C major
C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in…
C minor
C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E♭, F, G, A♭, and B♭. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its…
C tuning (guitar)
C standard tuning is a type of guitar tuning. The strings of the guitar are tuned two whole steps lower than standard tuning. The…
C-flat major
C-flat major is a major scale based on C♭, consisting of the pitches C♭, D♭, E♭, F♭, G♭, A♭, and B♭. Its key signature has seven flats. …
C-QUAM
C-QUAM (Compatible QUadrature Amplitude Modulation) is the method of AM stereo broadcasting used in Canada, the United States and most…
C-sharp major
C-sharp major is a major scale based on C♯, consisting of the pitches C♯, D♯, E♯, F♯, G♯, A♯, and B♯. Its key signature has seven sharps…
C-sharp minor
C-sharp minor is a minor scale based on C♯, with the pitches C♯, D♯, E, F♯, G♯, A, and B. Its key signature consists of four sharps.
CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder
The CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder, also known as FC-1 Xiaolong, is a Sino-Pakistani single-engine lightweight supersonic multirole combat aircraft…
Caiçara viola
The Caiçara viola is a Brazilian guitar-like plucked stringed instrument originating from the coasts of São Paulo and Paraná, areas of…
Cakewalk by BandLab
Cakewalk is a full-featured digital audio workstation software package for audio and MIDI composing, recording, arranging, editing, mixing…
Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)
"Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)" (commonly referred to as "Stormy Monday") is a song written and recorded by American…
Calyx of Held
The calyx of Held is a particularly large excitatory synapse in the mammalian auditory nervous system, so named after Hans Held who first…
Cambiata
Cambiata, or nota cambiata (Italian for changed note), has a number of different and related meanings in music. Generally it refers to a…
Camouflage (Chris Sievey song)
"Camouflage" is a single released by the English musician and comedian Chris Sievey in 1983. The single is notable for its B-side, which…
Camptodactyly, tall stature, and hearing loss syndrome
Camptodactyly, tall stature, and hearing loss syndrome, also known as CATSHL syndrome, is a rare genetic disorder which consists of…
Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer
Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUT) are a relatively new concept in the field of ultrasonic transducers. Most of the…
Capellen Orchestra
Capellen Orchestra is a custom sized studio symphony (100+), utilizing selective musicians from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and…
CAPTAS-4
The CAPTAS-4 is a towed array sonar developed by Thales Underwater Systems to equip first-rank surface combatants. Manufactured in Brest…
Cardboard record
A cardboard record, commonly referred to as a sound postcard (Polish: pocztówka dźwiękowa) in Poland, is a type of cheaply made phonograph…
Carnival of Light
"Carnival of Light", originally known as "Untitled", is an unreleased avant-garde recording by the English rock band the Beatles.
Caroticotympanic nerves
The caroticotympanic nerves are post-ganglionic sympathetic branches from the internal carotid plexus which leave the carotid canal…
Carpenter fish
"Carpenter fish" is a term that was used by US Navy sonar operators in the late 20th century to describe sperm whales, referring to the…
Cartilage conduction
Cartilage conduction is a pathway by which sound signals are transmitted to the inner ear. In 2004, Hiroshi Hosoi (Nara Medical…
Casey at the Bat
"Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic, Sung in the Year 1888" is a mock-heroic poem written in 1888 by Ernest Thayer.
Cassette (format)
A cassette is a small plastic unit containing a length of magnetic tape on two reels. The design was created to replicate the way a…
Cassette adapter
A cassette adapter, also called a car connecting pack, is a device that allows audio output from a different source to be played through…
Cassette deck
A cassette deck is a type of tape machine for playing and recording audio cassettes that does not have a built-in power amplifier or…
Cassette demagnetizer
A cassette demagnetizer is a device that removes the magnetic field that accumulates during the use of audio cassettes in cassette decks.
