Definition of chiff
plural chiffs
: the initial sound made by air leaving the mouth of a wind instrument (such as an organ flue pipe or a flute) at the attack (see 2attack 5) of a note
- The chiff is a sudden, short-lived burst of upper harmonics that occurs whenever an organ key is depressed and a note is sounded.
- —Joel Naumann and James D. Wagoner, Analog Electronic Music Techniques, 1985
