection of an artistic or
literary intellectual property, such as a script or audio
production, against unauthorized use; to legally protect
an intellectual property, expecially by registering a
published work with the Copyright Office of the Library of
Congress.
COPYRIGHT, COMMON LAW. (law) A legal protection of an unpublished
intellectual property, created when an author (or producer)
mails the property to him/herself and keeps the sealed
mailing container, the cancellation date on which provides
the protection. Once a fairly common practice common law
copyrighting has diminished since the revamping of the U.S.
copyright law in the 1980's.
CORE. (studio) A hub around which tape or film is wound for
storage, to save money by conserving reels.
CRISIS. (drama) A minor or major point in the dramatic action in
which the risk arising from conflict or complication requires a
response from the protagonist.
CROSS. (theater) v., To move across the stage or, in radio
theater, across the stereo field; n., a movement thus
made.
CROSSFADE. (studio) n., The simultaneous reduction of one
sound, set of sounds or scene and simultaneously raising of
another; v., to make a crossfade.
CUE. (theater) v., to give a beginning signal, as when the
director points to the actor or the studio cue light goes on;
hence, to deliver a line, effect or musical passage that
signals another line, effect or musical passage; n., a
beginning signal such as the above examples; the
beginning or end of a sound, musical passage or line of
dialogue.
CUE IN. (broadcasting) The first line, sound or music of a
program or tape.
CUE, OPERATIVE. (theater) The operative cue is the word or phrase
in a line that motivates another character to speak or
perform an action, even though it is not the final word or
phrase of the speech.
CUE OUT. (broadcasting) The sound or line that ends the tape or
program, and that cues the live station engineer or
announcer to go on with whatever is next.
CUE SHEET. See Sheet, Cue.
CUE, SYSTEMS. (broadcasting) Same as cue out, usually consisting
of the name and audio logo of the program's distributor.
CURTAIN. (theater) The final punctuation mark of a major division
in a dramatic work; in theater, a black out, fade out or
lowering of the stage curtain; in audio drama, a fade out,
musical passage, or ring out of a sound effect.
CURTAIN LINE. (theater) The last line of an act or play, usually,
in the former instance, giving the audience a sense of
anticipation for the next act, or, in the latter, giving a
sense of finality; so-called because, on stage, it is the
line that cues the curtain to fall.
CUT. (sound) a., To edit; b) n., an edit; v., to record, as
"to cut a track;" (theater) v., (command) stop!
DAT. (studio) Digital audio tape, a compact cartridge, like a
miniature video tape cartridge, that records electronic
information which it can transform into sound in the
playback. A cleaner method of sound reproduction than
conventional, or analogue methods.
DEAD. (sound) adj., Lacking reverberation and overtones, said of
an acoustical environment.
DEAD ROOM. (studio) A studio with neutral acoustics used to
record outdoor scenes.
DECAY. (sound) The diminution of sound, especially residual or
ambient sound, such as an echo; also ring out.
DECIBEL or DB. (studio) A unit of sound volume.
DELIVER. (theater) To speak a line effectively; (marketing)
to get a product (in our case, a program) to consumers
(audiences), which, in audio drama could be by commercial
recording, broadcast, cable cast or live presentation.
DELIVERY. (theater) the affective speaking of lines the
employment of cadence, timbre, quality, volume, etc. to imbue
lines with meaning, emotion, beauty and interest;
(marketing) the method or system by which a program or
product is put before audiences or consumers.
DENOUEMENT. (drama, from the French: "end") Dramatic action
following the climax that resolves the plot; the falling action.
DEUS EX MACHINA. (drama, from the Greek: "God out of the
Machine") An improbable or inorganic plot contrivance to
resolve the various complications of the dramatic action, such as
the cavalry coming to the rescue, an unexpected inheritance,
or a sudden remission.
DIALOGUE. (drama) The words uttered in a play; the lines given
actors to speak.
DICTION. (literature) The artistic choice and order of words;
the vocabulary and syntax of a literary work; (voice
training) the clear pronunciation and annunciation of
consonants and vowels.
DIGITAL. (studio) A method of turning sound information into
computer or electronic information and then back again for
taping and playing back; cleaner than analogue reproduction.
DIRECTION. (theater) The guidance and instructions of the
director, as in the phrase "to take direction," meaning to
follow the director's orders, something actors are not
equally capable of doing.
DIRECTOR. (theater) In American theater, television, cinema and
audio drama, the person who conducts performances and
rehearsals and who supervises, defines and gives unity to
the performances.
DIRECTOR, CASTING. A person hired to take charge of casting
details for a production, series or theater company.
DISPLACE ACTION. (theater) To call attention to an unimportant
production element at the expense of an important one; to
upstage.
DOCUDRAMA or DOCUMENTARY DRAMA. (broadcasting) A presentation
combining elements of theater and documentary; either a
dramatization of historical or current events that makes, or
purports to make, extensive use of authentic elements, or a
purely fictive work, the documentary elements of which
contributes to a sense of realism and immediacy.
DOPPLER EFFECT. (physics) An apparent pitch change that takes
place as a sound approaches (getting higher) or recedes
(getting lower) from a sound receiver.
DRAMA. (as opposed to theater): The field of performance art
concerned with the acting out of a story from a written
script primarilly using speech and movement; especially as
pertains to the substantive and literary aspects of such
performance art; a type of play, serious in tone, but
lacking the elevation and fatalism of tragedy.
DRAMA, AUDIO. Drama for the ear, whether performed live before an
audience or transmitted via radio, cable audio, cassettes,
compact disks or other media; distinguished from play
readings by its reliance on the electronic amplification,
homogenization and manipulation of music, sound effects, and
voices.
DRAMA, CLOSET. A type of play written to be read rather than
performed, or a narrative poem cast as a play but meant to
be read, e.g., Milton's Samson Agonistes, Goethe's Faust,
Ibsen's Peer Gynt.
DRAMA, REMOTE. As coined in this book, dramatic performance
employing technology to reach an audience physically removed
from the performance space, and sometimes removed in time as
well; the most far-reaching theatrical innovation of the
Twentieth Century.
DRAMATIC. Possessed of values appropriate to drama, considered
exclusively of theatrical values.
DRAMATIC ACTION. See action, dramatic.
DRAMATIC LITERATURE. The body of written drama, especially that
which possesses literary merit as well as, or more than,
theatrical merit; drama considered as a branch of
literature.
DRAMATIST. A playwright, particularly one who writes with
distinction on serious subjects.
DRAMATIST, AUDIO (or AURAL. DRAMATIST) (author's coinage) A
sonicauteur: one who writes, produces and directs audio drama
professionally; a great unsung and persecuted benefactor of
mankind.
DROP OUT. (studio) A technical aberration in which sound
arbitrarily disappears or drops out of a section or sections
of exposed tape.
DYNAMICS. (sound) Relative loudness; sonic volume.
ECHO. (audio drama) A sonic overtone purposely introduced to
establish a live outdoor environment; often used to mean
reverb.
