Timbre

For other uses, see Timbre (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Timber.

Spectrogram of the first second of an E9 suspended chord played on a Fender Stratocaster guitar. Below is the E9 suspended chord audio:

In music, timbre (/ˈtæmbər, ˈtɪm-, ˈtæ̃-/), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound of a musical note, sound or tone. Timbre distinguishes sounds according to their source, such as choir voices and musical instruments. It also enables listeners to distinguish instruments in the same category (e.g., an oboe and a clarinet, both woodwind instruments).

In simple terms, timbre is what makes a particular musical instrument or human voice have a different sound from another, even when they play or sing the same note. For instance, it is the difference in sound between a guitar and a piano playing the same note at the same volume. Both instruments can sound equally tuned in relation to each other as they play the same note, and while playing at the same amplitude level each instrument will still sound distinctive with its own unique tone color. Musicians distinguish instruments based on their varied timbres, even instruments playing notes at the same pitch and volume.

The physical characteristics that govern timbre include frequency spectrum and envelope.

Musicians can change timbre by modifying their singing or playing techniques. For example, a violinist can use different bowing styles or bow on different parts of the string. E.g., playing sul tasto produces a light, airy timbre, whereas sul ponticello produces a harsh, even, aggressive timbre. On electric guitar and electric piano, performers can change timbre using effects units and graphic equalizers.

Synonyms

Tone quality and tone color are synonyms for timbre, as well as the "texture attributed to a single instrument". However, the word texture can also refer to the arrangement or composition, such as multiple, interweaving melody lines versus a singable melody accompanied by subordinate chords. Hermann von Helmholtz used the German Klangfarbe (tone color), and John Tyndall proposed an English translation, clangtint, but both terms were disapproved of by Alexander Ellis, who also discredits register and color for their pre-existing English meanings. Determined by its frequency composition, the sound of a musical instrument may be described with words such as bright, dark, warm, harsh, and other terms. There are also colors of noise, such as pink and white. In visual representations of sound, timbre corresponds to the shape of the image, while loudness corresponds to brightness; pitch corresponds to the y-shift of the spectrogram.

ASA definition

The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) Acoustical Terminology definition 12.09 of timbre describes it as "that attribute of auditory sensation which enables a listener to judge that two nonidentical sounds, similarly presented and having the same loudness and pitch, are dissimilar", adding, "Timbre depends primarily upon the frequency spectrum, although it also depends upon the sound pressure and the temporal characteristics of the sound".

Attributes

Many commentators have decomposed timbre into component attributes. For example, Schouten described the "elusive attributes of timbre" as "determined by at least five major acoustic parameters", which Robert Erickson found encompassed much contemporary music:

• Range between tonal and noiselike character
• Spectral envelope
• Time envelope in terms of rise, duration, and decay (ADSR, which stands for "attack, decay, sustain, release")
• Changes both of spectral envelope (formant-glide) and