Music Glossary - V

Valve
Vacuum tube that acts as an amplification component, also known simply as a tube. Since the silicon revolution this component has been replaced in amplification circuits with the transistor.

Verse
Lyrically a verse is similar to a poetic stanza. Commonly the verse is used to "tell the story" of the song.

In popular music verses tend to have the same musical theme but different lyrics.

Volt
Unit of measurement used to describe the magnitude of electro-motive force (EMF).

Voltage Controlled Amplifier (VCA)
VCAs' are commonly used in audio equipment. Basically they are amplifiers whose gain is governed by an input control voltage.

Volume
This term is used to describe the signal level of an audio signal, or the intensity of the sound. Volume is usually expressed in decibels relative to a standard reference level or zero level.

Volume Unit (VU)
Unit used for measuring the magnitude of a complex electrical signal.

VU Meter
A volume indicator.