Knotted soft and loud tie (8)
I believe the answer is:
standoff
'tie' is the definition.
(I know that tie can be written as standoff)
'knotted soft and loud' is the wordplay.
'knotted' indicates an anagram.
'loud' becomes 'f' (short for forte - 'loud' in music).
'soft'+'and'='softand'
'softand' with letters rearranged gives 'standof'.
'standof'+'f'='STANDOFF'
(Other definitions for standoff that I've seen before include "responsible for lack of progress" , "Deadlock - keep away" .)