music composed of two or more equally important melodic lines A round (such as "Row, Row Your Boat") is an example of polyphonic music Polyphony is used almost synonymously with the term, "counterpoint "
When an instrument is able to play more than one note at a time, it is said to be polyphonic Pianos, organs, and guitars are all polyphonic instruments Most electronic instruments have a limit to the number of notes they can play simultaneously, and this is referred to as the polyphony of the device For example, a device which can sound up to 30 independant note is said to be 30 note polyphonic
having two or more independent but harmonically related melodic parts sounding together of or relating to or characterized by polyphony; "polyphonic traditions of the baroque"
Capable of playing more than one note at the same time The 01 is 32-note polyphonic You can polyphony to 64 notes by connecting two 01s together (see the Note Receive parameter)
Capable of producing more than one note at a time All synthesizers place a limit on how many voices of polyphony are available General MIDI-compliant synthesizers are required to provide 24 voices of polyphony Compare with multitimbral
When discussing musical instruments, the ability to play more than one note simultaneously All instruments have a finite number of notes they can produce at one time For example, a six string guitar has a maximum of 6-note polyphony A synthesizer might be 32-note polyphonic, and so on The more notes of polyphony an instrument can produce, the more capable it is of playing complex arrangements and chords If the polyphony of the instrument is exceeded, it must "steal" the notes it needs from others that are already sounding For example, a synthesizer might steal the last note requested from the first one hit; the first note stops, and the new one begins to sound Some synths and samplers use sophisticated algorithms for voice stealing, others allow you to pre-allocate a given number of voices to a particular MIDI channel, and so on
Consisting of several tone series, or melodic parts, progressing simultaneously according to the laws of counterpoint; contrapuntal; as, a polyphonic composition; opposed to homophonic, or monodic
From the Greek meaning "many voices " Describes a musical composition built from the simultaneous interweaving of different melodic lines into a single whole Compare monophonic
Music in which the composer pays particular attentio the melodic value of each part, as opposed to "homophonic" where the melody consists of chordal accompaniment