Determinants of the Tonal Quality of Musical Instruments

The musical instrument families differ in their musical compass. dynamic range and agility. They are also perceived as having distinct tonal qualities or timbre. All these properties are utilized by musicians in the composition and performance of music. The tonal qualities of instruments have been relatedto the particular physical processes which govern the production and radiation of sound from instruments. modem analytic procedures have been applied to the processes involved in the excitation of tun'ed columns in organ pipes. the ' action of reeds or the lips on the airflow in the woodwind and brass. and the excitation of strings in the violin and piano. Work in the Field of musical ' acoustics has attempted to define the acousticfeatures associated with perceived tonal quality. ACOUSTIC DETERHINANTS OF TII IBREWork on the acoustic determinants of timbre poses problans of definition, measurement and the sheer complexity of the phenomena. The American Standards Association 1 seeks to define tinbre by a process of exclusion. It proposes that timbre is that attribute of auditory sensation in terms of which a listener can judge that two sounds. similarly presented and having the same loudness and pitch. are dissimilar. Investigation of. the determinants of perceived timre in musical instruments has brought out the importance of both transient and steady state acoustic features. The way in which a complex