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In music, timbre (/ ˈ t æ m b ər, ˈ t ɪ m-, ˈ t æ̃-/), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voices and musical instruments.
Timbre composition with acoustic instruments is usually very subtle. Minute altercations in performance change the sound produced by the instrument. Percussionists use specific sticks and mallets to yield desired timbres. Players of wind instruments alter the tone simply by changing the pressure of their lips. One could argue that the act of ...
In 1911, Arnold Schoenberg analyzed musical sound as consisting of pitch (höhe), timbre (farbe), and volume (stärke). He noted that pitch was the only element that had undergone close examination, but he viewed it as subordinate to timbre, "...tone becomes perceptible by virtue of tone color, of which one dimension is pitch".
Timbre is the quality that gives the listener the ability to distinguish between the sound of different instruments. The timbre of an instrument is determined by which overtones it emphasizes. The timbre of an instrument is determined by which overtones it emphasizes.
In a jazz or popular music context, this may refer to instruments such as the piano, electric piano, synthesizer, Hammond organ, and so on. Klangfarbenmelodie (Ger.) "Tone-color melody", distribution of pitch or melody among instruments, varying timbre kräftig (Ger.) Strong
Meyer lists melody, rhythm, timbre, harmony, "and the like" [12] as principal elements of music, while Narmour lists melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics, tessitura, timbre, tempo, meter, texture, "and perhaps others". [13] According to McClellan, two things should be considered, the quality or state of an element and its change over time. [14]
Timbre varies widely between different instruments, voices, and to lesser degree, between instruments of the same type due to variations in their construction, and significantly, the performer's technique. The timbre of most instruments can be changed by employing different techniques while playing.
The timbre of musical instruments can be considered in the light of Fourier theory to consist of multiple harmonic or inharmonic partials or overtones. Each partial is a sine wave of different frequency and amplitude that swells and decays over time due to modulation from an ADSR envelope or low frequency oscillator .