Tone color, timbre: what do we mean?

October 14, 2013 at 04:24 PM · Claudia Fritz has spent a lot of time investigating the subject.

Check out her web site and the articles about English violin timbre descriptors.

http://www.lam.jussieu.fr/Membres/Fritz/HomePage/postdoc.html

When it comes to timbre, the main challenge in everyday communication between the players, makers, restorers and dealers is that we are faced with psycho-acoustic vocabulary. Two people may use the same English word to describe the sound, but attribute a very different meaning to it.

On the other hand, there are a few words that can, to some extent, describe the basic acoustic properties a good instrument, such as resonance and power.

At the end of the day, the issue of timbre preference is always subjective and the "beauty is in the eye of a beholder".

October 14, 2013 at 05:57 PM · I think it is a lot like describing visual colors, we all perceive colors slightly differently.

October 21, 2013 at 01:46 PM · Here is a copy-and paste which may interest you:

Some crucial EQ bands and what they sound like:

50-60 Hz

Thump in a kick drum

Boom in a bassline

Essential in dub, dubstep and reggae !

Too much and you’ll have flapping speakers and a flabby mix

Too little, and the mix will never have enough weight or depth

100-200 Hz

This EQ band adds punch in a snare

Gives richness or “bloom” to almost anything

Too much makes things boomy or woolly

Too little sounds thin and cold

200-500 Hz

Crucial for warmth and weight in guitars, piano and vocals

Too much makes things sound muddy or congested

Too little makes them thin and weak

500-1000 Hz

One of the trickiest areas

Gives body and tone to many instruments

Too much sounds hollow, or honky

Too little sounds thin and harsh

1-2kHz

Too much is nasal

Too little sounds weak

2-4kHz

Gives edge and bite to guitars and vocal

Adds aggression and clarity

Too much is painful!

Too little will sound soft or muted

5-10 kHz

Adds clarity, open-ness and life

Important for the top end of drums, especially snare

Too much sounds gritty or scratchy

Too little will lack presence and energy

16 kHz

Can add air, space or sparkle

Almost too high to hear

Too much will sound artificial, hyped or fizzy

Too little will sound dull and stifled

There!

The 16kHz bit is pure nostalgia: at 40 I could catch 17kHz; at 64, not much above 10kHz!

As in "pardon?" followed by "no need to shout!"

William Fry calls zones around 1.5kHz "nasal", 3kHz "harsh", and 6kHz "silky".

October 22, 2013 at 01:28 AM · Thanks to Rocky and Adrian for clarifying how tonal color comes about. Here is a webpage I came to from the link Rocky provided:

http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/news/stories/2006/violins/

At the bottom of the page are sound clips from three "virtual violins." Each of them has been created from a different tweaking of the various frequency bands from the same violin, same violinist and same performance. I wonder if anyone can put words to the differences between these sound clips. It will be interesting to see if there is general agreement in how we would describe the sound of each virtual violin.

October 22, 2013 at 09:02 PM · Here are some broader bands from Dünnwald, specifically related to the violin:

190-50Hz: full, even boomy;

650-1300Hz: nasal, snarling;

1300-4200hz: bright, hard;

4200-6000hz: harsh, projecting.

Authors vary a lot about What is "nasal".

"Projection" will seem agressive under the ear, but will cut through the overall rounder sound of an orchestra. This also applies to singers.

So, we can have both "depth" and "brilliance" in the same instrument, if the tiring "nasal" range is sufficiently reduced.

A batch of "good" violins may have a similar overall response, but it is the many small "peaks" which will make a "great" one.

"Complex" etc. tone seems to comes from slightly anarchic, mathematically imperfect vibrations of strings and wood in the 4-6kHz zone. A mute adds inertia to the wood, preventing it from responding easily at these high frequencies.

Regarding the viola, I seem to be all alone in the whole wide world in detesting the steel A (unless all 4 strings are steel); my viola is bit nasal, so I use 3 Obligatos, and the Eudoxa-Aricore synthetic A - clear and singing right to the end of the fingerboard, using a longer, lighter stroke. I think "singing", rather than the "whining" of a steel A, refers not so much to the overtones themselves as to their more supple onset and decay, and their slight inconsistency. Steel strings can be excellent, but tend to impose their own character on one's playing

October 24, 2013 at 04:33 PM · Thanks so much, Adrian. I also use Obligatos on my viola and the A string sounds harsh and blaring, especially the open A which I avoid like the plague (except for when I'm tuning!). I'm going to order the Eudoxa-Aricore A right away.

I started this discussion because I feel the need to clarify for myself words describing tone color. How the words are used often seem to exclude certain tonal combinations. For example, the word "warm" is usually opposed to "bright" and also sometimes opposed to "clear." Does warm, then, connote a kind of grainy sound? Is this what is referred to as "complex" or "rich"? I hear "bright" as being sharp and also bell-like; "warm" to me sounds less intense, less edgy. But not necessarily flat or less resonant. Warm is often very "rich." Is the extreme of "warm" a "muddy" sound? Is this what some call a "chocolatey" sound? Can a sound be warm and clear (bell-like) simultaneously? I guess I'm trying to clarify (rather than "fuzz-ify") these very subjective adjectives because I can't relate herz readings to actual sounds.

