electrophonicadj.
/ᵻˌlɛtrə(ʊ)ˈfɒnɪk/, U.S. /əˌlɛktrəˈfɑnɪk/, /iˌlɛktrəˈfɑnɪk/ 1.
a. Originally: of or relating to the production of sound in response to or by means of an electric current (cf. electrophone n. 1). In later use: spec. of or relating to the production of music by electronic means; (of music or other sound) produced electronically.In relation to music cf. the note at radiophonic adj. 2.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > sound of instruments > [adjective] > electronic
electrophonic1847
1847 J. Timbs Year-bk. of Facts 165 The journals of St. Petersburgh speak of an Electrophonic Telegraph, the invention of the Chevalier Lasckott... It is composed of a clavier of ten keys, ten bells of different sizes, and ten conducting wires.
1864 Trans. Royal Sc. Soc. Arts 6 185 The electrophonic relay had a further advantage also, that the most delicate apparatus might be used for the working of the relay.
1897 Daily Herald (Delphos, Ohio) 7 May /2 The electrophonic piano, its distinctive principle consisting in the fact that the vibrations of the chords are..produced by..an electric current.
1939 Times 4 Mar. 10/2 From the electrophonic discovery has already come a pipeless organ.
1956 Oxf. Compan. Mus. (ed. 9) 324/1 (heading) The pipeless (electrophonic, electrotonic) organ.
1960 20th Cent. Nov. 459 Electrophonic music has already threatened the performer of serious music.
1992 Times 12 Sept. 12/3 ‘Crunch’ mimics something brittle breaking into pieces; and whoosh describes exactly the electrophonic sound of a fireball.
b. Designating a sensation of sound produced by the passage of an alternating current or electromagnetic waves through the body; of or relating to such sensations.
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1937 S. S. Stevens in Jrnl. Acoustical Soc. Amer. 8 194/1 The tones heard by electrical stimulation lack the purity of tones heard in the usual way. In fact, one observer was able to identify the pitch of a tone as an octave higher than the stimulus frequency. Obviously the electrophonic phenomenon is subject to considerable distortion.
1963 M. F. Romig & D. L. Lamar Anomalous Sounds & Electromagnetic Effects 26 Anyzeski..pointed out the similarity between human ears and microwave plumbing. Actually, psychologists and physiologists have long been aware of just such electrophonic hearing.
1980 Science 3 Oct. 14/3 An electrostatic field of 160 V/m peak-to-peak amplitude, varying at upper audio frequencies, can be perceived by human subjects either by an electrophonic mechanism or by acoustic signals generated in the close vicinity of the ear by metal or dielectric objects vibrated by the field.
2003 G. M. Clark Cochlear Implants v. 235 Could electrophonic hearing be due to local excitation of the outer hair cells and then indirect excitation of inner hair cells?
2. Designating acoustic signals emitted by conducting objects caused to vibrate by low-frequency electromagnetic waves; of or relating to such sounds.
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1963 M. F. Romig & D. L. Lamar Anomalous Sounds & Electromagnetic Effects 10 The sounds do not always appear to come from the fireball, for some astute observers have reported that the noise apparently originated from the surrounding vegetation. Dravert has called this type of anomalous sound ‘electrophonic’.
1985 Science 8 Mar. 1220/1 It is somewhat surprising that ‘electrophonic’ sound, which has not yet been observed instrumentally, is treated whereas ‘ordinary’ nonlinear, weakly nonlinear, and linearized acoustic-gravity waves from fireballs are not discussed.
1998 Nature 3 Sept. 20/2 In 1833 many observers heard hissing, crackling and popping noises. These were probably ‘electrophonic sounds’, created by very-low-frequency radio waves, in turn generated by turbulent plasma in the wake of a disintegrating meteoroid.
2003 Guardian 23 Oct. (Life section) 8/2 Keay's experiments suggested that the electrophonic sounds heard by witnesses of fireballs are triggered when radio waves produced by the fireball make objects near the listener vibrate.
Derivatives
eˌlectroˈphonically adv. by means of an electrophone (historical); in relation to or by means of electrophonic sound.
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1900 Westm. Gaz. 13 Feb. 10/2 An electrophonically-heard sermon.
1919 Janesville (Wisconsin) Daily Gaz. 15 Sept. 10/4 For two hours each afternoon you were electrophonically connected..with the performance of a famous military band.
1968 Mus. Educators' Jrnl. 55 90/2 Administrators in Greenwich High school were electrophonically inducted this past year. Electronic music's sphere of influence spread to several departments.
1984 Musical Times 125 328/1 He..conducts acoustical experiments, electrophonically creating aural environments analogous to the geodesic domes of Buckminster Fuller.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1847