ECHO CHAMBER. (studio) An acoustic environment that enhances
reverberation.
ENSEMBLE. (theater) n., the quality of a performance in which
the whole is greater than the sum of its parts; that is, the
rapport among and the combined performances of the cast have
a personality and importance greater than that of the
performers individually; a work benefitting from strong
ensemble is often called an ENSEMBLE PIECE; adj., of such
a quality; n., a) The cast of a production; b) the
performers in a repertory company.
EPIPHANY, EPIPHANAL MOMENT. (from the Greek: showing forth) In
drama, especially in tragedy, the protagonist's sudden insight
into his/her condition or circumstances, caused by his/her
struggle with antagonistic forces, that leads him/her to
take action that brings on the climax or reversal (called by
Aristotle anagnorisis); a literary expression introduced
by James Joyce to denote a gesture or action that sums up or
reveals the essense of a fictional character to an audience.
EPISODE. In broadcasting, a discreet program in a series or
serial; in drama, a unified portion of a plot, an
incident.
EPISODIC. adj, (literature) Containing many totally or
partially self-contained episodes; (drama) used
pejoritively, containing too many scenes or episodes, and,
hence, structurally weak or unwieldy; (broadcasting) n.,
a broadcast series of self-contained episodes, usually
melodramas, featuring recurring lead characters and any
number of transient secondary characters.
EQ. (sound production) To "equalize," or electronically adjust,
the pitch of recorded sound.
EQUALIZATION: (sound production) The balance between the various
frequencies of sound that affect pitch.
EQUALIZER. (sound production) An electronic divice that adjusts
EQ.
EXPOSITION. (literature) Presentation of information essential to
the understanding of the dramatic action, especially of events
that occurred prior to the opening scene or off-stage.
EXPRESSIONISM. (art) A stylized and highly personal form of
theater in which reality is distorted by the passionate and
distorted vision of the writer.
FADE. (studio) v., To gradually diminish volume; n., a
change in volume so made.
FADE OUT. (studio) v., To gradually lower volume until the
sound disappears; a change in volume so made.
FADE UP. (studio) v., To gradually raise volume; n., a
change in volume so made.
FAIR USE. (law) A stipulation in the Copyright Act of 1976
(Section 107) under which some limited "fair use" may be
made of a protected work without permission "for purposes
such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching . . .
scholarship or research." Whether fair use includes such
things as exerpting sections of commercial recordings for
background music in audio drama is not clear.
FARCE. (drama) A broad style of comedy that relies on ridiculous
situations.
FAST-WIND. (studio) To spool or wind tape around a reel or hub at
high speed. See also slow-wind.
FAVORED NATIONS or FAVORED NATIONS CLAUSE. A contractual
stipulation guaranteeing that no other contractee is
receiving more favorable conditions (although others may
receive conditions equally favorable).
FIELD. (studio) An area out of the studio or controlled
conditions where a recording is made; recordings thus made
are FIELD RECORDINGS; the area before or around a
microphone effective for picking up sound.
FILTER. (studio) v. to remove frequencies from a sound to
remove unwanted sounds or to produce an effect, such as to
reproduce the sound of telephone reception; n., a device
that produces such an effect, an equalizer; a script indication
prescribing the use of such a device.
FLASHBACK. (literature) v., to show events in retrospect; to
interrupt a scene or scenes of current events with a scene,
scenes or scene fragment(s) of past events; n., a
retrospective scene.
FLOAT. (studio) To protect a recording or broadcast environment
from outside vibration, as from passing traffic, by building
it as an inner room connected to an outer room by shock
absorbers, or raising a false floor over the real one.
FLUB. (theater) n., An actor's mistake of delivery; v., to
make such a mistake.
FLYING/ON THE FLY. (studio slang) "Winging it," especially
overdubbing or punching in a sound or piece of music without
preparation.
FOIL. (drama) A character whose dramatic purpose is to set-off
another character by contrast; a side-kick.
FOLEY or FOLEY EFFECTS. (film, from Jack Foley, a sound mixer) In
broadcast drama and film, sound effects laid in live during
mastering or overdubbing, and not prerecorded. A studio
built for the production of such effects is a FOLEY STAGE,
FOLEY ROOM or ADR room. The person producing these effects
is the FOLEY PERSON, FOLEY OPERATOR or ADR mixer.
FRAMING DEVICE. (literature) A plot device to set-off the dramatic
action within the context of an amplifying situation, which
opens and closes, or frames, the main action, as when the
play unfolds in retrospect, or in a "play within a play."
FRENCH SCENE. See scene, french.
FRICATIVE. (speech) A vocalization such as the letters f, s, v
and z produced by forcing breath through a narrow opening
in the mouth. These sounds tend to pop the mike.
FULFILLMENT. (marketing) The segment of business operations
dealing with fulfilling orders, as when listeners order
cassettes, transcripts or other premiums. A firm that
specializes in this is called a FULFILLMENT HOUSE.
GAIN. (studio) Loudness, sonic volume.
GATE or NOISE GATE. (studio) A machine that reduces tape hiss, room
tone and other unwanted noise during transmission or
recording by reducing or shutting off sound below a preset
floor.
GATING. (studio) Employing a device that shuts off sound under a
preset minimum and turns it on again when it exceeds the
minimum. Used for noise reduction.
GENERATION. (studio) A recording considered in relation to its
distance from the original live sound; the original
recording of the live sound, the master, is the first
generation, a dub of that recording, which may or may not
include additional sounds, is the second generation, a dub
of the dub is third generation, etc.
GENERATION LOSS. (studio) A degredation in sound quality that
occurs every time recorded sound goes down another
generation.
GENRE. A literary "species" or form, such as tragedy, sitcom,
Western, soap, docudrama, etc.
GENRE WRITING. (literature) Writing in a genre subject to highly
prescripted structure, tone, atmosphere, style, dialogue and
characterization.
GRAMS. (short for "gramophone") 1. A script indication, usually in
documentaries, that signifies the use of a prerecorded,
often historical or vintage, sound byte or bed; 2. recorded
effects.
GRAMS OPERATOR. (British) The studio technician in charge of
laying down prerecorded music, sounds and voicies.
GRAND GIGNOL [from Fr., Thetre de Grand Gignol Theatre of the
Big Puppet in Paris, a hole-in-the-wall playhouse at the
turn-of-the-century where such performances originated],
sometimes simply GIGNOL [pronounced geen-Y L]. n., adj. A
theater movement characterized by accessive melodrama,
violence, gore and spectacle; hence, anything graphically
shocking, violent and gorey.
GRAVEL BOX, GRAVEL PIT. A Foley device for making the sound of
footfalls on various surfaces, whether of gravel or another
material.
HASH or GROTZEL. (studio slang) Unwanted random sounds, such as
tape hiss, print-through, clicks from bad edits and punches,
intrusive room tone, etc.
HEAD/TAPE HEAD. (studio) The magnetic device on a recorder that
touches the tape and either records (RECORD HEAD) or
reproduces (PLAYBACK HEAD) sound.
