Editing Timbre (section)

==Attributes==
Many commentators have decomposed timbre into component attributes. For example, Schouten described the "elusive attributes of timbre" as "determined by at least five major acoustic parameters", which [[Robert Erickson]] found encompassed much contemporary music:{{sfn|Erickson|1975|p=5}}

* Range between [[tonality|tonal]] and noiselike character
* [[Spectral envelope]]
* [[ADSR envelope|Time envelope]] in terms of rise, duration, and decay (ADSR, which stands for "attack, decay, sustain, release")
* Changes both of [[spectral envelope]] (formant-glide) and [[fundamental frequency]] ([[Microtonal music|micro-intonation]])
* [[prefix (acoustics)|Prefix]], or [[Onset (audio)|onset]] of a sound, quite dissimilar to the ensuing lasting vibration

An example of a tonal sound is a musical sound that has a definite pitch, such as pressing a key on a piano; one sound with a noiselike character is [[white noise]].

Erickson offered a table of subjective experiences and related physical phenomena based on the attributes:{{sfn|Erickson|1975|p=6}}

:{| class="wikitable"
| '''''Subjective'''''
| '''''Objective'''''
|-
| Tonal character, usually pitched
| Periodic sound
|-
| Noisy, with or without some tonal character, including [[rustle noise]]
| Noise, including random pulses characterized by the rustle time (the mean interval between pulses)
|-
| Coloration
| Spectral envelope
|-
| Beginning/ending
| Physical rise and decay time
|-
| Coloration glide or formant glide
| Change of spectral envelope
|-
| Microintonation
| Small change (one up and down) in frequency
|-
| [[Vibrato]]
| Frequency modulation
|-
| [[Tremolo]]
| Amplitude modulation
|-
| Attack
| Prefix
|-
| Final sound
| Suffix
|}

See also [[#Psychoacoustic evidence|Psychoacoustic evidence]] below.

===Harmonics===
{{Details|Fourier transform}}
[[File:Harmonic spectra theoretical x y.png|thumb|[[Harmonic spectrum]]]]

The richness of a sound or note a musical instrument produces is sometimes described in terms of a sum of a number of distinct [[frequency|frequencies]]. The lowest frequency is called the ''[[fundamental frequency]]'', and the pitch it produces is used to name the note, but the fundamental frequency is not always the dominant frequency. The dominant frequency is the frequency that is most heard, and it is always a multiple of the fundamental frequency. For example, the dominant frequency for the [[transverse flute]] is double the fundamental frequency. Other significant frequencies are called [[overtone]]s of the fundamental frequency, which may include [[harmonic]]s and [[Harmonic series (music)#Partial|partials]]. Harmonics are [[Natural number|whole number]] multiples of the fundamental frequency, such as ×2, ×3, ×4, etc. Partials are other overtones. There are also sometimes [[subharmonic]]s at whole number ''divisions'' of the fundamental frequency. Most instruments produce harmonic sounds, but many instruments produce partials and [[inharmonic]] tones, such as cymbals and other [[Percussion instrument#Indefinite pitch|indefinite-pitched]] instruments.

When the [[A440 (pitch standard)|tuning note]] in an [[orchestra]] or [[concert band]] is played, the sound is a combination of 440&nbsp;Hz, 880&nbsp;Hz, 1320&nbsp;Hz, 1760&nbsp;Hz and so on. Each instrument in the orchestra or concert band produces a different combination of these frequencies, as well as harmonics and overtones.  The sound waves of the different frequencies overlap and combine, and the balance of these amplitudes is a major factor in the characteristic sound of each instrument.

[[William Sethares]] wrote that [[just intonation]] and the western [[Equal temperament|equal tempered]] [[Scale (music)|scale]] are related to the harmonic [[spectrum|spectra]]/timbre of many western instruments in an analogous way that the inharmonic timbre of the [[Music of Thailand|Thai]] renat (a xylophone-like instrument) is related to the seven-tone near-equal tempered [[pelog]] scale in which they are tuned. Similarly, the inharmonic spectra of [[Bali]]nese metallophones combined with harmonic instruments such as the stringed [[rebab]] or the voice, are related to the five-note near-equal tempered [[slendro]] scale commonly found in Indonesian [[gamelan]] music.{{r|Sethares1998_6211318}}

===Envelope===
[[File:C Envelope follower!.png|thumb|A signal and its envelope marked with red]]
The timbre of a sound is also greatly affected by the following aspects of its ''envelope'': attack time and characteristics, decay, sustain, release ([[ADSR envelope]]) and [[Transient (acoustics)|transient]]s. Thus these are all common controls on professional [[Synthesizer (musical instrument)|synthesizer]]s. For instance, if one takes away the attack from the sound of a piano or trumpet, it becomes more difficult to identify the sound correctly, since the sound of the hammer hitting the strings or the first blast of the player's lips on the trumpet mouthpiece are highly characteristic of those instruments. The envelope is the overall amplitude structure of a sound.