Cassette tape
The cassette tape, officially named the Compact Cassette, and also known as audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog…
Cathy's Clown
"Cathy's Clown" is a popular song, written by Don Everly and recorded by The Everly Brothers in 1960. The lyrics describe a man who has…
CD single
A CD single is a music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the CD single standard (as defined in the Red Book) was an 8…
CD Video
CD Video (also known as CDV, CD-V, or CD+V) is a format of optical media disc that was introduced in 1987 that combines the technologies…
CD+G
CD+G (also known as CD-G, CD+Graphics, and TV-Graphics) is an extension of the compact disc standard that enables the display of…
CD-i
The Compact Disc-Interactive (CD-I, later CD-i) is a digital optical disc data storage format as well as a hardware platform, co-developed…
CD-R
CD-R (Compact disc-recordable) is a digital optical disc storage format. A CD-R disc is a compact disc that can only be written once and…
CD-RW
CD-RW (Compact Disc-Rewritable) is a digital optical disc storage format introduced by Ricoh in 1997. A CD-RW compact disc (CD-RWs) can be…
Celebration (Kool & the Gang song)
"Celebration" is a song by American band Kool & the Gang. Released in October 1980 by De-Lite Records as the first single from their…
Cent (music)
The cent is a logarithmic unit of measure used for musical intervals. Twelve-tone equal temperament divides the octave into 12 semitones…
Center channel
Center channel refers to an audio channel common to many surround sound formats. It is the channel that is mostly, or fully, dedicated to…
Cerebroplacental ratio
Cerebroplacental ratio is a tool used in obstetric ultrasound to predict adverse pregnancy outcome. It is measured by dividing the…
Chalkboard scraping
Scraping a chalkboard (also known as a blackboard) with one's fingernails produces a sound and feeling which most people find extremely…
Chances Are (song)
"Chances Are" is a popular song with music by Robert Allen and lyrics by Al Stillman that was recorded by Johnny Mathis in 1957. It…
Change the Beat
"Change the Beat (French and English Rap)", also referred to as "Change the Beat (Male Version)", is a song written and recorded by Fab 5…
Channel strip
A channel strip is a device that allows the output of an audio device to be amplified to a line level and integrated into some other…
CHARGE syndrome
CHARGE syndrome (formerly known as CHARGE association) is a rare syndrome caused by a genetic disorder. First described in 1979, the…
Chemirocha
"Chemirocha" is a series of three field recordings made in 1950 by ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey during his visit to the Kipsigis people…
Chicago (musical)
Chicago is an American musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. Set in Chicago in the Jazz…
Chichewa tenses
Chichewa (also but less commonly known as Chinyanja, Chewa or Nyanja) is the main lingua franca of central and southern Malawi and…
Chichewa tones
Chichewa (a Bantu language of Central Africa, also known as Chewa, Nyanja, or Chinyanja) is the main language spoken in south and central…
Child of deaf adult
A child of deaf adult, often known by the acronym CODA, is a person who was raised by one or more deaf parents or legal guardians.
Chinese musicology
Chinese musicology is the academic study of traditional Chinese music. This discipline has a very long history. Traditional Chinese music…
Chiterra sarda
The chiterra sarda (Sardinian for "Sardinian guitar") or chitarra sarda in Italian, is a large-bodied baritone guitar from Sardinia used…
Cholesteatoma
Cholesteatoma is a destructive and expanding growth consisting of keratinizing, squamous epithelium in the middle ear and/or mastoid…
Chord-scale system
The chord-scale system is a method of matching, from a list of possible chords, a list of possible scales. The system has been widely…
Chorus (audio effect)
Chorus is an audio effect that occurs when individual sounds with approximately the same time, and very similar pitches, converge.
Chromatic hexachord
In music theory, the chromatic hexachord is the hexachord consisting of a consecutive six-note segment of the chromatic scale. It is the…
Chromatic scale
In Western music, a chromatic scale (or twelve-tone scale) is a set of twelve pitches within an octave, where the interval between any two…
Chromium(IV) oxide
Chromium dioxide or chromium(IV) oxide is an inorganic compound with the formula CrO2. It is a black, synthetic, magnetic solid. It once…
Chronometry
Chronometry, or horology, is the science studying the measurement of time and timekeeping. Chronometry enables the establishment of…
Cinema Digital Sound
Cinema Digital Sound (CDS) was a multi-channel surround sound format used for theatrical films in the early 1990s. The system was…
Cinq études de bruits
Cinq études de bruits (Five Studies of Noises) is a series of five musical compositions by Pierre Schaeffer. The five études were composed…
Circle of fifths
In music theory, the circle of fifths (sometimes also cycle of fifths) organizes the twelve pitch classes of the chromatic scale in a…
Circle of fifths text table
The circle of fifths text table shows the number of flats or sharps in each of the diatonic musical scales and keys. Both C major and A…
Circle of thirds
In music theory, the circle of thirds, also known as the cycle of thirds, is a way of organizing pitches, and a musical tool that helps…
Circlotron
Circlotron valve amplifier is a type of power amplifier utilizing symmetrical cathode-coupled bridge layout of the output stage.
