Strike

This term appears on several Make Noise modules, although it has been creeping into the general lingo. Some filters, amplifiers, and low pass gates (LPGs) that use or simulate vactrols (a light sensitive resistor placed next to a light source such as an LED, allowing a voltage to be turned into a resistance to control a parameter) may have a strike input. When you flash an LED at a light sensitive resistor, it does not change the resistance instantaneously and stay there – instead, there is some delay as it glides to the desired resistance. When you turn the LED off, the resistance may not go instantaneously to full; instead it might take a brief moment to decay. These characteristics are useful for creating percussive sounds and attacks. The purpose of a strike input is either to pass just a short pulse, or to allow you to re-attack while the LED is otherwise still on.