timbres
Voices' distinct qualities
Timbres is the plural of timbre, the distinctive quality or character of a sound apart from its pitch and loudness.
Different instruments playing the same note have different timbres—a violin sounds different from a flute.
The word extends to voice quality and, figuratively, to the distinctive character of anything: the different timbres of regional dialects, a political discourse lacking varied timbres.
Sonic character of instruments
- overtonesImplicit secondary meanings
- resonanceAmplified oscillation at natural frequency
- harmonicsFrequencies above the fundamental
- warmthHeat you feel
brightness · richness · woodiness · brassiness · mellowness · clarity · depth · attack
Records officially
- chest voiceSinging from the ribcage
- head voiceUpper singing register
- falsettoArtificially elevated singing register
- breathinessAudible air in voice
rasp · vibrato · resonance · placement · coloratura · tessitura · warmth · richness
Combining parts into whole
- waveformsOscillation pattern representations
- filtersSelective passage barriers
- oscillatorsCircuits generating periodic signals
- modulationVarying signals to transmit
patches · presets · analog · digital · sampling · layering · textures · pads
Combining into uniformity
- doublingMultiplying by two
- voicingExpressing aloud
- layeringForming successive strata
- instrumentationDesign of measuring devices
scoring · combinations · ensembles · sections · strings · winds · brass · percussion
tone color
Sonic character of instruments
- overtonesImplicit secondary meanings
- resonanceAmplified oscillation at natural frequency
- harmonicsFrequencies above the fundamental
warmth · brightness · richness · woodiness · brassiness · mellowness · clarity · depth · attack · sustain
registers
Records officially
- chest voiceSinging from the ribcage
- head voiceUpper singing register
- falsettoArtificially elevated singing register
breathiness · rasp · vibrato · resonance · placement · coloratura · tessitura · warmth · richness · clarity
synthesis
Combining parts into whole
- waveformsOscillation pattern representations
- filtersSelective passage barriers
- oscillatorsCircuits generating periodic signals
modulation · patches · presets · analog · digital · sampling · layering · textures · pads · leads
blending
Combining into uniformity
instrumentation · scoring · combinations · ensembles · sections · strings · winds · brass · percussion · textures
timbrespitches
Throws or proposals
frequencies · volumes · amplitudes · loudness · durations