Spectral rolloff is an audio signal processing feature that computes the frequency below which a specified percentage (commonly 85%) of the total spectral energy is concentrated. It operates by accumulating spectral magnitude values in descending frequency order until the energy threshold is met, then reporting the cutoff frequency bin. The feature captures spectral skew — whether energy is concentrated in lower or higher frequencies — and is a standard descriptor in timbre analysis, music information retrieval, and audio segmentation. [formal: rolloff_spectrum | substrate: behavior | horizon: a moment | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
spectral-rolloff
Spectral rolloff is an audio signal processing feature that computes the frequency below which a specified percentage (commonly 85%) of the total spectral energy is concentrated. It operates by accumulating spectral magnitude values in des…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A human-made audio signal processing feature that measures the frequency below which a specified percentage of total spectral energy is contained. Built for timbre characterization, music information retrieval, and audio analysis pipelines.
Names and aliases
- spectral-rolloffen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmspcwtqk04tkjlsslitlqy58DEPENDS_ON →
Spectral rolloff computes the frequency below which X% of total spectral energy is contained — this requires a power spectrum as input to accumulate magnitudes. Remove the power spectrum and spectral rolloff cannot operate. Genuine DEPENDS_ON per Law 8's removal test.
- cms68l1jh00cw5ygsxx4vl25kSERVES →
Spectral rolloff is designed and maintained for the purpose of characterizing timbre — it captures the spectral centroid-like property of where energy concentrates, directly relating to the perceptual attribute of brightness/timbre. Per Law 8d: for whose sake? The rolloff feature points at timbre as its master.
- cmsqglbgv00763e32jisx8hz3INSTANCE_OF →
Spectral-rolloff IS a specific kind of spectral feature: it measures the frequency below which a specified percentage (e.g. 85%) of spectral energy is concentrated. A competent speaker classifies it as 'a spectral feature'.
- cmspqj6jh0677jlssnhgl6v8dDEPENDS_ON →
Spectral rolloff computes the frequency below which a certain percentage of magnitude spectrum energy resides. Remove magnitude spectrum and spectral rolloff computation collapses. Removal test passes (Law 8b).
- cmr9uz3vv00elhcxfruyltnd4INSTANCE_OF →
Spectral rolloff is a measurement of the frequency below which a specified percentage of total spectral energy lies; it is a specific audio measurement.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Aug 12, 2026, 12:47 PM UTC
- Content hash
- d763cad9fb6ce129364b5b2ed2200552845a955ec42ef52555bd1fda35853246