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stage: (1) In an electronic device, when a signal is repeatedly amplified, any portion of the circuit in which an increase in amplification is achieved. In a mixer, for instance, there is generally a stage or buffer after each fader or pot, providing a light load to the fader and a constant impedance to the next stage or device. (2) A dubbing stage.
stage box: See snake.
stage monitor: A wedge-shaped loudspeaker placed on the stage close to the musicians in a live or broadcast performance. It allows them to hear the monitor mix, e.g., the bass player may particularly need to hear the drum part.
stage sync: How well in sync the Foley or ADR is when it is recorded.
stampers: Used to press plastic CDs , the stamper is a negative copy mold made from the glass master where the pits are reversed into spikes.
standard operating level: A reference level by which various pieces of equipment can be adjusted to produce identical output levels or meter readings. In professional recording, standard operating level is defined as 0VU=+4dBm. In broadcasting, 0VU=+8dBm. See line-level.
stand-by mode: See auto-input.
standing wave: An acoustical resonance in a room caused by parallel wall surfaces, also called a room mode or an eigentone. Any set of parallel walls will establish a series of standing waves, the lowest one of which has the wall spacing as a half-wavelength. The sound waves interfere with one another to produce a series of places where the SPL is high and another series of places between then where the SPL is very low, as if the sound wave were stationary between the two surfaces. See also room mode, quarter-wavelength rule.
star network: A type of MIDI network in which a master unit is directly connected to all devices in the system, instead of linking them in a serial topology. This obviates the need for MIDI Thrus, but requires the use of a device that has a number of parallel MIDI sockets.
Start: A MIDI System real-time message which causes a device to start playing the current song. Usually only implemented by sequencers and drum machines. See Stop.
start bit: In serial data transmission, the use of an extra bit to precede the data bits which serves to alert the receiving device, preparing it for data to follow. See stop bit.
Start menu: The main menu in a Windows™ system, used to access applications, files, and control panels. This is the equivalent of the Apple (
) menu on a Mac.
static: Any dynamic, high-frequency, intermittent noise is called static. Static is distinct from continuous noises, such as hum or buzz.
static signal processing: Signal processing in which the nature of the input signal has no effect on the type or amount of processing applied to it, as opposed to dynamic signal processing.
status byte: A MIDI message byte that defines the meaning of the data bytes that follow it. MIDI status bytes always begin with a 1 (hex 8-F) and are numbered 128 or greater, while data bytes always begin with a 0 (hex 0-7). The status byte determines what type of instruction is described by the message, and is usually followed by one or more data bytes.