Noise Terms

Numeric

• 0-Cost:
  • Something that you have gotten for free
• 14k:
  • Unwisely spending a large amount of borrowed money on a noise release.
• 20:
  • standard length of a noise set
• 4:33:
  • A piece by John Cage where the audience listens to the ambient sound of the performance space
• $5:
  • The best increment to use for selling merch at shows. When talking about vinyl it has been said that it should be a dollar per inch but since making change at a show is a pain round up to the next 5 dollar increment.
• 555 Timer:
  • This integrated circuit is a common and easier to use component to build noise making devices such as the well known Atari Punk Console.
• 911:
  • Was an inside job, jet fuel can't melt steel beams, have you seen my 1943 bronze cent?
• 9 vdc:
  • The typical voltage for guitar pedals is 9 volts DC

A

• AC:
  • Alternating Current
• Anti-Record:
  • Anti-Records are more art object than an actual playable audio recording. The most common anti-record is made by destroying the grooves of an existing record to the point of them the original sounds being unrecognizable. Anti-Records could also be a piece of tar paper with a hole drilled in the middle. Anti-Records are not to be played on your audiophile turntable.
• APC:
  • Atari Punk Console is a popular DIY noise making device that was designed by Forest Mimms and utilizes a 555 timer.
• Artist copies:
  • These are copies of a release that are given to the artist. Sometimes these copies have special art or sometimes the artist never receives them at all.

B

• Baby's First Noise:
  • A somewhat cynical phrase uttered by Ron Lessard in the secret maniacs only forum in reference to his interest in releasing the first noise release for noise newbs.
• Beard:
  • Many noisers have beards especially in the PNW
• Bearpussy:
  • A certain type of noise forum user who gets upset by non serious noise posting.
• Bedroom Noise:
  • Noise that is literally recorded in your bedroom which is common among noisers
• Bitchbox:
  • This device is four floops configured with a rotary switch that was designed by XDUGEF
• Blackboard:
  • Nickname for the old Tronixs forum because it had a black color scheme
• Blackened Noise:
  • A type of HNW often created by fans of black metal
• Blue Smoke:
  • When an electrical device is fried wit typically release the blue smoke
• Bricked:
  • When I an electronic device is rendered useless
• BRVTAL:
  • An overused adjective for describing noise in noise reviews
• Brown Note:
  • The military has experimented with audio weapons and the so called "brown note" was capable of causing involuntary bowel movements.
• Brojob:
  • A variation of a shill is when friends of the label or artist post highly complimentary comments on forums about a release. Brojobs may contain phrases such as "I need to grip this" or "this is the most KVLT/BRVTAL release".
• Brownian Noise:
  • This is type of static noise that has an even slope of -20 db per decade and has more intensity at the lower frequenices
• Bucket Brigade:
  • A type of analog delay that uses a series capacitors
• BW:
  • Black and White artwork is almost mandatory for release art to be KVLT. This probably developed out of dependency to xerox machines for release art duplication.
• Buzzbox:
  • Another guitar pedal (allegedly named after Buzz from the Melvins) made by DOD that was very popular with noisers. The FX33 Buzz Box pedal was not very popular with guitar players and was not many were made with caused the prices on ebay for this pedal to sometimes exceed $300. But for the time this pedal was a sure fire way to up your noise street cred.

C

• C10:
  • A cassette tape with a total running time of 10 minutes
• CDr:
  • The recordable compact disc used to be the most popular "noisecoin" and media for releasing noise. However CDr have fallen out of favor and have been superseded by cassette tapes. CDr was never an especially KVLT format like vinyl is.
• CD Rot:
  • Certain types of CD's and CDr's have been noted recently for the unanticipated break down of materials causing the disc to become unplayable and thus placing another nail in the coffin of the CD as a decreasingly popular format.
• Circle jerking:
  • Similar to brojob except everybody is giving each other a brojob. This process does to a large degree keep the scene alive.
• Circuit Bending:
  • This is a term that was coined by Reed Ghazala to describe the process of modifying battery powered toys and devices to make new sounds interesting sounds. Circuit Bending is typically abhorred by serious noise guys.
• Clamshell:
  • A type of cassette or CHA tape enclosure usually for holding two or more tapes.
• Commodity Fetishism:
  • This is a term coined by Karl Marx in his critique of the political economy. In regards to noise and noise releases there seems to be a lot of emphasis placed on packaging when the audio content is often void of meaning and quality. It would appear that often people only collect noise for the packaging. Record Collector Scum seem to be especially troubled with commodity fetishism.
• Comp:
  • A compilation of various noise artists. Comps are often themed.
• Contact Mic:
  • Otherwise known as a piezo transducer and a common tool in the noise makers arsenal. They are used to capture sounds from all sorts of objects that are not necessarily instruments. They put the electro in electro-acoustic music
• Costume Noise:
  • Any type of noise made by a performer wearing a mask or any kind of costume. Typically considered a bad thing by serious noise guys.
• CrackleBox:
  • Is a specific battery powered noise making device that was designed in the 60's
• CV:
  • Stands for Control Voltage which is used as an analog means to control audio devices. There are different standards for the range of voltage it's anywhere between 0 and 10 volts depending on the device and used primarily by modular synths, and older analog synths that were created before MIDI.

