Attack

In audio terms, the beginning of a sound. What type of attack a sound has is determined by the sound’s attack time, or how long it takes for the volume of the sound to go from silence to maximum level. It is critical to consider the attack time of sounds when applying processing. Compression, gating, and other types of processors can destroy a sound’s attack, changing the character and quality of the audio. Reverbs can also be affected by attack time; careful use of a ‘verb’s predelay parameter will allow you to optimize the reverb for different types of attacks.