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Mar 20, 2007 · Kent\'s great gift in this score is his timbral control. He mixes sound colors beautifully, even allowing in moments of spoken voice that are so fleeting and subdued that they become another musical instrument. Unfortunately, this wash of color also keeps the listener at a distance.
“Kent’s great gift... is his timbral control. He mixes sound colors beautifully, even allowing in moments of spoken voice that are so fleeting and subdued that they become another musical instrument.”
- Timbre
- The Frequency Dimension of Sound.
- Pitch, Frequency, and Texture.
- Noise and Inharmonic Sound.
- Amplification and Fidelity
- Analog to Digital Conversion.
- Additive Synthesis
- Filters and Equalizers.
- Subtractive Synthesis
- Modulation
Timbre (pronounced ‘tamber’) refers to the character, color, or texture of a sound. The melody tells us what pitches are to be played, and when, while the choice of instrument, acoustic environment, amplifiers and recording equipment determine the timbre. One of the main differences between the sounds of instruments is their timbre – it is largely ...
Think of how sunlight is split into the colors of a rainbow when it passes through a prism. The colors we see come from how our brain registers the different frequencies (or wavelengths) of light. When we look at the rainbow coming out of a prism, we are seeing the frequency spectrum of light – i.e. the intensity of each frequency component of the ...
Sound is a wave of compression and expansion in the air. We can generate these waves with instruments and speakers, and we can pick them up with our microphones and ears. In this section, we will draw some waveforms. You can think of these waveforms as existing in space (e.g. in the shape of the standing wave in a vibrating string or the air compre...
Inharmonic sound departs from the ideas in the previous section, and the timbre contains frequencies away from the harmonic series (multiples of the fundamental or pitch frequency). Different sounds are inharmonic to different degrees. A bell or chime still conveys a certain pitch, however, when you sweep a filter across these instruments, you can ...
When a signal passes through an amplifier, two things are added: noise and distortion. Keep in mind, the noise added by an amplifier won’t be simple white noise (as discussed in the previous section). For example, there will often be a hum at 50Hz to 60Hz; this comes from the AC power outlet. The hum coming from the power line usually has it’s own ...
Analog to digital conversion is a complex subject. However, we should touch on it here since it can definitely play an audible role in audio signal processing. Analog to digital conversion is the last step in the digital recording chain, before the digitized data is stored to computer memory. If this process is done right—with good quality converte...
We already discussed how waves can be added together. This is the basis for additive synthesis. A square wave can be generated by adding together every odd harmonic (1st, 3rd, 5th, …) with the amplitude reduced by the harmonic number (i.e. 1,13,15,...), or mathematically: But forget the mathematics, which really just describe the waveforms. You can...
A filter changes the timbre of a sound by reducing or boosting the volume of each of its harmonics. Equalizers are made up of a variety of filters that can be used to manipulate timbre. Two important filters are the high pass filter (HPF) and low pass filter (LPF). These filters attenuate everything above (for the LPF) and below (for the HPF) the c...
An alternative to building up a complex timbre, one harmonic at a time, is to start out with a harmonically complex waveform and then use filters to achieve various timbres. This method is called subtractive since the filters remove harmonics from the signal in order to control timbre. Figure 8 shows what the output of an ideal (i.e. very hard roll...
Acoustic sounds have timbres that changes over time. We can emulate this in synthesized sounds using modulation, which means we vary a particular attribute of the sound. In an additive synth, we can have the powerful ability to modulate both the amplitude (volume) and frequency of each harmonic. Subtle modulation of the frequency of each overtone a...
Aug 18, 2023 · Key Takeaways. Timbre refers to the unique tone color or quality of a musical note, shaped by factors such as overtones and sonic envelopes. Each instrument and voice have its own distinctive timbral characteristics, enabling musicians to express emotions and create diverse sonic landscapes.
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Oct 5, 2023 · By emphasizing or de-emphasizing certain frequencies, you directly alter a musical instrument or voice’s timbre. Synthesizers, on the other hand, generate sound from scratch. You can shape the fundamental frequency, overtones, and harmonics to sculpt a sound with a desired timbre.
Jun 7, 2021 · Guide to Timbre in Music: 7 Ways to Describe Timbre. Written by MasterClass. Last updated: Jun 7, 2021 • 3 min read. Why does a note played on the trombone sound different from the identical pitch played on the saxophone or the electric guitar?
Jun 19, 2023 · In essence, by understanding and manipulating timbre, music producers can craft an emotional narrative within their music, guiding the listener’s emotional response to their work. Beyond the individual notes, the importance of timbre extends to the arrangement and orchestration of a piece.