D

• Death Metal Pedal:
  • Instant HNW noise in a box.. the only better that one DMP is multiple DMP. There are several different version of this pedal. This pedal has become a meme.
• Distro:
  • Short for distribution. Distributors stock and sell merch from different labels.
• DOD:
  • A manufacturer of guitar pedals now owned by Harman International which also owns Digitech.
• Dogfart:
  • Nickname for Mikko Aspa (FreakAnimal) on the Tronix forum.
• Dubber:
  • Dubbing typically refers to duplicating tape cassettes, a special deck for this purpose is called a dubber.

F

• Field Recording:
  • These are usually recordings made of incidental or environmental sounds and used as is or processed. They can be made in doors or outdoors and do not have to literally be made in a field.
• Flakelist:
  • Noisers who bail on their gigs without notice and/or an acceptable excuse
• Floop:
  • Short for feedback loop
• Frequency Shifting:
  • Also known as heterodyning, A Real Frequency Shift will shift the spectrum of a sound giving a very metallic result, while Pitch Shifting will dilate it, retaining the harmonic relationship of the sound.
• Fuzz:
  • Another word for distortion

G

• GAS:
  • Gear Acquisition Syndrome is common among noisers and most all electronic music makers. Collecting gear and posting about your latest acquisition becomes a large part of the noisers experience especially online. Gear is probably the one topic that almost all users online can find common ground.
• Gonkulator:
  • The DOD FX13 Gonkulator Modulator was another unusual pedal made by DOD that had limited use among guitar players and found some use among noise makers. Essentially the "Gonk" is a rather tame ring modulator. It does not have a carrier wave input which kind of limits it's abilities. Because of it's rarity it also garnered high prices on ebay although it has for some reason been reissued even though it's really not all that great.
• Grip:
  • How one expresses interest in buying a noise release when posting online

H

• Have you seen the graph:
  • Inspired by jliat's STDEV noise research. The phrase "Have you seen the graph" began to be used to refer to any spurious claim made by certain people.. especially unsubstantiated claims that they would make over and over again.
• Hipster:
  • It's almost impossible to define who is a hipster but many have tried. The noise scene has a love/hate relationship with them.
• Hotpocket:
  • A microwaveable pastry filled with gross meat also a derogatory word for a noise release.
• HNW:
  • Harsh Noise Walls

K

• the letter K:
  • Another way to try to achieve KVLT status is to replace the letter C in your band name and liner notes with the letter K.
• Krell patch
• KVLT:
  • Only the Noise Illuminati knows what is KVLT

L

• Lathe:
  • Vinyl lathes are special turntables with a vinyl cutting head to create very short runs of records. The sound quality is usually not nearly as good as a pressed record. Lath records do have a certain amount of KVLT street cred.
• Lazernoise:
  • A type of floop noise that utilizes digital delay with lots of repeats with decay, Stimbox was well known for this type of noise. There was a noisebeef between Stimbox and Sickness and the later proposed a noise dual where Stimbox would not be allowed to use a delay in his setup implying that the use of a delay was a crutch.
• Limited Release:
  • A release where the number of copies is more than 1 but less than 12. The number is usually dictated by poverty rather than demand. Although in some cases the number is so absurdly low that the label can say it's sold out the same day they post about it after selling a few copies.

M

• Matrix Mixer:
  • A type of mixer (usually DIY and passive) where there are two sets of inputs placed in a grid and any input can be combined with any other input using poteniometers
• M.A.N.:
  • Mothers Against Noise was a hoax perpetrated by the band Wolf Eyes in 2006. The story goes that WE and maybe John Wiese were playing a show in San Diego and a group of enraged Mothers protested the show. There was never any press coverage of this incident and the first mention of the incident was found to be posted by a friend of WE on the tronix noise forum. M.A.N. then had a website that was listing other specific bands that seemed to be related to WE that were being specifically targeted. Years later after interest had been lost in the Hoax also played a solo gig in Los Angeles where he claimed he was pulled over by the police and officer made a reference to M.A.N.
• Meatbox:
  • The DOD FX32 Meat Box is a suboctave generator that is very popular with noisers. It was more popular as an actual guitar pedal so for a time was fairly easy to find for under $50. However like the Buzzbox the prices crept up until it was selling for hundreds of dollars. The pedal was reissued recently although the enclosure is much different than the original. One of the charming aspects of the original was that it came with little fly stickers you could place anywhere you wanted and the controls were called Meat, Rump, Flank and LBS. The reissue controls are Octave, Output, Sub and Low.
• MediaMail:
  • The cheapest way to ship merch
• Merch:
  • Short for merchandise, you can tell someone is a seasoned noiser when they say they got merch for sale
• Merzbutt:
  • A derogatory term for Merzbow
• Merz___:
  • Putting Merz in front of another word in order to express a high level of excess
• Monthly Tape Trade:
  • Each participants picks a month and when it's their month sends a tape to the 11 other participants.

