Feeling Timbre
Timbre is the quality of a sound that allows us to aurally distinguish two instruments playing the same note at the same volume. Our brains interpret timbre as telling us about a sound’s source (the instrument or material), the action that made the sound, and the space where it occurred. For example, a timbre might cause a listener to think, “That sounds like a piece of metal hit with a stick in a big, reverberant room.” Timbre is important when working with acoustic music, as it helps us distinguish different instruments and make more beautiful or effective sounds in performance. It is also crucial when working with recorded or synthesized music. Audio engineers put a great deal of effort into making sure the timbres they are recording sound as good as possible and work together well.
Timbre has two sides: scientific and subjective. We can measure several important aspects of timbre, separating different components of a sound and modeling how they change over time. But we are always adding our own interpretation whenever we hear timbre because it is biologically important for humans to know where a sound is coming from and what it means.
One way to understand a timbre more directly is to imitate it with your voice. Unpitched percussion instruments can often be imitated with a consonant, such as the noisy “k” for a snare drum. For pitched sounds, start with a consonant and follow with a vowel or other sustained sound such as “mm.” Sometimes when we imitate instruments we default to commonly-used syllables like “doo” or “la,” but this is an opportunity to try out different sounds and see what fits best. The specific consonants and vowels that we choose can help us understand aspects of the sound.
For opening consonants, there is quite a range of possibilities, including:
- “B,” “d,” and “t” (as in “ba” or “doo”) all give a louder beginning to a sound that may be appropriate to a plucked string or percussive instrument.
- “W” (as in “wah”) suggests that the sound takes some time to reach its full volume.
- “H” (as in “hoo”) adds breathiness, like some wind instruments.
- “V” or “z” (as in “va”) adds a soft roughness.
- “M” or “n” (as in “ma” or “noo”) gives a quiter beginning to a sound.
- “Dj” creates harshness, like a distorted guitar.
It may be appropriate to avoid opening consonants altogether for sounds that start and sustain without change. Vowels generally range from a soft, dark “oo” to a loud, full “ah” to a quiet, bright “ee.” In addition, you may find that the sound you are listening to changes somewhat as it sustains due to vibrato, dynamics, or other factors.
That said, imitation is particularly appropriate for non-vocal timbres. Vocal timbre is both personal and complicated. After all, we’re constantly using different vowels and consonants when we sing. When we imitate others’ voices, we often oversimplify and fall into stereotypes. We recommend sticking to non-vocal timbres here and approaching vocal timbres with the language introduced in the next section.
As you find sounds that fit a given timbre, consider what your choices indicate about the original sound. In the next section, we will define important factors that musicians focus on and introduce some standard language for describing timbre.
Activity: Imitate timbres with your voice.
Goal: Use your vocal mechanism to experience a timbre more directly.
Before you start: You’ll need a source of interesting sounds. These can be pitched or unpitched, live or recorded. To really focus on the timbres of the sounds, it may be helpful for them to be played solo, without other instruments.
Instructions:
- As a sound plays, listen to it closely. Pay attention to how it starts, how you would describe it, and how it changes over time.
- Imitate the sound as closely as you can, trying out different consonants and vowels. Choose the combination that seems to best fit what you hear.
- Describe the sound and what it felt like to make it.
Activity: Create and describe different vocal timbres.
Goal: Create and manipulate timbres using your voice.
Instructions:
- Sing a steady pitch for 10 seconds using one single breath.
- As you sing, enunciate the following long vowel sounds, slowly morphing from one sound to the next: A – E – I – O – U. (As you manipulate the sounds, be sure not to change the pitch or dynamic.)
- Describe the timbres that you created while singing each vowel.
- Describe any salient hybrid timbres that you noticed as you were transitioning between vowels.
Activity: Imitate timbres with an instrument.
Goal: Create and manipulate timbres with an instrument.
Before you start: You will need a source of interesting sounds. These can be pitched or unpitched, live or recorded. To really focus on the timbres of the sounds, it may be helpful for them to be played solo, without other instruments. You will also need an instrument of your own that you are comfortable playing in different ways. Acoustic, electric, and digital instruments will each have different strengths and weaknesses in this activity.
Instructions:
- As a sound plays, listen to it closely. Pay attention to how it starts, how you would describe it, and how it changes over time.
- Using your instrument, imitate the sound as closely as you can. You will naturally be constrained by the nature of your own instrument, but do your best.
- Describe how your playing relates to the original sound. How similar or different were they? Why?
Activity: A cappella cover.
Goal: Imitate multiple timbres from a recorded song.
Before you start: You will need a song or excerpt of a song with some diversity of timbres. (A playlist with some possibilities is presented below.) You will also need a group of people to work with to recreate the song (or the ability to multi-track a recording of yourself). This exercise requires a certain amount of comfort with using your voice.
Instructions:
- Listen to the song or excerpt, focusing on the different sounds/instruments you hear. Divide up these instruments among the members of your group. If there is an instrument that plays more than one note at once such as a guitar or piano, assign enough people to that part that each note can be covered by at least one person.
- Determine which vocal sounds you will need to use to best imitate your assigned part. For pitched instruments, it is often useful to think about an opening consonant and a vowel. If the song has vocals, don’t worry about imitating the original; rather, whoever’s doing that part can simply translate into whatever feels comfortable for their own voice.
- Learn your assigned instrument’s part vocally. Do your best to imitate pitch, rhythm, and timbre.
- Rehearse and perform your song, trying to sound like the original as much as possible.
Suggested timings:
- Olivia Rodrigo, drivers license: 0–0:31
- Three Thirds, Owens Valley: 0–0:33
- Ravel, Antar (After N. Rimsky-Korsakov), No. 1b: entire track
- Evanescence, Bring Me to Life: 0–0:30
- Snarky Puppy, Lingus: 0–0:45
- Ludwig van Beethoven, Parthia, Op. 103, II: Andante: 0–0:25
- De/Vision, We Fly… Tonight: 0–0:33
- Nate Smith, Bounce, Parts 1 and 2: 0–0:29
- Whisperhawk, 0:07–0:47