HEAD, SYNC. (studio) A head that plays back previously recorded
sounds in synchronization to new sounds as they are being
laid down on the same tape.
HOT ON MIKE. (audio drama) Intimate and very close to the
microphone, said of delivery.
HOUSE. (theater slang) A `live' audience, that is, an audience
bodilly present in the performance environment. "What a
great house we had today" translates as "What a receptive
and responsive audience we had today;" "nice house" = "large
audience;" etc.
HUBRIS. (drama, from the Greek: Pride) Excessive confidence,
overweening pride, usually the mistaken overestimate of
one's capacity to control one's destiny or contend with God;
often the one tragic flaw in an otherwise noble character.
INDEPENDENT. A station neither owned nor affiliated with a
network.
IN MEDIAS RES. (literature, from the Greek: "in the middle of
things") A plot device wherein the action begins close to
the climax or at an exciting point, flashes back to the
beginning and then proceeds to the end.
INAMORATA. (theater) the role of female love interest; the
actress playing or specializing in such roles; the
leading lady of a commedia dell'arte troupe.
INBOARD. (electronics) adj., Built-in, as opposed to outboard,
frequently used in relation to sound equipment.
INDEX. (recording) n. An electronic signal that can be laid
on a DAT to mark the beginning of a take or passage to be
played, so that in playback the DAT can be instantly cued to
that point; hence v. to mark a DAT with such a signal.
INDICATE. (theater) To play a quality superficially and without
investment or sincerity, usually obviously so; to employ
indication.
INDICATION. (theater) A conventionalized or broad physical or
vocal gesture substituting for one that the audience could
not perceive, such as a stage whisper; hence the
affectation of emotion, display of all the outward signs of
emotion with no inner truth; the going through the motions;
in script writing, an instruction to the actor, director
or engineer written into the script; a stage direction.
INFORMATION. (technology) The code enscribed in a transmission
substance (film emulsion, radio waves, electro-magnetic
energy) captured on or flowing through a medium (film, tape,
air, cable) that is made from light and sound that can be
transformed back into light and sound.
INGENUE. (theater) the conventional role of attractive, young
female lead; the actress playing or specializing in such
roles.
IN POST. (film) During post-production.
IN REPERTORY. (performing arts) adv. Said of an engagement,
season or set of performances of a star performer or
performance ensemble, especially a theatrical one: in a
revolving repertory of performance pieces or plays;
broadcasts in repertory are rare in American radio, but not
unheard of.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. (law) A product of imagination such as a
novel, play, recording, painting, invention capable of
some sort of physical embodiment.
INTERCUT. (studio) v., To interrupt the recording of a scene
because of a flub and then to resume recording from or just
prior to the stopping point; n., a correction thus made.
INTERIOR MONOLOGUE. (literature) A soliloquy representing the
unspoken thoughts of a character in a play; in radio often
electronically set-off from normal dialogue.
INTERLUDE. (drama) A conversation, skit, scene, musical number,
often only tangentially related to the plot, that suspends
the flow of dramatic action.
IPS. (studio) Inches per second, a standard unit of analogue tape
recording and playback speed in America. Professional
recordings are made no slower than 7-1/2 ips, and may be
made at 15 ips, 30 ips or faster, to increase sound quality.
IRONY. A literary device, and one particularly used in drama, in
which what is stated contrasts or conflicts with what is
wryly suggested.
ISO BOOTH. (isolation booth), a small room, often adjacent to or
within a larger studio, for recording a sound in isolation
from other sounds.
JUMP or JUMP CUT. (film) A sudden transition between scenes of a
radio and teleplay, indicated in scripts by the phrases JUMP
TO . . . or CUT TO . . . .
JUVENILE. See boy.
KEEPER. (studio) A good take.
KUNTSKOPF. (German: art head) The head-shaped microphone assembly
used in mastering binaural audio.
LAVALIER. (studio) A type of small, personal microphone that may
be worn unobtrusively on the body.
LAW OF DIMINISHING RETURNS, THE. In all types of performance and
presentation, whether theatrical, literary, musical, sports-
related, journalistic or otherwise, the effect of boredom
produced by duration on an audience; the longer a
performance or presentation, the more the law of diminishing
returns must be counteracted by ever more impressive effects
or ever more absorbing content.
LAY DOWN. (studio slang) v.t., to record (something).
LAY IN. (studio slang) to overdub.
LAZZO, plural LAZZI. (theater) Recurring or running gag, skit,
stage business or comic routine of the commedia dell'arte,
hence any such business recurring or imbedded in various
contexts and various works, such as the "Slowly I Turned"
lazzo of Vaudeville.
LEAD. (theater) n. The most or one of the most impportant actors
or roles in a dramatic production, a principal.
LEADER. (studio) n., A length of nonrecordable film, tape or
paper that can be edited to recording tape or film to mark
cues or protect the ends; to separate tracks with leader.
LEADING MAN or LEADING WOMAN. (theater) n. An actor who usually
plays only the most important roles in dramatic productions;
the actor playing the most important role in a specific
production (when the actor in this sense is female, the
term LEADING LADY is used).
LEVEL. (studio) Sound volume.
LIBRETTO. (theater) The spoken portion of a musical play
script; in opera, the entire text.
LIMIT. v., (studio) To use an electronic device to keep
transmitted or recorded sounds below a preset threshold of
volume.
LIMITER. (sound production) An electronic device that limits
sound, that is, keeps loud sounds beneath a preset ceiling
of volume; similar to a compressor; also called AGC or
automatic gain control.
LINE. (theater) A unit of dialogue equivalent to a phrase,
sentence or speech, depending upon the context in which the
word is used.
LINES. (theater) Dialogue.
LIVE. [l v]. (sound) adj. An acoustical environment possessing
reverberation; (broadcast) adj. & adv. unrecorded, in
real time, during performance, as "a live broadcast;
(broadcast) adj. witnessing or participating in a broadcast
program as it is being recorded or transmitted before a
studio audience.
LOOP, or TAPE LOOP. (studio) A tape that has been spliced into a
loop so that the sound recorded on it can be extended
indefinitely, usually to provide a bed for other sounds.
MANNERISM, to be MANNERED. (theater) An actor's often
repetitious affectation of performance, used to disguise
fatigue, indifference, jitters, or a lack of real technique;
in art and literature, any overused and stale stylistic
device.
MARQUEE VALUE. (show business) The ability of the publicized name
of a performer, author, director, composer, et al. to
attract audiences to a production..
MASK. (theater) n. A character of the commedia dell'arte (e.g.,
Harlequin, Pierrot, Pantalone); hence any stereotyped
comic character (e.g., Chaplin's Tramp, Mickey Mouse) whose
name, personality, costume and make-up recur in various
otherwise disconnected theatrical works.
