In audio terms, the beginning of a sound. What type of attack a sound has is determined by how long it takes for the volume of the sound to go from silence to maximum level. It is critical to consider the attack time of sounds when applying processing Compression, gating, and other types of processors as they may destroy a sound’s attack, changing the character and quality of the audio. Reverbs can also be affected by attack time; careful use of a reverb’s predelay parameter will allow you to optimize the reverb for different types of attacks.