October 25, 2013 at 08:31 AM · I can't find much consistency in folk's use of these terms. But it may be useful to distinguish between tonal balance of high and low sound "zones"(?!) e.g. dark, bright1;, and the impression of texture e.g. rich, complex, smooth, scratchy.

The meaning of "chocolatey" will depend on what sort of chocolate we prefer! one person's "brilliance" will be another's "acidity". one person's "texture" will be another"s "roughness". Etc. Etc.

E.g. Tte nasal quality of my viola was accentuated by Dominant strings. For many years I used all 4 Aricores: "warm" (more lower frequencies), "smooth" (less rosin noise), but "dull" (lacking in higher overtones) and lacking in "bite" (slow response in fast détaché). So I now use Obligatos (with the sustitute "sweet" A I mentioned above). I now have the "warmth" of Aricores, some of the "clarity" of Dominants but without the nasal "agressivity", and a "richer" "texture".

Notice how we use even more "images" to explain the others. And the " key on my computer is wearing out!!

October 29, 2013 at 10:51 PM · I think of "nasal" as having a strong resonance at around 1 kHz. In the human voice, this results from a resonance in the nasal cavities. I find the typical oboe sound to be quite nasal as well.

October 31, 2013 at 07:48 AM · Let's try a slow chromatic scale over four ocatavs, and find the main resonances which will not only reinforce certain notes, but also colour the tone of the whole violin.

G-string: around C# - depth and warmth;

A-string: around B - gives body to the tone, but in excess will honk;

E-string: around B and C - this is the tiring snarling zone (around 1 kHz), very prominent in student fiddles, and very difficult to reduce by adjustment;

E-sring: around F# at the end of the finger-board; this is the last octave of a piano keyboard, in the 2-4kHz region, and can be bright or harsh, but allows the violin,(and the voice..) to project over an orchestra.

The 4-10kHz zone (luminosity, bloom?) is timbre only. 10-20kHz? Ask somebody younger!

Note that the A-string B is also the wolf tone that lurks high up on the G-string.

Note how the "nasal" sound adds charm to an oboe, but not to a fiddle.

The viola and 'cello are less well documented, adn much more varied.

October 31, 2013 at 08:09 AM · Oops!

October 31, 2013 at 01:55 PM · The resonance on the low A string is actually two, on either side of B, usuall G#-A and C-C#. Normally the C resonance is stronger, but not always. The G#-A resonance gives some power to the low G string, as well as the possible wolf higher up.

There's also a resonance around F#-G on the D string that doesn't normally produce much sound, but can be felt by the player as a vibration of the instrument. It can add some power and feel to the open G string.

November 1, 2013 at 02:29 AM · "Note how the "nasal" sound adds charm to an oboe, but not to a fiddle."

What, do you think, accounts for this? Charm is such a great word; it's clear when charm is present and when it is not. So nasal quality in an oboe is charming but is not in a violin? Or does it depend on context? There are certain types of music that sound great with a nasal violin. Like Turkish or some Balkan music, and the European classical music that wishes to express a particular Eastern flavor. For some reason I am partial to a nasal string sound (in certain instances). My viola sometimes sounds nasal and other times does not and I don't know why it comes or doesn't. Maybe environmental factors?

November 8, 2013 at 07:53 AM · Edited: Yes, Arifa, ambient temperature and humidity have much effect on the wood of the vioin, the elasicity and overtones of the strings, as well as on the bow hair and rosin.

If I open the case after a cold journey, I have to re-tune; and then re-tune again as the viola warms up. But if I don't play immediately, the instrument has time to adapt to the indoor conditions, and may even return to my "home" tuning without intervention! Now, if the wood moves enough to affect string tension, it will certainly affect vibratins within the wood..

I agree about the nasal sounds, but the word has various mmeanings. Under the ear, what is painful is whath I call a "snarling" tone, either side of 1kHz; as we rise beyond 2kHz, we are entering the true string sound, harsh or bright according to taste and style, and necessary for "projection".

November 18, 2013 at 12:05 AM · I think it's important to make a distinction between the overall tonal balance of the instrument, and the timbre of the the actual note being played. You can very well have a violin that has an overall dark character, yet a shrill voice in the higher range on the E-string.

There's also the difference between what we perceive when we play an instrument and when we hear it at some distance. If a violin has an open and bright lower range under the ear, it can have a very full and expressive lower range in a concert hall. And a violin with a warm and focused sound under the ear, can sound muffled and anemic in a hall.

So if we keep these parameters in mind:

1/ Overall tonal balance

2/ Voice in each range on the instrument

3/ Voice under the ear vs voice in a hall

we can begin to discuss what we search for and appreciate in a violin or viola.

Then there's the playability and response that influences the tone, if we want to make it more complicated. One player might be able to produce the desired voice on a very sensitive instrument, and another player might be more at home on an instrument with more resistance.