| n. | 1. | The act of modulating, or the state of being modulated; |
| 2. | Sound modulated; melody. | |
| 3. | (Mus.) A change of key, whether transient, or until the music becomes established in the new key; a shifting of the tonality of a piece, so that the harmonies all center upon a new keynote or tonic; the art of transition out of the original key into one nearly related, and so on, it may be, by successive changes, into a key quite remote. There are also sudden and unprepared modulations. | |
| 4. | (Electronics) The alteration of hte amplitude, intensity, frequency, or phase (of the carrier wave of a radio signal) at intervals, so as to represent information to be transmitted. |
| Noun | 1. | modulation - a musical passage moving from one key to another Synonyms: transition |
| 2. | modulation - (electronics) the transmission of a signal by using it to vary a carrier wave; changing the carrier's amplitude or frequency or phase | |
| 3. | modulation - rise and fall of the voice pitch Synonyms: intonation, pitch contour | |
| 4. | modulation - a manner of speaking in which the loudness or pitch or tone of the voice is modified Synonyms: inflection | |
| 5. | modulation - the act of modifying or adjusting according to due measure and proportion (as with regard to artistic effect) |