4 ms·
> Melody, Harmony, Rhythm, Form, Timbre I think dynamics (or at least dynamic contrast) is also an important element. > Timbre is the easiest to appreciate du
by zhemao 10y ago
> Melody, Harmony, Rhythm, Form, Timbre
I think dynamics (or at least dynamic contrast) is also an important element.
> Timbre is the easiest to appreciate due to its lack of rich structure
It does have a rich structure, we just don't really understand it yet. Timbre is essentially the linear combination of harmonics of a single pitch. You could express it as a Fourier series. But we don't have a good model of how to play with specific timbres, since acoustic instruments don't really allow fine-grained control of timbre.
- Ericson2314 10y agoFourier analysis indicates there is a huge space of timbre, but not necessarily a rich one. In my experience while timbres can be annoying, they aren't wrong like a an arbitrary harmonic progression is. Harmony being such a minefield is what makes its space so rich.
- zhemao 10y agoAh, I see what you mean. I guess you can think of timbre as a mixture of dynamics and a very simplified version of harmony in which you can only have intervals of an octave.
- anentropic 10y agoyou can have fifths and thirds too I think... you can pluck those harmonics on a single guitar string. I don't know if any other intervals are possible as harmonics... perhaps the ratios for other intervals are too big to make it practical, they are too weak to sound