TERMS STARTING WITH
Musical angels by Hans Memling (c. 1490).
Musical angels by Hans Mending (c. 1490). 123
Musical cherubim. 331
Musical cherubim. From Heywood, The Hierarchy of the Blessed Angels.
Musical Instrument Digital Interface "music, hardware, protocol, file format" (MIDI /mi'-dee/, /mee'-dee/) A {hardware} specification and {protocol} used to communicate note and effect information between synthesisers, computers, music keyboards, controllers, and other electronic music devices. It is basically a high-speed {serial} connection with separate connections for MIDI in, MIDI out and MIDI through (to allow devices to be chained). The basic unit of information is a "note on/off" event which includes a note number (pitch) and key velocity (loudness). There are many other message types for events such as pitch bend, patch changes and synthesizer-specific events for loading new patches etc. There is a file format for expressing MIDI data which is like a dump of data sent over a MIDI port. The {MIME} type "audio/midi" isn't actually registered so it should probably be "audio/x-midi". {Filename} {extension}: .mid or .midi {(http://update.uu.se/~vick/Coordinator.html)}. {Usenet} newsgroups: {news:comp.music.midi}, {news:alt.music.midi}. (1998-06-27)
Musical Instrument Digital Interface ::: (music, hardware, protocol, file format) (MIDI /mi'-dee/, /mee'-dee/) A hardware specification and protocol used to communicate note and effect with separate connections for MIDI in, MIDI out and MIDI through (to allow devices to be chained).The basic unit of information is a note on/off event which includes a note number (pitch) and key velocity (loudness). There are many other message types for events such as pitch bend, patch changes and synthesizer-specific events for loading new patches etc.There is a file format for expressing MIDI data which is like a dump of data sent over a MIDI port.The MIME type audio/midi isn't actually registered so it should probably be audio/x-midi.Filename extension: .mid or .midi .Usenet newsgroups: comp.music.midi, alt.music.midi. (1998-06-27)
Musicam ::: (audio, compression) A name for MPEG-1 Layer 2 used for broadcasting. Common data rates are 192, 224, and 256 kbps.(2001-12-13)
Musicam "audio, compression" A name for {MPEG-1 Layer 2} used for broadcasting. Common data rates are 192, 224, and 256 kbps. (2001-12-13)
Music, considered as the essential harmony not only in cosmic but in human life, has fallen from that high estate to being little more than the harmony of sounds, cultivated piecemeal under a number of varieties: one may be an expert instrumentalist without having much harmony in one’s soul.
Music [from Greek mousike (techne) the art of the Muses] The music of the Greeks did not signify merely the harmony of sounds, but actually imbodied the idea of inner harmony of the spirit, the becoming at one with the spirit of the Muses, so that the soul responded in harmonic rhythm to the beat of universal harmony. Music with the Greeks, therefore, included, besides vocal and instrumental music, choral dancing, rhythmic motions, and various modes of harmony expressed in action, perhaps most particularly that part of education which we should now classify as a striving for harmony in life combined with aesthetic, in contrast with intellectual and physical branches of study and development. It was culture of the essential person, the ego or soul, whereas the other two divisions care for and supply the needs of the mind and of the body.
Music, in all its various branches is represented as having been taught to man by his divine and divine-human ancestors, such as Isis-Osiris, Thoth, Edris (in the Koran), etc. It is one of the elements of the power known as mantrikasakti. Music was represented as one of four divisions of mathematics, the others being arithmetic, astronomy, and geometry. The music of sound arouses in us a power which needs to be controlled, as it can carry us to heights from which we may fall. If regarded as a sensual indulgence, even though a refined one, its true import is not realized. If carried into our lives, so as to aid in harmonizing our relationships to other lives, then it is the unfolding influence of the real music of the spheres of cosmic harmony. For music is “the most divine and spiritual of arts” (ML 188).
Music "language, music" A series of languages for musical sound synthesis from {Bell Labs}, 1960's. Versions: Music I through Music V. ["An Acoustical Compiler for Music and Psychological Stimuli", M.V. Mathews, Bell Sys Tech J 40 (1961)]. [{Jargon File}] (1999-06-04)
Music ::: (language, music) A series of languages for musical sound synthesis from Bell Labs, 1960's. Versions: Music I through Music V.[An Acoustical Compiler for Music and Psychological Stimuli, M.V. Mathews, Bell Sys Tech J 40 (1961)].[Jargon File] (1999-06-04)
Music of the spheres: An expression introduced by Pythagoras, who was the first to discover a mathematical relationship in the frequencies of the various tones of the musical scale. In postulating the orbits of the planets as bearing a similar relationship based upon the distance from the center, he characterized their interrelated orbits as “the harmony of the spheres.” According to G. A. Gaskell, the music of the spheres is “a symbol of the complete coordination and harmony that prevails among the atma-budhic qualities and ideals upon the higher planes or spheres of the invisible archetypal universe.”
Music of the Spheres An extremely archaic teaching repeated by Pythagoras, and therefore in the West commonly associated with his doctrine, for he taught that the world had been called forth out of Chaos by sound or harmony, and that the universe is constructed on harmonic proportions. He further taught that the planets were arranged in relation to each other and to the Sun in the progression of a musical scale; thus the distance of the Moon from the Earth was called a tone, from Moon to Mercury half a tone, Mercury to Venus half a tone, Venus to Sun one and a half tones, Sun to Mars a tone, Mars to Jupiter half a tone, Jupiter to Saturn half a tone, Saturn to the zodiac a tone — thus completing the seven tones of the scale or the diapason-harmony, as it is reported that Pythagoras reckoned — although the actual addition of the half-tones and tones includes only 6 1/2 tones. As Censorinus (De die natali 13) expressed it, “the intervals correspond to musical diastemes, rendering various sounds, so perfectly consonant, that they produce the sweetest melody, which is inaudible to us, only by reason of the greatness of the sound, which our ears are incapable of receiving” (SD 1:433).
Music of the Spheres ::: Every sphere that runs its course in the abysmal depths of space sings a song as it passes along. Everylittle atom is attuned to a musical note. It is in constant movement, in constant vibration at speeds whichare incomprehensible to the ordinary brain-mind of man; and each such speed has its own numericalquantity, in other words its own numerical note, and therefore sings that note. This is called the music ofthe spheres, and if man had the power of spiritual clairaudience, the life surrounding him would be onegrand sweet song: his very body would be as it were a symphonic orchestra, singing some magnificent,incomprehensible, musical symphonic composition. The growth of a flower, for instance, would be like achanging melody running along from day to day; he could hear the grass grow, and understand why itgrows; he could hear the atoms sing and see their movements, and hear the unison of the songs of allindividual atoms, and the melodies that any physical body produces; and he would know what the stars intheir courses are constantly singing.
musical ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to music; having the qualities of music; or the power of producing music; devoted to music; melodious; harmonious; as, musical proportion; a musical voice; musical instruments; a musical sentence; musical persons. ::: n. --> Music.
musicale ::: n. --> A social musical party.
musically ::: adv. --> In a musical manner.
musicalness ::: n. --> The quality of being musical.
musician ::: n. --> One skilled in the art or science of music; esp., a skilled singer, or performer on a musical instrument.
music is Israfel (Israfil), who is often equated with
music ::: n. --> The science and the art of tones, or musical sounds, i. e., sounds of higher or lower pitch, begotten of uniform and synchronous vibrations, as of a string at various degrees of tension; the science of harmonical tones which treats of the principles of harmony, or the properties, dependences, and relations of tones to each other; the art of combining tones in a manner to please the ear.
Melody; a rhythmical and otherwise agreeable succession of tones.
music of the spheres: Harmony between the heavenly bodies (such as the Sun, Moon and planets.)
music of the spheres.
musicomania ::: n. --> A kind of monomania in which the passion for music becomes so strong as to derange the intellectual faculties.
TERMS ANYWHERE
1. A physical likeness or representation of a person, animal, or thing, photographed, painted, sculptured, or otherwise made visible. 2. A mental representation; idea; conception. 3. Form; appearance; semblance. 4. A type; embodiment. 5. An idol or representation of a deity. 6. A person or thing that resembles another closely; counterpart, double or copy. 7. A concrete representation, as in art, literature, or music, that is expressive or evocative of something else. images, image-face.
1. To bring into musical accord or harmony; to tune. 2. To bring into accord, harmony, or sympathetic relationship; adjust. attuned, attuning.
5th Glove "hardware, virtual reality" A {data glove} and flexor strip kit (5th Glove DFK) sold by {Fifth Dimension Technologies} for $495 ($345 for the left-handed version, $45 for each extra flexor strip). The DFK provides a data glove, a flexon strip (with an elbow or knee-joint sensor), an interface card, cables, and KineMusica software. The package uses flexible optical-bending sensing to track hand and arm movement. The glove can be used with 5DT's ultrasonic tracking system, the 5DT Head and Hand tracker ($245), which can track movement from up to two metres away from the unit's transmitter. (1998-02-06)
accessory ::: a. --> Accompanying as a subordinate; aiding in a secondary way; additional; connected as an incident or subordinate to a principal; contributing or contributory; said of persons and things, and, when of persons, usually in a bad sense; as, he was accessory to the riot; accessory sounds in music. ::: n.
acciaccatura ::: n. --> A short grace note, one semitone below the note to which it is prefixed; -- used especially in organ music. Now used as equivalent to the short appoggiatura.
accompanist ::: n. --> The performer in music who takes the accompanying part.
"A cosmos or universe is always a harmony, otherwise it could not exist, it would fly to pieces. But as there are musical harmonies which are built out of discords partly or even predominantly, so this universe (the material) is disharmonious in its separate elements — the individual elements are at discord with each other to a large extent; it is only owing to the sustaining Divine Will behind that the whole is still a harmony to those who look at it with the cosmic vision. But it is a harmony in evolution in progress — that is, all is combined to strive towards a goal which is not yet reached, and the object of our yoga is to hasten the arrival to this goal. When it is reached, there will be a harmony of harmonies substituted for the present harmony built up on discords. This is the explanation of the present appearance of things.” Letters on Yoga
“A cosmos or universe is always a harmony, otherwise it could not exist, it would fly to pieces. But as there are musical harmonies which are built out of discords partly or even predominantly, so this universe (the material) is disharmonious in its separate elements—the individual elements are at discord with each other to a large extent; it is only owing to the sustaining Divine Will behind that the whole is still a harmony to those who look at it with the cosmic vision. But it is a harmony in evolution in progress—that is, all is combined to strive towards a goal which is not yet reached, and the object of our yoga is to hasten the arrival to this goal. When it is reached, there will be a harmony of harmonies substituted for the present harmony built up on discords. This is the explanation of the present appearance of things.” Letters on Yoga
adagio ::: a. & adv. --> Slow; slowly, leisurely, and gracefully. When repeated, adagio, adagio, it directs the movement to be very slow. ::: n. --> A piece of music in adagio time; a slow movement; as, an adagio of Haydn. html{color:
Advanced WavEffect "multimedia, music, hardware" (AWE) The kind of synthesis used by the {EMU 8000} music synthesizer {integrated circuit} found on the {SB AWE32} card. (1996-12-15)
alamire ::: n. --> The lowest note but one in Guido Aretino&
althorn ::: n. --> An instrument of the saxhorn family, used exclusively in military music, often replacing the French horn.
alto ::: n. --> Formerly the part sung by the highest male, or counter-tenor, voices; now the part sung by the lowest female, or contralto, voices, between in tenor and soprano. In instrumental music it now signifies the tenor.
An alto singer.
Amal: “… the phrase ‘a grace of trivial notes’ is comparable to an enhancement or an embellishment as in music.”
amateur ::: n. --> A person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science as to music or painting; esp. one who cultivates any study or art, from taste or attachment, without pursuing it professionally.
AMPLE "language, music" A {FORTH}-like language for programming the 500/5000 series of add-on music synthesisers for the {BBC Microcomputer}. AMPLE was produced by Hybrid Technologies, Cambridge, England in the mid 1980s. Many AMPLE programs were published in Acorn User magazine. (1995-11-01)
Analogy: Originally a mathematical term, Analogia, meaning equality of ratios (Euclid VII Df. 20, V. Dfs. 5, 6), which entered Plato's philosophy (Republic 534a6), where it also expressed the epistemological doctrine that sensed things are related as their mathematical and ideal correlates. In modern usage analogy was identified with a weak form of reasoning in which "from the similarity of two things in certain particulars, their similarity in other particulars is inferred." (Century Dic.) Recently, the analysis of scientific method has given the term new significance. The observable data of science are denoted by concepts by inspection, whose complete meaning is given by something immediately apprehendable; its verified theory designating unobservable scientific objects is expressed by concepts by postulation, whose complete meaning is prescribed for them by the postulates of the deductive theory in which they occur. To verify such theory relations, termed epistemic correlations (J. Un. Sc. IX: 125-128), are required. When these are one-one, analogy exists in a very precise sense, since the concepts by inspection denoting observable data are then related as are the correlated concepts by postulation designating unobservable scientific objects. -- F.S.C.N. Analogy of Pythagoras: (Gr. analogia) The equality of ratios, or proportion, between the lengths of the strings producing the consonant notes of the musical scale. The discovery of these ratios is credited to Pythagoras, who is also said to have applied the principle of mathematical proportion to the other arts, and hence to have discovered, in his analogy, the secret of beauty in all its forms. -- G.R.M.
angelot ::: n. --> A French gold coin of the reign of Louis XI., bearing the image of St. Michael; also, a piece coined at Paris by the English under Henry VI.
An instrument of music, of the lute kind, now disused.
A sort of small, rich cheese, made in Normandy.
anthem ::: n. --> Formerly, a hymn sung in alternate parts, in present usage, a selection from the Psalms, or other parts of the Scriptures or the liturgy, set to sacred music.
A song or hymn of praise. ::: v. t. --> To celebrate with anthems.
antiphonary ::: n. --> A book containing a collection of antiphons; the book in which the antiphons of the breviary, with their musical notes, are contained.
antiphon ::: n. --> A musical response; alternate singing or chanting. See Antiphony, and Antiphone.
A verse said before and after the psalms.
antiphony ::: n. --> A musical response; also, antiphonal chanting or signing.
An anthem or psalm sung alternately by a choir or congregation divided into two parts. Also figuratively.
Apart from philosophy, Descartes' contribution to the development of analytical geometry, the theory of music and the science of optics, are noteworthy achievements.
a perfectly harmonious music, inaudible on the earth, thought to be produced by the movement of celestial bodies.
apollo ::: n. --> A deity among the Greeks and Romans. He was the god of light and day (the "sun god"), of archery, prophecy, medicine, poetry, and music, etc., and was represented as the model of manly grace and beauty; -- called also Phebus.
Arctic "language, music" A {real-time} {functional language}, used for music synthesis. ["Arctic: A Functional Language for Real-Time Control", R.B. Dannenberg, Conf Record 1984 ACM Symp on LISP and Functional Prog, ACM]. (1995-01-16)
a stroke, beat; in music and prosody the stress or accent marking the rhythm; the intensity of delivery which distinguishes one syllable or note from others.
attune ::: v. t. --> To tune or put in tune; to make melodious; to adjust, as one sound or musical instrument to another; as, to attune the voice to a harp.
