The following defines terms used in this IRP as they pertain to music composition and technology.
| ADSR (attack, decay, sustain, release) | The shape of the amplitude of a signal over time. Attack refers to the beginning of a sound, the first part of an amplitude envelope. Decay refers to the part of an amplitude envelope between the maximum volume of the attack and sustain. Sustain means the part at which the sound maintains a consistent volume. Release refers to the final segment, the time the sound takes to fall to zero from the sustain level after a key is released. |
| arrange | Adapt an existing musical idea for different instruments, voices, or electronic media. |
| articulation | The manner in which a tone or group of tones is started and ended; characteristics of attack and decay of tones or groups of tones. |
| attack (See ADSR.) | |
| body percussion | A percussive sound created using the body (e.g., stamp, pat, clap, snap). |
| CAI (computer assisted instruction) | Computer software used to support student learning. |
| canon | The same melody sung or played by one or more parts, beginning one after another; all parts end together. |
| crab canon | A canon in which a melody and its retrograde are played simultaneously. Thus one part begins on the first note and plays the melody, while a second part begins on the last note of the melody and plays it backward. |
| contour | The shape of a melody, as defined by the rise and fall of the sequence of pitches. |
| contrary motion | (See motion.) |
| decay | (See ADSR.) |
| decibel | The unit used to measure the volume of a sound. |
| dynamics | An element of expression referring to the relative volume of sounds. |
| elements of expression | Tempo, dynamics, texture and harmony, timbre, articulation. |
| envelope | (See ADSR.) |
| environmental sounds | Non-musical sounds (e.g., rush-hour traffic, door slamming, animal sounds). |
| filter | The removal or attenuation of a certain band of frequencies. |
| harmony | The simultaneous occurrence of pitches in a way that is musically significant. |
| improvisation | A performance practice of musical invention, often on a given musical idea. |
| inferred modulation | A modulation from one harmonic centre or key to another that is implied by a melodic line. |
| Internet resources | Any resources, such as e-mail, the World Wide Web, and FTP sites, that can be accessed by a computer and modem connection. |
| interval | The difference between the frequencies of two pitches. Intervals are usually measured in terms of the number of note names between the two pitches, counting both pitches. |
| intervalic movement | The difference in frequencies between each adjacent pitch in a linear series of pitches, or melody. |
| inversion | A change of the relative positions of the notes of a harmonic interval, a chord, or a melody. |
| loop-record | To record musical material that is continuously repeated for an effect. Such loops are often used for overdubbing or accompanying other parts. |
| media | Plural of medium; any of the means through which people express themselves. Often refers to the technology used for expression, such as print, radio, television, CDs, computers, and video. |
| melody | A recognizable sequence of pitches. |
| metre | The groupings in which a succession of rhythmic pulses or beats is organized; in standard notation, indicated by a time signature at the beginning of a work. |
| MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) | Standard specifications that enable electronic instruments such as synthesizers, samplers, sequencers, and drum machines to communicate with one another and with computers. |
| mind map | A method of brainstorming resulting in a visual representation of ideas and their connections, radiating from a single focus. |
| mixer | The central part of most studio and live sound set-ups. The mixer is used to combine and manipulate various audio and digital signals. |
| modulation | A change of key centre. |
| motif | A brief musical idea. |
| motion | The harmonic relationship between two or more simultaneous musical lines, or parts. In parallel motion, the melodic contours are identical. In similar motion, parts move in the same direction, but the intervals between them change. In contrary motion, parts move in opposite directions. In oblique motion, one part remains stationary while the other moves. |
| multimedia | A combination of two or more media that may be used to present an idea. |
| multi-timbral | The ability of a sound source (e.g., MIDI keyboard) to send and receive more than one channel of aural information at one time. |
| notation | Any written or visual form of representing music compositions. Invented notation refers to any system of representation constructed to meet the unique requirements of a particular composer or piece of music; may be diagrammatic, descriptive, narrative, pictorial, tactile, or a combination of any of these. Details may be precise or general in nature. Electronic technology may be used to create unique notation systems. Standard notation refers to the system that uses a five-line staff and oval noteheads with stems placed on the staff to represent specific pitches and rhythms. |
| oblique motion | (See motion.) |
| orchestration | The assigning of timbres to various parts in a music composition in order to create an expressive effect. |
| parallel motion | (See motion.) |
| pentatonic | A five-tone scale commonly based on the tones do, re, mi, sol, and la. |
| polyrhythm | Systematic exploitation of several rhythms performed simultaneously. |
| properties of sound | The physical properties of sound are frequency, duration, amplitude, wave form and sound envelope. These properties roughly correlate with the elements of melody, rhythm, dynamics, and timbre. (See also ADSR.) |
| pulse | The smallest regular unit of time implied in a piece of music. |
| real-time, step-time | Techniques of data entry relating to sequencer use. In step-time, the material is entered in discrete steps, without reference to the time it will take to perform. In real-time, the data is entered as it occurs when performed. |
| release | (See ADSR.) |
| retrograde | A compositional technique in which the composer rewrites the melody backward. |
| rondo | A composition in which the same tune or subject keeps coming around again, with other passages, sometimes called episodes, in between; represented in the alphabetical representation of form as ABACAD, and so on. It is one of the oldest forms of music. |
| sequencer | A device that records, reproduces, and manipulates MIDI or other digital aural information. |
| sample (sound) | To record and sample acoustic or other sounds in order to manipulate them with a sequencer. |
| similar motion | (See motion.) |
| soundscape | A free-form composition using any arrangement or ordering of sounds and any combination of traditional instruments, non-traditional instruments, voices, natural sounds, synthetic sounds, technology, and so on. May be represented in standard or invented notation, or may not be notated. |
| step-time | (See real-time, step-time.) |
| sustain | (See ADSR.) |
| synth-pad | A harmonic background, usually created with string or polyphonic sound sources. |
| synthesis | A method of generating and manipulating sound electronically. |
| tablature | A method of notation for string instruments. It usually indicates a tone with notation referring to the finger and string used to create it. |
| technology | Tools used to create or compose music. In this course, technology refers to all composition tools, from pencil and paper to the latest audio and digital electronic equipment. |
| tempo | The speed or pace of music; the use of slower and faster beats. |
| texture | Various combinations of pitched sounds, unpitched sounds, or both. (See also harmony.) |
| theme and variations | A musical form in which the theme is repeated with alterations to its melody, harmony, rhythm, or texture. |
| timbre | An element of expression referring to the character or quality of sound that distinguishes one instrument, voice, or sound source from another. |
| tone poem | A form of through-composed programmatic music in one movement. A tone poem follows a poetic line of thought as a means of compositional organization. |
| tone set | The pitches used in a composition or musical idea. |
| velocity | A type of MIDI information referring to how hard a key is struck. |
Revised: January 25, 1999
