Timbre

• Timbre:

  That quality of a sound that distinguishes it from other sounds having the same pitch and loudness.

• All quantifiable aspects of a sound contribute to timbre, but the most important is the final perception of the listener.

• Timbre is a result of a sound source, but can also be affected by our own listening apparatus--and critical bands.

• Important timbral factors:
  • average spectral shape (spectral rolloff of monotonically decreasing spectra)
  • ``bumpy'' spectra (formants)
  • ``holy'' spectra (missing harmonics)
  • time variation