Katana VentraIP

Envelope (music)

In sound and music, an envelope describes how a sound changes over time. For example, a piano key, when struck and held, creates a near-immediate initial sound which gradually decreases in volume to zero. An envelope may relate to elements such as amplitude (volume), frequency (with the use of filters) or pitch.

"Sustain" redirects here. For other uses, see Sustain (disambiguation).

Envelope generators, which allow users to control the different stages of a sound, are common features of synthesizers, samplers, and other electronic musical instruments. The most common envelope generator is controlled with four parameters: attack, decay, sustain and release (ADSR).

Attack is the time taken for the rise of the level from nil to peak.

Decay is the time taken for the level to reduce from the attack level to the sustain level.

Sustain is the level maintained until the key is released.

Release is the time taken for the level to decay to nil.

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Envelope (waves)

Envelope detector