N

• Net-Label:
  • A music label that only puts out releases online. The proliferation of noise on the internet has drawn much ire from the Noise Illuminati. Net-Labels are not KVLT and online releases have much difficulty getting reviewed as putting out digital only releases is too easy and denies the commodity fetish of many noisers.
• NG:
  • Short for Noise Guide, used to reference http://forums.noiseguide.com
• Nikola Tesla:
  • The inventor of the Theremin and all around cool guy
• No Input:
  • No input audio mixer feedback
• Noiser:
  • A person who makes noise, sometimes used in a derogatory fashion
• Noise Beef:
  • Any kind of dispute between two or more members of the noise scene. A common beef is over people who don't mail merch they have sold.
• Noisecoin:
  • A type of currency. The trading noise merch is it's own economy. CDRs used to be the defacto noisecoin.
• Noise Illuminati:
  • An international consortium of noise taste makers that are shrouded in mystery

O

• One Sided Record:
  • Typically an LP that only has audio on side as a way to reduce cost of putting out a vinyl recording. One sided LP's do have a certain amount of KVLT street cred.
• Originality:
  • A common problem in post modernity is the search for originality. The internet has made it possible for everyone everywhere to do the same things over and over again and post about it online. This often leads to shitposting where the comment "it's already been done" is stated frequently. Out of this has come the ultimate lack of originality which is HNW which by design is contains "no dynamics, no change, no development, no ideas". The previous phrase was coined by HNW god father and possible member of the Noise Illuminati: Vomir.

R

• Record Collector Scum:
  • These are the type of collectors who drive prices upward in the market and thrive on paying ridiculous amounts for obscure records. RCS are closely related to hipsters.
• Real Talk:
  • Online discussion that is free of the usual bullshit
• Ring Modulator:
  • Ring Modulation uses a carrier wave combined with the voice signal and can output the difference of the two signals. Ring Mods have been used to decode FM radio transmissions. It often sounds like a robot voice effect
• RRR:
  • This is the record label run by Ron Lessard (AKA Emil Beaulieau) in Lowell MA

P

• Passive Mixer:
  • A type of audio mixer that only uses passive components to mix audio signals. They can also be used as a mult in order to send one signal to multiple devices.
• Pedal Hoarding:
  • a variation of GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) but specific to pedals. Like record collector scum, pedal hoarders drive the prices of what were cheap guitar pedals nobody wanted into absurd prices of hundreds of dollars on ebay.
• Pluralism:
  • There was a period when every other new noise project was pluralized even though most noise projects are solo one man bands.
• PNW:
  • Pacific North West. Eugene OR, Portland OR, Seattle WA and Vancouver WA are PNW noise cities.
• Polycase/Softcase:
  • A type of tape cassette packaging where the case is made from a slightly flexible plastic
• Pink Noise:
  • Pink Noise has equal energy in all octaves of frequency. PN is often used for audio calibration because of the consistency of across the spectrum.
• Pizza Box:
  • The type of cardboard mailer used for shipping LP records
• Prison Cassette:
  • A clear cassette that are often used in prison because you can't as easily hide contraband inside them

