modulation
n. C / Un. a change in the strength, tone, or pitch of something. You often hear this when someone changes their voice to sound more interesting or when music shifts to a different key.
n. the act of varying or adjusting a feature of something, such as the pitch of a voice or the frequency of a radio wave. In music, refers specifically to the transition from one key to another.
Her voice has a beautiful modulation that keeps the audience interested.
The singer's subtle modulation between the verse and the chorus added a layer of emotional depth to the performance.
In telecommunications, digital modulation allows for the efficient transmission of data by varying the properties of a carrier wave to represent binary information.
From Late Middle English modulacion, modulacioun (“act of making music or singing; harmony; melody, song”), from Middle French modulation (modern French modulation), and directly from its etymon Latin modulātiō (“regular or rhythmical measure, modulation; inflection of tone; (architecture) calculation of measurements from a standard unit; (Late Latin) act of making music or singing; melody, song”), from modulātus (“modulated”) + -iō (suffix forming abstract nouns from verbs). Modulātus is a perfect participle of modulor (“to beat time; to make music or sing; to measure; etc.”), from modulus (“rhythmical measure, interval; rhythm; small interval or measure, etc.”) + -or (suffix forming certain inflections of verbs); and modulus is from modus (“measure; method; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure; etc.”)) + -ulus (diminutive suffix). By surface analysis, modulat(e) + -ion (suffix denoting an action or process, or its result).
Often used with 'of' to specify what is being changed, such as 'modulation of the voice' or 'modulation of a signal'.