Word for the Day Archive

Synchronization

In keeping with the release of the Digital Time Piece, our word for today is "synchronization." In audio terms, synchronizing, or synching, is the process of making two devices operate together as one. One device will be the "master", and tell the second "slave" device when to start, when to stop, and how fast to play. Originally, synching devices primarily meant locking two multitrack tape recorders together to allow for more tracks, or locking audio and video decks together when adding sound to picture. Today, synchronization also encompasses locking recorders to computers, various digital devices' clocks to each other, MIDI to SMPTE, and a variety of other possibilities. Synchronizing wildly different technologies together can be a complex process; having a central master sync device like the DTP around can definitely make life much easier!