Recording Studio Glossary

Superstition LIVE Feat. Tonybluestone
Superstition LIVE Feat. Tonybluestone
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Here are the essential terms that you will come across when recording or collaborating with others from your DAW.

A&R man endangered species of record company executive tasked with finding and developing new talent but lacking the balls to do so
Advance Bands used to get paid before their record was released, then were enslaved to pay it back with interest before they saw any money from their efforts. Typically you don't get true accounting as to how much you are earning
Automation Re-playable commands controlling almost any aspect of a mix e.g. Increasing/decreasing volume (level) of parts or the whole track throughout a song. Essentially, hands free mixing.
Click track a metronome click to help you keep time when recording but is not heard on the finished track
Collab a mutually beneficial collaboration on a track. One artist, usually the instigator, releases under their name (and channel) with a credit. e.g. Ed Sheeran Ft. Dua Lipa 
Comp can mean 1) a redo of a section that your dumb-ass producer isn't happy with or 2) compositing the best bits of several takes to make one awesome one
Contract  an agreement to get stiffed by a record company - usually not worth the paper it isn't written
DAW pronounced door - stands for Digital Audio Workstation i.e. your computer running software like Cubase or Pro Tools
Dep Deputy, if a band member cannot make a gig/record session the band/manager may get a dep in
Desk an analogue or digital mixing console with real knobs and faders for multi channels
Digital Come on, you know what that is!
Drop in replacing a mistake in a take by running it and hitting record to overdub for just the duration of the mistake
Dry/wet a stem that has effects like reverb (wet) or no effects (dry)
Gig playing live or, more likely for aspiring pro musicians, waiting tables
Groupie mythical female fans who love your music so much they'll suck your dick! Only applies to lead guitarists, obviously.
Head the most recognisable part of a (usually instrumental) track that appears at the beginning and is returned to at the end.
Interface hardware to allow analogue signals to be inputted into your DAW
Overdub redoing an existing part or take
Rip A verb meaning write to media like CD's (remember them?)
Roadie you, carrying your own gear
Rough a mix requiring tweaking, usually done hastily to demonstrate
Royalty Scraps off the table
Sample a sound or musical section taken from another recording to get you sued for copyright infringement!
Stem a part produced by a musician as a digital audio file that gets swapped between parties, and the finished result is integrated into a multi-track recording
Take an instance of a part. Usually, you make multiple takes AKA tracking
VST virtual instrument, a plugin that can be triggered by MIDI
see also