Understanding Timbre: What Gives Music Its Unique Tone Colour

Timbre, also called tone colour, is the quality that makes one voice or instrument sound different from another. It explains why the same note at the same pitch and volume can sound different on a piano, violin, oboe or electric guitar. A musician’s technique also affects timbre. Players may use different embouchures, reeds, mouthpieces, strings or bowing styles, creating distinct sounds even when playing the same instrument. Sound features such as overtones, spectrum and envelope shape timbre. On electric instruments, players can further change tone with equaliser settings, instrument controls, drawbars and effects such as distortion pedals.

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