To arrange fitly; to make accordant.
Audio IFF "file format, music" (AIFF) A format developed by {Apple Computer} Inc. for storing high-quality {digital audio} and musical instrument information. It is also used by {SGI} and several professional audio packages. (1994-10-10)
AudioOne "tool, music" Digital recording and editing software developed by {BizTrack Software Development} for the dance, music, and audio industries. AudioOne includes a waveform recorder that allows signal manipulation, editing, and recording. (1996-09-28)
bagpipe ::: n. --> A musical wind instrument, now used chiefly in the Highlands of Scotland. ::: v. t. --> To make to look like a bagpipe.
bandmaster ::: n. --> The conductor of a musical band.
bandore ::: n. --> A musical stringed instrument, similar in form to a guitar; a pandore.
banister ::: n. --> A stringed musical instrument having a head and neck like the guitar, and its body like a tambourine. It has five strings, and is played with the fingers and hands.
barcarolle ::: n. --> A popular song or melody sung by Venetian gondoliers.
A piece of music composed in imitation of such a song.
baton ::: n. --> A staff or truncheon, used for various purposes; as, the baton of a field marshal; the baton of a conductor in musical performances.
An ordinary with its ends cut off, borne sinister as a mark of bastardy, and containing one fourth in breadth of the bend sinister; -- called also bastard bar. See Bend sinister.
Besides the universal intelligible being of things, Aristotle was also primarily concerned with an investigation of the being of things from the standpoint of their generation and existence. But only individual things are generated and exist. Hence, for him, substance was primarily the individual: a "this" which, in contrast with the universal or secondary substance, is not communicable to many. The Aristotelian meaning of substance may be developed from four points of view: Grammar: The nature of substance as the ultimate subject of predication is expressed by common usage in its employment of the noun (or substantive) as the subject of a sentence to signify an individual thing which "is neither present in nor predicable of a subject." Thus substance is grammatically distinguished from its (adjectival) properties and modifications which "are present in and predicable of a subject." Secondary substance is expressed by the universal term, and by its definition which are "not present in a subject but predicable of it." See Categoriae,) ch. 5. Physics: Independence of being emerges as a fundamental characteristic of substance in the analysis of change. Thus we have: Substantial change: Socrates comes to be. (Change simply). Accidental change; in a certain respect only: Socrates comes to be 6 feet tall. (Quantitative). Socrates comes to be musical (Qualitative). Socrates comes to be in Corinth (Local). As substantial change is prior to the others and may occur independently of them, so the individual substance is prior in being to the accidents; i.e., the accidents cannot exist independently of their subject (Socrates), but can be only in him or in another primary substance, while the reverse is not necessarily the case. Logic: Out of this analysis of change there also emerges a division of being into the schema of categories, with the distinction between the category of substance and the several accidental categories, such as quantity, quality, place, relation, etc. In a corresponding manner, the category of substance is first; i.e., prior to the others in being, and independent of them. Metaphysics: The character of substance as that which is present in an individual as the cause of its being and unity is developed in Aristotle's metaphysical writings, see especiallv Bk. Z, ch. 17, 1041b. Primary substnnce is not the matter alone, nor the universal form common to many, but the individual unity of matter and form. For example, each thing is composed of parts or elements, as an organism is composed of cells, yet it is not merely its elements, but has a being and unity over and above the sum of its parts. This something more which causes the cells to be this organism rather than a malignant growth, is an example of what is meant by substance in its proper sense of first substance (substantia prima). Substance in its secondary sense (substantia secunda) is the universal form (idea or species) which is individuated in each thing.
Bhakti (.Devotion) ::: Obedience is the sign of the servant, but that is the lowest stage of this relation, dasya. Afterwards we do not obey, but move to his will as the string replies to the finger of the musician. To be the instrument is this higher stage of self-surrender and submission. But this is the living and loving instrument and it ends in the whole nature of our being becoming the slave of God, rejoicing in his possession and its own blissful subjection to the divine grasp and mastery. With a passionate delight it does all he wills it to do without questioning and bears all he would have it bear, because what it bears is the burden of the beloved being.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 603
bis ::: adv. --> Twice; -- a word showing that something is, or is to be, repeated; as a passage of music, or an item in accounts.
Musical Instrument Digital Interface "music, hardware, protocol, file format" (MIDI /mi'-dee/, /mee'-dee/) A {hardware} specification and {protocol} used to communicate note and effect information between synthesisers, computers, music keyboards, controllers, and other electronic music devices. It is basically a high-speed {serial} connection with separate connections for MIDI in, MIDI out and MIDI through (to allow devices to be chained). The basic unit of information is a "note on/off" event which includes a note number (pitch) and key velocity (loudness). There are many other message types for events such as pitch bend, patch changes and synthesizer-specific events for loading new patches etc. There is a file format for expressing MIDI data which is like a dump of data sent over a MIDI port. The {MIME} type "audio/midi" isn't actually registered so it should probably be "audio/x-midi". {Filename} {extension}: .mid or .midi {(http://update.uu.se/~vick/Coordinator.html)}. {Usenet} newsgroups: {news:comp.music.midi}, {news:alt.music.midi}. (1998-06-27)
Musicam "audio, compression" A name for {MPEG-1 Layer 2} used for broadcasting. Common data rates are 192, 224, and 256 kbps. (2001-12-13)
Music "language, music" A series of languages for musical sound synthesis from {Bell Labs}, 1960's. Versions: Music I through Music V. ["An Acoustical Compiler for Music and Psychological Stimuli", M.V. Mathews, Bell Sys Tech J 40 (1961)]. [{Jargon File}] (1999-06-04)
bolero ::: n. --> A Spanish dance, or the lively music which accompanies it.
bravura ::: n. --> A florid, brilliant style of music, written for effect, to show the range and flexibility of a singer&
burletta ::: a. --> A comic operetta; a music farce.
cabaret ::: n. --> A tavern; a house where liquors are retailed.
a type of restaurant where liquor and dinner is served, and entertainment is provided, as by musicians, dancers, or comedians, and providing space for dancing by the patrons; -- similar to a nightclub. The term cabaret is often used in the names of such an establishment.
the type of entertainment provided in a cabaret{2}.
cadence ::: 1. Balanced, rhythmic flow, as of poetry or oratory. 2. Music. A sequence of notes or chords that indicates the momentary or complete end of a composition, section, phrase, etc. 3. The flow or rhythm of events. 4. A recurrent rhythmical series; a flow, esp. the pattern in which something is experienced. 5. A slight falling in pitch of the voice in speaking or reading. cadences.
cadence ::: n. --> The act or state of declining or sinking.
A fall of the voice in reading or speaking, especially at the end of a sentence.
A rhythmical modulation of the voice or of any sound; as, music of bells in cadence sweet.
Rhythmical flow of language, in prose or verse.
See Cadency.
Harmony and proportion in motions, as of a well-managed
calliope ::: n. --> The Muse that presides over eloquence and heroic poetry; mother of Orpheus, and chief of the nine Muses.
One of the asteroids. See Solar.
A musical instrument consisting of a series of steam whistles, toned to the notes of the scale, and played by keys arranged like those of an organ. It is sometimes attached to steamboat boilers.
A beautiful species of humming bird (Stellula Calliope) of California and adjacent regions.
candygrammar "language" A programming-language grammar that is mostly {syntactic sugar}; a play on "candygram". {COBOL}, {Apple Computer}'s {Hypertalk} language, and many {4GLs} share this property. The intent is to be as English-like as possible and thus easier for unskilled people to program. However, {syntax} isn't what makes programming hard; it's the mental effort and organisation required to specify an {algorithm} precisely. Thus "candygrammar" languages are just as difficult to program in, and far more painful for the experienced hacker. {GLS} notes: The overtones from the 1977 Chevy Chase "Jaws" parody on Saturday Night Live should not be overlooked. Someone lurking outside an apartment door tries to get the occupant to open up, while ominous music plays in the background. The last attempt is a half-hearted "Candygram!" When the door is opened, a shark bursts in and chomps the poor occupant. There is a moral here for those attracted to candygrammars. [{Jargon File}] (2004-09-23)
canonical (Historically, "according to religious law") 1. "mathematics" A standard way of writing a formula. Two formulas such as 9 + x and x + 9 are said to be equivalent because they mean the same thing, but the second one is in "canonical form" because it is written in the usual way, with the highest power of x first. Usually there are fixed rules you can use to decide whether something is in canonical form. Things in canonical form are easier to compare. 2. "jargon" The usual or standard state or manner of something. The term acquired this meaning in computer-science culture largely through its prominence in {Alonzo Church}'s work in computation theory and {mathematical logic} (see {Knights of the Lambda-Calculus}). Compare {vanilla}. This word has an interesting history. Non-technical academics do not use the adjective "canonical" in any of the senses defined above with any regularity; they do however use the nouns "canon" and "canonicity" (not "canonicalness"* or "canonicality"*). The "canon" of a given author is the complete body of authentic works by that author (this usage is familiar to Sherlock Holmes fans as well as to literary scholars). "The canon" is the body of works in a given field (e.g. works of literature, or of art, or of music) deemed worthwhile for students to study and for scholars to investigate. The word "canon" derives ultimately from the Greek "kanon" (akin to the English "cane") referring to a reed. Reeds were used for measurement, and in Latin and later Greek the word "canon" meant a rule or a standard. The establishment of a canon of scriptures within Christianity was meant to define a standard or a rule for the religion. The above non-technical academic usages stem from this instance of a defined and accepted body of work. Alongside this usage was the promulgation of "canons" ("rules") for the government of the Catholic Church. The usages relating to religious law derive from this use of the Latin "canon". It may also be related to arabic "qanun" (law). Hackers invest this term with a playfulness that makes an ironic contrast with its historical meaning. A true story: One Bob Sjoberg, new at the {MIT AI Lab}, expressed some annoyance at the incessant use of jargon. Over his loud objections, {GLS} and {RMS} made a point of using as much of it as possible in his presence, and eventually it began to sink in. Finally, in one conversation, he used the word "canonical" in jargon-like fashion without thinking. Steele: "Aha! We've finally got you talking jargon too!" Stallman: "What did he say?" Steele: "Bob just used "canonical" in the canonical way." Of course, canonicality depends on context, but it is implicitly defined as the way *hackers* normally expect things to be. Thus, a hacker may claim with a straight face that "according to religious law" is *not* the canonical meaning of "canonical". (2002-02-06)
canorous ::: a. --> Melodious; musical.
canorousness ::: n. --> The quality of being musical.
cantata ::: n. --> A poem set to music; a musical composition comprising choruses, solos, interludes, etc., arranged in a somewhat dramatic manner; originally, a composition for a single noise, consisting of both recitative and melody.
canterbury ::: n. --> A city in England, giving its name various articles. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury (primate of all England), and contains the shrine of Thomas a Becket, to which pilgrimages were formerly made.
A stand with divisions in it for holding music, loose papers, etc.
cantillate ::: v. i. --> To chant; to recite with musical tones.
cantillation ::: n. --> A chanting; recitation or reading with musical modulations.
canto ::: n. --> One of the chief divisions of a long poem; a book.
The highest vocal part; the air or melody in choral music; anciently the tenor, now the soprano.
capellmeister ::: n. --> The musical director in royal or ducal chapel; a choir-master.
carillon ::: n. --> A chime of bells diatonically tuned, played by clockwork or by finger keys.
A tune adapted to be played by musical bells.
carol ::: n. --> A round dance.
A song of joy, exultation, or mirth; a lay.
A song of praise of devotion; as, a Christmas or Easter carol.
Joyful music, as of a song.
Alt. of Carrol ::: v. t.
cater ::: n. --> A provider; a purveyor; a caterer.
To provide food; to buy, procure, or prepare provisions.
By extension: To supply what is needed or desired, at theatrical or musical entertainments; -- followed by for or to.
The four of cards or dice. ::: v. t.
catgut ::: n. --> A cord of great toughness made from the intestines of animals, esp. of sheep, used for strings of musical instruments, etc.
A sort of linen or canvas, with wide interstices.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
cento ::: n. --> A literary or a musical composition formed by selections from different authors disposed in a new order.
chant ::: v. t. --> To utter with a melodious voice; to sing.
To celebrate in song.
To sing or recite after the manner of a chant, or to a tune called a chant.
Song; melody.
A short and simple melody, divided into two parts by double bars, to which unmetrical psalms, etc., are sung or recited. It is the most ancient form of choral music.
chime ::: n. --> See Chine, n., 3.
The harmonious sound of bells, or of musical instruments.
A set of bells musically tuned to each other; specif., in the pl., the music performed on such a set of bells by hand, or produced by mechanism to accompany the striking of the hours or their divisions.
Pleasing correspondence of proportion, relation, or sound.
To sound in harmonious accord, as bells.
choired ::: resounded, as music sung by a choir.
choragus ::: n. --> A chorus leader; esp. one who provided at his own expense and under his own supervision one of the choruses for the musical contents at Athens.
chord ::: n. --> The string of a musical instrument.
A combination of tones simultaneously performed, producing more or less perfect harmony, as, the common chord.
A right line uniting the extremities of the arc of a circle or curve.
A cord. See Cord, n., 4.
The upper or lower part of a truss, usually horizontal, resisting compression or tension.
choregraphy ::: n. --> The art of representing dancing by signs, as music is represented by notes.
chorister ::: n. --> One of a choir; a singer in a chorus.
One who leads a choir in church music.
church modes ::: --> The modes or scales used in ancient church music. See Gregorian.
citole ::: n. --> A musical instrument; a kind of dulcimer.
clarichord ::: n. --> A musical instrument, formerly in use, in form of a spinet; -- called also manichord and clavichord.
clef ::: n. --> A character used in musical notation to determine the position and pitch of the scale as represented on the staff.
cocus wood ::: --> A West Indian wood, used for making flutes and other musical instruments.
colorature ::: n. --> Vocal music colored, as it were, by florid ornaments, runs, or rapid passages.
colorless ::: a. --> Without color; not distinguished by any hue; transparent; as, colorless water.
Free from any manifestation of partial or peculiar sentiment or feeling; not disclosing likes, dislikes, prejudice, etc.; as, colorless music; a colorless style; definitions should be colorless.
Compact Disc Read-Only Memory "storage" (CD-ROM) A {non-volatile} optical data storage medium using the same physical format as audio {compact discs}, readable by a computer with a CD-ROM drive. CD-ROM is popular for distribution of large databases, software and especially {multimedia} {applications}. The maximum capacity is about 600 megabytes. A CD can store around 640 {megabytes} of data - about 12 billion bytes per pound weight. CD-ROM drives are rated with a speed factor relative to music CDs (1x or 1-speed which gives a data transfer rate of 150 {kilobytes} per second). 12x drives were common in April 1997. Above 12x speed, there are problems with vibration and heat. {Constant angular velocity} (CAV) drives give speeds up to 20x but due to the nature of CAV the actual throughput increase over 12x is less than 20/12. 20x was thought to be the maximum speed due to mechanical constraints but on 1998-02-24, {Samsung Electronics} introduced the SCR-3230, a 32x CD-ROM drive which uses a ball bearing system to balance the spinning CD-ROM in the drive to reduce noise. CD-ROM drives may connect to an {IDE} interface, a {SCSI} interface or a propritary interface, of which there are three - Sony, Panasonic, and Mitsumi. Most CD-ROM drives can also play audio CDs. There are several formats used for CD-ROM data, including {Green Book CD-ROM}, {White Book CD-ROM} and {Yellow Book CD-ROM}. {ISO 9660} defines a standard {file system}, later extended by {Joliet}. See also {Compact Disc Recordable}, {Digital Versatile Disc}. {Byte, February 1997 (http://byte.com/art/9702/sec17/art5.htm)}. (2006-09-25)
composer ::: n. --> One who composes; an author. Specifically, an author of a piece of music.
