Glossary

Acoustic Logo

A very short piece of music (often no more 3-5 seconds) or even just a sound that encapsulates the essence of the brand and its values. The acoustic logo, also known as a sonic logo or audio logo can be used in many different media contexts and as an integrated part of a longer piece of brand music.

​

Ambience

A type of sound design that acts as subtle background tapestry that sets the scene or defines a location. It often works as a combination of music and sound design and is often referred to as mood-setting atmosphere.

​

Audible Audit

A thorough examination of a brand's current audible footprint to identify all touchpoints where sound and music is involved and evaluate how the performance can be improved in order to define a sonic branding process.

Audible Touchpoints

The digital and physical places where a brand can be heard. It can be on social media, streaming platforms, TV ads, company website, podcasts, conferences, virtual presentations, customer support, in-store etc.

​

Audio Branding

Also known as sonic branding, sound branding or acoustic branding. Refers to the strategic use of music and sound to help reinforce brand recognition and enhance the consumer experience. Audio branding is the audible representation of a brand, its values and emotions and is based on a sonic Identity and the executing of a sonic branding strategy.

​

Audio Identity

How a brand sounds and is identified through sound and music. Also known as sonic identity or sound identity it sonically expresses the values and emotions of a brand and acts as an audible equivalent to a visual identity.

​

Audio Logo

A very short piece of music (often no more 3-5 seconds) or even just a sound that encapsulates the essence of the brand and its values. The audio logo, also known as a sonic logo or sound logo can be used in many different media contexts and as an integrated part of a longer piece of brand music.

​

Audio Metaverse

As brands are starting to enter the virtual space the need for a holistic sonic brand is bigger than ever. We now exist in both 2D and 3D and The Metaverse has shown us the importance of being a multi-sensorial brand. Here the sonic cues are just as important as the visual cues and sonic branding in particular is excellent at bridging the gap between the experience inside and the experience outside of the Metaverse.

​

Audio Post Production

Audio post-production defines all the sound work that happens after the (film) production or recording is done. It can be sound design, creating audio elements such as sound effects, foley, and soundscapes. It can be sound editing and restoration, adjusting and fixing recorded sound such as dialogue, sound on set, and music. And it can be mix and mastering, creating the final sound mix often between elements like music, sound on set, foley and voiceover, followed by the final sound master to match any broadcast standards.

​

Audio Signature

A very short piece of music (often no more than 2-5 seconds) or even just a sound that encapsulates the essence of the brand and its values. The audio signature is also called a sonic logo, audio logo or sound logo and can be used in many different media, UX or product contexts and as an integrated part of a longer piece of brand music.

​

Audio Strategy

The way sound and music is used by a brand, e.g. where to use the sonic branding assets and how often. This will secure consistency audio-wise through coming campaigns in combination with visual content. It is important to form an audio strategy in order to ensure that the sonic branding will have the optimal impact.

​

Audio UX

Audio UX refers to the part of a user experience that consists of sound and where sound is adding value to a product or an application. It can be a notification sound in an app, a confirmation sound in your electric car or any other sound that will carry some kind of message from a product (physical or digital) to the user. These sounds are often very short and simple and have become a key sonic branding element.

​

Bespoke Music

Custom-made music that is fitted meticulously to the brand and the specific purpose. Bespoke music is superior to stock music because it evokes emotions that match the brand values much better and makes people connect to the brand more deeply. Stock music is made for everybody. Bespoke music is made for only one.

​

Bespoke Sound Design

Custom-made sounds that are fitted meticulously to the brand and the specific purpose. Bespoke sound design is superior to stock sound effects because it evokes emotions that match the brand values much better and make people connect to the brand more deeply. Stock sound effects are made for everybody. Bespoke sounds are made for only one.

​

Brand Music

Music that is composed specifically for a brand and is often a key element in a sonic identity alongside the sonic logo. Brand music can be an anthem, a jingle, background music or music for an ad but always made to reflect the values, emotions and personality of the brand.

​

Composer

The person who creates or writes the music. In the business of sonic branding there is often an overlap between role definitions and areas of work, which means that a composer, a sound designer and a producer can be the same person.

​

DAW

Digital Audio Workstation. A computer application where the music is recorded, edited, mixed, and treated in every way imaginable. Pro Tools, Logic, and Ableton are a couple of the most popular.

​

Loudness

Simply measuring how loud the audio will sound. EBU R128 is a recommended standard for normalizing perceived audio loudness. It’s basically about making sure various audio materials sound equally loud, for instance from one song to another or one TV program to another. Technically, it’s measured in LUFS (Loudness Units in relation to Full Scale) and loudness targets vary depending on the platform, for instance: -14 LUFS (Youtube, Spotify, Tidal) -16 LUFS (Apple Music) -18 LUFS (Facebook) and -23 LUFS (Radio and television broadcasts)

​

Immersive Audio

Immersive audio is all about making the sonic experience as real as possible as if the sound exists in the same room as the listener is in. It can be traditional surround sound in a cinema or a home theater, where the listener is surrounded by multiple speakers playing different sounds, which results in a more spacious and "real" experience. Then there are binaural music mixes for headphones, which utilize psychoacoustics to create a perceived 3D listening space for the user. Normally you would not be able to hear if a sound is coming from behind when using headphones, but this way you can. And finally, there are newer technologies like Apple Spatial Audio that converts music mixed in 5.1, 7.1, and Dolby Atmos to give the listener the full cinema experience when using their headphones.

​

Interaction Sound

The sound that ignites an interaction between a product and its user. It can be a notification sound in an app, a confirmation sound in your electric car or any other sound that will carry some kind of message from a product (physical or digital) to the user. These sounds are often very short and simple and have become a key sonic branding element.

