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Waveform

A waveform is the visual shape of an audio signal over time.

Level relevance: introduced at Nat 3; tagged for every later level where the same concept remains useful.

Explanation

A waveform shows changes in an audio signal over time. In a DAW, louder sounds usually appear with greater amplitude, while quieter sounds appear smaller. Looking at a waveform can help identify edits, transients, fades, clipped peaks, or silent sections. It is useful visually, but decisions should still be made by listening carefully.

Topics

AudioEditingSound theory

Curriculum statussupporting vocabulary

Review statusdraft

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Related terms

Audio

Audio is recorded sound stored as a waveform rather than as performance instructions.

View term

Amplitude

Amplitude is the size of a sound wave and relates to how loud it appears.

View term

Frequency

Frequency refers to how fast a sound wave vibrates and is heard as pitch.

View term

Clipping

Clipping happens when a signal is too loud and the peaks are cut off, causing distortion.

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