waitnoise

Waitnoise is a term used in audio production and digital signal processing to describe a brief, controlled burst of noise inserted into an audio stream during pauses, delays, or transitions. The purpose is to mask abrupt spectral or temporal gaps and preserve a sense of continuity for the listener.

The term is not universally standardized and appears mainly in informal discussions among sound designers, game audio programmers, and some DAW users. It is often described as a form of masking noise or bridging noise, distinct from dither or background ambience. Waitnoise can be generated procedurally or drawn from a precomputed sample.

In practical use, waitnoise can cover latency from buffering, network jitter, or thread scheduling, or smooth transitions between scenes or actions in interactive media. It may be employed during loading screens or when an actor’s animation lags behind audio, to reduce perceptible glitches. In music production, short noise bursts can serve as transitional cues or to add texture without introducing sustained ambience.

Implementation typically centers on several parameters: duration (ranging from a few milliseconds to tens of milliseconds), spectral content (white, pink, or filtered noise), amplitude (kept low to avoid distraction), and envelope shaping (attack and release). Trigger logic may place the noise onset before, during, or after the gap, and some systems adjust loudness to maintain consistent perceived levels with the surrounding audio.

See also: Noise masking, audio dithering, crossfading, gap filling, seamless looping.