Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: MOTM

Can anyone wax eloquent on the origin of the name of the category of
modules know as Ring Modulators? I've heard a couple of odd theories
that sound unlikely. It seems simplistic to assume that
it refers to a particular "ringing" sound that they might be used to
produce. (I guess I'll really feel dumb if that's what it means!)
Do they always follow an algorithm of X∗Y?
~Terry