music and sound art

Composing with Multidimensional

Timbre Representations
Leah Reid

The author discusses her work and approach to timbre-based descriptive factors of timbre. For this, we must look at the
ABSTRACT

composition. Emergent in her works are a common theme and various parameters of timbre and observe how they interact.
exploration of “timbre spaces” and “timbre in space.” She discusses
I find that the multidimensionality and complexity of
two pieces: Ostiatim, for string quartet, and Occupied Spaces,
for two pianos and percussion. timbre is best illustrated in the following list by Caroline
Traube [3]:
• temporal envelope
My primary objective as a composer is to write beautiful and
stimulating music. For me, “beauty” is embodied by temporal • spectral envelope
and, in particular, timbral attributes. In my works, timbre • absolute frequency position of spectral envelope
acts as a catalyst for exploring new soundscapes, time, space, • variations of harmonic contents
perception and color.
The problem with timbre is that it is ill defined. It is more • position of spectral centroid → brightness or
often defined by what it isn’t rather than what it actually is. sharpness
Unlike pitch and loudness, timbre does not have a simple, • harmonic and noise components ratio
objective or single dimensional scale. One can, however, de- • inharmonic ratio
scribe timbre as a multidimensional attribute of sound, where
• odd/even harmonic ratio
“continuous perceptual dimensions correlate with acoustic
parameters, corresponding to spectral, temporal, and spec- • synchronicity of partials
trotemporal properties of sound events” [1]. As timbre be- • onset effects: rise time, presence of noise or
came increasingly central in my composition, I adopted a inharmonic partials during onset, unequal rise of
hybrid model that integrates both the “color” and “texture” partials, and characteristic shape of rise curves
of sound and incorporates both static and dynamic attributes
• steady state effects: vibrato, amplitude modulation,
of timbre. The “color” of sound is described in terms of an
gradual swelling, and pitch instability
“instantaneous snapshot of the spectral envelope,” while the
“texture” of a sound describes the “sequential changes in What we notice from these parameters is that the spectrum
color with an arbitrary time scale” [2]. of the sound is critical, as are the individual frequencies,
Hiroko Terasawa and Jonathan Berger developed this the way the sounds change over time, their amplitudes and
model of timbre at Stanford University’s Center for Com- the way these components interact with each other. These
puter Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA). This parameters begin to give one a better idea of what timbre
view hints at two major compositional elements in a piece: actually is, but they still do not give a full view of how they
(1) static, vertical pitch and chordal structures and (2) dy- interact. This is where a spatial or geometric model of timbre
namic, horizontal temporal processes. While these elements is beneficial.
are significant, this definition is still rather vague as to the Since timbre has no single dimensional scale that describes
it, when one reviews the research completed on timbre, one is
most likely dealing with a multidimensional space, or rather
Leah Reid (composer, educator), University of Virginia, McIntire Department of Music, a timbre space. A timbre space is “a model that predicts the
112 Old Cabell Hall, PO Box 400176, Charlottesville, VA 22904, U.S.A.
Email: leahcreid@[Link]. Website: [Link]. perceptual results of auditory stream formation and timbral
See [Link] for supplemental files associated interval perception” [4]. Depending on the stimuli tested,
with this issue.
different correlates are produced.

©2021 ISAST. Published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

International (CC BY 4.0) license.   [Link] LEONARDO, Vol. 54, No. 3, pp. 337–343, 2021 337
music and sound art

