Klarinet Archive - Posting 000745.txt from 2004/07

From: Tim Roberts <timr@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Re: Measuring sound character
Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 17:19:16 -0400

On Sun, 18 Jul 2004 10:25:18 -0800, Jim Alguire <jalguire@-----.net>
wrote:

>I've been out of the electronics field for too long maybe for this to
>be a meaningful question, but if we define the character of the sound
>as the quantity or quality of the overtones, would it not be simple to
>measure the nature of the overtones with a device like an oscilloscope?
>
>

Yes, you could measure the overtones, but then what? The major problem
with this very reasonable course of action is that there is no general
agreement on which overtone shapes constitute a "good" tone, or indeed
what constitutes "bright", "dark", or "chocolate" tone.

Could you tell whether two spectra were different? Yes. Could you tell
which one was better? No.

I suspect some people are tiring of it, but I find this materials debate
absolutely enthralling, no matter how many times it comes up. The fact
that we have such an incredibly vast range of experiences and educations
here, and yet are unable to come to anything even close to a consensus,
just fascinates me.

--
- Tim Roberts, timr@-----.com
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.

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