Soundwaves & Technology Vocabulary Review

Flashcards covering key vocabulary related to Soundwaves, Technology, and synthesizers.

White Noise

All frequencies at equal amplitude.

Pink Noise

All frequencies at equal perceived volume.

Vacuum Tube

A device that amplifies weak electronic signals, enabling synthesis.

Sine Wave

A pure tone with no harmonics.

Triangle Wave

A sound wave that contains some odd-order harmonics, similar to a sine wave.

Square Wave

A wave that consists of instantaneous transitions between two levels, producing a very bright sound.

Sawtooth Wave

A sound wave that contains all integer harmonics, resulting in a bright and rich sound.

Envelope (ADSR)

Represents how a sound's amplitude changes over time with Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release phases.

Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO)

Generates waveforms at subsonic frequencies, used to modulate other signals.

Heterodyning

Uses the relationship of two high frequency oscillators to generate pitch.

Oscillator

The most basic generator module in synthesis that can output various waveforms.

Harmonic Series

A sequence of tones whose frequencies are integer multiples of a fundamental frequency.

Attack

The time a sound takes to rise from silence to peak amplitude.

Decay

The rate at which a sound diminishes after its initial peak.

Sustain

The amplitude level of a sound while a key is held down.

Release

The duration it takes for a sound to fade to silence after a key is released.

Filter

Modifies the harmonic content of sound by removing or emphasizing certain frequencies.

Cutoff Frequency

The frequency at which a filter begins to attenuate other frequencies.

Resonance

Enhances frequencies around the cutoff point, adding sharpness to the sound.

Low Pass Filter (LPF)

Allows low frequencies to pass and attenuates high frequencies.

High Pass Filter (HPF)

Allows high frequencies to pass and attenuates low frequencies.

Band Pass Filter

Allows a specific range of frequencies to pass while removing others.

Notch Filter (Band-Reject)

Removes a specific frequency band while allowing all others to pass.

Frequency Modulation

Modulates pitch, often known as vibrato.

Amplitude Modulation

Modulates volume, commonly known as tremolo.

Fourier's Principle

States that any complex sound can be expressed as a sum of simple sine waves.

Wavetable

Uses stored waveforms that can be scanned or modulated over time.

Vector Synthesis

A synthesis method that blends various waveforms, introduced with the Sequential Circuits Prophet VS.

Fourier Transform

A mathematical technique that decomposes complex waves into individual sine components.

William Du Bois Duddell

Inventor of the singing arc.

Thaddeus Cahil

Inventor of the Telharmonium in 1896.

Alan R. Pearlman

Engineer known for developing affordable subtractive synthesizers.

Robert Moog

Pioneer in voltage-controlled synthesizer technology.

Joseph Fourier

French mathematician who developed Fourier Transform theory.

Wolfgang Palm

Developed wavetable synthesis with the PPG Wave series.