What is Timbre?

We have seen that aspects of sound as we hear it can be traced to a number of measurable quantities such as frequency and amplitude. However, sounds differ from each other in a number of ways that have little to do with these factors; a trumpet, for example, sounds very different from a violin. We call this unique quality of a sound its ‘tone’ or ‘timbre’.

What aspects of both sound and the source of the sound seem to explain our perception of timbre?

For this essay you should include:

1 – Formants

2 – Envelopes

3 – Micro changes to sound over time

4 – Spectrum of sound.

*** PLEASE USE THE MHRA STYLE OF REFERENCING ****

Why is timbre so hard to understand?

A good source is a 1989 paper by Carol Krumhansl on timbre. Probably only the first few pages will be of use to you in this assignment, so don’t be put off by some of the more technical detail in later pages.

The reference is :

Krumhansl, C. L. (1989). Why is musical timbre so hard to understand?. In: Nielzen, S. and Olsson, O. Structure and Perception of Electroacoustic Sound and Music. Amsterdam: Elsevier. p43-53.
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