Every industry has its own jargon, it is important to learn the jargon so that you can communicate easily with other crew members.  

Some examples include:

‘The Talent’ - this refers to anyone performing or presenting – the reason for the event.  So, the talent might be a person giving a speech or someone doing a dance.  It is not meant to be judgemental.

The ‘Gig’ - the ‘gig’ is the event, whether it be a wedding, a corporate event or a major musical event, it is referred to as the ‘gig’

Bump In/Bump Out - refers to setting up and packing up of the event

Cans - Industry jargon for a communication system

Mic - abbreviation of Microphone

Wet or Dry Mix - this refers to whether there is any audio processing on the sound.  A dry mix has no processing, a wet mix has processing on the sound

Snake - refers to an audio multicore

Digital Snake - refers to a digital multicore

Gender Bender - adapter connectors to change plugs from male to female.  Also known as sex changers.

Specs - an abbreviation of specifications.  As a new employee you might be told to check the specs for a piece of equipment.  In other words, look up the manual.  It also has a slightly different meaning.  If you are told to “Go spec the job”, you are being asked to find out what the client wants in terms of equipment and labour - the client’s specifications. 

Aux - an abbreviation of auxiliary.  Most audio consoles have one more auxiliary channels (often referred to as aux channels).  This feature allows you to send a secondary feed of an input channel's audio signal to another destination, independent of the channel's main output.  It might be to an effects processor, stage monitors or a sub speaker.  

When we talk about frequency we are talking about the number of times per second that a sound pressure wave repeats itself and this determines the pitch. The lower the frequency, the fewer the oscillations. High frequencies produce more oscillations. The units of frequency are called hertz (Hz) with 1 Hz equally one cycle per second. Humans with normal hearing can hear sounds between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz. 

➢    Hertz (Hz) = The unit of frequency equal to one cycle per second

➢    Kilohertz (kHz) = The measure of frequency equal to one thousand cycles per second

Here is a video explaining Volts, Amps and Watts. You will only need to watch up to 4:23 but feel free to watch to the end later.