MASTER. (studio) n., The raw first generation recording from
which the overdub and mix is made; also VOICE MASTER, MUSIC
MASTER, etc.; n., the final mix or completely packaged
program from which all copies are to be made; also BROADCAST
MASTER, TRANSMISSION MASTER; v., to record a master.
MELODRAMA. (drama) used pejoratively, an inflated, unctuous
style of writing or performing; hammy performance; a
style of drama in which good and evil are personified in
opposing characters, and often including sensational
elements; a theatrical form of the 18th Century in which
spoken lines are heavilly underscored by instrumental music,
which evolved into a popular 19th Century from,
incorporating elements of definition 2 with songs or
ballads, which heavily influenced grand opera and led to
melodrama in the modern sense.
METAPHOR. (literature) The comparison of essentially unlike
things, such as "the slings and arrows of outrageous
fortune." (Shakespeare) When the things compared are joined
by a connective, it is a SIMILE, as in "Life is like a
sewer; you get out of it exactly what you put into it." (Tom
Leher.) Sometimes the metaphor is submerged or implied, as
in this 16th Century lyric comparing love's absence to
drought: "Western wind, when wilt thou blow, / The small
rain down can rain? / Christ, if my love were in my arms /
And I in my bed again!"
METONYMY. (literature) The substitution of the name for one thing
for another that it closely relates to, as when speaking of
someone's hand to mean someone's handwriting.
MIS EN SC NE [m z ah(n) sen ; m z ahn s n ; Fr., literally
"placement/setting in the theater."]. (theater) n. the
staging or production design of a dramatic work, considering
such factors as blocking, scenery, props, lighting,
costuming, sound plot and direction of the actors as they
form an artistic physical, optisonic or sonic interpretation
of the work; hence, in cinema (and by extension in any
form of theater), a director's, especially an auteur's,
style, as manifested in a particular work, or in the
director's collective ouvre.
MIX. (radio) n., a recording made from a master and sounds,
music and voices blended together in final or near final
form; n., the process by which such a recording is made;
v., to combine prerecorded sound, music and voices into
final or near final form.
MIXING BOARD. See board, mixing.
MONO (monophonic sound). Sound originating from one sound source
or speaker.
MOS. (broadcast journalism) Man-on-the-street; when MOS occurs as
a script indiation, it means that the dialogue that follows
comes from an interview with an ordinary citizen recorded in
the field.
MOUNT. (theater) v.t. To produce or direct something, as "to
mount a production."
MULTITRACK. (studio) A method of mixing audio programs using
three or more discrete channels of sound which are mixed down
to one or two.
MUSIC, BACKGROUND. (theater) Music that the characters supposedly
do not hear and that the audience pretends not to hear, that
seems to arise from etherial musicians, and that reinforces
the mood or atmosphere of a scene.
MUSIC, SOURCE. (theater) As distinguished from background music,
music that supposedly originates in the environment of a
scene and that the characters hear, as the band in a night
club.
MUSIC, STOCK. (film) Generic prerecorded music.
MUSIC, TITLE. (film) The theme music or leitmotif for a program
or series. MAIN TITLE: The theme music that opens a program,
hence, the entire program opening; the billboard. CLOSING or
END TITLE: The theme music that closes the program, hence,
the entire program closing, outro.
NAME. A star; a well-known or prestigious performer, director or
producer whose participation will lend credibility,
legitimacy or audience-appeal to a production.
NARRATE. (drama) To describe or tell at length, especially of
off-stage action.
NARRATION. (drama) Descriptive speeches, especially of off-stage
action; any speech of a Chorus or narrator.
NARRATIVE. (literature) A story, tale.
NARRATIVE HOOK. (literature) A plot device or any other stratagem
that grabs the audience's attention at the beginning of a
dramatic program.
NATURALISM. (literature) A style of writing and performance in
which the situations are presented with convincing but
selective verisimilitude.
NEEDLE DROP. (studio) A fee paid to the copyright owner or
publisher every time a stock effect or piece of music is
used in an audio production.
NETWORK. (broadcasting) A regional or national organization
offering subscribing stations and O and Os programs and other
services.
NOISE. (studio) Unwanted sound, hash. Tracks are said to be noisy,
not when they're loud, but when hash is intrusive.
NOISE GATE. See gate, noise.
NOISE, PINK. (sound) Random frequencies of sound, sometimes
purposely introduced on audio tracks to camouflage edits and
hash.
NOISE, WHITE. (sound) As opposed to pink noise, a pure frequency
of sound.
NPR. National Public Radio, the radio equivalent of PBS, with
which it is often confused by civilians.
O AND O or O & O. (broadcasting) A station owned and operated by
a national network.
OBJECTIVE. n., (drama) the often covert aim of a character in a
scene.
OFF MIKE. (radio) Away from the microphone, with some room slap
audable. (See back)
ON MIKE. (radio) Down stage or at the ideal microphone position.
OBLIGATORY SCENE. See Scene, Obligatory.
ONOMATOPOEIA. (literature) A word or expression that sound like
the thing it describes, such as slush, pow, sizzle, thud.
OPTISONIC. (adj.) As coined in this book, pertaining to remote
dramatic forms combining light and sound, such as film,
video tape, optical disk and other technologies.
ORGANIC. In playwrighting, arising intrinsically, as from the
natural consequences of the characters, their situations and
interactions, as opposed to a contrivance such as a deus ex
machina; In acting, employing one's own emotional
equipment appropriately and spontaneously in performance, as
opposed to indication.
OUT or SOUND OUT. (audio drama) A script indication for an abrupt
drop to zero volume.
OUTBOARD. (electronics) adj., In electronics, external; as a
device that can be wired to a tape recorder or console that
enhances its performance.
OUTTAKE. (film) A bad take or one not destined for use.
OVERDUB. (studio) v. In multitracking, to record sounds, music
or voices on empty tracks of an already recorded tape in
preparation for mixing; n., the stage of the production
process in which this is done.
OVERMODULATION. (studio) Sound distortion and/or signal break-up
in a recording, playback or broadcast resulting from two
much gain.
OXYMORON. (literature) Either a big dumb guy or, less
facetiously, an expression combining contradictions, as
"thunderous silence" or "honest politician."
PA or PRODUCTION ASSISTANT. (audio drama) The producer's and/or
director's assistant in the studio; the radio equivalent to
the stage manager.
PACIFICA. A small but influential public radio network and
program syndicator, generally considered far less
politically neutral than PRI or NPR.
PACKAGE. (broadcasting) v., To add the wrap-arounds, credits,
break announcements and previews to a final mix so that the
program is ready to air; n., a bundle of programs, or a
bundle of services accompanying a program, offered to
stations by a distributor, or to the distributor by a
producer.
PACKAGING. (broadcasting) The wrap-arounds, credits, break
announcements and previews that make a program ready to air
and help make an audience receptive to the program.
PAGEANT. (theater) An elaborate celebratory or `occasional' kind
of loosely constructed theatrical work, often essentially
dramatic, emphasizing sentiment and spectacle, built around
a central theme of great significance to the community at
large.
PAGEANTRY. Spectaular display, magnificent theatricality.
