The Articulation Column - Native Instruments Absynth 5 Reference Manual

For example, a bass instrument is obviously low in nature; therefore you don't have to ad-
ditionally select Low. However, you could still do it for bass sounds that clearly exhibit low
frequencies like a sub bass. Note that Attributes like Warm or Exotic are highly subjective. It
is important to consider the expressiveness of such Attributes in relation to the instrument.
Please refer to the Appendix B for a complete set of definitions.

13.4 The Articulation Column

The Articulation column serves two purposes: It describes how the sound progresses over
time; and it gives you information regarding how to use the sound.
In previous versions of ABSYNTH, you'd have to work with preset names like "Slow Strings,"
"Dream Pad (+rls)" or "Monsta Synth (lead)." But a preset name is not really the best place
to indicate the sound's intended application. With the Articulation column you can define
exactly what the Sound is about, and its intended use.
Especially in a live situation, the knowledge of how a sound is meant to be played is quite
important: If for example a sound is categorized as Chord, you know immediately that hitting
one key results in a chord, meaning that if you play a chord on the keyboard the result will
be rather messy.
ABSYNTH 5 Reference Manual – 184