monophonic
/ˌmɒnə(ʊ)ˈfɒnɪk
/adjective
1(Of sound reproduction) using only one channel of transmission. Compare with stereophonic.Over the past 50 years, audio has progressed rapidly from monophonic to stereophonic sound, followed by quadraphonic audio, and Dolby surround sound....
- Dialogue, effects, and music were all clean and generally distortion free, but the track sounds monophonic and is localized to the center speaker.
- The monophonic sound of each mix gives the viewer a real sense of what it must have been like to have experienced these shorts for the first time in the 1920s and 1930s.
2 Music Having a single melodic line without harmonies or melody in counterpoint. Compare with homophonic and polyphonic.Harmonization thus becomes not a means in itself, bur another aspect of the ‘perpetual variation’ process of an essentially monophonic melody....
- It is a mark of Pahud's musicianship that even the monophonic instrumental line sounds richly harmonized and balanced on this recording.
- In its earliest recorded form, plainchant, the monophonic music of the Western Church, varies from extreme simplicity to great complexity.
Derivatives
monophonically
- The next nine songs are from the artier and almost monophonically recorded album, which sought to replicate the chaos of their live performances.
- This has a similar effect to when an analog synth's voices are monophonically tasked to one note.
monophony
- The great Classical theorist Heinrich Koch established the two modern distinctions: monophony - polyphony, and polyphony - homophony.
- Central to all music from Syria and Arab countries are monophony and heterophony, vocal flourishes, subtle intonation, rich improvisation, and the Arab scales.
- In both cases, the response ‘Deo gracias’ was sung in simple monophony.
Origin
Early 19th century: from mono- 'one' + Greek phonē 'sound' + -ic.