S

• Serious Noise:
  • A derogatory term for anybody but especially people who make or sell noise and post on forums and who do not have a sense of humor. These people typically belong to the maniacs only secret forum. They sometimes pull a 14k. They are also often bearpussies and get offended by noise memes.
• Shaker Box:
  • Any kind of container filled with loose objects with a contact mix contained
• STDEV:
  • Short for Standard Deviation. As part of a long standing forum argument between Jliat and Clemon, Jliat created a chart to try to establish what is the harshest sound by using the STDEV of a range of different types of noise and music.
• Sharpie Attack:
  • This is a CDr that has been decorated with a sharpie. This is a somewhat derogatory term as sharpie attacks are usually not that great looking especially if the CDr is branded.
• Shitnoise:
  • Lo-Fi noise
• Shitposting:
  • As opposed to "Real Talk" shitposts are low quality or negative posting on forums and often precipitate flame wars. Shitposts often contain memes or an excessive number of smilies. Posts talking about gear are almost never shitposts. The Noise Illuminati hate shitposts unless they are making them in private about the pleebs in the public section of the forum.
• Side Project:
  • Doing the same thing you usually do but this time with a new name and its about a different serial killer than your last project
• Skiff:
  • A skiff is a shallow case for eurorack modules
• Special Packaging:
  • A brick that you have glued to your latest C10 release.
• Special Interests:
  • A short list of common themes for noise releases include: True Crime, Nazi's, misogyny, Serial killers, Pedos, Pedo serial killers, Sharks, Nylons. It is also the forum associated with the label FreakAnimal and is run by Mikko 'Dogfart' Aspa and is considered a safe space for serious noise discussion of politically incorrect fetishes.
• Spraypaint:
  • A common DIY method for decorating tape cassettes and CDr's is to cover them in spray paint
• Suitcase Noise:
  • A noise setup that is in an actual suitcase. Old hardshell suitcases can be found for cheap and can be a convenient way to make your noise setup portable.
• Synth:
  • Short for synthesizer keyboard. The most common synthesizers used by noisers are analog because they have more KVLT street cred

T

• Table Noise:
  • Most noise performances occur on a folding table loaded with guitar pedals.
• Table Hooters:
  • This term originated in the circuit bending community to describe cheap keyboards that have been modified to make loud distorted sounds.
• Tape Loop:
  • Before sampling delays people made tape loop, these days if you want to be KVLT you make tape loops even if they are time consuming and a pain in the ass.
• Timestretched noise:
  • This was a half baked theory by Clemon that had something to do with elongating noise via time stretching and Adorno. After arguing about this theory for years on a couple of noise forums he eventually abandoned it and took up trying to write "noise poetry".
• Trade:
  • Since most people who listen to noise also make noise it is common for noisers to exchange their Noisecoins instead of using money. Many noise distros are also noise labels and exchange merch to stock their distros.

U

• Underground Venue:
  • Any venue that is not a professional establishment used for small performances on a regular basis. These are typically art spaces or people homes. Sometimes they are literally underground as in a basement or even the crawl space of a house. These types of spaces are often plagued with a variety of problems and get shutdown after a short time if they are not managed well and hidden from the man.

V

• Vactrol:
  • This is a type of electronic component that uses an LED and a photo resistor. They can be used as a type of CV to put an envelope on a signal. They have many uses but are especially useful audio devices due to their built in slow decay.
• Vacuum Tube:
  • Prior to transistors vacuum tubes were commonly used in electronics. Tubes are still very popular in electric guitar amplifiers. A handful of audio synth manufacturers are using tubes in their products. The two most notable manufacturers are Metasonix and Trogotronic.
• Vaulted Releases:
  • These are releases that have been thought to be out of circulation but a stash of them has been found and is one is lucky has been in demand by record collector scum and is now very valuable. The typical "noise vault" is under someone's best or in their closest or returned from a distro that is going out of business.
• Vocoder:
  • Otherwise known as voice encoders where invented as a method to compression voice signals for telecommunications. Analog vocoders divide the incoming signal into a number of tuned frequency bands or ranges. Vocoding is a predecessor of the dreaded autotune craze.

W

• Wallwart:
  • The bane of existence of most noise makers as practically every device needs one and they take up alot of space on power strips. Fortunately most pedals use 9volts DC and there is a variety of daisychainable power adapters. However some manufacturers like Alesis use AC power and it sucks.

Y

• Y-Adapter:
  • These are typically audio cables with two connectors on one end that merge into one connector on the other and look like the letter Y. For standard AV uses they are intended to combine mono cables to stereo. They are a poorman's passive mixer. They can also be used as a mult in order to send one signal to multiple devices. These a good to have in any noiser's arsenal.
• YouTube:
  • Is like the Google but of shitty videos. The noise Illuminati has declared that sourcing audio samples from YouTube is the least KVLT way to find samples. The most KVLT way surprisingly is not to commit an actual crime and record yourself doing it. However sampling Fulci movies as part of yet another HNW track is given a pass.

Z

• Ze_Prof:
  • A noise forum nutter

X

• Xdugef Engine
  • Taking the Bitchbox a step further the Xdugef Engine not only contained four floops but also rehoused the pedals used in the floops which included a Buzzbox, a Gonkulator, a Bluebox and another fuzz pedal or some kind I can't recall
• Xerox:
  • Probably the single most effective way to add KVLT status to your release is to do all the release art with a photocopier. Inkjet is the least KVLT way to do do your release art. Not only because most likely you used Google to find an image that any South African could have downloaded but every bedroom noiser has an inkjet printer and inkjet prints fade even when the resulting tape lives in your personal noise dungeon.