Glossary
- noise
- a "hissing" type of sound containing the random occurrence of all frequencies within the audible range. Go to Topic: Noise Generators
- noise generator
- a generator module in the synthesis process which outputs noise. Go to Topic: Noise Generators
- non-periodic waveform
- a signal that is not made up of repetitions of the same wave form. Go to Topic: Waveform
- Note Off message
- a type of three-byte MIDI command that stops a note from playing on a specified channel. Go to Topic: MIDI Data
- Note On message
- a type of three-byte MIDI command that plays a note on a specified channel. Go to Topic: MIDI Data
- Nyquist frequency
- the highest frequency a given sample rate can accurately represent. Go to Topic: Digital Representation
- Nyquist rate
- a sampling rate two times the highest frequency contained in a waveform. Go to Topic: Digital Representation
- Omni mode; Omni On, Poly
- a MIDI mode where an instrument is enabled to respond to one note or more than one note at a time without discriminating the channel on which the message is transmitted. Also called Mode 1. Go to Topic: MIDI Modes
- Omni On, Mono
- a MIDI mode where an instrument is enabled to respond to only one note at a time without discriminating the channel on which the message is transmitted. Go to Topic: MIDI Modes
- oscillator
- a generator module in the synthesis process which outputs periodic waveforms at frequencies that can be specified. Go to Topic: Oscillators
- out of phase
- describes the temporal relationship of two or more waves. Go to Topic: Phase
- output
- to send a signal out of a synthesis module or other device. The signal may be an analog or digital audio signal, or it may be MIDI data. Go to Topic: Generators and Modifiers
- overtone
- any harmonic other than the fundamental. The first overtone is the second harmonic. Go to Topic: Harmonics
