In this continuing examination of morality in music, Erik proceeds to discuss the concept of "timbre" or "tone color" of music.
The big problem with timbre is that it is incredibly complex. Basically a note is built on a fundamental pitch and a series of overtones, all of which add to the quality of the sound. The overtones are part of the harmonic series and can be described in terms of number (e.g. fundamental plus the first fifth overtones). White noise (a random distribution of sound throughout the audible range) and pink noise (random distribution of sound in specific sectors of the audible range, often excluding the highs and lows) also have a place in describing timbre (for instance, a breathy tone is one in which noise is clearly audible, often with its own overlapping envelope to the envelope of the note itself – think of Stan Getz’s Brazilian recordings).The complexities required to have a detached discussion of the subject are painfully obvious. But I believe that at least a cursory glance at the details of what he has provided will give us an appreciation of the terms of reference.
