Timbre is a term used to describe specific qualities of sound, most commonly used to describe musical sounds. Because differences in this category of sound can produce more appealing results, many people refer to timbre as “sound quality.” This sound quality term is most commonly used to describe sounds with a musical tone, rather than percussion or other less tonal sounds.
Many people confuse timbre with musical tones’ frequency or pitch. Although musicians and others frequently refer to specific musical notes as tones, tone can also refer to a specific point on a musical scale. Beginners can think of this as the standard musical scale “do re mi fa…” or the standard music letter scale: A, B, C, D, E, F, G. Tone or pitch changes refer to these and other smaller incremental changes.
For those who aren’t familiar with music theory, timbre refers to the sound of a specific instrument or voice. Some people will assess it based on the treble and bass components, or the high and low registers, of a specific instrument’s sound. Others will analyze timbre using advanced physics concepts.
Harmonic content, tremolo or vibrato, and something called the attack-delay envelope are some technical aspects of timbre, according to sound physics. It’s helpful to see the musical sound represented a wave pattern in a software application to understand the attack-delay envelope. Those who are unfamiliar with sound timbres can see how different sounds generate wider waves at different points. A cymbal sound, for example, may have a wider wave at the start or during the “attack” of the sound.
Waveforms of sounds can also be used to represent harmonic content. Harmonics are sound frequencies that are related to a fundamental frequency. All of this necessitates highly technical sound evaluations, in which less experienced listeners will typically judge the timbres of sounds based on certain analog or basic factors, such as whether the music sounds “tinny” or “nasal” in the treble range, or “muddy” or “booming” in the bass range.
Timbre can be evaluated musicians for a variety of reasons. They can use it to try to match the correct instrument to a piece of music, such as when a brass horn or other instrument sounds better than others. They can also use timbre to evaluate an individual instrument for sale, or one that has developed a crack or other defect that needs to be repaired. Talking about sound timbres is also useful in the studio, as mutes and other devices and techniques can be used to change an instrument’s normal timbre.