The VGMusic.com Glossary

The fraternal stepsister of the VGMusic.com FAQ

The Glossary

All the definitions you ever wanted to know, ever needed to know, and a few thrown in so that you can impress those people who have "Word-A-Day" calendars.

Many of these definitions may not fit with the accepted standard world definitions. I don't care. This glossary is meant to define words based on how we use them around here, for the benefit of our visitors. Any complaints along the lines of "But technically, MIDI is digital audio, too. All forms of computer music are." will be gladly ignored, however grossly inaccurate definition corrections are welcomed.

: Ambient Noise

Background sounds, such as wind blowing, breathing, chains dragging, etc. Some games will substitute a conglomeration of these sounds for music, sometimes even making them semi-melodic.

: Arrangement

A remake with a more important sounding name and an emphasis on instrument coordination.

: AWE

Advanced Wavetable Effects, by Creative Labs. A MIDI "enhancement" for certain sound cards, not a MIDI extension.

: BBCode

phpBB variant of UBBCode.

: Complete Idiot

Lamer, loser, moron.
File stealer, esp. one that removes the real credit information in a file, replaces it with their own, then passes the file off as their creation.
Person who uses "HaCkEr CaPs" or other "k00l/l33t" lingo, etc.
Person who does a remix consisting of taking someone else's file and simply changing a few instruments or adding a drum beat.
Person who uploads a raw conversion dump.
Person who creates a medley by cutting and pasting several songs into one big song.
Person who posts spam.
Person who engages in a flame war.

: Compose

To create, from your own imagination, a piece of music. Note: You cannot "Compose" someone else's song. If it isn't from your head entirely, you didn't compose it.
See Also: Composer

: Composer

One who composes.

: Conversion

The process of taking a file of type A and turning it into a file of type B. Usually a conversion will result in a loss of quality.

: Cute

See Also: Thursday.

: Defenestration

Throwing something (Often, someone) out of a window.

: Digital Audio

A direct recording of any type of sound stored in a data file on a computer. They will, in theory, sound exactly the same on any playback equipment. Digital Audio includes Waves, MP3s, RealAudio, AU, AIFF, and VOC files.

: Digital Music

If MIDI and Digital Audio were to mate, Digital Music would be the offspring. Often referred to as modules, they're a kind of cross between the piano roll style of MIDI and the direct recording of Digital Audio. All the notes and effects are stored as notes and effects, and all the instruments used are stored as digital audio samples. This structure allows for near exact replication of songs that will sound the same on any equipment, but at a much smaller file size than digital audio.
See Also: Tracking

: Doppelganger

Evil twin.

: Dump

Using a utility, saving a file containing music information of some form that cannot be classified as a rip. MIDI output from converters or emulators is considered a dump. Note: Raw dumps usually sound awful and need a lot of cleaning up. Do not upload dumps, and do not claim sequencing credit for a dump. (See: Complete Idiot).

: ED

"Edited", when following a message board subject line.

: Emulator

A piece of software or hardware that mimics the operation of another piece of software or hardware.

: FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions. Required reading before posting on a message board or e-mailing the staff.
The document which contains the answers to the mysteries of life.

: Flame War

The most unwelcome of posts on a Message Board, a fight. All participants will find themselves banned. If you have a disagreement with somebody, talk to them privately, and don't involve the rest of us.
See also: Complete Idiot

: FM

A type of MIDI synthesis that uses computer generated instruments to produce a sound rather than actual recordings.
See Also: Wavetable

: Forum

An ancient Roman meeting place. Funny things usually happened on the way to it.
See Also: Message Board

: GBS

A file containing ripped GameBoy music.

: Glossary

Something that defines words in short sentences, attached to whatever uses the words, specifically for the purpose of appeasing those too stupid or lazy to find a dictionary or do some research and look it up themselves. Generally does not contain the part of speech or pronunciation information of a dictionary, as the compilers of a glossary are lazy people.

: GM

General MIDI. The most widely used MIDI standard.
The arch-nemesis of Michael Moore.

: GS

General Sound, by Roland. A GM extension.

: GYM

A file containing ripped Genesis music.

: Hypsography

Relating to the mapping of areas above sea level.

: IP Address

Esentially your computer's "Phone Number" on the Internet. This is what lets you contact other computers and lets you be contacted by other computers and lets data know where it's going and how to get there. In short, it's what makes the world go round.

: Lurker

One who reads message board posts, but rarely, if ever, makes any.
That guy outside in your bushes, watching you through your half-open window.

: Markup

Evil. Pure Evil.

: Medley

Grouping one or more separate songs into one. Note: This does not include simply cutting and pasting several songs into one file (See: Complete Idiot).

: Message Board

A home of intelligent conversation, mindless discussion, inane banter, and a couple of complete lunatics, all available for free over at http://www.vgmusic.com/phpBB2/.
The only reason this site has a FAQ, MOMALs, and this Glossary.