​

Jingle

A short piece of music that often incorporates a sung slogan and has a recognizable melodic hook. The jingle format was used to a large extent in the '80s and '90s but has been phased out especially over the last decade in favor of the shorter sonic logo, which in contrast to the jingle does not incorporate a sung slogan and is not a piece of music as such, because it often lasts 3-5 seconds. The sonic logo is more effective and applicable in today's marketing and has a more "show it don't tell it" approach to the audience.

​

Mastering

In the audio world, mastering is the final treatment of a sound mix. This includes adjusting overall loudness and polishing the mix by controlling dynamics and frequency balance.

​

Mnemonic

A very short piece of audio (often no more than 2-5 seconds) or even just a sound that encapsulates the essence of the brand and its values. A mnemonic or an earworm can be used in many different media, UX or product contexts and as an integrated part of a longer piece of brand music.

​

Music Producer

The person who decides what the music should sound like and is in charge of the overall musical expression. A kind of project manager in the audio realm. In the business of sonic branding, there can often be an overlap between role definitions and areas of work, which means that a composer, a sound designer and a producer can be the same person.

​

Music Strategy

A music strategy defines how a brand should use music across all its audible touchpoints. This will secure consistency, recognizability and a good foundation for any sonic branding execution.

​

Product Sound

Whenever a product or a digital device carries sound it is important that the sound adds value and meaning - otherwise it will just be noise. It is an often overlooked aspect of product design and can play a bit role in any sonic branding strategy.

​

Score

The music that accompanies a movie and supports its storyline. It can be instrumental pieces as well as tracks with sung vocals. E.g. Elton John's "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and the dramatic instrumental cinematic music during Mufasa's death (spoiler alert!) are both parts of the score for The Lion King movie.

​

Smart Speakers

Besides working as a normal speaker for music etc. a smart speaker is a voice-activated device, within which is a virtual assistant that helps you with everyday tasks. For example, Amazon’s smart speakers use an assistant called Alexa and when you ask questions such as ‘what is the weather like on Sunday?’, the voice assistant will respond.

​

Sonic Branding

Also known as audio branding, sound branding or acoustic branding. Refers to the strategic use of music and sound to help reinforce brand recognition and enhance the consumer experience. Sonic branding is the audible representation of a brand, its values and emotions and is based on a sonic Identity and the executing of a sonic branding strategy.

​

Sonic Identity

How a brand sounds and is identified through sound and music. Also known as audio identity or sound identity it sonically expresses the values and emotions of a brand and acts as an audible equivalent to a visual identity. 

​

Sonic Logo

A very short piece of music (often no more 3-5 seconds) or even just a sound that encapsulates the essence of the brand and its values. The sonic logo, also known as a audio logo, sound logo or sonic signature can be used in many different media contexts and as an integrated part of a longer piece of brand music.

​

Sound Design

The part of a soundscape that is not music with tones, chords, instruments and voices. It can be sound effects, foley, ambience sound or any sound that is designed for a specific purpose, be it for a film, a product, an installation or even a virtual experie It can be a "swoosh" sound, the sound of a person walking in gravel, or a layer of ambient sounds.

​

Sound Designer

The person who conjures up the sound design. In the business of sonic branding, there can often be an overlap between role definitions and areas of work, which means that a composer, a sound designer, and a producer can be the same person.

​

Sound UX

Sound UX refers to the part of a user experience that consists of sound and where sound is adding value to a product or an application. It can be a notification sound in an app, a confirmation sound in your electric car or any other sound that will carry some kind of message from a product (physical or digital) to the user. These sounds are often very short and simple and have become a key sonic branding element.

​

Sound-alike

A piece of music intended to imitate the sound and feel of another song without copying it in any way.

​

Soundscape

Like a landscape, a soundscape is beautiful in itself but primarily functions as the backdrop for something else. Therefore it will often be subtle and not draw too much attention from the main object but still be perceivable and meaningful enough to set the right mood and place the main object in the right surroundings.

​

Speak

An informing voice recording accompanying a TV commercial, radio spot, corporate video, announcements or other types of media platforms that includes spoken word.

​

Stems

The different tracks of a music production exported in groups so that another producer or mixer can easily access the music. For a traditional rock/pop song, there would typically be one stem file containing the drum tracks, one with all the guitars, one with the bass, one with all the keyboards and one with the vocals.

​

Stock Music

Music that has been pre-made for different purposes and emotions e.g. sad music, cinematic music, uplifting music, motivational music, often available in an online music library. Surely an easy and cheap solution for branding purposes, but also very generic and never quite as fitting as a tailor-made piece of music.

​

Timbre

The characteristics of a sound. A piano and a guitar playing the same note at the same volume will sound different because they have different timbres. Timbre can be described with adjectives such as smooth, grainy, rough, nasal, round, hard, soft, etc.

​

Voice Assistant

A voice assistant is a digital assistant that uses voice recognition, language processing algorithms, and voice synthesis to listen to specific voice commands and return relevant information or perform specific functions as requested by the user. Voice assistant software can be found on smart speakers, smartwatches, mobile phones, tablets and other devices.

​

Voiceover

Abbreviated VO. An informing voice recording accompanying a film, TV commercial, corporate video or other media where a voice narrator is synced to moving images.

​

UX / UI Sound

The part of a user interface or experience that consists of sound and where sound is adding to a better experience of the product and the brand. It can be a notification sound in an app on your phone, a confirmation sound on a charging station for your electric car or any other sound that will carry some kind of message from a product (physical or digital) to the user.

There are many names, terms and phrases flying around in the realm of sound and music and we’re often asked what they mean. Therefore we want to clarify some of the most common ones in this little glossary. They come in alphabetical order and we will try to update the list as new words constantly arrive.