The Timbre Explorer: A Synthesizer Interface for Educational Purposes and Perceptual Studies

Joshua Ryan Lam, and Charalampos Saitis

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

• Year: 2021
• Location: Shanghai, China
• Article Number: 62
• DOI: 10.21428/92fbeb44.92a95683 (Link to paper)
• PDF link
• Presentation Video

Abstract:

When two sounds are played at the same loudness, pitch, and duration, what sets them apart are their timbres. This study documents the design and implementation of the Timbre Explorer, a synthesizer interface based on efforts to dimensionalize this perceptual concept. The resulting prototype controls four perceptually salient dimensions of timbre in real-time: attack time, brightness, spectral flux, and spectral density. A graphical user interface supports user understanding with live visualizations of the effects of each dimension. The applications of this interface are three-fold; further perceptual timbre studies, usage as a practical shortcut for synthesizers, and educating users about the frequency domain, sound synthesis, and the concept of timbre. The project has since been expanded to a standalone version independent of a computer and a purely online web-audio version.

Citation:

BibTeX Entry:

  @inproceedings{NIME21_62,
 abstract = {When two sounds are played at the same loudness, pitch, and duration, what sets them apart are their timbres. This study documents the design and implementation of the Timbre Explorer, a synthesizer interface based on efforts to dimensionalize this perceptual concept. The resulting prototype controls four perceptually salient dimensions of timbre in real-time: attack time, brightness, spectral flux, and spectral density. A graphical user interface supports user understanding with live visualizations of the effects of each dimension. The applications of this interface are three-fold; further perceptual timbre studies, usage as a practical shortcut for synthesizers, and educating users about the frequency domain, sound synthesis, and the concept of timbre. The project has since been expanded to a standalone version independent of a computer and a purely online web-audio version.},
 address = {Shanghai, China},
 articleno = {62},
 author = {Lam, Joshua Ryan and Saitis, Charalampos},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.21428/92fbeb44.92a95683},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 presentation-video = {https://youtu.be/EJ0ZAhOdBTw},
 title = {The Timbre Explorer: A Synthesizer Interface for Educational Purposes and Perceptual Studies},
 url = {https://nime.pubpub.org/pub/q5oc20wg},
 year = {2021}
}