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Music - Timbre and Dynamics

Terms in this set (74)

Timbre
The characteristic sound or 'tone-colour' of an instrument or voice i.e. the difference between say, a violin or a trumpet.
Dynamics
How loud or quiet the music is.
Woodwind
Piccolo, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Saxophone.
Brass
In an Orchestra: French Horn, Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba. In a Band: Cornet, Tenor Horn, Euphonium.
Unpitched Percussion
...
Bass Drum
Snare Drum, Tom Tom, Cymbals, Tambourine, Castanets, Shakers etc.
Pitched Percussion
Glockenspiel (metal), Vibraphone (metal), Xylophone (wooden), Mirimba (wooden), Timpani/Kettledrums.
Strings
Bowed: Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass. Plucked: Harp, Guitar, Lute, Banjo.
Harpsichord
Plucked string mechanism. Often has two manuals (keyboards). Particularly used in Baroque music.
Piano
instrument with keys
Electric Piano
electrical instrument with keys
Organ
Can be 'pipe' as found in churches, often with two or three manuals and a pedal board. Works by air but can also be electric.
Sampler
An Electronic Instrument. Takes samples of pre-existing sounds and has the ability to manipulate them.
Synthesiser
An Electronic Instrument. Creates sound electronically.
Drum machine
Produces drum sounds electronically. Can be played live or programmed.
Sequencer
Device to record several tracks electronically. E.g. Logic Express
Orchestra
Large group from all the families of instruments. Usual context: classical music.
Chamber Orchestra
Small version of an orchestra, sometimes with no brass or percussion.
String Orchestra
Orchestra with only 1st and 2nd violins, violas, cellos and double basses.
Instrument groups
Woodwind, Brass and Percussion.
Brass Band
Brass and Percussion.
Dance Band
Often trumpets, trombones, saxes, guitars and drums- but can also include strings.
Rock Band
Electric guitar, bass guitar, drum kit- usually with vocals and sometimes with keyboards.
Treble Voice
Unbroken boy's voice.
Soprano Voice
High female voice.
Alto Voice
Low female voice (sometimes called Contralto when solo.)
Tenor Voice
High male voice.
Baritone Voice
Middle male voice.
Bass Voice
Low male voice.
Falsetto Voice
Male voice singing artificially high.
Acapella
Unaccompanied singing (choir).
Choir
A group of singers.
Chorus
A group of singers- more usually called a chorus than a choir in a popular music context.
Djembe (African Instrument)
Goblet shaped drum from West Africa (common African drum.)
Talking drum (Donno
tama) (African Instrument), Hourglass-shaped drum played with the hands. Different pitches are played by stretching the skin of the drum.
Agogo Bell (Double bell
gankogui) (African Instrument), Bell (sounds like a cow bell) also used in Samba. Can be single or multiple.)
Dundun (African Instrument)
Double headed drum played with sticks.
Membraphone (African Instrument)
Instruments that have a skin (e.g. drums.)
Mbira (African Instrument)
Also known as a Thumb Piano. A wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached.
Kora (African Instrument)
21 string Harp/Lute from West Africa. It is made from a gourd cut in half.
Balaphon (African Instrument)
Xylophone (pentatonic) from West Africa.
Sitar (Indian Instrument)
The main Indian plucked string instrument.
Sarod (Indian Instrument)
Plucked string instrument: metal fingerboard, no frets.
Sarangi (Indian Instrument)
Bowed string instrument.
Tabla (Indian Instrument)
Pair of drums (The Tabla drum and the Baya drum.)
Harmonium (Indian Instrument)
Small organ, usually with hand pumped bellows.
Dhol (Indian Instrument)
Large double headed barrel drum used in Bhangra.
Tanpura/Tampura (Indian Instrument)
Plucked strings. Lower than the Sitar. Normally used for the drone.
Gamelan (Indonesian Ensemble)
Gongs, Metallophones (known as 'Gender') and drums.
Steel Pans (caribbean Instrument)
Large oil drums tuned to play different notes, played in an ensemble.
EQ (Electronic)
'Equalisation'. Changing treble, bass etc.. balance in a sound.
Chorus effect (Electronic)
Individual sounds with roughly the same timbre but slightly different pitch are converged. Has a shimmering, rich quality.
Distortion (Electronic)
Modifying sound so that it sounds distorted, usually applied to guitars in the heavy metal context.
Quantization (Electronic)
Electronically processing what has been played to make the note values exact.
Delay (Electronic)
A sound is recorded and then played back a bit later, often multiple times, producing an echo like effect.
Flanger (Electronic)
An effect created by feeding part of a delayed sound back into the original sound: it becomes like a sweeping or 'swooshing' sound.
Pan (Electronic)
You can 'pan' the sound to the left speaker, or to the right, or anywhere inbetween.
Gating (Electronic)
A gate is a device which mutes a signal whenever its level falls below a threshold set by the user.
Attack (Electronic)
The start of a note.
Decay (Electronic)
The end of a note. A high piano note has a short decay- the sound dies quickly- however a low piano note has a long decay- it can be heard for much longer.
Filtering (Electronic)
Various frequencies of sounds are filtered out while others are allowed to remain. See EQ (similar to EQ.)
Arco
With the bow (on a string instrument.)
Pizzicato
Plucked (string instrument.)
Con sordino
With the mute. (Strings and Brass can be muted.)
Double Stopping
Playing two notes at the same time on a string instrument.
Tremolo/Tremolando
Rapidly repeating one note or rapidly alternating two notes.
Fortissimo
Very loud.
Forte
Loud.
Mezzo Forte
Moderately loud.
Mezzo Piano
Moderately quiet.
Piano
Quiet.
Pianissimo
Very quiet.
Crescendo
Gradually getting louder.
Diminuendo
Gradually getting quieter.
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