Timbre � Technical Overview
Timbre is the sound produced by an instrument or vocalist, and is the feature you use to distinguish between different instruments playing the same pitch/note (440 hz, concert A). For example, when both a trumpet and a saxophone play the same pitch/note at the same volume, they generate the same fundamental frequency, called the pitch/note. However, each instrument also generates a unique combination of harmonics and overtone series. Over time you have learned to associate these combinations as the sound, or timbre, expected from a particular instrument. Timbre is also unique among musicians. When a beginner and professional musician play the same pitch/note, each manipulates and controls the harmonic and overtone series of that instrument differently. You use timbre to distinguish the difference.
Attributes of timbre are often compared to sensory descriptions such as: perception (full/focused, bright/dark), touch (soft/hard, cold/warm), or taste (pure/rich, sweet/bitter), which is problematic for beginning students. These are ambiguous words used to convey abstract qualities. For example, younger musicians often misinterpret �full� to mean �loud.� When the use of sensory descriptors is unsuccessful, educators often attempt circumlocution, creative analogies, or physical gestures, which often confuse the student further.
Timbre is a difficult musical concept to teach because it cannot be organized on a continuum, like volume (piano to forte) or pitch (flat to sharp). Since a particular timbre can be appropriate for one style of music and not another, it becomes an abstract musical quality. There is no quantifiable definition of �perfect� timbre as there is for volume, pitch, or duration. The preferred ideal timbre varies between regions and teachers, further complicated by inconsistencies in the descriptions used in teaching timbre. Proper timbre is traditionally taught as a result of practicing proper technique and musical acuteness resulting from years of ear training. These are reasons why Audi-Graph contains a growing library of multiple musicians on each instrument.
Fundamentally, Audi-Graph is a tool that helps students practice emulating the different elements of timbre, audibly and visually. Much like a tuner, visualization communicates nuances of the acoustics through a consistent, objective display. Audi-Graph displays the unique overtone and harmonic series generated by the musician: the timbre traditionally described with analogies. By using Audi-Graph to show proper professional timbre, students can instantly see how their air stream, embouchure, posture, and other technical elements impact timbre. Students can practice at home or with private instructors making the necessary adjustments to match their output to the professional example.
Audi-Graph only contains recordings of the core, steady sound played by the symphony musician at mezzo forte, no vibrato. Audi-Graph playback is designed for use during long tone warm-ups when core sound and intonation is being addressed. This is because as a student develops the ability to play with an improved fundamental core sound, strengthened embouchure and airstream, time sensitive embellishments such as vibrato, and dynamics will improve.
Note attack/release, tonguing and articulation can be addressed in the Articulation Analysis mode, but no symphony references are provided. Due to the complexity and variety of note attacks and releases, these characteristics were removed until proper sampling can occur.