HigherAdvanced Higher
ADSR envelope
An ADSR envelope shapes how a sound starts, changes, sustains, and ends.
Also called: Attack decay sustain release envelope
Level relevance: introduced at Higher; tagged for every later level where the same concept remains useful.
Explanation
ADSR stands for attack, decay, sustain, and release. These stages control how a synthesised or sampled sound develops over time, from the initial start of the note through to the way it fades after the key or trigger is released.
Topics
SynthesisMIDISound design
Curriculum statusofficial concept
Review statusdraft
Sources
- Higher Music Technology course specification, May 2023, version 3.0 · accessed 2026-07-08
Used for Higher technology skills, technology concepts, and music concepts.