4.7 An Example of Timbre Description
In this section, let' s take a shakuhachi' s shake called
"(corocoro" as an example and try to describe the sound by
symbolizing a micro timbre in a hierarchy. Shakuhachi is a
traditional Japanese bamboo flute, and corocoro is a trill of
timbre, that is, fingering makes the timbre shaking on a
different register rather than pitch shaking.
Def Snd a="shakuhachi reg 1" % define a shakuhachi sound
Def Snd b="shakuhachi regi" % define a shakuhachi sound
Def Snd c="shakuhachi reg2" % define a shakuhachi sound
Def Snd A; % define total timbre
Def Pit P, p1,p2,p13; % define pitch function
pl[b]-(pl[a]=p3[c] )=2; % trill of major two
A=mor(seq(a,b,c,b)*"); % repetition of sequence "abcb" with
smoothly concatenated.
Where, Def represents define, and morO) represents
morphing operation in which distinctive timbre is smoothly
concatenated.
El..
I
Pu'."
-I
I.
I_ ~ ~ -.
~h---
~-~ ----
* J
h.' *l *i 'I!*; i~~**'
E.j~ ji' ~
SI.
SI.
A~,
5*F P'E
El
P
-I
I
II
I
Figure 3. Track representation and conmon music notation
*I:ii c':':] r.~I '
Conclusion
After the 20th century, timbre has become an important
parameter in music composition. However, no useful
musical theory for music composition concerning timbre has
been presented. We are addressing the construction of a
timbre theory. This paper describes the requirements of such
a timbre theory before proceeding to an actual theory
construction. Five requirements are proposed and discussed.
Definition of macro to micro timbre and operation definition
are the topics of a future study.
6 Acknowledgments
The author would like to express his gratitude to Prof.
Hiroshi Kinukawa for his enthusiastic support and Prof.
Steve Everett of Emory university for his heartful discussion.
References
[1] Pierre Schaeffer, "Trait6 des objets music- aux," Editions du
Seuji, 1966.
[2] Osaka. N., "Timbre interpolation of sounds using a sinusoidal
model," Proc. ICMC 95, 408-411, Banff, 1995.
[3] Hikichi, T., and Osaka. N., "New Synthesis Method for Addition
of Articulations Based on a Sho-type Physical Model," Proc.
ICMC 2003, 333-336., Singapore, 2003.
[4] Osaka, N., "Timbre morphing and interpolation based on a
sinusoidal model," ICA/ASA joint meeting, Seattle 83-84, 1998.
[5] Osaka N., and Hikichi T., "Visual manipulation environment for
sound synthesis, modification, and performance," Proc. ICMC
99, 429-432, Beijing, 1999.
uk I I
I Fill
I L'JJ
I Ji1i
Figure 4. An example of a symbolic operation: Grouping of
harmonics
Proceedings ICMC 2004