Clackers
Clackers (also known as Clankers, Ker-Bangers, latto-latto in the Philippines and most of Southeast Asia, and numerous other names) are…
Clarinet Concerto (Zwilich)
The Clarinet Concerto is a composition for solo clarinet and orchestra by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. It was commissioned…
Class-D amplifier
A class-D amplifier, or switching amplifier, is an electronic amplifier in which the amplifying devices (transistors, usually MOSFETs)…
Class-XD Amplifier
Class XD (crossover displacement) is a proprietary and patented amplifier technology developed in-house by Cambridge Audio.
CLASSICS Act
The CLASSICS Act or Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service, and Important Contributions to Society Act is Title II of the…
Claude Montal
Claude Montal was a French piano technician and author who wrote the first comprehensive text on piano tuning and repair, "l'Art…
Claudius cell
Claudius cells are considered as supporting cells within the organ of Corti in the cochlea. These cells extend from Hensen's cells to the…
Clef
A clef (from French: clef 'key') is a musical symbol used to indicate which notes are represented by the lines and spaces on a musical…
Clipping (audio)
Clipping is a form of waveform distortion that occurs when an amplifier is overdriven and attempts to deliver an output voltage or current…
Close (to the Edit)
"Close (to the Edit)" is a single by the English avant-garde synth-pop group Art of Noise, released in 1984 by ZTT Records. The song…
Closed captioning
Closed captioning (CC) is the processes of displaying text on a television, video screen, or other visual display to provide additional or…
Closely related key
In music, a closely related key (or close key) is one sharing many common tones with an original key, as opposed to a distantly related…
Cloud harp
The cloud harp, also known as the Keplerian harp, is an open form sound installation which converts the forms of clouds into audio and…
Clyde Broadcast
Clyde Broadcast is a brand associated with the manufacture and supply of studio equipment for the radio broadcast industry. The name dates…
CMoy
A CMoy is a pocket headphone amplifier originally designed by Pow Chu Moy.
Coal Miner's Daughter (song)
"Coal Miner's Daughter" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn. Considered Lynn's signature song, it…
Coaxial loudspeaker
A coaxial loudspeaker is a loudspeaker system in which the individual driver units radiate sound from the same point or axis.
Cochlea
The cochlea is the part of the inner ear involved in hearing. It is a spiral-shaped cavity in the bony labyrinth, in humans making 2.75…
Cochlear cupula
The cochlear cupula is a structure in the cochlea. It is the apex of the cochlea.
Cochlear duct
The cochlear duct (a.k.a. the scala media) is an endolymph filled cavity inside the cochlea, located between the tympanic duct and the…
Cochlear hydrops
Cochlear hydrops (or cochlear Meniere's or cochlear endolymphatic hydrops) is a condition of the inner ear involving a pathological…
Cochlear implant
A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted neuroprosthesis that provides a person who has moderate-to-profound sensorineural…
Cochlear nerve
The cochlear nerve (also auditory nerve or acoustic nerve) is one of two parts of the vestibulocochlear nerve, a cranial nerve present in…
Cochlear nucleus
The cochlear nucleus (CN) or cochlear nuclear complex comprises two cranial nerve nuclei in the human brainstem, the ventral cochlear…
Cocktail party effect
The cocktail party effect is a phenomenon wherein the brain focuses a person's attention on a particular stimulus, usually auditory.
Coda wave interferometry
Coda wave interferometry is an ultrasound technique for detection of weak and local changes in complex inhomogeneous media.
Code of silence
A code of silence is a condition in effect when a person opts to withhold what is believed to be vital or important information…
Codec acceleration
Codec acceleration describes computer hardware that offloads the computationally intensive compression or decompression.
