Noun: modulation ,mó-ju'ley-shun [N. Amer], ,mód-yû'ley-shun [Brit]
- The act or process of varying or adjusting something in a controlled way
"Temperature modulation keeps the system stable"
- A manner of speaking in which the loudness, pitch or tone of the voice is modified
"The speaker's skilful modulation kept the audience engaged";
- inflection
- Rise and fall of the voice pitch
"The modulation of his voice indicated surprise";
- intonation, pitch contour, cadence
- A musical passage moving from one key to another
"The composer's skilful modulation smoothly shifted the piece from C major to G major";
- transition
- (electronics) the transmission of a signal by using it to vary a carrier wave; changing the carrier's amplitude, frequency or phase
"FM radio uses frequency modulation to transmit audio signals"
Derived forms: modulations
Type of: alteration, delivery, inflection, manner of speaking, musical passage, passage, prosody, revision, speech, transmission
Encyclopedia: Modulation