Behringer WAVE - Glossary

41 WAVE User Manual
Glossary
ADSR – Envelope generator with four stages: Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release.
Amplitude – The volume of a sound.
Aftertouch – MIDI data sent when pressure is applied to the keyboard after keys
have been played, but while they are still being held.
Arpeggiator – a part of the synthesizer which causes the notes of a chord to be
played individually as an arpeggio according to settings.
Attack Time – The rst stage of the envelope. Specied as the time taken for
the envelope to reach maximum level when keys are played.
Attenuate – To reduce the level of a signal or modulation source.
Bank – A collection of a number of programs.
Basis – controls the positioning of notes across the stereo eld.
Cent – Unit of measurement for tuning. One semitone is divided into 100 cents.
Cuto Frequency – The point at which the lter starts to cut frequencies.
Decay Time – The second stage of the envelope. Specied as the time taken for
the sound level to drop from maximum to the sustain level while the played keys
are being held.
Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) – A computer based software package that
allows the recording, editing and playing back of audio and/or MIDI data.
Division – the fraction of a whole note (¼, ⁄ etc) that is set for use by the
sequencer and arpeggiator.
Emphasis – The emphasis of frequencies centered on the cuto frequency. Also
known as Resonance.
Envelope Generator – Envelope generators can be used to contour the sound.
Most commonly used to aect the amplitude (volume) of the sound they can also
be used on lters and to aect pitch.
Filter – Filters attenuate the frequencies above or below their cuto point,
thus aecting the timbre of the sound.
Frequency Modulation (FM) – The use of one frequency to modulate
another. Typically the use of a low frequency from a low frequency oscillator to
add vibrato or tremolo to a sound, but could also be the use of one audio level
frequency to modulate another, which would cause a change in timbre.
Global – parameters that aect all programs.
Group – each of the Wave's programs has two sounds, from group A and group B,
which can be combined in dierent ways according to the keyboard mode selected.
Hertz (Hz) – Unit of measurement for frequencies. 1 Hz is one cycle per second.
Invert – change to the opposite, so a positive becomes negative for example.
Keyboard Tracking – Use of the notes played on the keyboard to adjust another
parameter, for example.
KiloHertz (kHz) – Common abbreviation for one thousand Hz.
Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO) – An oscillator that runs at a low speed and is
used to modulate other parts of the synthesizer.
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) – a protocol that allows
musical instruments, other peripherals and DAWs to pass data according to a
dened standard.
MIDI Clock – a timing signal that is sent as part of the MIDI data.
MIDI Message – data transmitted from one MIDI device to another that
constitutes an instruction.
Mix – The balance between two or more signals.
Modulation – The use of sources to control a parameter of a destination.
Monophonic – Only allowing one note to be played at a time.
Noise – A random sound comprising of all frequencies.
Note Priority – Determines which note is played when the maximum number is
exceeded. Typically lowest, highest or last.
Octave – A measure of pitch.
Oscillator – The basic sound source of the synthesizer.
Oscillator Sync – The process by which the cycle of one oscillator is
synchronized to the cycle of another.
Output – Can refer both to the signal sent out from one part of the synthesizer
to another, or to the physical sockets used to connect to external equipment.
Overdub – sets whether notes played on a sequencer step are added to the
existing notes on that step; or whether they replace them.
Parameter – A setting whose value can be changed.
Pitch Bend – Changing the pitch of a note up or down while it is being played.
Polyphonic – Capable of playing more than one note at a time, expressed as a
number of voices.
Portamento – The eect of 'gliding' the pitch between notes rather than
changing instantly.
Program – A stored combination of parameters that make up a sound.
Pulse Wave – A wave similar to a square wave, but whose symmetry can be changed.
Pulse Width Modulation – The modulation of the symmetry of a pulse wave.
Rate – The speed at which an action takes place.
Release Time – The nal stage of the envelope. Specied as the time taken for
the envelope to reach zero once keys have been released.
Sample & Hold (S&H) – the sampling of a waveform, typically that of an LFO or
noise source, to provide a series of voltages at a set rate.
Sawtooth – A waveform resembling the teeth of a saw, with an instantaneous
leading edge followed by a gradual decline to zero point.
Self Oscillation – The point at which a lter starts to produce a sine wave
output owing to excessive use of emphasis (resonance).
Semitone – A measure of pitch. Each octave contains 12 semitones.
Sequencer – A part of the synthesizer which can be programmed with a series
of notes and/or chords which are then repeated back at a selected tempo.
Signal Flow – The path of a signal from one part of the synthesizer to another.
Sine Wave – A smooth waveform that contains only the fundamental frequency
with no harmonics.
Square Wave – a symmetrical waveform which changes instantaneously from
zero state to full.
Sub-Oscillator – In the case of the WAVE it is simply a 'second Oscillator'.
Sustain Level – The third stage of the envelope. This is the level that the
envelope holds at after decay until keys are released.
Synchronization (Sync) – Co-ordinating the timing of devices where one is the
master and the other(s) are synchronized to it.
System Exclusive (SysEx) – a system of device-specic messages that allows
control over the instrument's functions.