One who, or that which, quiets or calms; one who adjusts a difference.
composer ::: one who composes, especially a person who composes music.
composition ::: n. --> The act or art of composing, or forming a whole or integral, by placing together and uniting different things, parts, or ingredients.
The invention or combination of the parts of any literary work or discourse, or of a work of art; as, the composition of a poem or a piece of music.
The art or practice of so combining the different parts of a work of art as to produce a harmonious whole; also, a work
concertina ::: n. --> A small musical instrument on the principle of the accordion. It is a small elastic box, or bellows, having free reeds on the inside, and keys and handles on the outside of each of the two hexagonal heads.
concert ::: v. t. --> To plan together; to settle or adjust by conference, agreement, or consultation.
To plan; to devise; to arrange.
Agreement in a design or plan; union formed by mutual communication of opinions and views; accordance in a scheme; harmony; simultaneous action.
Musical accordance or harmony; concord.
A musical entertainment in which several voices or
Confucius taught that "it is man that can make truth great, and not truth that can make man great." Consequently he emphasized moral perfection, true manhood (jen), moral order (li) the Golden Mean (Chung Yung) and the superior man (chun tzu). To this end, knowledge must be directed, names must be rectified (cheng ming), and social relationships harmonized (wu lun). The whole program involved the investigation of things, the extension of knowledge, sincerity of the will, rectification of the heart, cultivation of the personal life, regulation of family life, national order, and finally, world peace. Mencius (371-289 B.C.) carried this further, holding that we not only should be good, but must be good, as human nature is originally good. True manhood (jen) and righteousness (i) are considered man's mind and path, respectively. Government must be established on the basis of benevolence (jen cheng) as against profit and force. Hsun Tzu (c 335-c 288 B.C.) believing human nature to be evil, stressed moral accumulation and education, especially through the rectification of names, music, and the rule of propriety (li). In the book of Chung Yung (Central Harmony, the Golden Mean, third or fourth century B.C.), the doctrine of central harmony is set forth. Our central self or moral being is conceived to be the great basis of existence and harmony or moral order is the universal law in the world. From then on, the relationship between man and the universe became one of direct correspondence. The idea of macrocosmos-rnicrocosmos relationship largely characterized the Confucianism of medieval China. The most glorious development of Confucianism is found in Neo-Confucianism, from the eleventh century to this day. For a summary of medieval Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism, see Chinese philosophy. -- W.T.C.
consequence ::: “ Karma is nothing but the will of the Spirit in action, consequence nothing but the creation of will. What is in the will of being, expresses itself in karma and consequence. When the will is limited in mind, karma appears as a bondage and a limitation, consequence as a reaction or an imposition. But when the will of the being is infinite in the spirit, karma and consequence become instead the joy of the creative spirit, the construction of the eternal mechanist, the word and drama of the eternal poet, the harmony of the eternal musician, the play of the eternal child.” Essays in Philosophy and Yoga
conservatoire ::: n. --> A public place of instruction in any special branch, esp. music and the arts. [See Conservatory, 3].
consort ::: n. --> One who shares the lot of another; a companion; a partner; especially, a wife or husband.
A ship keeping company with another.
Concurrence; conjunction; combination; association; union.
An assembly or association of persons; a company; a group; a combination.
Harmony of sounds; concert, as of musical instruments.
contralto ::: n. --> The part sung by the highest male or lowest female voices; the alto or counter tenor.
the voice or singer performing this part; as, her voice is a contralto; she is a contralto. ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to a contralto, or to the part in music
copyright ::: n. --> The right of an author or his assignee, under statute, to print and publish his literary or artistic work, exclusively of all other persons. This right may be had in maps, charts, engravings, plays, and musical compositions, as well as in books. ::: v. t. --> To secure a copyright on.
corybant ::: n. --> One of the priests of Cybele in Phrygia. The rites of the Corybants were accompanied by wild music, dancing, etc.
counterpoint ::: n. --> An opposite point
The setting of note against note in harmony; the adding of one or more parts to a given canto fermo or melody
The art of polyphony, or composite melody, i. e., melody not single, but moving attended by one or more related melodies.
Music in parts; part writing; harmony; polyphonic music. See Polyphony.
A coverlet; a cover for a bed, often stitched or
counter tenor ::: --> One of the middle parts in music, between the tenor and the treble; high tenor.
courant ::: a. --> Represented as running; -- said of a beast borne in a coat of arms. ::: p. pr. --> A piece of music in triple time; also, a lively dance; a coranto.
A circulating gazette of news; a newspaper.
creation ::: 1. The act or process of creating, esp. the universe as thus brought into being by God. 2. Something that has been brought into existence or created, esp. a product of human intelligence or imagination, as a work of art, music, etc. creation"s, creations, half-creations, **self-creation.
crescendo ::: a. & adv. --> With a constantly increasing volume of voice; with gradually increasing strength and fullness of tone; -- a direction for the performance of music, indicated by the mark, or by writing the word on the score. ::: n. --> A gradual increase in the strength and fullness of tone
crescendo ::: music. A gradual increase, especially in the volume or intensity of sound in a passage.
cricket ::: n. --> An orthopterous insect of the genus Gryllus, and allied genera. The males make chirping, musical notes by rubbing together the basal parts of the veins of the front wings.
A low stool.
A game much played in England, and sometimes in America, with a ball, bats, and wickets, the players being arranged in two contesting parties or sides.
A small false roof, or the raising of a portion of a roof,
crotalo ::: n. --> A Turkish musical instrument.
crotcheted ::: a. --> Marked or measured by crotchets; having musical notation.
crowth ::: n. --> An ancient musical instrument. See 4th Crowd.
C
Dance: The art of following musical rhythm with the movement of the human body. It is considered the most elementary art because the product is not detached from the body of the artist. -- L.V.
dance ::: v. i. --> To move with measured steps, or to a musical accompaniment; to go through, either alone or in company with others, with a regulated succession of movements, (commonly) to the sound of music; to trip or leap rhythmically.
To move nimbly or merrily; to express pleasure by motion; to caper; to frisk; to skip about.
The leaping, tripping, or measured stepping of one who dances; an amusement, in which the movements of the persons are
Darms "language, music" A music language. ["The Darms Project: A Status Report", R.F. Erickson, Computers and the Humanities 9(6):291-298 (June 1975)]. (1995-05-12)
decachordon ::: n. --> An ancient Greek musical instrument of ten strings, resembling the harp.
Something consisting of ten parts.
descant ::: v. i. --> Originally, a double song; a melody or counterpoint sung above the plain song of the tenor; a variation of an air; a variation by ornament of the main subject or plain song.
The upper voice in part music.
The canto, cantus, or soprano voice; the treble.
A discourse formed on its theme, like variations on a musical air; a comment or comments.
To sing a variation or accomplishment.
diazeutic ::: a. --> Disjoining two fourths; as, the diazeutic tone, which, like that from F to G in modern music, lay between two fourths, and, being joined to either, made a fifth.
Digital Audio Tape "storage, music" (DAT) A format for storing music on magnetic tape, developed in the mid-1980s by {Sony} and {Philips}. As digital music was popularized by {compact discs}, the need for a digital recording format for the consumer existed. The problem is that digital music contains over 5 megabytes of data per minute before error correction and supplementary information. Before DAT, the only way to record digitally was to use a video or a reel-to-reel recorder. DAT uses a rotary-head (or "helical scan") format, where the read/write head spins diagonally across the tape like a video cassette recorder. Thus the proper name is "R-DAT", where "R" for rotary distinguishes it from "S-DAT", a stationary design that did not make it out of the laboratories. Studio reel-to-reel decks are able to use stationary heads because they can have wider tape and faster tape speeds, but for the desired small medium of DAT the rotary-head compromise was made despite the potential problems with more moving parts. Most DAT recorders appear to be a cross between a typical analog cassette deck and a {compact disc} player. In addition to the music, one can record subcode information such as the number of the track (so one can jump between songs in a certain order) or absolute time (counted from the beginning of the tape). The tape speed is much faster than a regular deck (one can rewind 30 minutes of music in 10-25 seconds), though not quite as fast as a compact disc player. DAT decks have both analog and digital inputs and outputs. DAT tapes have only one recordable side and can be as long 120 minutes. DAT defines the following recording modes with the following performance specifications... 2 channel 48KHz Sample rate, 16-bit linear encoding 120 min max. Frequency Response 2-22KHz (+-0.5dB) SN = 93 dB DR = 93 dB 2 channel 44.1Khz Sample rate, 16-bit linear encoding 120 min max Frequency Response 2-22KHz (+-0.5dB) SN = 93 dB DR = 93 dB 2 channel 32KHz Sample Rate, 12-bit non-linear encoding 240 min max Frequency Response 2-14.5KHz (+-0.5dB) SN = 92 dB DR = 92 dB 4 channel 32KHz (not supported by any deck) DAT is also used for recording computer data. Most computer DAT recorders use DDS format which is the same as audio DAT but they usually have completely different connectors and it is not always possible to read tapes from one system on the other. Computer tapes can be used in audio machines but are usually more expensive. You can record for two minutes on each metre of tape. (1995-02-09)
Digital Rights Management "legal" (DRM) Any technology used to limit the use of {software}, music, movies or other digital data. This generally relies on some interaction between the media and the system that plays it. For example, video {DVDs} usually include a {region code}. If this does not match the player's region code, the player will refuse to play the disc. (2006-02-02)
Digital Versatile Disc "storage" (DVD, formerly "Digital Video Disc") An optical storage medium with improved capacity and bandwidth compared with the {Compact Disc}. DVD, like CD, was initally marketed for entertainment and later for computer users. [When was it first available?] A DVD can hold a full-length film with up to 133 minutes of high quality video, in {MPEG-2} format, and audio. The first DVD drives for computers were read-only drives ("DVD-ROM"). These can store 4.7 GBytes - over seven times the storage capacity of CD-ROM. DVD-ROM drives read existing {CD-ROMs} and music CDs and are compatible with installed sound and video boards. Additionally, the DVD-ROM drive can read DVD films and modern computers can decode them in software in {real-time}. The DVD video standard was announced in November 1995. Matshusita did much of the early development but Philips made the first DVD player, which appeared in Japan in November 1996. In May 2004, Sony released the first dual-layer drive, which increased the disc capacity to 8.5 GB. Double-sided, dual-layer discs will eventually increase the capacity to 17 GB. Write-once DVD-R ("recordable") drives record a 3.9GB DVD-R disc that can be read on a DVD-ROM drive. Pioneer released the first DVD-R drive on 1997-09-29. By March 1997, {Hitachi} had released a rewritable DVD-RAM drive (by false analogy with {random-access memory}). DVD-RAM drives read and write to a 2.6 GB DVD-RAM disc, read and write-once to a 3.9GB DVD-R disc, and read a 4.7 GB or 8.5 GB DVD-ROM. Later, DVD-RAM discs could be read on DVD-R and DVD-ROM drives. {Background (http://tacmar.com/dvd_background.htm)}. {RCA home (http://imagematrix.com/DVD/home.html)}. (2006-01-07)
dirge ::: a. --> A piece of music of a mournful character, to accompany funeral rites; a funeral hymn.
discord ::: 1. An inharmonious combination of musical tones sounded together. 2. Lack of concord or harmony between persons or things. discords.
discordant ::: n. --> Disagreeing; incongruous; being at variance; clashing; opposing; not harmonious.
Dissonant; not in harmony or musical concord; harsh; jarring; as, discordant notes or sounds.
Said of strata which lack conformity in direction of bedding, either as in unconformability, or as caused by a fault.
discord ::: v. i. --> Want of concord or agreement; absence of unity or harmony in sentiment or action; variance leading to contention and strife; disagreement; -- applied to persons or to things, and to thoughts, feelings, or purposes.
Union of musical sounds which strikes the ear harshly or disagreeably, owing to the incommensurability of the vibrations which they produce; want of musical concord or harmony; a chord demanding resolution into a concord.
doctor ::: n. --> A teacher; one skilled in a profession, or branch of knowledge learned man.
An academical title, originally meaning a men so well versed in his department as to be qualified to teach it. Hence: One who has taken the highest degree conferred by a university or college, or has received a diploma of the highest degree; as, a doctor of divinity, of law, of medicine, of music, or of philosophy. Such diplomas may confer an honorary title only.
doloroso ::: a. & adv. --> Plaintive; pathetic; -- used adverbially as a musical direction.
do ::: n. --> A syllable attached to the first tone of the major diatonic scale for the purpose of solmization, or solfeggio. It is the first of the seven syllables used by the Italians as manes of musical tones, and replaced, for the sake of euphony, the syllable Ut, applied to the note C. In England and America the same syllables are used by mane as a scale pattern, while the tones in respect to absolute pitch are named from the first seven letters of the alphabet.
Deed; act; fear.
doric ::: a. --> Pertaining to Doris, in ancient Greece, or to the Dorians; as, the Doric dialect.
Belonging to, or resembling, the oldest and simplest of the three orders of architecture used by the Greeks, but ranked as second of the five orders adopted by the Romans. See Abacus, Capital, Order.
Of or relating to one of the ancient Greek musical modes or keys. Its character was adapted both to religions occasions and to war.
drumbeat ::: n. --> The sound of a beaten drum; drum music.
drum ::: n. --> An instrument of percussion, consisting either of a hollow cylinder, over each end of which is stretched a piece of skin or vellum, to be beaten with a stick; or of a metallic hemisphere (kettledrum) with a single piece of skin to be so beaten; the common instrument for marking time in martial music; one of the pair of tympani in an orchestra, or cavalry band.
Anything resembling a drum in form
A sheet iron radiator, often in the shape of a drum, for
dulcimer ::: n. --> An instrument, having stretched metallic wires which are beaten with two light hammers held in the hands of the performer.
An ancient musical instrument in use among the Jews. Dan. iii. 5. It is supposed to be the same with the psaltery.
dynamics ::: n. --> That branch of mechanics which treats of the motion of bodies (kinematics) and the action of forces in producing or changing their motion (kinetics). Dynamics is held by some recent writers to include statics and not kinematics.
The moving moral, as well as physical, forces of any kind, or the laws which relate to them.
That department of musical science which relates to, or treats of, the power of tones.
ear ::: n. --> The organ of hearing; the external ear.
The sense of hearing; the perception of sounds; the power of discriminating between different tones; as, a nice ear for music; -- in the singular only.