PANDER TO AN AUDIENCE. To subvert artistic integrity, by creating
or altering a literary work or performance
opportunistically, thus lessening its artistic merit, to
gain the approbation of an audience.
PAN. (studio) To move sound in stereo artificially.
PAN POT. (studio) The knob on a studio console that moves sound
articifially in stereo.
PARADOX. (literature) A statement or situation that seems, but
need not be, self-contradictory.
PASS. (studio) n, One continuous pass of the recording tape over
the record head of the tape recorder, during a session; a
take.
PATCH. (electronics) v., To connect one piece of electronic
equipment to another by some temporary device, so that they
interact; n., a connection so made.
PATCH BAY. (electronics) A bank of receptors, usually on the
console and resembling an old fashioned telephone
switchboard, for patching.
PATCH, PHONE. (sound studio) A hook up between a telephone line
and a recording or broadcasting device so that sound
information may be captured or broadcast directly from the
line.
PATHOS. (literature) That which evokes sympathy, sorrow or pity.
PERIPHRASIS. (literature) The substitution of a descriptive
phrase for the name of something, either because it
expresses more than the name alone, or because expressive
precision is for some reason impossible; as "wet roads" for
"sea," "tawny majesty" for lion, or "whatshisname, that
writer with the beard who blew his brains out" for
Hemmingway.
PERIPITY. (dramatic theory) In drama, an ironic reversal seen
when a character's actions bring about the opposite result
to that which was intended, as when MacBeth's murders,
perpetrated for his gain, bring about his downfall.
PERSONIFICATION. (literature) The giving of human attributes to
non-human things, as in expressions like "cruel sea,"
"howling gail," "blushing rose," "rosey-fingered dawn," etc.
PHASE. (studio) The synchronicity between two sound signals or
electircal currents, which, when exactly in sync, are said
to be IN PHASE, and when not, OUT OF PHASE.
PHASE CANCELLATION. (studio) The loss of sound frequencies caused
when two identical signals, as a sound in stereo center
recorded on two stereo channels, are out of phase.
PHYSICALITY. In audio drama, an element of palpable reality,
such as touching, movement, gesture, etc., used by talent as
a performance aid; the physical relationship with other
characters, gesture, environment and movement that the
talent can convey vocally, though standing still at the
mike.
PICK UP. (studio) n., a wild line or intercut; v., a line or
sequence of lines recorded wild; (theater) n., directorial
note given to actors between takes, run-throughs or
performances.
PICK UP (or TIGHTEN) ONE'S CUES. (theater) to leave less pause
between the beginning of one's line and the end of the
previous line.
PINK NOISE. See noise, pink.
PLAYER, SUPPORTING. Anm actor playing a secondary of tertiary
role in a production.
PLOSIVE. n., (speech) A vocalization produced by the total
stoppage and sudden release of breath, such as the inital
sounds in the words Pet, kite and tar. Such sounds tend to
pop the mike.
PLOT. (literature) n., As opposed to story, the events of a
fictional work arranged in order of presentation; v. to
arrange a story into a plot.
PLOT POINT. (drama) A bit of information that must register with
the audience before it can understand why the dramatic
action is moving in certain directions.
POETIC JUSTICE. (literature) The doctrine that fictional
characters should receive their just deserts in a fitting
way, that by the end of the work, evil should be punished
and virtue rewarded.
POP. (studio) v., To make a popping sound by pronouncing a
plosive or fricative too directly into a microphone; n., a
sound so made.
POP FILTER/WIND SCREEN. (studio) A device fitting over the
microphone to reduce unwanted sounds from pops, exhalations,
and the flow of air in a recording environment.
PORTMANTEAU WORD. (language) A word derived from fragments of
other words to express a combined meaning; for instance,
"grumble," to complain under one's breath, combines "gripe"
and "mumble."
P.O.V. (film and broadcast) Point of view, the desired illusion
of physical audience orientation towards a scene or scene
fragment, as when all sounds are heard from a specific
character's POV.
POST-PRODUCTION or POST. (studio) All studio work done on a
program after the taping of voices or music: editing,
overdubbing, mixing.
PRINCIPAL. (theater) n. One of the lead actors or roles in a
dramatic production.
PRE-MIX. (studio) v., To mix part of the sounds of a scene or
production before mixing all of them or before the voice
session; n., a partial sound mix.
PREPARATION. (literature) Information that has to be planted in
advance of an action in order to make it believable. Also
called PRIMING or THE SET-UP.
PRESENCE. (theater) Stage or mike presence, the quality in a
performer of looking as if he or she belongs on a stage, or
sounds as if he or she belongs in front of a mike; presence
comes from confidence, technique and indefinable intuitive
factors; (studio) overtones on sounds, the audable flow
of air and pink noise picked up by a mike or mikes and
peculiar to the sonic environment; also called room tone.
PRIME. (literature) To prepare an audience for an action or an
effect, by planting information or employing other
preparatory stylistic elements in advance of the action or
effect.
PRINT-THROUGH. (studio) An unwanted echo of sound recorded on a
reel of analogue tape, caused by saturated layers printing
through to adjacent layers wound above and below it.
PROBLEM PLAY. (drama) A play written to examine a moral, societal
or political problem.
PRODUCER. (show business) A job title with many definitions, from
a kind of glorified flunky to the big boss or creative agent
employed on a program or production. In theater outside the
United States, the producer is what we call the director. In
audio drama, the executive who oversees all production
activity and personnel, and who has the creative and
managerial responsibility for the final production.
PRODUCER, EXECUTIVE. The executive who supervises the producer
and who has all administrative and fiscal (sometimes also
marketing, promotion and distribution) responsibility for a
production.
PROMO. (broadcasting) A spot announcement advertising the program.
PROTAGONIST. (literature) The main character of a play; the hero.
PROPERTY. (theater) A script, or literary work used as the abasis
for a script, considered as a production commodity.
PROXIMITY EFFECT. (studio) The "warming" or mellowing of a sound
produced when the source moves close to the microphone.
PSA. (broadcasting) Public service announcement; a commercial for
a non-profit organization or a charitable cause.
PUBLIC DOMAIN. (law) A concept in copyright law concerning the
expiration of copyright and other intellectual property
protections (e.g., patents, trade marks). A work is
protected only for a limited time, after which it "falls
into the public domain," or becomes the common property of
the human race.
PUMPING. (studio) An undesirable distortion of sound caused by
too much compression.
PUNCH. (studio) a) v., To make an edit or to overdub a sound by
turning on the record button as the moving tape passes the
record head (also punch in); b) n., an edit so made; in
theater, v., to emphasize a word, line or sound; n.,
emphasis of a word, line or sound.
QUAD. (studio) Short for quadrophonic; four-channel stereo
requiring two front and two back speakers.
QUAD, MATRIXED. (studio) Three-channel stereo, required when
broadcasting quad under certain conditions, using two front
channels and one rear channels matrixed to give a
quadrophonic impression.