Cogan syndrome
Cogan syndrome (also Cogan's syndrome) is a rare disorder characterized by recurrent inflammation of the front of the eye (the cornea) and…
Cognitive hearing science
Cognitive hearing science is an interdisciplinary science field concerned with the physiological and cognitive basis of hearing and its…
Coloratura soprano
A coloratura soprano (Italian: soprano di coloratura) is a type of operatic soprano voice that specializes in music that is distinguished…
Colossi of Memnon
The Colossi of Memnon (Arabic: el-Colossat or es-Salamat) are two large stone statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III, which stand at the…
Columella (bone)
In the auditory system, the columella (plural columellae), also known as the columella auris or the plectrum, contributes to hearing in…
Combination tone
A combination tone (also called resultant tone or subjective tone) is a psychoacoustic and sometimes physical phenomenon of an additional…
Combinatoriality
In music using the twelve tone technique, combinatoriality is a quality shared by twelve-tone tone rows whereby each section of a row and…
Comfort noise
Comfort noise (or comfort tone) is synthetic background noise used in radio and Wireless communications to fill the artificial silence in…
Comic sound
Despite criticisms of being a vulgar form of humour, use of comic sound as a way of causing laughter has become a recognized and commonly…
Comma (music)
In music theory, a comma is a very small interval, the difference resulting from tuning one note two different ways. Traditionally, there…
Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act
The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (H.R. 1084/S. 2847) (CALM Act) requires the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to…
Common bottlenose dolphin
The common bottlenose dolphin or Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is one of three species of bottlenose dolphin in the…
Communication access real-time translation
Communication access realtime translation (CART), also called open captioning or realtime stenography or simply realtime captioning, is…
Communication noise
Communication noise refers to influences on effective communication that influence the interpretation of conversations.
Community Noise Equivalent Level
Community Noise Equivalent Level (CNEL) is a weighted average of ambient noise level over time, used in the US state of California to…
Compact Cassette tape types and formulations
Audio compact cassettes use magnetic tape of three major types which differ in fundamental magnetic properties, the level of bias applied…
Compact disc
The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio…
Compact Disc Digital Audio
Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA or CD-DA), also known as Digital Audio Compact Disc or simply as Audio CD, is the standard format for…
Companding
In telecommunications and signal processing, companding (occasionally called compansion) is a method of mitigating the detrimental effects…
Comparison of analog and digital recording
Sound can be recorded and stored and played using either digital or analog techniques. Both techniques introduce errors and distortions in…
Compatible Discrete 4
Compatible Discrete 4, also known as Quadradisc or CD-4 (not to be confused with compact disc) was a discrete four-channel quadraphonic…
Complement (music)
In music theory, complement refers to either traditional interval complementation, or the aggregate complementation of twelve-tone and…
Component speaker
A set of component speakers is a car audio speaker system in which the speakers are matched for optimal sound quality.
Compression artifact
In computing, a compression artifact (or artefact) is a noticeable distortion of digital media (including images, audio and video) caused…
Computational audiology
Computational audiology is a branch of audiology that employs techniques from mathematics and computer science to improve clinical…
Computational auditory scene analysis
Computational auditory scene analysis (CASA) is the study of auditory scene analysis by computational means. In essence, CASA systems are…
Computer speakers
Computer speakers, or multimedia speakers, are speakers marketed for use with computers, although usually capable of other audio uses…
Concatenative synthesis
Concatenative synthesis is a technique for synthesising sounds by concatenating short samples of recorded sound (called units).
Concert pitch
Concert pitch is the pitch reference to which a group of musical instruments are tuned for a performance. Concert pitch may vary from…
Concret PH
Concret PH (1958) is a musique concrète piece by Iannis Xenakis, originally created for the Philips Pavilion (designed by Xenakis as Le…
Conditioned play audiometry
Conditioned play audiometry (CPA) is a type of audiometry done in children from ages 2 to 5 years old, in developmental age. It is the…
Conductive hearing loss
Conductive hearing loss (CHL) is a type of hearing impairment that occurs when sound waves are unable to efficiently travel through the…
Congenital hearing loss
Congenital hearing loss is a hearing loss present at birth. It can include hereditary hearing loss or hearing loss due to other factors…
Conservation and restoration of vinyl discs
Conservation and restoration of vinyl discs are the preventive measures taken to defend against damage and slow degradation, and to…
Consonance and dissonance
In music, consonance and dissonance are categorizations of simultaneous or successive sounds. Within the Western tradition, some listeners…
Conspecific song preference
Conspecific song preference is the ability songbirds require to distinguish conspecific song from heterospecific song in order for females…
Conspiracy of silence (expression)
A conspiracy of silence, or culture of silence, describes the behavior of a group of people that by unspoken consensus does not mention…
Constant angular velocity
In optical storage, constant angular velocity (CAV) is a qualifier for the rated speed of any disc containing information, and may also be…
Constant linear velocity
In optical storage, constant linear velocity (CLV) is a qualifier for the rated speed of an optical disc drive, and may also be applied to…
Constant spectrum melody
A constant timbre at a constant pitch is characterized by a spectrum.