That which resembles in shape or position the ear of an animal; any prominence or projection on an object, -- usually one for support or attachment; a lug; a handle; as, the ears of a tub, a skillet, or dish. The ears of a boat are outside kneepieces near the
easter egg "jargon" (From the custom of the Easter Egg hunt observed in the US and many parts of Europe) 1. A message hidden in the {object code} of a program as a joke, intended to be found by persons disassembling or browsing the code. 2. A message, graphic, sound effect, or other behaviour emitted by a program (or, on an {IBM PC}, the {BIOS} {ROM}) in response to some undocumented set of commands or keystrokes, intended as a joke or to display program credits. One well-known early Easter egg found in a couple of {operating systems} caused them to respond to the command "make love" with "not war?". Many {personal computers}, and even satellite control computers, have much more elaborate eggs hidden in {ROM}, including lists of the developers' names (e.g. {Microsoft Windows} 3.1x), political exhortations and snatches of music. The {Tandy} Color Computer 3 ({CoCo}) had images of the entire development team. Microsoft {Excel} 97 includes a flight simulator! {(http://eeggs.com/)}. [{Jargon File}] (2003-06-23)
EMU8000 "multimedia, hardware, music" The "{Advanced WavEffect}" music synthesizer {integrated circuit} used on the {SB AWE32} card. The EMU8000 is a sub-system offering high quality music synthesis and an "effect {engine}" which provides musical effects like reverb and chorus to {MIDI} playback. The EMU8000 supports up to 32 voices, and the effect amount for each voice can be controlled via MIDI. (1996-12-15)
enchant ::: v. t. --> To charm by sorcery; to act on by enchantment; to get control of by magical words and rites.
To delight in a high degree; to charm; to enrapture; as, music enchants the ear.
enharmonical ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to that one of the three kinds of musical scale (diatonic, chromatic, enharmonic) recognized by the ancient Greeks, which consisted of quarter tones and major thirds, and was regarded as the most accurate.
Pertaining to a change of notes to the eye, while, as the same keys are used, the instrument can mark no difference to the ear, as the substitution of A/ for G/.
Pertaining to a scale of perfect intonation which
enliven ::: v. t. --> To give life, action, or motion to; to make vigorous or active; to excite; to quicken; as, fresh fuel enlivens a fire.
To give spirit or vivacity to; to make sprightly, gay, or cheerful; to animate; as, mirth and good humor enliven a company; enlivening strains of music.
euterpean ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to Euterpe or to music.
euterpe ::: --> The Muse who presided over music.
A genus of palms, some species of which are elegant trees.
executant ::: n. --> One who executes or performs; esp., a performer on a musical instrument.
execution ::: n. --> The act of executing; a carrying into effect or to completion; performance; achievement; consummation; as, the execution of a plan, a work, etc.
A putting to death as a legal penalty; death lawfully inflicted; as, the execution of a murderer.
The act of the mode of performing a work of art, of performing on an instrument, of engraving, etc.; as, the execution of a statue, painting, or piece of music.
extravaganza ::: n. --> A composition, as in music, or in the drama, designed to produce effect by its wild irregularity; esp., a musical caricature.
An extravagant flight of sentiment or language.
facture ::: n. --> The act or manner of making or doing anything; -- now used of a literary, musical, or pictorial production.
An invoice or bill of parcels.
fairylike ::: a. --> Resembling a fairy, or what is made or done be fairies; as, fairylike music.
fantasia ::: n. --> A continuous composition, not divided into what are called movements, or governed by the ordinary rules of musical design, but in which the author&
feep /feep/ 1. The soft electronic "bell" sound of a display terminal (except for a VT-52); a beep (in fact, the microcomputer world seems to prefer {beep}). 2. To cause the display to make a feep sound. ASR-33s (the original TTYs) do not feep; they have mechanical bells that ring. Alternate forms: {beep}, "bleep", or just about anything suitably onomatopoeic. (Jeff MacNelly, in his comic strip "Shoe", uses the word "eep" for sounds made by computer terminals and video games; this is perhaps the closest written approximation yet.) The term "breedle" was sometimes heard at SAIL, where the terminal bleepers are not particularly soft (they sound more like the musical equivalent of a raspberry or Bronx cheer; for a close approximation, imagine the sound of a Star Trek communicator's beep lasting for five seconds). The "feeper" on a VT-52 has been compared to the sound of a '52 Chevy stripping its gears. See also {ding}. [{Jargon File}]
fencepost error 1. (Rarely "lamp-post error") A problem with the discrete equivalent of a {boundary condition}, often exhibited in programs by iterative loops. From the following problem: "If you build a fence 100 feet long with posts 10 feet apart, how many posts do you need?" (Either 9 or 11 is a better answer than the obvious 10). For example, suppose you have a long list or array of items, and want to process items m through n; how many items are there? The obvious answer is n - m, but that is off by one; the right answer is n - m + 1. The "obvious" formula exhibits a fencepost error. See also {zeroth} and note that not all {off-by-one errors} are fencepost errors. The game of Musical Chairs involves a catastrophic off-by-one error where N people try to sit in N - 1 chairs, but it's not a fencepost error. Fencepost errors come from counting things rather than the spaces between them, or vice versa, or by neglecting to consider whether one should count one or both ends of a row. 2. (Rare) An error induced by unexpected regularities in input values, which can (for instance) completely thwart a theoretically efficient {binary tree} or {hash coding} implementation. The error here involves the difference between expected and worst case behaviours of an {algorithm}. [{Jargon File}] (1994-12-01)
fiasco ::: n. --> A complete or ridiculous failure, esp. of a musical performance, or of any pretentious undertaking.
fiddle ::: n. --> A stringed instrument of music played with a bow; a violin; a kit.
A kind of dock (Rumex pulcher) with fiddle-shaped leaves; -- called also fiddle dock.
A rack or frame of bars connected by strings, to keep table furniture in place on the cabin table in bad weather. ::: v. i.
fiddler ::: n. --> One who plays on a fiddle or violin.
A burrowing crab of the genus Gelasimus, of many species. The male has one claw very much enlarged, and often holds it in a position similar to that in which a musician holds a fiddle, hence the name; -- called also calling crab, soldier crab, and fighting crab.
The common European sandpiper (Tringoides hypoleucus); -- so called because it continually oscillates its body.
fife ::: n. --> A small shrill pipe, resembling the piccolo flute, used chiefly to accompany the drum in military music. ::: v. i. --> To play on a fife.
Fine Arts: Opposite of mechanical arts. Distinction of the arts whose principle is based on beauty (poetry, painting, sculpture, architecture, music). -- L.V.
fingering ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Finger ::: n. --> The act or process of handling or touching with the fingers.
The manner of using the fingers in playing or striking the keys of an instrument of music; movement or management of the
fipple ::: n. --> A stopper, as in a wind instrument of music.
flute ::: v. i. --> A musical wind instrument, consisting of a hollow cylinder or pipe, with holes along its length, stopped by the fingers or by keys which are opened by the fingers. The modern flute is closed at the upper end, and blown with the mouth at a lateral hole.
A channel of curved section; -- usually applied to one of a vertical series of such channels used to decorate columns and pilasters in classical architecture. See Illust. under Base, n.
To play on, or as on, a flute; to make a flutelike sound.
Formes "language, music" An {object-oriented} language for music composition and synthesis, written in {VLISP}. ["Formes: Composition and Scheduling of Processes", X. Rodet & P. Cointe, Computer Music J 8(3):32-50 (Fall 1984)]. (1996-06-24)
Form, logical: See Logic, formal. Forma: Latin noun meaning shape, figure, appearance, image; also plan, pattern, stamp, mould. As a philosophic term used by Cicero and Augustine in the sense of species, and similarly by Scotus Eriugena. Boethius and fhe mediaeval writers employed it in the Aristotelian sense of a constituent of being, synonymous with causa formalis. Generally speaking it is an intrinsic, determining, perfective principle of existence of any determinate essence. More strictly it is a forma substantialis, or that constitutive element of a substance which is the principle or source of its activity, and which determines it to a definite species, or class, and differentiates it from any other substance. It is distinguished from a forma accidentalis which confers a sort of secondary being on a substance already constituted in its proper species and determines it to one or other accidental mode, thus a man may become a musician. A forma corporeitatis is one by which a being is a body, on which its corporeal nature and essence depend and which is its principle of life. A forma non-subsistens or materialis is one whose existence depends on matter without which it cannot exist and be active. It is distinguished from a forma subsistens or immaterialis which can exist and act separately from matter. An immaterial form may be an incomplete substance, like the human soul, which is created to be united with a body to complete its own species, or a complete substance, a pure spirit, which is not destined to be united with matter to which it cannot communicate its being, hence it is also called a forma separata. -- J.J.R.
formula 1. In logic, a sequence of symbols representing terms, {predicates}, {connectives} and {quantifiers} which is either true or false. 2. "language, music" FORTH Music Language. An extension of {FORTH} with concurrent note-playing processes. Runs on {Macintosh} and {Atari ST} with {MIDI} output. ["Formula: A Programming Language for Expressive Computer Music", D.P. Anderson et al Computer 24(7):12 (Jul 1991)]. 3. Preprocessor language for the {Acorn Archimedes}, allowing inline high-level statements to be entered in an assembly program. Written in {nawk}.
Fugue "language, music" A music language implemented in {Xlisp}. ["Fugue: A Functional Language for Sound Synthesis", R.B. Dannenberg et al, Computer 24(7):36-41 (Jul 1991)]. (1994-12-01)
fuguist ::: n. --> A musician who composes or performs fugues.
gallopade ::: n. --> I horsemanship, a sidelong or curveting kind of gallop.
A kind of dance; also, music to the dance; a galop. ::: v. i. --> To gallop, as on horseback.
To perform the dance called gallopade.
galop ::: n. --> A kind of lively dance, in 2-4 time; also, the music to the dance.
gandharva (gandharva; gundharva) ::: a kind of supernatural being, traditionally a celestial musician, belonging to a world of beauty and enjoyment; in the evolutionary scale, a sub-type of the deva type, imparting grace and refinement to lower types with which it is combined. gandharva-pasu
gandharva ::: [Ved.]: Lord of the host of delight. [Later: a celestial musician].
Genres: Types of art to which special rules and independent developments were attributed. For example: in poetry -- epic, lyric, dramatic; in painting -- historic, portrait, landscape; in music -- oratorical, symphonic, operatic. -- L.V.
gittith ::: n. --> A musical instrument, of unknown character, supposed by some to have been used by the people of Gath, and thence obtained by David. It is mentioned in the title of Psalms viii., lxxxi., and lxxxiv.
gleeman ::: n. --> A name anciently given to an itinerant minstrel or musician.
glee ::: n. --> Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; paricularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast.
An unaccompanied part song for three or more solo voices. It is not necessarily gleesome.
gloria ::: n. --> A doxology (beginning Gloria Patri, Glory be to the Father), sung or said at the end of the Psalms in the service of the Roman Catholic and other churches.
A portion of the Mass (Gloria in Excelsis Deo, Glory be to God on high), and also of the communion service in some churches. In the Episcopal Church the version in English is used.
The musical setting of a gloria.
gradual ::: n. --> Proceeding by steps or degrees; advancing, step by step, as in ascent or descent or from one state to another; regularly progressive; slow; as, a gradual increase of knowledge; a gradual decline.
An antiphon or responsory after the epistle, in the Mass, which was sung on the steps, or while the deacon ascended the steps.
A service book containing the musical portions of the Mass.
Green Book CD-ROM A standard {CD-ROM} format developed by {Philips} for {CD-i}. It is {ISO 9660} compliant and uses mode 2 form 2 addressing. It can only be played on drives which are XA ({Extended Architecture}) compatible. Many Green Book discs contain {CD-i} applications which can only be played on a {CD-i} player but many others contain films or music videos. Video CDs in Green Book format are normally labelled "Digital Video on CD" Green Book was obsoleted by {White book CD-ROM} in March 1994. (1994-11-02)
guitar ::: n. --> A stringed instrument of music resembling the lute or the violin, but larger, and having six strings, three of silk covered with silver wire, and three of catgut, -- played upon with the fingers.
harmonic ::: a. --> Alt. of Harmonical ::: n. --> A musical note produced by a number of vibrations which is a multiple of the number producing some other; an overtone. See Harmonics.
harmonical ::: a. --> Concordant; musical; consonant; as, harmonic sounds.
Relating to harmony, -- as melodic relates to melody; harmonious; esp., relating to the accessory sounds or overtones which accompany the predominant and apparent single tone of any string or sonorous body.
Having relations or properties bearing some resemblance to those of musical consonances; -- said of certain numbers, ratios, proportions, points, lines. motions, and the like.
harmonica ::: n. --> A musical instrument, consisting of a series of hemispherical glasses which, by touching the edges with the dampened finger, give forth the tones.
A toy instrument of strips of glass or metal hung on two tapes, and struck with hammers.
harmonicon ::: n. --> A small, flat, wind instrument of music, in which the notes are produced by the vibration of free metallic reeds.
harmonics ::: n. --> The doctrine or science of musical sounds.
Secondary and less distinct tones which accompany any principal, and apparently simple, tone, as the octave, the twelfth, the fifteenth, and the seventeenth. The name is also applied to the artificial tones produced by a string or column of air, when the impulse given to it suffices only to make a part of the string or column vibrate; overtones.
harmonious ::: a. --> Adapted to each other; having parts proportioned to each other; symmetrical.
Acting together to a common end; agreeing in action or feeling; living in peace and friendship; as, an harmonious family.
Vocally or musically concordant; agreeably consonant; symphonious.
harmonist ::: n. --> One who shows the agreement or harmony of corresponding passages of different authors, as of the four evangelists.
One who understands the principles of harmony or is skillful in applying them in composition; a musical composer.
Alt. of Harmonite
harmonium ::: n. --> A musical instrument, resembling a small organ and especially designed for church music, in which the tones are produced by forcing air by means of a bellows so as to cause the vibration of free metallic reeds. It is now made with one or two keyboards, and has pedals and stops.
harmonize ::: v. i. --> To agree in action, adaptation, or effect on the mind; to agree in sense or purport; as, the parts of a mechanism harmonize.
To be in peace and friendship, as individuals, families, or public organizations.
To agree in vocal or musical effect; to form a concord; as, the tones harmonize perfectly.
harp ::: a usually large musical instrument which is held upright, and which has many strings of varying length which are plucked with the fingers. harp"s, harps.
harping ::: making a musical sound like that of a harp.
harp ::: n. --> A musical instrument consisting of a triangular frame furnished with strings and sometimes with pedals, held upright, and played with the fingers.
A constellation; Lyra, or the Lyre.
A grain sieve.
To play on the harp.
To dwell on or recur to a subject tediously or monotonously in speaking or in writing; to refer to something repeatedly or
harpsichord ::: n. --> A harp-shaped instrument of music set horizontally on legs, like the grand piano, with strings of wire, played by the fingers, by means of keys provided with quills, instead of hammers, for striking the strings. It is now superseded by the piano.
heavenly ::: a. --> Pertaining to, resembling, or inhabiting heaven; celestial; not earthly; as, heavenly regions; heavenly music.
Appropriate to heaven in character or happiness; perfect; pure; supremely blessed; as, a heavenly race; the heavenly, throng. ::: adv. --> In a manner resembling that of heaven.
