Glossary (By Topic)
This is a list of all of the vocabulary terms found as part of the topics on the site. If a topic is not linked here, there is no specific vocabulary associated with it.
- Review: Notes On A Keyboard
- flat, middle C, octave, register, sharp
- Review: Scales And Intervals
- chromatic scale, half step, interval, major scale, minor scale, tonic, whole step
- Review: Fundamentals of Rhythm
- 4/4, dotted note, measure, on-the-beat, off-the-beat, rest, syncopation, triplet, whole note, half note, quarter note, eighth note
- Review: Time Signatures and Tempo
- beats per minute (BPM), Tempo, Time Signature (aka meter)
- Representing Pitch in the Computer
- Representing Rhythm in the Computer
- absolute time, relative time
- Oscillators
- .frequency, .detune, OscillatorNode, Waveforms (Sine, Sawtooth, Square, Triangle)
- LFOs
- Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO), Tremolo, Vibrato
- Filters
- Cutoff Frequency, Filter Types (Lowpass, Highpass, Bandpass), Filter Q
- Envelopes
- Controllers
- Introduction to Filters
- Filter, Digital Filter, Timbre, Spectrum, Time Domain, Frequency Domain, Spectral Domain, Sinusoidal Tone, Complex Periodic Tone, Impulse, White Noise
- Audio Filter Types
- Filter Types (lowpass, highpass, bandpass), Cutoff Frequency, Center Frequency, Passband, Q (quality factor), Resonance, EQ (equalization)
- Simple Lowpass Filter
- Lowpass filter, Difference equation, Filter coefficients, Impulse response, Q (quality factor), Summation notation (sigma notation), Finite impulse response (FIR) filter
- The General Filter Equation
- FIR, IIR, Feedforward, Feedback, Recursive, Non-recursive, Biquad Filter, Comb Filter, Order
- Tempo-Relative Timing in Max & Self-Quiz
- clock time, musical time, tempo, beats per minute (BPM), meter, measure, bar, beat, division, meter signature, time signature, ticks, ppq, onset, IOI, duration, timepoint, syncopation, transport
- Frequency and Pitch
- Hertz (Hz), frequency, tone, pitch, A4 (A440), octave, whole steps (whole tones), half steps (semitones)
- Harmonic/Overtone Series
- waveform (simple vs. complex), harmonic/overtone series, overtone, partial, harmonic, fundamental frequency, timbre
- Amplitude, Intensity, and Loudness
- amplitude, intensity, loudness, decibels
- Noise
- Frequency of Musical Notes
- harmonics, 400 Hz tuning standard, octave equivalence, equal temperament, twelfth root of two, negative exponent
- Digital Audio
- simple harmonic motion, fundamental (resonant) mode of vibration, harmonics (overtones, partials), harmonic series, spectrum, amplitude envelope, loudness, amplitude, pitch, frequency, decibel, analog-to-digital converter, digital-to-analog, converter, Nyquist theorem (Nyquist frequency), sampling rate, aliasing/foldover, quantization, quantization precision, signal-to-quantization noise ratio (SQNR), clipping
- Sound File Formats
- AIFF, WAVE, MP3, AAC, compression, uncompressed, header, chunk, sample frame, ckID
- Sound Localization
- spatialization, localization, power, intensity, amplitude, inverse square law, absorption, reflection, diffraction, reverberation, azimuth angle, elevation angle, interaural time difference (ITD), interaural intensity difference (IID), precedence effect (Haas effect), stereo, panning, constant-intensity panning