Attack and release | Sound basics

The amplitude envelope sets the volume of each note over time. Its first and last stages decide whether a sound is sharp or soft.

Short notes, long gaps

Try a long Attack, then a long Release.

Waveform: two cycles of the sound

Spectrum: low to high frequencies

Volume envelope (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release)

Drag the squares on the envelope, or turn the knobs: they move together.

Attack3 ms

Release150 ms

Open in TuttiDAW

Attack is the time from pressing a key to full volume. A few milliseconds is instant, like a drum or a pluck. Hundreds of milliseconds and the note swells in, like a bowed string.

Release is how long the note fades after the key is let go. Short releases leave gaps of silence; long ones let notes ring into each other.