He lived in the time when the moral and cultural traditions of Chou were in rapid decline. Attempting to uphold the Chou culture, he taught poetry, history, ceremonies and music to 3,000 pupils, becoming the first Chinese educator to offer education to any who cared to come with or without tuition. He taught literature, human conduct, being one's true self and honesty in social relationships. He wrote the chronicles called Spring and Autumn. His tacit judgments on social and political events were such that "unruly ministers and villainous sons were afraid" to repeat their evil deeds.
He severely disciplined himself and practiced what he taught. He loved poetry, ceremonies and music. He was serious, honest, polite, filially pious towards his mother, stern toward his son, and friendly to his pupils. His most reliable teachings are found in the Lun Yu (Analects), aphorisms recorded by his followers. -- W.T.C.
Hierarchical Music Specification Language "language, music" (HMSL) A programming language for experimental music composition and performance. It is a set of {object-oriented} extensions to {Forth}. (Its near-total unintelligibility to people unfamiliar with {Forth} has led some to expand "HMSL" as "Her Majesty's Secret Language".) Phil Burk (who also later developed {pForth}), Larry Polansky, and David Rosenboom started developing HMSL in 1980 while working at the {Mills College Center for Contemporary Music (http://mills.edu/LIFE/CCM/CCM.homepage.html)}. As of June 1998, development is ongoing. {(http://softsynth.com/hmsl/)}. (1998-09-07)
HMSL {Hierarchical Music Specification Language}
hornpipe ::: n. --> An instrument of music formerly popular in Wales, consisting of a wooden pipe, with holes at intervals. It was so called because the bell at the open end was sometimes made of horn.
A lively tune played on a hornpipe, for dancing; a tune adapted for such playing.
humstrum ::: n. --> An instrument out of tune or rudely constructed; music badly played.
hydraulicon ::: n. --> An ancient musical instrument played by the action of water; a water organ.
hylodes ::: n. --> The piping frog (Hyla Pickeringii), a small American tree frog, which in early spring, while breeding in swamps and ditches, sings with high, shrill, but musical, notes.
IBM 1620 "computer" A computer built by {IBM} and released in late 1959. The 1620 cost from around $85,000(?) up to hundreds of thousands of dollars(?) according to the configuration. It was billed as a "small scientific computer" to distinguish it from the business-oriented {IBM 1401}. It was regarded as inexpensive, and many schools started out with one. It was either developed for the US Navy to teach computing, or as a replacement for the very successful {IBM 650} which did quite well in the low end scientific market. Rumour has it that the Navy called this computer the CADET - Can't Add, Doesn't Even Try. The {ALU} used lookup tables to add, subtract and multiply but it could do address increments and the like without the tables. You could change the number base by adjusting the tables, which were input during the boot sequence from {Hollerith} cards. The divide instruction required additional hardware, as did {floating point} operations. The basic machine had 20,000 decimal digits of {ferrite core memory} arranged as a 100 by 100 array of 12-bit locations, each holding two digits. Each digit was stored as four numeric bits, one flag bit and one parity bit. The numeric bits stored a decimal digit (values above nine were illegal). Memory was logically divided into fields. On the high-order digit of a field the flag bit indicated the end of the field. On the low-order digit it indicated a negative number. A flag bit on the low order of the address indicated {indirect addressing} if you had that option installed. A few "illegal" bit combinations were used to store things like record marks and "numeric blanks". On a {subroutine} call it stored the {return address} in the five digits just before the entry point to the routine, so you had to build your own {stack} to do {recursion}. The enclosure was grey, and the core was about four or five inches across. The core memory was kept cool inside a temperature-controlled box. The machine took a few minutes to warm up after power on before you could use it. If it got too hot there was a thermal cut-out switch that would shut it down. Memory could be expanded up to 100,000 digits in a second cabinet. The cheapest package used {paper tape} for I/O. You could also get {punched cards} and later models could be hooked up to a 1311 {disk drive} (a two-{megabyte} {washing machine}), a 1627 {plotter}, and a 1443 {line printer}. Because the 1620 was popular with colleges, IBM ran a clearing house of software for a nominal cost such as {Snobol}, {COBOL}, chess games, etc. The model II, released about three years later, could add and subtract without tables. The {clock period} decreased from 20 to 10 microseconds, instruction fetch sped up by a few cycles and it added {index registers} of some sort. Some of the model I's options were standard on the model II, like {indirect addressing} and the {console} {teletype} changed from a model C to a {Selectric}. Later still, IBM marketed the {IBM 1710}. A favorite use was to tune a FM radio to pick up the "interference" from the lights on the console. With the right delay loops you could generate musical notes. Hackers wrote {interpreters} that played music from notation like "C44". {IBM 1620 console (img:/pub/misc/IBM1620-console.jpg)} 1620 consoles were used as props to represent {Colossus} in the film "The Forbin Project", though most of the machines had been scrapped by the time the film was made. {A fully configured 1620 (http://uranus.ee.auth.gr/TMTh/exhibit.htm)}. {IBM 1620 at Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA (/pub/misc/IBM1620-Tuck1960s.jpg)} (Thanks Victor E. McGee, pictured). ["Basic Programming Concepts and the IBM 1620 Computer", Leeson and Dimitry, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1962]. (2018-09-11)
immusical ::: a. --> Inharmonious; unmusical; discordant.
improvisation ::: n. --> The act or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously; as, improvisation on the organ.
That which is improvised; an impromptu.
Indian Aesthetics: Art in India is one of the most diversified subjects. Sanskrit silpa included all crafts, fine art, architecture and ornament, dancing, acting, music and even coquetry. Behind all these endeavors is a deeprooted sense of absolute values derived from Indian philosophy (q.v.) which teaches the incarnation of the divine (Krsna, Shiva, Buddha), the transitoriness of life (cf. samsara), the symbolism and conditional nature of the phenomenal (cf. maya). Love of splendour and exaggerated greatness, dating back to Vedic (q.v.) times mingled with a grand simplicity in the conception of ultimate being and a keen perception and nature observation. The latter is illustrated in examples of verisimilous execution in sculpture and painting, the detailed description in a wealth of drama and story material, and the universal love of simile. With an urge for expression associated itself the metaphysical in its practical and seemingly other-worldly aspects and, aided perhaps by the exigencies of climate, yielded the grotesque as illustrated by the cave temples of Ellora and Elephanta, the apparent barbarism of female ornament covering up all organic beauty, the exaggerated, symbol-laden representations of divine and thereanthropic beings, a music with minute subdivisions of scale, and the like. As Indian philosophy is dominated by a monistic, Vedantic (q.v.) outlook, so in Indian esthetics we can notice the prevalence of an introvert unitary, soul-centric, self-integrating tendency that treats the empirical suggestively and by way of simile, trying to stylize the natural in form, behavior, and expression. The popular belief in the immanence as well as transcendence of the Absolute precludes thus the possibility of a complete naturalism or imitation. The whole range of Indian art therefore demands a sharing and re-creation of absolute values glimpsed by the artist and professedly communicated imperfectly. Rules and discussions of the various aspects of art may be found in the Silpa-sastras, while theoretical treatments are available in such works as the Dasarupa in dramatics, the Nrtya-sastras in dancing, the Sukranitisara in the relation of art to state craft, etc. Periods and influences of Indian art, such as the Buddhist, Kushan, Gupta, etc., may be consulted in any history of Indian art. -- K.F.L.
inharmonious ::: a. --> Not harmonious; unmusical; discordant; dissonant.
Conflicting; jarring; not in harmony.
In its narrower meaning, the fine arts and literature. The problem of the distinction and classification of the arts originated with Lessing in reaction to the interference of poetical values in painting and vice versa. He distinguished poetry dealing with consecutive actions from painting concerned with figures coexisting in space. Later, aestheticians divided the arts into many classifications. Zimmermann, a pupil of Herbart, distinguished three groups: arts of material representation (architecture, sculpture, etc.), arts of perceptive representation (painting, music). arts of the representation of thought (poetry). This partition suggested to Fiedler the aesthetics of pure visibility, to Hanslick the aesthetics of pure musicality. And from Fiedler's idea was derived the so-called Science of Art independent of aesthetics. -- L.V.
instrumental ::: a. --> Acting as an instrument; serving as a means; contributing to promote; conductive; helpful; serviceable; as, he was instrumental in conducting the business.
Pertaining to, made by, or prepared for, an instrument, esp. a musical instrument; as, instrumental music, distinguished from vocal music.
Applied to a case expressing means or agency; as, the instrumental case. This is found in Sanskrit as a separate case, but in
instrumentalist ::: n. --> One who plays upon an instrument of music, as distinguished from a vocalist.
instrumentally ::: adv. --> By means of an instrument or agency; as means to an end.
With instruments of music; as, a song instrumentally accompanied.
instrumentation ::: n. --> The act of using or adapting as an instrument; a series or combination of instruments; means; agency.
The arrangement of a musical composition for performance by a number of different instruments; orchestration; instrumental composition; composition for an orchestra or military band.
The act or manner of playing upon musical instruments; performance; as, his instrumentation is perfect.
instrumentist ::: n. --> A performer on a musical instrument; an instrumentalist.
instrument ::: n. --> That by means of which any work is performed, or result is effected; a tool; a utensil; an implement; as, the instruments of a mechanic; astronomical instruments.
A contrivance or implement, by which musical sounds are produced; as, a musical instrument.
A writing, as the means of giving formal expression to some act; a writing expressive of some act, contract, process, as a deed, contract, writ, etc.
intension ::: n. --> A straining, stretching, or bending; the state of being strained; as, the intension of a musical string.
Increase of power or energy of any quality or thing; intenseness; fervency.
The collective attributes, qualities, or marks that make up a complex general notion; the comprehension, content, or connotation; -- opposed to extension, extent, or sphere.
interlude ::: n. --> A short entertainment exhibited on the stage between the acts of a play, or between the play and the afterpiece, to relieve the tedium of waiting.
A form of English drama or play, usually short, merry, and farcical, which succeeded the Moralities or Moral Plays in the transition to the romantic or Elizabethan drama.
A short piece of instrumental music played between the parts of a song or cantata, or the acts of a drama; especially, in
intermede ::: n. --> A short musical dramatic piece, of a light and pleasing, sometimes a burlesque, character; an interlude introduced between the acts of a play or an opera.
interpret ::: v. t. --> To explain or tell the meaning of; to expound; to translate orally into intelligible or familiar language or terms; to decipher; to define; -- applied esp. to language, but also to dreams, signs, conduct, mysteries, etc.; as, to interpret the Hebrew language to an Englishman; to interpret an Indian speech.
To apprehend and represent by means of art; to show by illustrative representation; as, an actor interprets the character of Hamlet; a musician interprets a sonata; an artist interprets a
". . . in the Veda, Lord of the hosts of delight; in later mythology, the Gandharvas are musicians of heaven, ‘beautiful, brave and melodious beings, the artists, musicians, poets and shining warriors of heaven". . . .” Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo"s Works ::: *Gandharvas.
“… in the Veda, Lord of the hosts of delight; in later mythology, the Gandharvas are musicians of heaven, ‘beautiful, braveand melodiousbeings, the artists, musicians, poets and shining warriors of heaven’….” Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo’s Works. Gandharvas
intonate ::: v. i. --> To thunder.
To sound the tones of the musical scale; to practice the sol-fa.
To modulate the voice in a musical, sonorous, and measured manner, as in reading the liturgy; to intone. ::: v. t.
intonation ::: n. --> A thundering; thunder.
The act of sounding the tones of the musical scale.
Singing or playing in good tune or otherwise; as, her intonation was false.
Reciting in a musical prolonged tone; intonating, or singing of the opening phrase of a plain-chant, psalm, or canticle by a single voice, as of a priest. See Intone, v. t.
intone ::: v. t. --> To utter with a musical or prolonged note or tone; to chant; as, to intone the church service. ::: v. i. --> To utter a prolonged tone or a deep, protracted sound; to speak or recite in a measured, sonorous manner; to intonate.
introit ::: n. --> A going in.
A psalm sung or chanted immediately before the collect, epistle, and gospel, and while the priest is entering within the rails of the altar.
A part of a psalm or other portion of Scripture read by the priest at Mass immediately after ascending to the altar.
An anthem or psalm sung before the Communion service.
Any composition of vocal music appropriate to the opening
jig ::: n. --> A light, brisk musical movement.
A light, humorous piece of writing, esp. in rhyme; a farce in verse; a ballad.
A piece of sport; a trick; a prank.
A trolling bait, consisting of a bright spoon and a hook attached.
A small machine or handy tool
A contrivance fastened to or inclosing a piece of work, and
Ju: Confucianists. Scholars who were versed in the six arts, namely, the rules of propriety, music, archery, charioteering, writing, and mathematics. Priest-teachers in the Chou period (1122-249 B.C.) who clung to the dying culture of Shang (1765-1122 B.C.), observed Shang rules of conduct, became specialists on social decorum and religious rites. --W.T.C. Ju chia: The Confucian School, which "delighted in the study of the six Classics and paid attention to matters concerning benevolence and righteousness. They regarded Yao and Shun (mythological emperors) as founders whose example is to be followed, King Wen (1184-1135 B.C.?) and King Wu (1121-1116 B.C.?) as illustrious examples, and honored Confucius (551-479 B.C.) as the exalted teacher to give authority to their teaching." "As to the forms of proper conduct which they set up for prince and minister, for father and son, or the distinctions they make between husband and wife and between old and young, in these not even the opposition of all other philosophers can make any change."
kaleidophone ::: --> An instrument invented by Professor Wheatstone, consisting of a reflecting knob at the end of a vibrating rod or thin plate, for making visible, in the motion of a point of light reflected from the knob, the paths or curves corresponding with the musical notes produced by the vibrations.
Kant, Immanuel: (1724-1804), born and died in Königsberg. Studied the Leibniz-Wolffian philosoohv under Martin Knutzen. Also studied and taught astronomy (see Kant-Laplace hypothesis), mechanics and theology. The influence of Newton's physics and Lockean psychology vied with his Leibnizian training. Kant's personal life was that of a methodic pedant, touched with Rousseauistic piety and Prussian rigidity. He scarcely travelled 40 miles from Königsberg in his life-time, disregarded music, had little esteem for women, and cultivated few friends apart from the Prussian officials he knew in Königsberg. In 1755, he became tutor in the family of Count Kayserling. In 1766, he was made under-librarian, and in 1770 obtained the chair of logic and metaphysics at the University of Königsberg. Heine has made classical the figure of Kant appearing for his daily walk with clock-like regularity. But his very wide reading compensated socially for his narrow range of travel, and made him an interesting coversationalist as well as a successful teacher. Kantianism: The philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804); also called variously, the critical philosophy, criticism, transcendentalism, or transcendental idealism. Its roots lay in the Enlightenment; but it sought to establish a comprehensive method and doctrine of experience which would undercut the rationalistic metaphysics of the 17th and 18th centuries. In an early "pre-critical" period, Kant's interest centered in evolutionary, scientific cosmology. He sought to describe the phenomena of Nature, organic as well as inorganic, as a whole of interconnected natural laws. In effect he elaborated and extended the natural philosophy of Newton in a metaphysical context drawn from Christian Wolff and indirectly from Leibniz.
kapelle ::: n. --> A chapel; hence, the choir or orchestra of a prince&
Kempen, Thomas Hemerken van: (1380-1471) Also called Thomas a Kempis, was born at Kempen in Holland, received his early education and instruction in music at the monastery of the Brethren of the Common Life, at Deventer. He attended no university but attained a high degree of spiritual development. His Imitation of Christ is one of the most famous, and most used, books of Catholic spiritual meditation; it has been printed in nearly all languages and is found in innumerable editions. There seems to be no valid reason for questioning his authorship of the work. -- V.J.B.
kent bugle ::: --> A curved bugle, having six finger keys or stops, by means of which the performer can play upon every key in the musical scale; -- called also keyed bugle, and key bugle.
