The portion of a sound between the initial attack and the final decay.
          
          The intensity of a sound is generally not a static quantity, but
            changes over the duration of the sound. This change in the intensity
            of a sound over time is called an ENVELOPE. Thus, at the beginning
            of a sound, the intensity does not change in an instant from silence
            to peak level; rather, it requires a certain amount of time, called
            the ATTACK TIME (or simply, the ATTACK), to do so. Similarly,
            at the end of a sound, the intensity does not suddenly plummet to
            silence. The amount of time required for the intensity of the sound
            to diminish to nothing is called the DECAY TIME (or simply,
            the DECAY), or the RELEASE.