Timbral Listening
Encyclopedia
Timbral listening is the process of actively listening to the timbral
characteristics of sound.
and harmony
, the ear focuses on texture and colour of music and sound. In timbral listening, 'pitch is subordinate to timbre'. Instead, the specific quality of a musical tone is determined by considering 'the presence, distribution and relative amplitude
of overtones.' In timbral listening, the fundamental frequency
of a tone is no longer its defining feature and is of equal importance to its overtones.
When using this listening technique/ method of interpretation there is 'a relation between timbre and spectral
content which is analogous to that between pitch and frequency
in that one is the prevalent cultural construct of the other'
Timbral listening is currently most prevalent in non-western cultures. It is 'an entirely different approach to the perception of sound than what you have in cultures where the focus is on melody
.' In these cultures the perception of pitch as the primary building block of music is replaced by the perception of timbre.
suggests that 'it was the nomadic way of life and its focus on the timbral qualities of natural sounds that created this kind of musicality'. Through timbral listening the listener is given an impression of the reproduced timbre of the sound of an object or place such as a stream, mountain, forest or valley. Nature is also a theme that commonly appears in modern timbral electroacoustic music. This is especially prevalent in Canada where composers such as Hildegard Westerkamp
apply the thinking of R. Murray Schafer
's World Soundscape
Project to their compositions.
language is often used to describe what is heard by the process of timbral listening. There is currently scholarly debate about the use of this language as it fails to acknowledge the interpretive function of the listener and 'the weight of extra musical association carried by its metaphoric terminology'. The computer may also be used as a tool for analysis of the timbral qualities of music and can provide graphical descriptions of the music in the form of a Spectrogram
using FFT analysis. This method also has limitations. There is not as yet an established universal method of notating timbre-based music, and a variety of methods exist in different cultures.
The composition of timbre-centered music in the nomadic communities of Tuva involves mimicry of sounds heard in the environment. Timbral listening is a fundamental component of listening to, understanding and being able to correctly perform this music using vocal techniques such as throat singing
"khoomei" and harmonic producing instruments such as the jaw harp, bzaanchy, shoor, qyl qiyak, qyl-gobyz,ku-rai and igil
.
This music employs a fundamental drone
and overtone harmonics. It consists of "a whispered text, accompanied by the inanga, a trough zither
of eight strings. To listen correctly (using timbral listening), one must consider "the effect of the combined timbres of the noisy whisper and the inanga" as a whole sound.
More recently, computers and synthesizers are being used by contemporary composers to produce timbral-centered music. Contemporary composers state timbral listening as the correct technique to adopt in listening to and analysing their timbre (as opposed to pitch) based compositions. 'Pure timbres' are explored using methods such as granular synthesis
in works such as 'Dragon of the Nebula' by Mara Helmuth.
The music produced by the Shakuhachi end blown flute such as honkyoku
, contains timbral variations that are of equal importance to pitch variations. These timbral variations are indicated in Shakuhachi musical notation
.
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
characteristics of sound.
Concept
Timbral listening is used as an alternative to the standard western way of listening to, and interpreting music. Instead of perceiving pitchPitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
and harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
, the ear focuses on texture and colour of music and sound. In timbral listening, 'pitch is subordinate to timbre'. Instead, the specific quality of a musical tone is determined by considering 'the presence, distribution and relative amplitude
Amplitude
Amplitude is the magnitude of change in the oscillating variable with each oscillation within an oscillating system. For example, sound waves in air are oscillations in atmospheric pressure and their amplitudes are proportional to the change in pressure during one oscillation...
of overtones.' In timbral listening, the fundamental frequency
Fundamental frequency
The fundamental frequency, often referred to simply as the fundamental and abbreviated f0, is defined as the lowest frequency of a periodic waveform. In terms of a superposition of sinusoids The fundamental frequency, often referred to simply as the fundamental and abbreviated f0, is defined as the...
of a tone is no longer its defining feature and is of equal importance to its overtones.
When using this listening technique/ method of interpretation there is 'a relation between timbre and spectral
Harmonic series (music)
Pitched musical instruments are often based on an approximate harmonic oscillator such as a string or a column of air, which oscillates at numerous frequencies simultaneously. At these resonant frequencies, waves travel in both directions along the string or air column, reinforcing and canceling...
content which is analogous to that between pitch and frequency
Frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency...
in that one is the prevalent cultural construct of the other'
Timbral listening is currently most prevalent in non-western cultures. It is 'an entirely different approach to the perception of sound than what you have in cultures where the focus is on melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
.' In these cultures the perception of pitch as the primary building block of music is replaced by the perception of timbre.