Kindi: Of the tribe of Kindah, lived in Basra and Bagdad where he died 873. He is the first of the great Arabian followers of Aristotle whose influence is noticeable in Al Kindi's scientific and psychological doctrines. He wrote on geometry, astronomy, astrology, arithmetic, music (which he developed on arithmetical principles), physics, medicine, psychology, meteorology, politics. He distinguishes the active intellect from the passive which is actualized by the former. Discursive reasoning and demonstration he considers as achievements of a third and a fourth intellect. In ontology he seems to hypostasize the categories, of which he knows five: matter, form, motion, place, time, and which he calls primary substances. Al Kindi inaugurated the encyclopedic form of philosophical treatises, worked out more than a century later by Avicenna (q.v.). He also was the first to meet the violent hostility of the orthodox theologians but escaped persecution. A. Nagy, Die philos. Abhandlungen des Jacqub ben Ishaq al-Kindi, Beitr, z. Gesch. d. Phil. d. MA. 1897, Vol. II. -- R.A.
king ::: n. --> A Chinese musical instrument, consisting of resonant stones or metal plates, arranged according to their tones in a frame of wood, and struck with a hammer.
A chief ruler; a sovereign; one invested with supreme authority over a nation, country, or tribe, usually by hereditary succession; a monarch; a prince.
One who, or that which, holds a supreme position or rank; a chief among competitors; as, a railroad king; a money king; the king of
krumhorn ::: n. --> A reed instrument of music of the cornet kind, now obsolete (see Cornet, 1, a.). ::: a. --> A reed stop in the organ; -- sometimes called cremona.
kussier ::: n. --> (Mus.) A Turkish instrument of music, with a hollow body covered with skin, over which five strings are stretched.
la ::: n. --> A syllable applied to the sixth tone of the scale in music in solmization.
The tone A; -- so called among the French and Italians. ::: interj. --> Look; see; behold; -- sometimes followed by you.
An exclamation of surprise; -- commonly followed by me;
laud ::: v. i. --> High commendation; praise; honor; exaltation; glory.
A part of divine worship, consisting chiefly of praise; -- usually in the pl.
Music or singing in honor of any one.
To praise in words alone, or with words and singing; to celebrate; to extol.
leader ::: n. --> One who, or that which, leads or conducts; a guide; a conductor.
One who goes first.
One having authority to direct; a chief; a commander.
A performer who leads a band or choir in music; also, in an orchestra, the principal violinist; the one who plays at the head of the first violins.
A block of hard wood pierced with suitable holes for
levite ::: n. --> One of the tribe or family of Levi; a descendant of Levi; esp., one subordinate to the priests (who were of the same tribe) and employed in various duties connected with the tabernacle first, and afterward the temple, such as the care of the building, bringing of wood and other necessaries for the sacrifices, the music of the services, etc.
A priest; -- so called in contempt or ridicule.
libretto ::: n. --> A book containing the words of an opera or extended piece of music.
The words themselves.
lines ::: Relatively independent streams or capacities that proceed through levels of development. Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences is one example of the study of developmental lines. There is evidence for over a dozen developmental lines, including cognitive, moral, self-identity, aesthetic, kinesthetic, linguistic, musical, and mathematical. Integral Theory generally classifies these lines according to one of three types: cognitive lines (as studied by Jean Piaget, Robert Kegan, Kurt Fischer, etc.); selfrelated lines (e.g., morals, self-identity, needs, etc.); and capacities or talents (e.g., musical capacity, kinesthetic capacity, introspective capacity). Cognitive development is necessary but not sufficient for development in the self-related lines and appears to be necessary for most of the capacities.
Li: Propriety; code of proper conduct; rules of social contact; good manners; etiquett; mores; rituals; rites; ceremonials. In Confucius, it aims at true manhood (jen) through self-mastery, and central harmony (ho). "Propriety regulates and refines human feelings, giving them due allowance, so as to keep the people within bounds." It is "to determine human relationships, to settle suspicions and doubts, to distinguish similarity and difference, and to ascertain right and wrong." "The rules of propriety are rooted in Heaven, have their correspondences in Earth, and are applicable to spiritual beings." "Music unites, while rituals differentiate. . . . Music comes from the inside, while rituals come from the outside. Because music comes from the inside, it is characterized by quiet and calm. And because rituals come from the outside, they are characterized by formalism. . . . Truly great music shares the principles of harmony with the universe, and truly great ritualism shares the principles of distinction with the universe. Through the principles of harmony, order is restored in the physical world, and through the principles of distinction, we are enabled to offer sacrifices to Heaven and Earth. . . . Music expresses the harmony of the universe, while rituals express the order of the universe. Through harmony all things are influenced, and through order all things have a proper place. Music rises from Heaven, while rituals are patterned on Earth. . . ." (Early Confucianism.) "The code of propriety has three sources: Heaven and Earth gave birth to it -- this is a source; our ancestors made it fit the situation -- this is a source; the princes and teachers formed it -- this is a source." (Hsun Tzu, c 335-c 238 B.C.) -- W.T.C.
lituus ::: n. --> A curved staff used by the augurs in quartering the heavens.
An instrument of martial music; a kind of trumpet of a somewhat curved form and shrill note.
A spiral whose polar equation is r2/ = a; that is, a curve the square of whose radius vector varies inversely as the angle which the radius vector makes with a given line.
loco ::: adv. --> A direction in written or printed music to return to the proper pitch after having played an octave higher. ::: n. --> A plant (Astragalus Hornii) growing in the Southwestern United States, which is said to poison horses and cattle, first making them insane. The name is also given vaguely to several other species of
lover ::: n. --> One who loves; one who is in love; -- usually limited, in the singular, to a person of the male sex.
A friend; one strongly attached to another; one who greatly desires the welfare of any person or thing; as, a lover of his country.
One who has a strong liking for anything, as books, science, or music.
Alt. of Lovery
lute ::: a stringed musical instrument having a long, fretted neck and a hollow, typically pear-shaped body with a vaulted back.
lydian ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to Lydia, a country of Asia Minor, or to its inhabitants; hence, soft; effeminate; -- said especially of one of the ancient Greek modes or keys, the music in which was of a soft, pathetic, or voluptuous character.
lyre ::: a musical instrument of ancient Greece consisting of a sound box made typically from a turtle shell, with two curved arms connected by a yoke from which strings are stretched to the body, used especially to accompany singing and recitation. lyres.
lyre ::: n. --> A stringed instrument of music; a kind of harp much used by the ancients, as an accompaniment to poetry.
One of the constellations; Lyra. See Lyra.
lyric ::: 1. Having the form and musical quality of a song. 2. Characterized by or expressing direct feeling. 3. A high and light singing voice. 4. Often plural, the words of a song.
lyrist ::: 1. Music. One who plays a lyre. 2. A lyric poet.
lyrist ::: n. --> A musician who plays on the harp or lyre; a composer of lyrical poetry.
maestoso ::: a. & adv. --> Majestic or majestically; -- a direction to perform a passage or piece of music in a dignified manner.
maestro ::: n. --> A master in any art, especially in music; a composer.
manductor ::: n. --> A conductor; an officer in the ancient church who gave the signal for the choir to sing, and who beat time with the hand, and regulated the music.
mangle ::: v. t. --> To cut or bruise with repeated blows or strokes, making a ragged or torn wound, or covering with wounds; to tear in cutting; to cut in a bungling manner; to lacerate; to mutilate.
To mutilate or injure, in making, doing, or pertaining; as, to mangle a piece of music or a recitation. ::: n.
manuscript ::: a. --> Written with or by the hand; not printed; as, a manuscript volume.
A literary or musical composition written with the hand, as distinguished from a printed copy.
Writing, as opposed to print; as, the book exists only in manuscript.
maqui ::: n. --> A Chilian shrub (Aristotelia Maqui). Its bark furnishes strings for musical instruments, and a medicinal wine is made from its berries.
marimba ::: n. --> A musical istrument of percussion, consisting of bars yielding musical tones when struck.
martial ::: a. --> Of, pertaining to, or suited for, war; military; as, martial music; a martial appearance.
Practiced in, or inclined to, war; warlike; brave.
Belonging to war, or to an army and navy; -- opposed to civil; as, martial law; a court-martial.
Pertaining to, or resembling, the god, or the planet, Mars.
Pertaining to, or containing, iron; chalybeate; as,
mass ::: n. --> The sacrifice in the sacrament of the Eucharist, or the consecration and oblation of the host.
The portions of the Mass usually set to music, considered as a musical composition; -- namely, the Kyrie, the Gloria, the Credo, the Sanctus, and the Agnus Dei, besides sometimes an Offertory and the Benedictus.
A quantity of matter cohering together so as to make one body, or an aggregation of particles or things which collectively make
matinee ::: n. --> A reception, or a musical or dramatic entertainment, held in the daytime. See SoirEe.
mavis ::: n. --> The European throstle or song thrush (Turdus musicus).
mazurka ::: n. --> A Polish dance, or the music which accompanies it, usually in 3-4 or 3-8 measure, with a strong accent on the second beat.
measure ::: n. 1. A unit of standard of measurement. 2. The extent, quantity, dimensions, etc. of (something), ascertained esp. by comparison with a standard. 3. Bounds or limits. 4. A definite or known quality or quantity measured out. 5. A short rhythmical movement or arrangement, as in poetry or music. measures. *v. 6. To determine the size, amount, etc. 7. To estimate the relative amount, value, etc., of, by comparison with some standard. 8. To travel or move over as if measuring. *measured, measuring.
melisma ::: n. --> A piece of melody; a song or tune, -- as opposed to recitative or musical declamation.
A grace or embellishment.
melodeon ::: n. --> A kind of small reed organ; -- a portable form of the seraphine.
A music hall.
melodics ::: n. --> The department of musical science which treats of the pitch of tones, and of the laws of melody.
melodiograph ::: n. --> A contrivance for preserving a record of music, by recording the action of the keys of a musical instrument when played upon.
melodious ::: a. --> Containing, or producing, melody; musical; agreeable to the ear by a sweet succession of sounds; as, a melodious voice.
melodrama ::: n. --> Formerly, a kind of drama having a musical accompaniment to intensify the effect of certain scenes. Now, a drama abounding in romantic sentiment and agonizing situations, with a musical accompaniment only in parts which are especially thrilling or pathetic. In opera, a passage in which the orchestra plays a somewhat descriptive accompaniment, while the actor speaks; as, the melodrama in the gravedigging scene of Beethoven&
melody ::: 1. Musical sounds in agreeable succession or arrangement. 2. The succession of single tones in musical compositions, as distinguished from harmony and rhythm. melodies, far-melodied.
melody ::: n. --> A sweet or agreeable succession of sounds.
A rhythmical succession of single tones, ranging for the most part within a given key, and so related together as to form a musical whole, having the unity of what is technically called a musical thought, at once pleasing to the ear and characteristic in expression.
The air or tune of a musical piece.
metronome ::: n. --> An instrument consisting of a short pendulum with a sliding weight. It is set in motion by clockwork, and serves to measure time in music.
MIDI {Musical Instrument Digital Interface}
Mini Disc "storage, music" A music medium designed by {Sony} as a portable replacement for music {Compact Discs}. In 1994 Sony announced a data version which can hold 140 MB or about 100 MB using {error correction}. These will be competitive with 128 MB {magneto-optical} disks. Mini Discs may be either a re-writable or mass-produced read-only type. Sony have also announced a standard data format. The transfer rate is similar to {CD-ROM} which is slow compared to the current {magneto-optical} drives (which are similar to an old hard disk, with writing noticeably slower than reading). Pre-recorded read-only Mini Discs can be mass manufactured on a modified CD press - this and the standard format mean it could take off as a software distribution medium. An article in the December 1994 PCW quotes {access times} of about 300 ms and data transfer rate of about 150 kb/s (i.e. about single spin CD rate). (1994-12-13)
minnesinger ::: n. --> A love-singer; specifically, one of a class of German poets and musicians who flourished from about the middle of the twelfth to the middle of the fourteenth century. They were chiefly of noble birth, and made love and beauty the subjects of their verses.
mino bird ::: --> An Asiatic bird (Gracula musica), allied to the starlings. It is black, with a white spot on the wings, and a pair of flat yellow wattles on the head. It is often tamed and taught to pronounce words.
minstrel ::: n. --> In the Middle Ages, one of an order of men who subsisted by the arts of poetry and music, and sang verses to the accompaniment of a harp or other instrument; in modern times, a poet; a bard; a singer and harper; a musician.
minstrelsy ::: n. --> The arts and occupation of minstrels; the singing and playing of a minstrel.
Musical instruments.
A collective body of minstrels, or musicians; also, a collective body of minstrels&
miserere ::: n. --> The psalm usually appointed for penitential acts, being the 50th psalm in the Latin version. It commences with the word miserere.
A musical composition adapted to the 50th psalm.
A small projecting boss or bracket, on the under side of the hinged seat of a church stall (see Stall). It was intended, the seat being turned up, to give some support to a worshiper when standing. Called also misericordia.
Mo chia: The School of Mo Tzu (Moh Tzu, Mo Ti, between 500 and 396 B.C.) and his followers. This utilitarian and scientific minded philosopher, whose doctrines are embodied in Mo Tzu, advocated: "benefit" (li), or the promotion of general welfare and removal of evil, through the increase of population and of benevolence and righteousness toward this practical objective, the elimination of war, and the suppression of wasteful musical events and elaborate funerals; "universal love" (chien ai), or treating others, their families, and their countries as one's own, to the end that the greatest amount of benefit will be realized; agreement with the superiors (shang t'ung); a method of reasoning which involves a foundation, a survey, and application (san piao); the belief in Heaven and the spirits both as a religious sanction of governmental measures and as an effective way of promotion of peace and welfare. For the development of his teachings by his followers, see Mo che. -- W.T.C.
mod 1. "filename extension, application, file format, music" (module) The filename extension for a sampled music file format that originated on the {Commodore} {Amiga}. A .MOD file is composed of digitised sound samples, arranged in patterns to create a song. There are .MOD players for most {personal computers} including {Amiga}, {Archimedes}, {IBM PC}, and {Macintosh}. An {IBM PC} will require a {sound card} capable of handling digitised samples ({Sound Blaster}, {Sound Blaster Pro}, {GUS}) and slower {Intel 80386}-based PCs may not be able to do anything else while playing a module. .MOD files differ from .MID ({MIDI}) files in that they contain sound samples. This allows each song to use different sounds but it also puts more load on the {CPU} than playing a MIDI file, since more data must be processed for each note. A slow CPU would benefit from a sound card with {wavetable synthesis} which handles samples instead of the CPU. Module files come in various formats including .MOD. Formats evolved from .MOD include .S3M, .FAR and .669. Most contain improvements on .MODs. {(http://eskimo.com/~future/mods.htm)}. 2. "jargon" modify or modification. This abbreviation is very common - in fact the full terms are considered formal. "Mods" is used especially with reference to bug fixes or minor design changes in hardware or software, most especially with respect to {patch} sets or a {diff}. 3. "programming" A common name for the {modulo} operator. (1999-07-14)
modulate ::: v. t. --> To form, as sound, to a certain key, or to a certain portion.