RADIO, COMMERCIAL. The system of stations financed primarily by
the sale of advertising time.
RADIO, COMMUNITY. The system of non-commercial broadcasters, many
of them public radio stations, emphasizing volunteer,
inclusive, community participation in station operations.
RADIO, PUBLIC. The system of non-commercial stations operating
nominally in the community interest, under qualifications
set by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and operated
by the dregs of humanity.
RADIO, UNIVERSITY. The system of non-commercial stations, usually
not CPB qualified, operated at low power by universities
primarily to serve the university community and to train or
provide recreation for student volunteers. Many American
colleges have their own 50 watt stations.
READ-THROUGH (n.), READ THROUGH (v.). (theater) n., a run-
through in which the cast reads a play aloud without movement
or interruption from the director; v., to hold or
participate in a read-through.
REALISM. (drama) A type of political expressionism originating in
Germany after World War I; the theatrical equivalent to the
editorial cartoon.
RECAP. (drama) n., (recapitulation) a summary of the action
that has transpired thus far in the dramatic work, as at the
beginning of serial episodes or as appears when necessary to
reinforce plot points; v., to make such a summary, to
recapitulate.
RECORDIST. (Production) The recording engineer; the engineer
operating the console during mastering.
REMOTE. (broadcasting) n., a television or radio session held
"in the field," that is, outside of the studio; a
production or part of a production so made; adj.,
pertaining to field production;
REPERTOIRE. See repertory.
REPERTORY. (performance) n., the works represented in a season
of performance, REPERTOIRE; the technique or bag of
tricks, considered critically, at the command of a
performer, ensemble or artist: technique; a method of
presenting a season of performance in which an esnsemble of
performers is engaged to appear in works alternating
throughout the performance year.
REPERTORY COMPANY or REPERTORY ENSEMBLE. A theater troupe
consisting of actors engaged for the season, presenting
works in repertory; used somewhat improperly, a theater
troupe presenting regular seasons of works, whether
sequentially or alternating, whether with an ensemble
engaged for the season or performers engaged per production.
REPRESENTATIONALISM. (drama) Playwrighting and theatrical
presentation in which action is presented on a bare or
austere stage and in which much of the action and locale are
suggested by the lines are said to be "representational."
Examples include Greek tragedy and Elizabethan plays.
REVERB. Reverberation; a sonic overtone purposely introduced to
give the impression of some kind of live indoor environment,
as a cave, auditorium, hallway, etc. See also echo.
REVERSAL. (literature, also [Greek] peripity) A point in or near
the climax of dramatic action in which the fortunes of the main
character change from the course they had been taking up til
then.
RF. (studio) Radio frequencies; the often unwanted reception of
broadcast signals on recording or playback equipment.
RIDE GAIN. (studio) to manually control the volume during
recording or mixing.
RING OUT. See decay.
ROLE, SUPPORTING. A secondary character in a dramatic work.
ROMANCE: (literature) A literary work or play appealing to a
sense of adventure, often episodic and melodramatic, taking
place on a vast terrain and emphasizing thrilling incidents
and romantic love; a literary work or play, about the
love lives of appealing principal characters, and
celebrating the importance of romantic love.
ROOM TONE. See tone, room.
RUN-THROUGH or RUN THROUGH. (theater) n., (hyphenated) the
uninterrupted rehearsal of an extended portion of a script
or the entire script; v., (without the hyphen) to
rehearse an extended portion of or the entire script without
interruption.
RUN-THROUGH, FINAL: n. In audio drama, the last rehearsal,
especially or a work to be recorded or broadcast before a
studio audience, held as if it were an actual performance;
the radio equivelent of a dress rehearsal.
SAFETY COPY or SAFETY. (studio) A good quality copy of the final
mix or packaged program kept in case something happens to the
master.
SATIRE. (literature) A type of comedy, low or high, that
ridicules aspects of human behavior, the purpose of which is
to arouse contempt for the object.
SATURATE. (studio) To raise the sound levels during recording
above the highest point that the recording medium can
tolerate, incurring resultant distortion and possibly print
through.
SATURATION. (studio) Distortion of sound on a recording medium
due to high sonic volume.
SCALE. (show business) n. Minimum payment for work tolerated by a
union per the applicable union-management agreement.
SCENARIO. (theater) A narrative outline of a plot; see also
treatment, bible.
SCENE. (drama) A dramatic unit in which all action is
continuous and ensues in one location; by extension,
continuous action within a scene in the first sense, unified
by mood, participating characters or spine, etc., useful as
rehearsal units; the locale or setting of a unit of
action.
SCENE- -FAIRE. See scene, obligatory.
SCENE, FRENCH. (theater) A unit of continuous dramatic action
delimited by the entrance or exit of one or more characters;
for logistical reasons, the director sometimes divides a
play into French scenes for rehearsal or taping purposes.
SCENE, OBLIGATORY. (drama) the climactic scene in a well-made
play in which all the threads of the plot are unsnarled; a
scene necessitated by audience expectations, balance,
completeness, poetic justice, etc. though not essential to
the plot, as when the fate of a character the audience has
taken an interest in is shown after the character has
stopped playing an important role in the action.
SCHMALTZ. n. (theater slang, from Yiddish: "chicken fat")
Lugubrious sentimentality; `laying it on thick.'
SCRUB. v. (digital audio) During editing, the digital equivelent
to rock recording tape back and forth by hand over the
playback head in order to locate an exact edit point.
SHTICK. (theater slang) Excessive, hammy, stereotyped mannerism,
or an actor's overused bag of tricks, especially when used
for low humor or to pander to an audience; not always a
pejorative term.
SECOND. (studio parlance) n. An apprentice or assistant engineer
in a commercial sound studio; often merely a gofer.
SEGUE. (music) 1. n., A smooth or gradual transition from one
sound to another or one scene to another without pause; 2.
v. to make such a transition.
SEQUENCE. (literature) n. As opposed to a scene, a montage
consisting of narration, snatches of dialogue, sound bytes,
etc., that summarizes events or presents them in quick
succession.
SERIAL. (literature) A regularly-scheduled continuing series that
presents a story over many programs in a series, or
installments in a periodical.
SERIES. (broadcasting) A regularly-scheduled program, the episodes
of which share a unifying element, such as continuing
characters, theme, format, setting, continuing plot line,
etc.
SESSION. (studio parlance) A continuous period of work on one
project in a sound studio.
SFX or FX. (audio production) Sound effects.
SHEET, CALL. (theater) A rehearsal schedule.
SHEET, CONTACT. (theater) A list of key personnel with their
contact information, distributed to the cast and crew at the
beginning of production work.
SHEET, CUE. (broadcasting) A fact sheet or tape box label showing
the cues in and out, the duration, playback speed and other
essential playback information.
SHEET, TRACK. (studio) A list in order of the takes on a
recording, also showing the tracks of multi-track tape that
sounds have been recorded to, often with other notes useful
in post-production.