: MIDI

Musical Instrument Digital Interface. A standard for interconnecting synthesisers, sequencers, PCs, and other equipment.
A MIDI file. Small, piano-roll style files conforming to the MIDI standard, designed for use on some form of MIDI equipment (Generally a computer's sound card).
See Also: Digitial Music, Digital Audio

: Module

Any file of formats .mod, .it, .xm, .s3m, and about 50 others.
See Also: Digital Music

: MOMAL

Messages of Moderation and Love. Righteous and Pure and Good without question, they vanquished the Evil SMRs, bringing peace to the forums in August, 2001.

: MP3

MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3. An ancient audio compression format that has recently gained popularity due to the ease it allows college students to pirate music and cripple computer networks.
See Also: Digital Audio

: Newbie

What you are if you need this word defined.
The store clerk in Twitch City.

: NM

"No Message", when following a message board subject line.

: NSF

A file containing ripped NES music.

: NT

"No Text", when following a message board subject line.

: Original

When referring to MIDI files, a song that is composed by the sequencer. (Or sequenced by the composer, if that's how you look at things.)

: PERL

A programming language used for making programs on the Internet. The pure magic behind some of our site.

: PHP

A programming language used for making programs on the Internet. The pure magic behind the Forums and much of our site.

: phpBB

A message board system used by almost everyone.

: Pokemon Phenomenon

The common effect, not limited to Pokemon (In fact, prevalent in Final Fantasy, as well), where something of decidely low quality (Be it a MIDI file, game, toy, movie, breakfast cereal, whatever) is given a higher rating than it deserves simply because of its connection to something popular, and not driven by a measure based on its own merits. A corollary to this is an object of high quality getting a lower rating than it deserves, simply because of its connection to something unpopular.

: PSF

A file containing ripped PSX music.

: Recursion

See Also: Recursion

: Redbook

Another name for standard CD audio, playable on any CD player. Usually mentioned in conjunction with game CDs, so mind the data track...

: Remake

A musical cover. Taking a song that someone else composed, and essentially copying it. There may be a few minor changes (Such as instrument selection, etc.), the style remains the same as the original version, and what changes are present are not enough to let the song be considered a remix. Most of the files we have on our site are considered remakes.

: Remix

Taking a song someone else composed, and changing the style dramatically, possibly even adding entirely new elements or musical sections. Can include limited cases of medley, if all songs present are changed dramatically. Note: Changing instruments or adding a drum beat alone does not constitute a remix (See: Complete Idiot).

: Rip

To directly extract music data from a program file, either using a utility designed for this purpose or a hex editor. Do not upload rips.
The first name of comedians Taylor and Torn and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patient Van Winkle.

: ROM

Read Only Memory
An image file of the software on a game cartridge. Often the possession or distribution of such files is considered copyright infringement, regardless of the age of the game in question.

: RTFM

"Read The FAQ, Man" (Note: The real words for this acronym are a touch different, but this contains the idea...)

: Sample

A small piece of digital audio used as an instrument in wavetable synthesizers and modules.

: Sequence

To make a MIDI file, esp. of a song you did not compose.
A MIDI file.
See Also: Sequencer

: Sequencer

One who sequences.
A program or utility used to sequence.

: SID

A file containing ripped Commodore 64 music.

: SMR

Evil, but not quite as evil as Markup. Now obsolete, they were defeated by the righetous MOMALs.

: SO

"Subject Only", when following a message board subject line.

: Softsynth

Software-based wavetable synthesizer.

: Something Else

Nothing of your concern. Move along and quit asking questions, you snoopy little brat.

: Spam

Repetitive, soliticious or otherwise annoying e-mail or message board posts that nobody wants and which are often deleted before being read.
A so-called "meat" "food" product. No one is quite sure what animal it comes from.

: SPC

A file containing ripped SNES music.

: Stupid Question

Any question which should not be asked as the answer is readily available or easily found.

: The List�

The holding pen and memory aid for all things that eventually end up in the FAQ, Glossary, or MOMALs. It is not for the eyes of the untrained, so you don't get to see it or know everything that's on it.

: Thursday

See Also: Cute.

: Tracking

Tracking is to Digital Music as sequencing is to MIDI.
Relentlessly following a person, chasing them down, like a bounty hunter.

: UBB.Threads

An expensive message board system with both flat and threaded post viewing modes.
The "old" forums.

: UBBCode

The Evil Force formerly known as Markup.

: Wave

A .wav file, a popular format of digital audio.
An oceanic phenomenon often referred to as "Gnarly".

: Wavetable

A type of MIDI synthesis that uses actual recordings of an instrument (See Sample) to produce a sound rather than entirely computer generated sounds.
See Also: FM

: XG

Extended General MIDI, by Yamaha. A GM extension.

: YM

A file containing ripped Atari computer music.

FAQ Index

Glossary maintained by: dw_junon. Last updated 4:46 AM 23/9/04.