To vary or inflect in a natural, customary, or musical manner; as, the organs of speech modulate the voice in reading or speaking. ::: v. i.
modulation ::: n. --> The act of modulating, or the state of being modulated; as, the modulation of the voice.
Sound modulated; melody.
A change of key, whether transient, or until the music becomes established in the new key; a shifting of the tonality of a piece, so that the harmonies all center upon a new keynote or tonic; the art of transition out of the original key into one nearly related, and so on, it may be, by successive changes, into a key quite remote.
Mohammedanism: The commonly applied term in the Occident to the religion founded by Mohammed. It sought to restore the indigenous monotheism of Arabia, Abraham's uncorrupted religion. Its essential dogma is the belief in the absolute unity of Allah. Its chief commandments are: profession of faith, ritual prayer, the payment of the alms tax, fasting and the pilgrimage. It has no real clerical caste, no church organization, no liturgy, and rejects monasticism. Its ascetic attitude is expressed in warnings against woman, in prohibition of nudity and of construction of splendid buildings except the house of worship; condemns economic speculation; praises manual labor and poverty; prohibits music, wine and pork, and the portrayal of living beings. -- H.H.
monochord ::: n. --> An instrument for experimenting upon the mathematical relations of musical sounds. It consists of a single string stretched between two bridges, one or both of which are movable, and which stand upon a graduated rule for the purpose of readily changing and measuring the length of the part of the string between them.
monodical ::: a. --> Belonging to a monody.
For one voice; monophonic.
Homophonic; -- applied to music in which the melody is confined to one part, instead of being shared by all the parts as in the style called polyphonic.
mood ::: n. --> Manner; style; mode; logical form; musical style; manner of action or being. See Mode which is the preferable form).
Manner of conceiving and expressing action or being, as positive, possible, hypothetical, etc., without regard to other accidents, such as time, person, number, etc.; as, the indicative mood; the infinitive mood; the subjunctive mood. Same as Mode.
Temper of mind; temporary state of the mind in regard to passion or feeling; humor; as, a melancholy mood; a suppliant mood.
motive ::: n. 1. An emotion, desire, physiological need, or similar impulse that acts as an incitement to action. motives. adj. **2. Of or constituting an incitement to action. 3. In art, literature and music: A motif (a recurring subject, theme, idea). motived, motiveless. v. 4. To incite; motivate. motives.**
mouthpiece ::: n. --> The part of a musical or other instrument to which the mouth is applied in using it; as, the mouthpiece of a bugle, or of a tobacco pipe.
An appendage to an inlet or outlet opening of a pipe or vessel, to direct or facilitate the inflow or outflow of a fluid.
One who delivers the opinion of others or of another; a spokesman; as, the mouthpiece of his party.
Moxie "language, music" A language for {real-time} computer music synthesis, written in {XPL}. ["Moxie: A Language for Computer Music Performance", D. Collinge, Proc Intl Computer Music Conf, Computer Music Assoc 1984, pp.217-220]. (1994-12-05)
MPEG-1 audio layer 3 "music, file format" (MP3) A {digital audio} {compression algorithm} that acheives a compression factor of about twelve while preserving sound quality. It does this by optimising the compression according to the range of sound that people can actually hear. MP3 is currently (July 1999) the most powerful algorithm in a series of audio encoding standards developed under the sponsorship of the {Moving Picture Experts Group} (MPEG) and formalised by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). MP3 is very different from Layer 2, using an additional {MDCT} layer to increase frequency resolution. Its scale factor groups are more optimised for the human ear, and it uses nonlinear {sample quantisation} and {Huffman coding}. MP3 files ({filename extension} ".mp3") can be downloaded from many {website}s and can be played using software available for most {operating systems} (also downloadable), e.g. Winamp for {PC}, MacAmp for {Macintosh}, and mpeg123 for {Unix}. MP3 files are usually downloaded completely before playing but {streaming} MP3 is also possible. A program called a "ripper" can be used to copy a selection from a music {CD} onto your {hard disk} and another program called an encoder can convert it to an MP3 file. (2001-12-04)
MUCAL "language, music" A language for playing music on the {PDP-8}. (1995-04-16)
musical ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to music; having the qualities of music; or the power of producing music; devoted to music; melodious; harmonious; as, musical proportion; a musical voice; musical instruments; a musical sentence; musical persons. ::: n. --> Music.
musicale ::: n. --> A social musical party.
musically ::: adv. --> In a musical manner.
musicalness ::: n. --> The quality of being musical.
musician ::: n. --> One skilled in the art or science of music; esp., a skilled singer, or performer on a musical instrument.
music ::: n. --> The science and the art of tones, or musical sounds, i. e., sounds of higher or lower pitch, begotten of uniform and synchronous vibrations, as of a string at various degrees of tension; the science of harmonical tones which treats of the principles of harmony, or the properties, dependences, and relations of tones to each other; the art of combining tones in a manner to please the ear.
Melody; a rhythmical and otherwise agreeable succession of tones.
music of the spheres.
musicomania ::: n. --> A kind of monomania in which the passion for music becomes so strong as to derange the intellectual faculties.
musomania ::: n. --> See Musicomania.
MuTeX "tool, music" An extension of {TeX} for typesetting music. {(ftp://nic.stolaf.edu/pub/mutex/MuTeX.tar.Z)}. (1995-02-06)
National Information Infrastructure "project" (NII, or "{information superhighway}") Future integrated communications in the USA. The NII will be based on a nationwide network of networks, and will supposedly allow all Americans to take advantage of the country's information, communication, and computing resources. The NII will include current and future public and private high-speed, interactive, {narrow-band} and {broadband} networks. It is the satellite, terrestrial, and wireless communications systems that deliver content to homes, businesses, and other public and private institutions. It is the information and content that flows over the infrastructure whether in the form of {databases}, the written word, a film, a piece of music, a sound recording, a picture, or computer software. It is the computers, televisions, telephones, radios, and other products that people will employ to access the infrastructure. It is the people who will provide, manage, and generate new information, and those that will help others do the same. And it is the individual Americans who will use and benefit from the NII. The NII is a term that encompasses all these components and captures the vision of a nationwide, invisible, seamless, dynamic web of transmission mechanisms, information appliances, content, and people. {(http://sunsite.unc.edu/nii/NII-Table-of-Contents.html)}. (1995-04-08)
nehiloth ::: n. pl. --> A term supposed to mean, perforated wind instruments of music, as pipes or flutes.
neophilia /nee"oh-fil"-ee-*/ The trait of being excited and pleased by novelty. Common among most hackers, SF fans, and members of several other connected leading-edge subcultures, including the pro-technology "Whole Earth" wing of the ecology movement, space activists, many members of Mensa, and the Discordian/neo-pagan underground. All these groups overlap heavily and (where evidence is available) seem to share characteristic hacker tropisms for science fiction, music, and oriental food. The opposite tendency is "neophobia". [{Jargon File}] (1999-06-04)
nocturne ::: n. --> A night piece, or serenade. The name is now used for a certain graceful and expressive form of instrumental composition, as the nocturne for orchestra in Mendelsohn&
no-gestures ::: the gestures or movements of a classical drama of Japan, with music and dance performed in a highly stylised manner by elaborately dressed performers on an almost bare stage.
noise ::: n. --> Sound of any kind.
Especially, loud, confused, or senseless sound; clamor; din.
Loud or continuous talk; general talk or discussion; rumor; report.
Music, in general; a concert; also, a company of musicians; a band. ::: v. i.
numerous ::: a. --> Consisting of a great number of units or individual objects; being many; as, a numerous army.
Consisting of poetic numbers; rhythmical; measured and counted; melodious; musical.
oat ::: n. --> A well-known cereal grass (Avena sativa), and its edible grain; -- commonly used in the plural and in a collective sense.
A musical pipe made of oat straw.
ode ::: n. --> A short poetical composition proper to be set to music or sung; a lyric poem; esp., now, a poem characterized by sustained noble sentiment and appropriate dignity of style.
odeon ::: n. --> A kind of theater in ancient Greece, smaller than the dramatic theater and roofed over, in which poets and musicians submitted their works to the approval of the public, and contended for prizes; -- hence, in modern usage, the name of a hall for musical or dramatic performances.
opera ::: n. --> A drama, either tragic or comic, of which music forms an essential part; a drama wholly or mostly sung, consisting of recitative, arials, choruses, duets, trios, etc., with orchestral accompaniment, preludes, and interludes, together with appropriate costumes, scenery, and action; a lyric drama.
The score of a musical drama, either written or in print; a play set to music.
The house where operas are exhibited.
operetta ::: n. --> A short, light, musical drama.
opus ::: n. --> A work; specif. (Mus.), a musical composition.
oratorio ::: n. --> A more or less dramatic text or poem, founded on some Scripture nerrative, or great divine event, elaborately set to music, in recitative, arias, grand choruses, etc., to be sung with an orchestral accompaniment, but without action, scenery, or costume, although the oratorio grew out of the Mysteries and the Miracle and Passion plays, which were acted.
Performance or rendering of such a composition.
orchestra ::: a group of performers on various musical instruments, playing music as symphonies, operas, or other musical compositions. orchestral.
orchestra ::: n. --> The space in a theater between the stage and the audience; -- originally appropriated by the Greeks to the chorus and its evolutions, afterward by the Romans to persons of distinction, and by the moderns to a band of instrumental musicians.
The place in any public hall appropriated to a band of instrumental musicians.
Loosely: A band of instrumental musicians performing in a theater, concert hall, or other place of public amusement.
orchestration ::: n. --> The arrangement of music for an orchestra; orchestral treatment of a composition; -- called also instrumentation.
orchestrion ::: n. --> A large music box imitating a variety of orchestral instruments.
oriole ::: n. --> Any one of various species of Old World singing birds of the family Oriolidae. They are usually conspicuously colored with yellow and black. The European or golden oriole (Oriolus galbula, or O. oriolus) has a very musical flutelike note.
In America, any one of several species of the genus Icterus, belonging to the family Icteridae. See Baltimore oriole, and Orchard oriole, under Orchard.
orlo ::: n. --> A wind instrument of music in use among the Spaniards.
orotund ::: a. --> Characterized by fullness, clearness, strength, and smoothness; ringing and musical; -- said of the voice or manner of utterance. ::: n. --> The orotund voice or utterance
orphean ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to Orpheus, the mythic poet and musician; as, Orphean strains.
orpheus ::: n. --> The famous mythic Thracian poet, son of the Muse Calliope, and husband of Eurydice. He is reputed to have had power to entrance beasts and inanimate objects by the music of his lyre.
oscines ::: n. pl. --> Singing birds; a group of the Passeres, having numerous syringeal muscles, conferring musical ability.
padrone ::: n. --> A patron; a protector.
The master of a small coaster in the Mediterranean.
A man who imports, and controls the earnings of, Italian laborers, street musicians, etc.
pandore ::: n. --> An ancient musical instrument, of the lute kind; a bandore.
pantomime ::: n. --> A universal mimic; an actor who assumes many parts; also, any actor.
One who acts his part by gesticulation or dumb show only, without speaking; a pantomimist.
A dramatic representation by actors who use only dumb show; hence, dumb show, generally.
A dramatic and spectacular entertainment of which dumb acting as well as burlesque dialogue, music, and dancing by Clown,
parquet ::: n. --> A body of seats on the floor of a music hall or theater nearest the orchestra; but commonly applied to the whole lower floor of a theater, from the orchestra to the dress circle; the pit.
Same as Parquetry.
peg ::: n. --> A small, pointed piece of wood, used in fastening boards together, in attaching the soles of boots or shoes, etc.; as, a shoe peg.
A wooden pin, or nail, on which to hang things, as coats, etc. Hence, colloquially and figuratively: A support; a reason; a pretext; as, a peg to hang a claim upon.
One of the pins of a musical instrument, on which the strings are strained.
pentachord ::: n. --> An ancient instrument of music with five strings.
An order or system of five sounds.
phenomenon ::: n. --> An appearance; anything visible; whatever, in matter or spirit, is apparent to, or is apprehended by, observation; as, the phenomena of heat, light, or electricity; phenomena of imagination or memory.
That which strikes one as strange, unusual, or unaccountable; an extraordinary or very remarkable person, thing, or occurrence; as, a musical phenomenon.
philharmonic ::: a. --> Loving harmony or music.
philomusical ::: a. --> Loving music. [R.]Busby.
phonoscope ::: n. --> An instrument for observing or exhibiting the motions or properties of sounding bodies; especially, an apparatus invented by Konig for testing the quality of musical strings.
An instrument for producing luminous figures by the vibrations of sounding bodies.
phrasing ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Phrase ::: n. --> Method of expression; association of words.
The act or method of grouping the notes so as to form distinct musical phrases.
pianoforte ::: a. --> A well-known musical instrument somewhat resembling the harpsichord, and consisting of a series of wires of graduated length, thickness, and tension, struck by hammers moved by keys.
pibroch ::: n. --> A Highland air, suited to the particular passion which the musician would either excite or assuage; generally applied to those airs that are played on the bagpipe before the Highlanders when they go out to battle.
PILE 1. Polytechnic's Instructional Language for Educators. Similar in use to an enhanced PILOT, but structurally more like Pascal with Awk-like associative arrays (optionally stored on disk). Distributed to about 50 sites by Initial Teaching Alphabet Foundation for Apple II and CP/M. ["A Universal Computer Aided Instruction System," Henry G. Dietz & Ronald J Juels, Proc Natl Educ Computing Conf '83, pp.279-282]. 2. "language, music" ["PILE _ A Language for Sound Synthesis", P. Berg, Computer Music Journal 3.1, 1979]. (1999-06-04)
pipe ::: n. --> A wind instrument of music, consisting of a tube or tubes of straw, reed, wood, or metal; any tube which produces musical sounds; as, a shepherd&
piping ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Pipe ::: v. --> Playing on a musical pipe.
Peaceful; favorable to, or characterized by, the music of the pipe rather than of the drum and fife.
Emitting a high, shrill sound.
Pla "language, music" A high-level music programming language, written in {SAIL}. Pla includes {concurrency} based on {message passing}. ["Pla: A Composer's Idea of a Language", B. Schottstaedt, Computer Music J 7(1):11-20, Winter 1983]. (1999-06-04)
player ::: n. --> One who plays, or amuses himself; one without serious aims; an idler; a trifler.
One who plays any game.
A dramatic actor.
One who plays on an instrument of music.
A gamester; a gambler.
PLAY "language, music" A language for {real-time} music synthesis. 1977. ["An Introduction to the Play Program", J. Chadabe ete al, Computer Music J 2,1 (1978)]. (1999-06-04)
play ::: n. --> To engage in sport or lively recreation; to exercise for the sake of amusement; to frolic; to spot.
