Polyphony
Polyphony is a very important characteristic of sound reproducing device
In musical recording, many notes are played simultaneously, especially in orchestral sequence
Each patch of each instrument consists of between 1 and 3 “tones” combined
If at any instant the tone count is exceeded, notes will not sound
For example if during an orchestral piece 33 notes are simultaneously played and each note has 2 tones, the total number of tones is 66
If the polyphony is 64 tones, some notes will be dropped
Polyphony depends on processing capability of sound device
Polyphony must always be no less than 64 to prevent note drop-out