SHOCK MOUNT. (studio) n., A device fitted between a mike and
its stand to prevent unwanted sound produced by vibrations
from the studio floor; v., to rig a microphone in such a
way.
SIDES. (theater) A special script containing only one
character's lines with cues in and out; hence, any script
fragment prepared for use by talent during auditions or
production.
SIGNAL. (studio) The sound source; wanted sound, as in the
expression "signal to noise ratio," the ratio between wanted
and unwanted noise being recorded.
SIMILE. See metaphor.
SITCOM. (broadcasting) A type of broadcast comedy series
employing farcical situations and recurring lead characters
in self-contained episodes.
SITUATION COMEDY. See Comedy, Situation.
SLAP. (sound) Sound reverberating from the walls, floor and
ceiling of a studio.
SLAPSTICK. (theater) A type of broad comedy relying upon
exagerated physical assault for its humor.
SLATE. (studio) v., To record an announcement of the take
information, such as the take number, in front of the take
as a kind of audio label; n., the audio label so
recorded.
SLATE TONE. See tone, slate.
SLOW-WIND [w nd]. (studio) To wind or spool analogue tape at
playback speed for storage to prevent print-through,
stretching and other damage. Slow-winding is a very even
unstressful wind, which places a thin air cushion between
layers of wound tape. The most common and practical method
is simply to store tape tails out after play, without
rewinding it.
SNEAK. (studio) To fade a sound up or down so slowly that its
appearance or disappearance is barely noticeable.
SOAP or SOAP OPERA. (radio) A broadcast serial, presenting by and
large domestic situations in melodramatic terms, so called
because at one time such programs were sponsored by soap
companies; any dramatic work resembling a soap opera in
tone.
SOLILOQUY. (drama) A speech, usually extended, representing the
inner thoughts of a character, spoken while the character is
alone or believes him/herself to be alone in the scene.
SOUNDSCAPE. (audio drama) The environment for dramatic action
created on the audio stage by descriptive dialogue and sonic
effects; the audio equivilent to effects produced in the
theater by sets, props and lighting; (audio art) a work
for listening that manipulates and orders sound to create a
mood or conjur the impression of an environment; the audio
equivelent of landscape painting.
SOURCE MUSIC. See music, source.
SPOT CHECK. (broadcasting) A check of the exposed recording tape
for flaws made by playing only brief passages at various
points on the tape.
SPIKE. (theater) v., to fix a position on stage or before the
mike exactly by marking the floor with tape, chalk, etc.;
n., the mark made for this purpose; (electronics) n., an
unwanted sudden surge of power through the circuitry of
electronic equipment that can sometimes cause technical
aberrations and system crashes.
SPINE. (theater) An underlying motivational or structural unity
of a scene, play, or character.
SPLICE. (studio) v., To edit tape by physically cutting and
joining; n., the juncture of two pieces of tape edited
together.
SPOT. (broadcasting) v. To locate and mark the most desirable
position for performing, so as to be in the optimal view of
the camera or range of the microphone; short for spot
announcement.
SPOT ANNOUNCEMENT. (broadcasting) A broadcast advertising or
public service message between 10 to 120 seconds long; a
commercial.
STAGE. (theater) n. As used in this book, the "place" of
theatrical action; in a playhouse the stage is a physical
space in an auditorium in view of the audience, shared by
the sets, props and actors, in radio it is the space between
the speakers in the audience's listening environment;
v.t., to turn a literary property into a performance, to
produce and/or direct something.
STAGE WAIT. (theater) A pause to heighten suspense.
STAGE, GIVE. (theater) v., In acting, to yield the spotlight, to
help focus the audience's attention away from oneself to
another actor, as by pointing one's body toward the actor,
facing away from the audience or moving out of the light,
etc.
STAGE, TAKE. (theater) v., In acting, to command the spotlight,
to draw the audience's attention to oneself, as by standing
at the most prominant stage position, by raising one's
voice, by moving when other performers are still, etc.
STING. (audio drama) A sharp musical chord used for punctuation.
STOCK MUSIC. See music, stock.
STORY. (literature) As opposed to plot, the chronological
sequence of events in a literary work.
STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS/INTERIOR MONOLOGUE. (literature) Speech
or monologue representing the thoughts or free associations
of a character.
STRUCTURE, COMIC. (literature) A plot structure in which
everything tends to go badly for the protagonist until the
climax, after which his or her fortunes improve.
STRUCTURE, TRAGIC. (literature) A plot structure in which
everything goes well for the protagonist until the climax,
after which everything goes badly.
STUDIO. The place where programs are recorded or performed for
broadcast; more specifically the room in a production
facility containing the talent, musicians and/or Foley
operators, as opposed to the booth or control room.
STUDIO MANAGER. (British studio parlance) the chief engineer on a
session who coordinates the efforts of the GRAMS & foley
operators, and who operates the console; the recordist.
STYLE. (the arts) The sum of elements (diction, vocal and
physical gesture, tempo, ornamentation, etc.) appropriate
for the writing, performance or production of a performance
work; the characteristic techniques, themes and artistry
of a particular author, performer, director or producer of
an artistic work; panache, flair, the pleasing and
distinctive affect of personality, charm and audacity.
SUBPLOT. (literature) A subsidiary plot woven into the fabric of,
subsidiary to, and often amplifying the main plot.
SUBTEXT. (literature) The covert, implicit or psychological
meaning of an utterance, which may be more than, or the
opposite of, the overt or apparent meaning.
SURREALISM. (literature) A style of writing and performance
depicting unconscious and subjective realities.
SUSPENSE. (literature) Uncertainty coupled with anxiety;
apprehension causing a tense expectancy in the audience.
SYMBOL. (the arts) Something employed to stand for something
else, often a simple or mundane object representing a
complex idea, psychological or emotional state, or taboo.
SYNDICATOR. An independent distributor of broadcast programs.
SYNDICATION. (broadcasting) A method of delivering programs
through a syndicator, or independent distributor.
SYNECDOCHE. (literature) In discourse, the substitution of a part
of something for the whole and vice versa; as when "stage"
is used to mean "theater."
SYSTEMS CUE. See cue, systems.
TABLE WORK. (theater) n., Rehearsals in which the play is read
without movement, often with the actors sitting around a
table, in which the focus is on characterization and
interpretation; hence in radio, rehearsals held away from
the mikes or outside the studio, for the same purpose.
TAFT-HARTLEY. (labor law) As used in talent-producer relations,
The Taft-Hartley or Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947,
as amended in 1951, contract provisions allowed or mandated
by The Taft-Hartley Act regarding non-union talent working
under AFTRA auspices. Non-union talent may be hired on a
union job provided the talent agrees to join AFTRA within 30
days of the job. Talent that becomes subject to this
provision is said to be TAFT-HARTLEYED, that is, to be
forbidden to work in a union shop after the 30-day period
unless s/he has joined AFTRA.
TAKE. (film) n., One of possibly several versions recorded of
the same fragment of a work, from which the most
satisfactory will be chosen for the final program; v., to
record a take; (theater) a physical or vocal reaction
usually broad and registering surprise, as in the phrase "to
do a take."