To act with levity or thoughtlessness; to trifle; to be careless.
To contend, or take part, in a game; as, to play ball; hence, to gamble; as, he played for heavy stakes.
To perform on an instrument of music; as, to play on a flute.
To act; to behave; to practice deception.
polychord ::: a. --> Having many strings. ::: n. --> A musical instrument of ten strings.
An apparatus for coupling two octave notes, capable of being attached to a keyed instrument.
potpourri ::: n. --> A medley or mixture.
A ragout composed of different sorts of meats, vegetables, etc., cooked together.
A jar or packet of flower leaves, perfumes, and spices, used to scent a room.
A piece of music made up of different airs strung together; a medley.
A literary production composed of parts brought together
pricksong ::: v. t. --> Music written, or noted, with dots or points; -- so called from the points or dots with which it is noted down.
proficiency ::: n. --> The quality of state of being proficient; advance in the acquisition of any art, science, or knowledge; progression in knowledge; improvement; adeptness; as, to acquire proficiency in music.
proficient ::: n. --> One who has made considerable advances in any business, art, science, or branch of learning; an expert; an adept; as, proficient in a trade; a proficient in mathematics, music, etc. ::: a. --> Well advanced in any branch of knowledge or skill; possessed of considerable acquirements; well-skilled; versed; adept,
psalmist ::: n. --> A writer or composer of sacred songs; -- a title particularly applied to David and the other authors of the Scriptural psalms.
A clerk, precentor, singer, or leader of music, in the church.
psaltery ::: n. --> A stringed instrument of music used by the Hebrews, the form of which is not known.
publish ::: v. t. --> To make public; to make known to mankind, or to people in general; to divulge, as a private transaction; to promulgate or proclaim, as a law or an edict.
To make known by posting, or by reading in a church; as, to publish banns of marriage.
To send forth, as a book, newspaper, musical piece, or other printed work, either for sale or for general distribution; to print, and issue from the press.
pulsatile ::: a. --> Capable of being struck or beaten; played by beating or by percussion; as, a tambourine is a pulsatile musical instrument.
Pulsating; throbbing, as a tumor.
purfling ::: n. --> Ornamentation on the border of a thing; specifically, the inlaid border of a musical instrument, as a violin.
quadrille ::: n. --> A dance having five figures, in common time, four couples of dancers being in each set.
The appropriate music for a quadrille.
A game played by four persons with forty cards, being the remainder of an ordinary pack after the tens, nines, and eights are discarded.
Quadrivium: (Lat. quatuor, and viae, four ways) The second, and more advanced group of liberal arts studies in the middle ages, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music. -- V.J.B.
quadrivium ::: n. --> The four "liberal arts," arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy; -- so called by the schoolmen. See Trivium.
quartette ::: n. --> A composition in four parts, each performed by a single voice or instrument.
The set of four person who perform a piece of music in four parts.
A stanza of four lines.
quaver ::: v. i. --> To tremble; to vibrate; to shake.
Especially, to shake the voice; to utter or form sound with rapid or tremulous vibrations, as in singing; also, to trill on a musical instrument ::: v. t. --> To utter with quavers.
quill ::: n. --> One of the large feathers of a bird&
quintette ::: n. --> A composition for five voices or instruments; also, the set of five persons who sing or play five-part music.
quirk ::: n. --> A sudden turn; a starting from the point or line; hence, an artful evasion or subterfuge; a shift; a quibble; as, the quirks of a pettifogger.
A fit or turn; a short paroxysm; a caprice.
A smart retort; a quibble; a shallow conceit.
An irregular air; as, light quirks of music.
A piece of ground taken out of any regular ground plot or floor, so as to make a court, yard, etc.; -- sometimes written quink.
raga ::: 1. liking, attraction. ::: 2. [in Indian classical music, a particular mode or order of sound or formula].
RealAudio "tool, communications" A program from {Real Media} for playing {audio} over the {Internet}, and the {lossy} audio compression format it uses. The system is implemented as a {client/server} architecture. The RealAudio server incorporates an {encoder} which compresses sound into RealAudio files. The client side is a {web browser} {plug-in} or {add-on} (a recent version of {Internet Explorer} apparently has built-in support for RealAudio) which allows the stream of data sent from the server to be uncompressed and output using the normal sound facilities of the computer, such as a {sound card}. A 14.4 {KBps} or better {modem} is required, and a 28.8 KBps connection is recommended for music-quality sound. {(http://realaudio.com/)}. (2001-12-13)
recitative ::: n. --> A species of musical recitation in which the words are delivered in a manner resembling that of ordinary declamation; also, a piece of music intended for such recitation; -- opposed to melisma. ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to recitation; intended for musical recitation or declamation; in the style or manner of recitative.
reel ::: n. --> A lively dance of the Highlanders of Scotland; also, the music to the dance; -- often called Scotch reel.
A frame with radial arms, or a kind of spool, turning on an axis, on which yarn, threads, lines, or the like, are wound; as, a log reel, used by seamen; an angler&
regular ::: a. --> Conformed to a rule; agreeable to an established rule, law, principle, or type, or to established customary forms; normal; symmetrical; as, a regular verse in poetry; a regular piece of music; a regular verb; regular practice of law or medicine; a regular building.
Governed by rule or rules; steady or uniform in course, practice, or occurence; not subject to unexplained or irrational variation; returning at stated intervals; steadily pursued; orderlly; methodical; as, the regular succession of day and night; regular
requiem ::: n. --> A mass said or sung for the repose of a departed soul.
Any grand musical composition, performed in honor of a deceased person.
Rest; quiet; peace.
resonance ::: n. --> The act of resounding; the quality or state of being resonant.
A prolongation or increase of any sound, either by reflection, as in a cavern or apartment the walls of which are not distant enough to return a distinct echo, or by the production of vibrations in other bodies, as a sounding-board, or the bodies of musical instruments.
resonator ::: n. --> Anything which resounds; specifically, a vessel in the form of a cylinder open at one end, or a hollow ball of brass with two apertures, so contrived as to greatly intensify a musical tone by its resonance. It is used for the study and analysis of complex sounds.
rhythm ::: 1. Procedure marked by the regular recurrence of particular elements, phases, etc.; flow, pulse, cadence. 2. Regular recurrence of elements in a system of motion. 3. Music. The pattern of regular or irregular pulses caused in music by the occurrence of strong and weak melodic and harmonic beats. 4. Measured movement, as in dancing. 5. Physiol. The regular recurrence of an action of function, as of the beat of the heart. 6. The arrangement of words into a more or less regular sequence of stressed and unstressed or long and short syllables. 7. Pros. Metrical or rhythmical form; metre; a particular kind of metrical form or metrical movement. rhythms, rhythm-beats, fire-rhythm, jewel-rhythm, world-rhythms. (Sri Aurobindo also employs rhythms as a v., rhythmed as a v. and an adj., and rhythming as a v. and an adj.)
Rhythm: (a) Harmonious correlation of parts in a work of art. (b) (Music) Systematic grouping of notes according to duration. -- L.V.
rhythmics ::: n. --> The department of musical science which treats of the length of sounds.
rhythm ::: n. --> In the widest sense, a dividing into short portions by a regular succession of motions, impulses, sounds, accents, etc., producing an agreeable effect, as in music poetry, the dance, or the like.
Movement in musical time, with periodical recurrence of accent; the measured beat or pulse which marks the character and expression of the music; symmetry of movement and accent.
A division of lines into short portions by a regular
rhythmometer ::: n. --> An instrument for marking time in musical movements. See Metronome.
ridotto ::: n. --> A favorite Italian public entertainment, consisting of music and dancing, -- held generally on fast eves. ::: v. i. --> To hold ridottos.
rigoll ::: n. --> A musical instrument formerly in use, consisting of several sticks bound together, but separated by beads, and played with a stick with a ball at its end.
ripcording "audio" (From "{ripping}" and "recording") Encoding {streaming} {digital audio} from the {Internet} to an {MP3} file or similar. Ripcording is commononly used to copy commercial music from a free stream instead of paying to download. (2006-01-27)
rosin ::: n. --> The hard, amber-colored resin left after distilling off the volatile oil of turpentine; colophony. ::: v. t. --> To rub with rosin, as musicians rub the bow of a violin.
sacrist ::: n. --> A sacristan; also, a person retained in a cathedral to copy out music for the choir, and take care of the books.
sama, sema ::: turning; revolving; a spiritual concert or zikr accompanied by music and sometimes turning (whirling)
saraswati ::: n. --> The sakti or wife of Brahma; the Hindoo goddess of learning, music, and poetry.
save "editor, programming, storage" To copy {data} to a more permanent form of storage. The term is commonly used for when some kind of document editing {application program} writes the current document from {RAM} to a {file} on {hard disk} at the request of the user. The implication is that the user might later {load} the file back into the editor again to view it, print it, or continue editing it. Saving a document makes it safe from the effects of power failure. The "document" might actually be anything, e.g. a {word processor} document, the current state of a game, a piece of music, a {website}, or a memory image of some program being executed (though the term "dump" would probably be more common here). Data can be saved to any kind of (writable) storage: hard disk, {floppy disk}, {CD-R}; either locally or via a {network}. A program might save its data without any explicit user request, e.g. periodically as a precaution ("auto save"), or if it forms part of a {pipeline} of processes which pass data via intermediate files. In the latter case the term suggests all data is written in a single operation whereas "output" might be a continuous flow, in true pipeline fashion. When copying several files from one storage medium to another, the terms "backup", "dump", or "archive" would be used rather than "save". The term "store" is similar to "save" but typically applies to copying a single item of data, e.g. a number, from a {processor}'s {register} to {RAM}. A "save" operation saves the document in its native format, e.g. a proprietary word processor format, whereas "save as" (or "export") saves the same data in a different format, e.g. a {plain text} file. (2002-06-07)
SB AWE32 "multimedia, music, hardware" A standard {SB16 MultiCD} {sound card} with the {EMU8000} "Advanced WavEffect" music synthesizer {integrated circuit}. The card includes all the standard SB16 features as well as the {Advanced Signal Processor} and multiple interfaces supporting {Creative}, {Mitsumi} and {Sony} {CD-ROM} drives. The EMU8000 comes integrated with 1MB of {General MIDI} samples and 512kB of {DRAM} for additional sample downloading. It can address up to 28 MB of external DRAM. The SB AWE32 supports General MIDI, Roland GS, and Sound Canvas MT-32 {emulation}. (1996-12-16)
scabrous ::: a. --> Rough to the touch, like a file; having small raised dots, scales, or points; scabby; scurfy; scaly.
Fig.: Harsh; unmusical.
schottische ::: n. --> A Scotch round dance in 2-4 time, similar to the polka, only slower; also, the music for such a dance; -- not to be confounded with the Ecossaise.
score ::: 1. Any account showing indebtedness. Mus. 2. The written form of a composition for orchestral or vocal parts; the notation of a musical work.
selah ::: n. --> A word of doubtful meaning, occuring frequently in the Psalms; by some, supposed to signify silence or a pause in the musical performance of the song.
semiring ::: n. --> One of the incomplete rings of the upper part of the bronchial tubes of most birds. The semerings form an essential part of the syrinx, or musical organ, of singing birds.
septette ::: n. --> A set of seven persons or objects; as, a septet of singers.
A musical composition for seven instruments or seven voices; -- called also septuor.
sequencer "music" Any system for recording and/or playback of music via a programmable memory which stores music not as audio data, but as some representation of notes. The most common modern usage of "sequencer" is to refer to systems (whether in software, or as a feature of devices like synthesizers or drum machines) that deal with {MIDI} data. (1999-06-04)
serenade ::: n. --> Music sung or performed in the open air at nights; -- usually applied to musical entertainments given in the open air at night, especially by gentlemen, in a spirit of gallantry, under the windows of ladies.
A piece of music suitable to be performed at such times. ::: v. t.
serenate ::: n. --> A piece of vocal music, especially one on an amoreus subject; a serenade.
sestet ::: n. --> A piece of music composed for six voices or six instruments; a sextet; -- called also sestuor.
The last six lines of a sonnet.
shawm ::: n. --> A wind instrument of music, formerly in use, supposed to have resembled either the clarinet or the hautboy in form.
siciliano ::: n. --> A Sicilian dance, resembling the pastorale, set to a rather slow and graceful melody in 12-8 or 6-8 measure; also, the music to the dance.
sightsman ::: n. --> One who reads or performs music readily at first sight.
sign ::: n. 1. An act or gesture used to convey an idea, a desire, information, or a command. 2. Any object, action, event, pattern, etc., that conveys a meaning. 3. A mark used to mean something; a symbol that sets something apart from others of its kind. 4. Something that indicates or acts as a token of a fact, condition, etc., that is not immediately or outwardly observable. 5. A signal. 6. A conventional figure or device that stands for a word, phrase, or operation; a symbol, as in mathematics or in musical notation. 7. A displayed structure such as a banner bearing lettering or symbols. 8. An act or significant event that is experienced as indication of divine intervention. 9. A portent of things to come. Sign, sign"s, signs, signless, sign-burdened, flame-signs. v. 10. To affix one"s signature to. 11. To indicate by or as if by a sign; betoken. signs, signed, signing.
silvery ::: a. --> Resembling, or having the luster of, silver; grayish white and lustrous; of a mild luster; bright.
Besprinkled or covered with silver.
Having the clear, musical tone of silver; soft and clear in sound; as, silvery voices; a silvery laugh.
Sinclair Research "company" A British microelectronics developer and manufacturer. Evolving from Sinclair Radionics in 1979, Sinclair Research was owned by Sir {Clive Sinclair}. Sinclair Radionics produced electronic components and devices (such as calculators and pocket radios and televisions), but Sinclair Research began by producing some of the first {8-bit} home {microcomputers}. Sinclair produced five microcomputers from 1980 to 1987, all based on the {Zilog Z80} {microprocessor} (except for the {QL}, which used the {Motorola 68008} - a variant on the {68000}). The 1K kit-build {ZX80}, introduced in 1980, was followed by the 1K {ZX81} (expandable to 16K) in 1981, the 16K (expandable to 48K) {ZX Spectrum} in 1982 (then superseded by two distinct 48K models and a 128K model in 1986) and the {QL} (Quantum Leap) in 1984. A portable {laptop computer}, the {Z88}, was released in 1987 under the {Cambridge Computers} banner. Of them all, the ZX Spectrum was the best known, and it went on to become the most popular microcomputer of its time in the United Kingdom and in many other territories. This was partly due to its ease of use, and also due to its enormous {software} catalogue, covering games, {word processing}, music, {programming} and {graphics}. Glorious "mine's-better-than-yours" battles were fought (and still are today) between owners of Spectrums and {Commodore 64s} over who had the best machine. Sir Clive's financial problems in the mid-80s led him to sell the rights to the Sinclair brand to {Amstrad} in April 1986. This led to further models of the Spectrum being released from 1986 to 1988 and also an {IBM} {PC}-compatible based internally on Amstrad's own PC range. Sir Clive was not involved with the production of these computers, and no computer with the Sinclair name has been produced since. {(http://sinclair-research.co.uk/)}. {Planet Sinclair (http://nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/)}. {comp.sys.sinclair FAQ (http://kendalls.demon.co.uk/cssfaq/)}. (1998-12-09)