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Electronic Music Midterm
electro 1
42
Music
Undergraduate 1
10/28/2009

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Term
sound
Definition
ear's perception of vibration
Term
pitch
Definition
A regular repeating vibration
Term
Just Intonation
Definition
whole number frequency/pitch intervals, string length is inversely
proportionate to the pitch produced
Term
Timbre
Definition
quality of a tone
Term
Harmony
Definition
The science of the structure, relations, and practical
combination of chords.
Term
Twelve Tone System
Definition
A method of composition formulated by Arnold
Schonberg about 1921 after a period of experimentation in writing music
without tonality and without using traditional ways of building chords.
Term
Harmonic Series
Definition
A set of numbers, each of which is a whole number multiple
of a specified root value.
Term
Amplitude
Definition
1: on a graphic representation, the vertical component of a
function 2: in electronics, the average strength of a signal measured as
voltage, current, or power
Term
Duration
Definition
The time during which something continues.
Term
Form
Definition
as music as in the other arts, this means intelligible shape.
Term
Dynamos
Definition
the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for
industry, and the foundation upon which many other later electronic
power conversion devices were based.
Term
Assembler Code
Definition
extremely low level, human readable machine code
Term
Scripting Languages
Definition
high level, allows control of one or more software
applications.
Term
Domain-specific
Definition
retain general programmability while providing additional
abstractions tailored to the domain
Term
Audio Rate
Definition
refers to the rate at which audio samples are processed through
the system.
Term
Control Rate
Definition
dictates how frequently control signals are calculated and
propagated through the system.
Term
Channel Mode Messages (midi)
Definition
cSpecify a particular MIDI channel within the
message and generally control such aspects of performance as Noteon/Off,
Continuous Controller, and Program Change…
Term
System Messages
Definition
Affect the MIDI system as a whole, without respect for a
particular MIDI channel. These include such functions as System Exclusive
(SysEx) messages, which provide a way to communicate manufacturer-specific
data that is not part of MIDI specification and timing clock messages used for
synchronization.
Term
Note On/Note Off
Definition
A Note On message signals the device receiving it to begin playing a
note.Each Note Off of the message signals the end of a note by signaling
the device receiving it to turn off one of the notes it is playing.
Term
Channel Pressure
Definition
Channel Pressure messages are sent by those devices that
can sense overall pressure on their keys but are not able to distinguish the
pressure put on each individual key. That is, whichever key is pressed hardest
determines the channel pressure value for the entire keyboard.
Term
Polyphonic Key Pressure
Definition
Polyphonic Key Pressure acts in a manner similar
to channel pressure, except that the Polyphonic Key Pressure message contains
an additional data byte specifying a particular note and affects only that note
rather than every note of the specified channel.
Term
Program Change
Definition
The terms program, patch and voice are used to refer to a
particular setting of a synthesizer’s controls when the setting produces a
specific instrumental timbre or other musical sound.
Term
Control Change
Definition
A Control Change message affects a sound that has already
been initiated by a Note On message, altering such parameters as volume or
modulation of the note in progress.
Term
Pitch Bend
Definition
A Pitch Bend Change message transmits a new setting for a pitch
bend controller.
Term
Bank Select
Definition
Most recent synthesizers incorporate many more than 128
patches. Bank Select messages make it possible to quickly and easily access
any of 16,384 different patches of 128 different banks.
Term
Sound Synthesis
Definition
the production and manipulation of sounds
using mathematical algorithms.
Term
Unit Generator
Definition
oscillators, filters, multipliers and
adders, and amplitude envelope generators. Different complex sonic patterns
and sound synthesis algorithms could be implemented by connecting different
oscillators.
Term
Sine Wave
Definition
Periodic waveform, simple geometric waveform, which
follows the values found in a sine table.
Term
Triangle Wave
Definition
Like a square wave, the triangle wave contains only odd
harmonics. However, the higher harmonics roll off much faster than in a
square wave
Term
Sawtooth Wave
Definition
A sawtooth wave's sound is harsh and clear and its
spectrum contains both even and odd harmonics of the fundamental
frequency.
Term
White Noise
Definition
is a random signal (or process) with a flat power spectral
density. In other words, the signal contains equal power within a fixed
bandwidth at any center frequency.
Term
Pink Noise
Definition
A random signal of every frequency in which each higher
octave drops off 3 dB. The lower octaves have more power, and the
higher octaves have less power.
Term
Brown Noise
Definition
It decreases in power by 6 dB per octave and, when
heard, has a "damped" or "soft" quality compared to white and pink
noise. The sound is a low roar resembling a waterfall or heavy rainfall
Term
Amplitude Modulation
Definition
If the control oscillator is running at sub audio frequency, a vibrato of amplitude
is produced, similar to that performed on wind instruments. If the control
oscillator is running at audio frequency, the result is a mix of the two
frequencies, plus extra components at frequencies equal to the sum of the two.
Term
Ring Modulation
Definition
Produces side bands associated with amplitude modulation
but suppresses the original frequency content. The output is a very messy
spectrum, especially if one of the input signals is harmonically complex to start
with. A further refinement of the same device suppresses sidebands above or
below the input signal, producing frequency shifting.
Term
Carrier
Definition
the oscillator we listen to
Term
Modulator
Definition
an oscillator that changes the frequency of the carrier at an
audio rate.
Term
Index also called modulation depth
Definition
indicates by how much the
modulated variable varies around its ‘original’ level.
Term
Granular Synthesis parameters:
Definition
1. Start time and duration of the cloud, Amplitude envelope of the cloud, Grain duration, Grain envelope, Density of grains per second, Waveforms, and Spaciel Dispersion
Term
Fourier analysis
Definition
any periodic waveform (time domain) can be expressed as
the sum of one or more harmonically related sine waves called its spectrum
(frequency domain), each with a particular frequency, amplitude, and phase
Term
Linear Predictive coding (LPC)
Definition
spectral modeling
technique especially useful for voice analysis and synthesis.
Term
John Cage
Definition
known for variable speed and turntables
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