Nature
It has been suggested that "timbral listening is an ideal sonic mirror of the natural world". It is often (but not always) used in association with musics that are based in mimicry of sounds in the natural environment. Valentina SuzukeiValentina Suzukei
-Education:Valentina Suzukei is now one of Tuva's leading ethnomusicologist according to Theordore Levin, but as a student she had different aspirations. While she was a "student growing up in the 1960s and early 1970s, her passion was dance.". Suzukei also "studied conducting at the Moscow...
suggests that 'it was the nomadic way of life and its focus on the timbral qualities of natural sounds that created this kind of musicality'. Through timbral listening the listener is given an impression of the reproduced timbre of the sound of an object or place such as a stream, mountain, forest or valley. Nature is also a theme that commonly appears in modern timbral electroacoustic music. This is especially prevalent in Canada where composers such as Hildegard Westerkamp
Hildegard Westerkamp
Hildegard Westerkamp is a German and Canadian composer of electroacoustic music.Many of her compositions deal with the acoustic environment. Particular themes include soundscapes of urban or rural areas, including voices, noise, silence, music and media, and so on...
apply the thinking of R. Murray Schafer
R. Murray Schafer
Raymond Murray Schafer is a Canadian composer, writer, music educator and environmentalist perhaps best known for his World Soundscape Project, concern for acoustic ecology, and his book The Tuning of the World...
's World Soundscape
Soundscape
A soundscape is a sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from an immersive environment. The study of soundscape is the subject of acoustic ecology...
Project to their compositions.
Descriptive language and notation
As timbre has 'no domain-specific adjectives' it 'must be described in metaphor or by analogy to other senses', PhenomenologicalPhenomenology (science)
The term phenomenology in science is used to describe a body of knowledge that relates empirical observations of phenomena to each other, in a way that is consistent with fundamental theory, but is not directly derived from theory. For example, we find the following definition in the Concise...
language is often used to describe what is heard by the process of timbral listening. There is currently scholarly debate about the use of this language as it fails to acknowledge the interpretive function of the listener and 'the weight of extra musical association carried by its metaphoric terminology'. The computer may also be used as a tool for analysis of the timbral qualities of music and can provide graphical descriptions of the music in the form of a Spectrogram
Spectrogram
A spectrogram is a time-varying spectral representation that shows how the spectral density of a signal varies with time. Also known as spectral waterfalls, sonograms, voiceprints, or voicegrams, spectrograms are used to identify phonetic sounds, to analyse the cries of animals; they were also...
using FFT analysis. This method also has limitations. There is not as yet an established universal method of notating timbre-based music, and a variety of methods exist in different cultures.
Examples
- Traditional music in TuvaTuvaThe Tyva Republic , or Tuva , is a federal subject of Russia . It lies in the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders with the Altai Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatia in Russia and with Mongolia to the...
and other Turkic cultures of inner Asia
The composition of timbre-centered music in the nomadic communities of Tuva involves mimicry of sounds heard in the environment. Timbral listening is a fundamental component of listening to, understanding and being able to correctly perform this music using vocal techniques such as throat singing
Overtone singing
Overtone singing, also known as overtone chanting, or harmonic singing, is a type of singing in which the singer manipulates the resonances created as air travels from the lungs, past the vocal folds, and out the lips to produce a melody.The partials of a sound wave made by the human voice can be...
"khoomei" and harmonic producing instruments such as the jaw harp, bzaanchy, shoor, qyl qiyak, qyl-gobyz,ku-rai and igil
Igil
An igil is a two-stringed Tuvan musical instrument, played by bowing the strings. The neck and lute-shaped sound box are usually made of a solid piece of pine or larch. The top of the sound box may be covered with skin or a thin wooden plate...
.
- BarundiBurundiBurundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
whispered Inanga or Inanga Chucotée in Africa
This music employs a fundamental drone
Drone (music)
In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect.-A musical effect:A drone...
and overtone harmonics. It consists of "a whispered text, accompanied by the inanga, a trough zither
Zither
The zither is a musical string instrument, most commonly found in Slovenia, Austria, Hungary citera, northwestern Croatia, the southern regions of Germany, alpine Europe and East Asian cultures, including China...
of eight strings. To listen correctly (using timbral listening), one must consider "the effect of the combined timbres of the noisy whisper and the inanga" as a whole sound.
