Timbre – The Color of Musical Sound

Abstract

Sound can be represented in time domain as a waveform or in frequency domain as a set of spectra. Along with the pitch analysis, timbre, the vertical dimension of sound drives the research in the field of classification and identification of sounds. The pitch and timbre analysis, hand in hand, also run the manipulation- synthesis processes of musical instruments. And here it becomes the matter of crux whether to highlight pitch analysis or timbre analysis of musical sounds. Timbre, called the color of sound, distinguishes the two different instruments playing the same note. Pitch will be same for these instruments. Timbre analysis involves modeling of spectral characteristics of sound when we think of the transformations, may be time or frequency domain. The spectral parameters of musical sound help the researchers to capture the expressiveness of sound. Considering these aspects, this work helps to select the timbre features across a wide variety and categories and is focused on monophonic sounds. It contributes to study of timbral features which are helpful for manipulation of musical notes.