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
Joshua Ryan Lam, and Charalampos Saitis. 2021. The Timbre Explorer: A Synthesizer Interface for Educational Purposes and Perceptual Studies. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.21428/92fbeb44.92a95683
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} }