TALENT. (broadcasting) An actor; actors.
TAIL OUT or TAILS OUT. adv. (studio) [Said of exposed analogue
recording tape] Sppoled on a core or reel so that the
beginning of the program is closest to the core or reel.
TAPE HEAD. See head.
TAPE HISS. (studio) A kind of unwanted noise heard to a greater
or lesser degree on all magnetic analog recording tape.
TEASER. (broadcasting) An element at the beginning of a program
enticing the listener to stay tuned, usually a preview or
excerpt; a narrative hook.
TENSION. (literature) The basic element of most music, literature
and drama in the Western World; the introduction,
intensification, suspension and relief of which provides
structure and is often essential to keep a work of any
length interesting and meaningful.
TEST TONES. See, tones, test.
THEATER. As opposed to drama, broadly speaking, the field of
performance art concerned with acting out a story through
dance, mime, speech, oral narrative, song, or a mixture of
these things, coupled with special effects, costume,
scenery, lighting, etc.; and thus encompassing the genres of
drama, ballet, opera, pantomime, masque, performance art,
story telling, etc.; (also THEATRICALITY) the non-
literary aspects of performance, especially those
contributing to sensation and spectacle; a building
dedicated to performance, or figuratively in audio drama,
the mind of the listener; a company or ensemble
specializing in theatrical performance, as the Dance Theater
of Harlem, Molire's Comedie franaise, or Welles' Mercury
Theater of the Air.
THEATER OF THE ABSURD. A misnomer for various forms of symbolic,
emblematic, expressionistic drama usually on existential
themes that had a vogue after World War II, typified by the
early works of Edward Albee, Samuel Becket, and Eugene
Ionesco.
THROUGH-LINE. (theater) The unifying element thematic,
motivational, or otherwise of a scene, sequence, act or
entire play; often used synonymously with spine.
TIGHTEN CUES. (theater) To reduce the gap between the end of one
sound, musical passage or line and the beginning of a
following sound, musical passage or line.
TITLE or TITLE MUSIC. See music, title.
TONE. (literature) The playwright's attitude, as the audience
infers it, in his work.
TONE, ROOM. (sound) See presence.
TONE, SLATE. (studio) A low pitched tone recorded as a bed under
the slate, which, when the tape is fast wound over the
plaback head, is heard as a beep; used to facilitate the
editing of analogue tape.
TONES, CALIBRATION. (studio) White noise that tests and allows for
adjustments to a recording or playback device's
calibrations.
TONES, TEST. (studio) Tones recorded at the beginning of a tape
before the program, by which the playback engineer sets the
playback level, and checks phasing and alignment.
TOP. (theater) v., to begin a line before the previous speaker
has finished and at a louder volume; to clip; to produce
something in time more interesting than that which came
before.
TRACK. (studio) v., To record; n., one of the horizontal
divisions of recording tape into discrete channels for
multitrack recording; n., a recording.
TRACK, PRESENCE. (film) An audio track devoted to artificial or
actual room tone, ambience or pink noise, used to heighten a
sense of reality and camouflage edits within a scene.
TRACK SHEET. See Sheet, Track.
TRAGEDY. (drama, from the Greek: goat song) The ancient quasi-
religious, highly conventionalized drama of ancient Greece;
the Western verse drama arising from Greek and mideavil
scholastic drama, written partially or completely in verse
and predominantly serious in tone, in which the protagonist
suffers a grave material loss or death at the end, hence;
in contemporary terms, a dramatic form in which antagonistic
forces compel a protagonist to confront his/her moral worth,
and in choosing the moral over the materially advantageous
choice is enlightened and enobled, though outwardly
suffering a grevious loss; or any play dealing with
profound themes and employing tragic structure.
TRAGIC FLAW. (drama, also [Greek] hamartia) A shortcoming or
weakness in an otherwise admirable character that
contributes to his or her ruin; in Greek tragedy, this was
often hubris.
TRAGICOMEDY. (drama) A play with many humorous moments, but
tragic overall.
TREATMENT. (film) A narrative outline of a dramatic work for
cinema or broadcast. See Bible.
TROD THE BOARDS. (theater parlance) To act professionally; to be
a professional actor.
TROPE. (literature) Any figure of speech.
TURN. n. (British vaudeville) A variety act (e.g., knife
throwing, magic act, comedy team), specialty, skit, routine
or lazzo. A well-known skit or skit worthy of a great
performer is a STAR TURN, a term used sarcasticaly for a
temper tantrum and over-acting.
TURNING POINT (also REVERSAL, PERIPETY). (drama) The point in the
dramatic action on or near the climax in which the fortunes of
the protagonist turn from bad to good or good to bad.
TWEEK. (production) To make refining adjustments and
improvements.
OUTRO. (broadcasting) The closing announcements of a broadcast
program, including the system cue.
UNIONS or GUILDS. Professional American audio drama often, but
not always, falls within the jurisdictions of Aftra, Afm,
Writers Guild and sometimes NABET or other technicians' union.
UNWIRED NETWORK. (broadcasting) An independent program service,
or syndicater, and the stations carrying its program(s).
UP FULL. (studio) To fade a sound up quickly to the maximum
desired level.
UPSTAGE. (theater) n., Away from the audience, towards the
back of the stage, the opposite of downstage; v, to
displace action; to draw inappropriate attention to oneself at
the expense of another performer or of the focus of the
scene, originally by standing upstage of other players so
that they have to turn their backs to the audience to
maintain eye contact.
VERISPEED. (studio) Short for variable speed; n., A mechanism
on a recorder that alters the speed of tape in order to
alter the sound recorded on it; v., to alter a sound
using such a device.
VOICE OVER. (broadcasting) n., in TV and film, an unseen voice
added to the sound track in post; in radio, narration for
a spot announcement; in radio drama, narration heard over
music, sound or, especially, dialogue.
VU. (studio) Short for volume unit, a sound measurement unit used
in recording studios.
WALLA. (film) Crowd noises; talent specializing in crowd
noises.
WELL-MADE PLAY. (drama) A type of play seen especially in
England, France and the United States from 1825 to the
present in which tight construction and careful, logical
plotting are emphasized. Examples include Alexandre Dumas
fils' La Dame aux Camelias and Gore Vidal's The Best Man.
WHITE NOISE. See noise, white.
WILD. (studio) adj., adv. Preformed or recorded out of sequence
and/or isolated from the rest of the scene, sequence or
script.
WILD TRACK. (studio) v., To record a portion of script out-of-
sequence, and in isolation, usually to correct an error;
n., a recording thus made, a pick up.
WIND SCREEN. See pop filter.
WRAP-AROUNDS. (broadcasting) Opening and closing packaging for a
program.
WRITERS GUILD. The union representing writers, especially in
television, cinema and commercial radio.
X-Y PATTERN. (studio) A method of taping in stereo using two
mikes with overlapping patterns.