- Some forms of contemporary electronic music
More recently, computers and synthesizers are being used by contemporary composers to produce timbral-centered music. Contemporary composers state timbral listening as the correct technique to adopt in listening to and analysing their timbre (as opposed to pitch) based compositions. 'Pure timbres' are explored using methods such as granular synthesis
Granular synthesis
Granular synthesis is a basic sound synthesis method that operates on the microsound time scale.It is based on the same principle as sampling. However, the samples are not played back conventionally, but are instead split into small pieces of around 1 to 50ms. These small pieces are called grains...
in works such as 'Dragon of the Nebula' by Mara Helmuth.
- ShakuhachiShakuhachiThe is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
music in Japan
The music produced by the Shakuhachi end blown flute such as honkyoku
Honkyoku
Honkyoku are the pieces of shakuhachi or hocchiku music played by mendicant Japanese Zen monks called komusō. Komusō played honkyoku for enlightenment and alms as early as the 13th century. Honkyoku is the practice of suizen...
, contains timbral variations that are of equal importance to pitch variations. These timbral variations are indicated in Shakuhachi musical notation
Shakuhachi musical notation
Shakuhachi musical notation refers to the systems of transcribing playing instructions for shakuhachi music. The shakuhachi in Japan dates back to approximately 700 AD, though similar predecessor bamboo flutes from China and Korea can be dated to ancient times....
.
Application
The technique of timbral listening has wide applications:- It is used by those listening to timbre-centered music as either a conscious, intentional, or natural, intuitive process.
- It is used by ethnomusicologists wishing to study the timbre-centered music of different cultures.
- It is used by musicians participating in the composition of timbre-centered music be it with the voice, acoustic instruments, electronic instruments, samples or recorded sounds in music concrete. Also it is used by musicians in the timbre compositionTimbre compositionTimbre composition is the art of creating new timbres. It is often performed electronically, either by combining sinewaves or by filtering out harmonics from more complex waves ....
of specific sound objects within pitch-centered music that are often, but not exclusively percussion based. - It is used by sound engineers to evaluate timbre-difference.
- It is used in soundscape studies.
- It is used by students and scholars of music in analysis and aural skills acquisition.
See also
- Spectral musicSpectral musicSpectral music is a musical composition practice where compositional decisions are often informed by the analysis of sound spectra. Computer-based sound spectrum analysis using tools like DFT, FFT, and spectrograms...
- Sound massSound massIn contrast to more traditional musical textures, sound mass composition "minimizes the importance of individual pitches in preference for texture, timbre, and dynamics as primary shapers of gesture and impact." Developed from the modernist tone clusters and spread to orchestral writing by the late...
- Timbre recognition
Further reading
- Levin, T., Where Rivers and Mountains Sing, Sound, Music and Nomadism in Tuva and Beyond (Bloomington: Indiana University press, 2006). ISBN 0-253-34715-7
- Sethares, W. A.William SetharesWilliam A. Sethares is an American music theorist and professor of Electrical engineering and who is known primarily for his contributions to music theory, including dynamic tonality and a formalization of the source of consonance....
, "Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale" (Springer, 2004). - Fales, C., "The Paradox of Timbre", Ethnomusicology, 46:1 (Winter, 2002), 56-95.
- Waters, S., "Timbre Composition: Ideology, Metaphor and Social Process", Contemporary Music Review, 10:2 (1994), 129-134.
- Quesnel, R., "Timbral Ear Trainer: Adaptive, Interactive Training of Listening Skills for Evaluation of Timbre Differences", paper presented at the 100th Audio Engineering Society Convention, Copenhagen, May 11- 14, 1996.
- Karpinski, G. S., "Aural Skills Acquisition: The Development of Listening, Reading, and Performing Skills in College-level Musicians" (US: Oxford University Press, 200).
- Helmuth, M., "Timbral Composition and Gesture" Columbia University Music Department, available at http://meowing.memh.uc.edu/~mara/papers/TimbralCompGest.Greece92.html
- Tomassen, K. P., 'Acoustics and Perception of Overtone Singing', "Journal of the Acoustical Society of America" 92:4 (Oct. 1992): 1827-1836.
- Landy, L., 'The Something to Hold on to Factor in Timbral Composition', "Contemporary Music Review" 10:2 (1994): 49-60.