Tags

Explore our default tags here. There are many custom user-generated ones too, but these should give you a good start exploring what Sample Focus has to offer.

Type

  • Acoustic - Produced without electronics
  • Chord - Group of notes played together
  • Down Sweep/Fall - A transitional sound that descends in pitch and/or volume
  • Dry - Lack of reverberation or delay
  • Harmony - A chord progression
  • Loop - A repeating section of sound
  • Melody - A sequence of single notes
  • Mixed - More than 1 sound source or instrument
  • Monophonic - Only 1 musical note at a time
  • One Shot - A non-repeating stand alone sound
  • Polyphonic - More than 1 musical note at a time
  • Processed - Modified with effects
  • Progression - A progression of notes in a musical key or chord
  • Riser/Sweep - A transitional sound that rises in pitch and/or volume
  • Short - Short in duration
  • Wet - A reverberant sound, something with decay. Opposite of Dry.

Timbre

  • Bassy - Emphasized bass
  • Boomy - Excessive bass
  • Breathy - Audible breath sounds in instruments such as sax
  • Bright - Emphasizes high frequencies
  • Buzzy - Low, vibrating, humming sound, as of bees, machinery
  • Clean
  • Coarse/Harsh - Grating, abrasive, or crude in texture.
  • Cold - Depressing or dispiriting. Lacking in warmth of feeling.
  • Dark - A tonal balance that tilts downwards. Opposite of bright.
  • Delicate - Very fine in texture or structure
  • Detuned - Out of tune
  • Dissonant - Harsh and inharmonious in sound
  • Distorted
  • Exotic - Unusual and non-western in sound
  • Fat - Good bass, spacious sound. Strong fundamentals relative to harmonics
  • Full - Strong fundamentals relative to harmonics. Good low frequency response. Opposite of thin
  • Glitchy - Contains temporary sonic irregularity. Sounds like a malfunction.
  • Granular - Sounds like it consists of tiny sound granules
  • Gloomy - Dark and sad
  • Hard - Uncomfortable, forward, aggressive sound with a metallic tinge
  • High - A sound with primarily high frequencies
  • Hollow
  • Low - A sound with primarily low frequencies
  • Metallic
  • Muffled - Sounds like it is covered with a blanket. Weak highs
  • Muted - Quiet and soft
  • Narrow - Narrow stereo sound stage. Opposite of wide.
  • Noisy - Lacks a distinct tone or pitch
  • Round
  • Sharp - Piercing. Has sharp peaks in its frequency response between 3 to 10 kHz.
  • Shimmering - Bright and shiny
  • Sizzling - Hissing as if frying or cooking
  • Smooth - Easy on the ears, not harsh.
  • Soft - Pleasant and not sharp
  • Piercing - Hard on the ears, screechy
  • Thin - Fundamentals are weak relative to harmonics, light bass
  • Tinny - Sounds like it is coming through a telephone or tin can
  • Warm - Good bass, not thin
  • Wide - Wide stereo sound stage
  • Wooden

Articulation

  • Arpeggiated - A chord played as a series of ascending or descending notes.
  • Decaying
  • Echoing
  • Long Release - Taking a noticeable time to diminish to silence
  • Legato - Smooth and flowing notes without any breaks between them
  • Glissando/Glide - A continuous slide upward or downward between notes
  • Pad - A sustained chord or tone generated by a synthesizer, usually for background harmony or atmosphere
  • Percussive - As if made by striking. Immediate volume followed by a very fast and short decay in volume.
  • Pitch Bend - Pitch is bent as sounds is played
  • Plucked - Sounding like a stringed instrument that is played with fingers
  • Pulsating - Volume that increases and decreases with strong regular movements.
  • Punchy - Having powerful and fast initial impact
  • Randomized
  • Slow Attack - Slowly rising in volume as the sound plays
  • Sweep/Filter Mod
  • Staccato/Stabs - Short and detached musical notes or chords
  • Stuttered/Gated - Quick repetition of sound or rhythmic silence
  • Straight - Notes are played on time. Opposite of syncopated.
  • Sustained
  • Syncopated - displaced beats or accents
  • Uptempo - notes are played at a high speed
  • Wobble - has a filter wobble
  • Vibrato - regular, pulsating change of pitch

Character

  • Analog - Sampled from an analog electronic instrument
  • Compressed - Little change in volume throughout. Opposite of dynamic. Thick.
  • Digital - Sampled from an digital electronic instrument
  • Dynamic - Contrasts in volume both large and small
  • Loud - High volume throughout
  • Range - Noticeable distance between the lowest and highest notes
  • Female - Includes a female voice
  • Funky - Strong dance rhythm
  • Jazzy - Characterized by displaced beats or accents and a regular rhythm
  • Lo Fi - Low quality recording
  • Male - Includes a male voice
  • Quiet - Of low volume throughout
  • Vintage - Sounds from past generations of music
  • Vinyl - Sounds as if taken from a vinyl recording. Warm and gritty.

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Are we missing any good default tags? Send us an email to let us know!

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