Glossary: Waveform | Sweetwater.com

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 0-9

Waveform: The waveform of a signal is a graph of its instantaneous voltages versus time. In audio, for example, we are always dealing with periodic waveforms that make up what we hear. These periodic waveforms can be plotted on a graph and will show up as some type of squiggly (how's that for a word?) line. From left to right is time (usually a very short slice of time) and from top to bottom is the amplitude of the sound (or relative voltage) at those instants in time. The familiar sine wave is an example of this.
Waveforms, or Waves (a Wave File, for example) are also the names sometimes given to samples or snippets of sound that are used in various electronic sound generating or playing instruments. The usage of the word comes from the definition above and has become commonplace in the modern day era of audio production where one is often looking at waveforms on a computer screen while editing sounds.

Wah

Waist

Walking Bass

Walla

Wall Wart

Warez (slang)

Warmth

Waterfall Key

Watermark

Watt

WAV

Wave File

Waveform

Waveform Modulation

Wavefront

Wavelength

Wave Scanning

Wave Sequencing

Waveshell

Waves Shell

Wavetable Synthesis

Wax Cylinder

Wax Potting

WDM

Weber (Wb)

Weighted Action

Weighting

Weighting Filter

Weight Relieved

Wenge

Western Red Cedar

Wet

Wet/Dry/Wet Amp System

Wet/Dry Amp System

Whammy Bar

White Book

White Limba

White Noise

White Spaces

Whizzer Cone

Whole Step

Whoodly

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Wild Dog

Wild Time Code

Wild track/wild sound

Wildwood Effect

WIMP

Windows

Windows NT

Windows Vista

Windows XP

Wind Screen

Wireless

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Wireless Transmitter

Wire Recorder

WMA

Wolf Tone

Wood Filler

Woodshedding

Wood Tip

Woofer

Word

Word Clock

Word Length

Workflow

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World Wide Web

WORM

Wound String

Wow

Wrap

Wrapover Bridge

Wrapper

Write

Write Head

WriteProtect

WSD

Wurlitzer Electric Piano

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