Glossary - Mirage DSK-1 Manual

GLOSSARY

Amplitude Expressed as sound pressure or voltage, amplitude is the measured amount of a
signal. Sounds with greater amplitude are louder.
The first part of a note. In the Mirage it is the rate at which the amplitude of the
Attack
sound rises from zero to the PEAK level, and is adjustable from instantaneous to
very gradual.
The Mirage gives you the option of controlling the steepness of the attack curve
Attack
Velocity through keyboard velocity. Increased key velocity will increase the rate of the
attack.
To gradually raise or lower the pitch by using the PITCH BEND WHEEL.
Bend
The sampling parameters divide the Mirage memory into 256 Pages, of 256
Boundary
SAMPLES each. The beginning and ending points of each Page are called the
boundaries.
A sound richening effect that simulates the sounds of several voices when one
Chorusing
key is played. The Mirage allows you 'to shift the pitch of one of the two
oscillators assigned to each voice to achieve this effect.
A timing control device used to sync digitally controlled units. Clock pulses are
Clock
used to control the Mirage sequencer.
Coarse Tune A parameter used to make large and rapid tuning changes.
Cutoff The frequency point at which a filter begins to attenuate an audio signal.
Frequency
Dead Band The area of travel near the center of rotation of the PITCH BEND WHEEL
where there is no effect on the sound so that it can be more easily returned to its
mid position.
Decay In the Mirage envelope, it is the rate at which the amplitude of a sound (or cutoff
frequency of a filter) falls from the PEAK level to the SUSTAIN level.
A value or condition that the Mirage automatically sets itself to. When the
Default
Mirage is first turned on and a diskette is inserted into the disk drive, Sound #1
is automatically loaded to both keyboard halves with program #1 being current.
The Mirage has many default values for programming, sampling and
sequencing. While these values are automatic, they can be changed at any time
you desire.
Detune In normal playing, the Mirage uses two oscillators per key. By using the detune
parameter (33), one of the oscillators can be tuned slightly off pitch from the
other. Slight pitch changes will result in a CHORUSING effect.
Digital In audio, the digital system uses information in the form of binary numbers
rather than waveforms and voltages when recording, processing and playing
back sound. The digital playback is processed through a digital- to-analog
converter where it is changed into voltage values that can then be treated like
any other analog signal.
Digital A waveform generator where the output is a series of numbers rather than a
voltage. Digital oscillators can generate complex waveforms with much more
Oscillator