Constant-voltage speaker system
Constant-voltage speaker systems refer to networks of loudspeakers which are connected to an audio amplifier using step-up and step-down…
Contact call
Contact calls are short, seemingly haphazard vocalizations made by many social animals, such as a chicken's cluck. Contact calls differ…
Contact microphone
A contact microphone is a form of microphone that senses audio vibrations through contact with solid objects. Unlike normal air…
Contrabass
Contrabass (from Italian: contrabbasso) refers to several musical instruments of very low pitch—generally one octave below bass register…
Cortical deafness
Cortical deafness is a rare form of sensorineural hearing loss caused by damage to the primary auditory cortex. Cortical deafness is an…
Cosmic noise
Cosmic noise, also known as galactic radio noise, is radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation from sources outside of the Earth's…
Countersurveillance
Countersurveillance refers to measures that are usually undertaken by the public to prevent surveillance, including covert surveillance.
Countertenor
A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female…
Counting (music)
In music, counting is a system of regularly occurring way to teach or learn the rhythm of a song to assist with the performance or…
Covert listening device
A covert listening device, commonly known as a bug or a wire, is usually a combination of a miniature radio transmitter with a microphone.
Cow Thief Skank
"Cow Thief Skank" is a 1973 single written and produced by Jamaican reggae musician Lee Perry and credited to his studio band the Upsetters.
Crackling noise
Crackling noise arises when a system is subject to an external force and it responds via events that appear very similar at many different…
Crandall syndrome
Crandall syndrome is a very rare congenital disorder characterised by progressive sensorineural hearing loss, hair loss associated with…
Cranford Agreement
The Cranford Protocol or Cranford Agreement was an oral undertaking given in 1952 by the British Government to the residents of Cranford…
Crazy Blues
"Crazy Blues" is a song written by Perry Bradford in 1918 under its original title, "Harlem Blues". Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Hounds…
Creeping wave
According to the principle of diffraction, when a wave front passes an obstruction, it spreads out into the shadowed space.
Crista acustica
Crista acustica (also Siebold's organ, or crista acoustica) is a part of the hearing organ (tibial organ) in some insects (e.g…
Critical distance
Critical distance is, in acoustics, the distance at which the sound pressure level of the direct sound D and the reverberant sound R are…
Cross of Gold speech
The Cross of Gold speech was delivered by William Jennings Bryan, a former United States Representative from Nebraska, at the Democratic…
Cross tuning
Cross tuning or cross-tuning (also called scordatura in classical music) is an alternative tuning used for the open strings of a string…
Cross-field head
A cross-field head, sometimes referred to as X-field, is an additional recording head in a tape recorder that improves the ability to…
Crossfeed
Crossfeed is the process of blending the left and right channels of a stereo audio recording. It is generally used to reduce the extreme…
Crossover distortion
In signal processing, crossover distortion is a type of distortion which is caused by switching between devices driving a load.
Crosstalk
In electronics, crosstalk (XT) is a phenomenon by which a signal transmitted on one circuit or channel of a transmission system creates an…
Cue (audio)
To cue audio is to determine the desired initial playback point in a piece of recorded music. It is a technique often used in radio…
Cued speech
Cued speech is a visual system of communication used with and among deaf or hard-of-hearing people. It is a phonemic-based system which…
Curved structures
Curved structures are constructions generated by one or more generatrices (which can be either curves or surfaces) through geometrical…
Custom-made medical device
A custom-made medical device, commonly referred to as a custom-made device (CMD) (Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom) or a…
Cut-out (recording industry)
In the recording industry, a cut-out refers to a deeply discounted or remaindered copy of an LP, 45 RPM single, cassette tape, compact…
CX (noise reduction)
CX is a noise reduction system for recorded analog audio. It was developed by CBS Laboratories (a division of CBS) in the late 1970s as a…
Cyclic set
In music, a cyclic set is a set, "whose alternate elements unfold complementary cycles of a single interval." Those cycles are ascending…
Cylinder Audio Archive
The Cylinder Audio Archive is a free digital collection maintained by the University of California, Santa Barbara Library with streaming…
Cymbal-banging monkey toy
A cymbal-banging monkey toy (also known as Jolly Chimp) is a mechanical depiction of a chimpanzee holding a cymbal in each hand. When…
Cyril White (advocate)
Cyril Charles William White (7 September 1909 – 5 July 1984) was a New Zealand piano tuner and repairer, advocate and worker for the…