To Infinity and Beyond ... Timbre Dimensions and their Visualization
- Title
- To Infinity and Beyond ... Timbre Dimensions and their Visualization
- Subtitle
- Timbre Topologies: ZHdK 2023
- Author
- Date
- 03.02.2023
- Keywords
- Copyright holder
- Zürcher Hochschule der Künste
Object
- Title
- To Infinity and Beyond ... Timbre Dimensions and their Visualization
- Subtitle
- Timbre Topologies: ZHdK 2023
- Date
- 03.02.2023
- Keywords
- Genre / discipline
- Description
- Timbre can be described using various methods. One popular method is the use of timbre spaces, which plot the spectral characteristics of a sound in a mostly three- or four-dimensional space. However, these spaces have limitations and cannot be easily compared or generalized. Another method, Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCCs), has proven to be effective but the MFCCs are not particularly intuitive. Formants as pitch-independent maxima in the spectrum of an instrument's timbre with a defining effect on its overall character are less universal than MFCCs and also cannot be applied equally to all musical instruments. However, in the low and middle registers of most musical instruments they are easily recognizable and thus very intuitive, generalizable and easy to understand. Instruments with similar formant ranges tend to blend well together, while those with different formant ranges may not. Formants have been somewhat overlooked in English-language literature, but they have the potential to be useful timbre descriptors. In this contribution, various types of timbre spaces and formant maps are presented, including interactive versions and formant maps that show timbre changes over the course of a musical piece.
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- Zürcher Hochschule der Künste
- Legal protection
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