Timbre space studies have used a variety of impulse three dimensions: spectral flux, spectral centroid and noise-
sounds, ranging from FM-synthesized simulations to re- to-pitch ratio.
corded instrumental tones. The aim of these models is to The first dimension, spectral flux, measures the Euclidean
“find robust descriptors that explain perceptual data across distance between two spectra, or rather the change of spectral
studies, [to] develop perceptually relevant acoustic distance energy over time. By extension, this dimension can be used
models for measuring similarity objectively, [and to] find to control rhythms or the rate of pitch changes. This analogy
powerful descriptors for sound categorization and source provides a measure of density in time analogous to spectral
identification” [5]. flux at the intra-event level. For example, in the model, a
While there are many fantastic perceptual timbre mod- sound with high flux indicates a high rhythmic activity or
els worth studying, including those of Howard Pollard and that pitches are changing quickly, while a sound with low flux
E.V. Jansson [6], John M. Grey [7], Stephen McAdams et al. would be one in which either there is a low rhythmic activity
[8] and many others [9], they have their limitations. For ex- or the pitches are stagnant.
ample, the aforementioned studies do not explain unpitched The second dimension controls the noise-to-pitch ratio
percussion or noise elements. and is similar to Kaija Saariaho’s “timbral axis,” a structur-
From a composition viewpoint, there haven’t been that ing device used to create tension and replace functional har-
many composers who have made timbre the primary con- mony. On one end of the axis are sounds that are mostly
cern in their music. While the first composers that often “pure” pitch—that is, sounds that are close to sine waves.
come to our minds are from the spectral school, notably By contrast, the other end of the axis is “mostly noise” [17].
Gérard Grisey [10] and Tristan Murail [11], the timbral sys- The third dimension controls the spectral centroid, or
tems of Krzysztof Penderecki [12], Kaija Saariaho [13], Pierre rather, the average centroid over time, and controls the
Schaeffer [14] and Mathias Spahlinger [15] have particularly brightness and darkness of the sound. For example, if the
fascinated me [16]. space was evaluating the spectral centroid for a violin sound,
I have sought a model for my own purposes that both ac- this axis would have four reference points—con sordino, sul
counts for the way we perceive timbre and allows one to work tasto, normale and sul ponticello—plus every shifting pos-
with any sound/instrumentation. In this article, I outline the sibility in between.
conceptual timbre model I use when composing and give The first cube is, however, missing key information,
examples from two recent instrumental works. namely the quality of the attack, the dynamic level and the
length of the event entering into the space. To solve this di-
Timbre Models in My Music lemma, I use a second cube to inform these decisions. The
I structure my works using six parameters, which I organize second space controls the evolution of the sound and works
into a set of two interlocking spaces or “cubes,” as I like to in conjunction with cube I.
visualize them (Fig. 1). The first cube essentially controls the The first dimension—attack—controls how the sound or
frequency components of the sound and has the following gesture’s articulations are treated, ranging from no attack (or

Fig. 1. Timbre spaces used in my own works. (© Leah Reid)

338 Reid, Composing with Multidimensional Timbre Representations

 music and sound art
a smooth onset) to a sharp attack (sharp onset); the second In this piece, the spectral flux dimension controls the fre-
dimension controls the length of the event, sound or gesture quency and rhythm of pitch changes; the spectral centroid
that enters into the timbre cube; and the third dimension controls bow placement and mute usage; the noise-to-pitch
controls dynamics. ratio controls bow and finger pressure; the attack dimension
With this conceptual model, each dimension scales, de- controls the attack quality, ranging from crescendo dal niente
pending on the source material and the function of the de- to Bartók pizz.; the length of event ranges from short to long;
sired result. One could use this model to learn more about a and dynamics range from niente to very loud. Figure 2 de-
sound’s timbral characteristics or map a composition’s instru- picts the way materials were viewed inside the space.
mentation onto the space, thereby creating spatial coordi- One can use the model to examine a static selection of
nates for every sound they wish to use and “see” the possible parameters. For example, fragment 1 comprises small bursts
relationships among them. This model can be used to derive of material with sharp onsets (Fig. 3). This point can be de-
rhythms; generate a form, harmony and rate of material; or scribed as having a mid-spectral centroid, a mid-high noise-
simply inform the orchestration of the piece. With this ap- to-pitch ratio and a mid-high spectral flux.
proach, one can work with any sound or instrumentation. One may also explore moving trajectories in segments of
One can use programs such as SPEAR [18], AudioSculpt [19], material. Fragment 2 exemplifies some of the possible trajec-
OpenMusic [20], Orchids/Orchidea [21], Bach [22], etc., to tories that can be created with my timbre model (Fig. 4). The
analyze these parameters, or one can work with the dimen- fragment has two parts: measures 8–14 and measures 15–17.
sions intuitively. In either case, the model allows the per- In terms of articulations, the first part juxtaposes aggres-
ceptual properties of timbre to address many compositional sive pizzicati with arco sounds, and the second part features
elements across multiple dimensions. delicate pizzicati and soft mid-noisy tremolos. Each part has
To give an example of how one might use these spaces in differing spectral flux coordinates. The first part of the frag-
a composition, I outline below how I used the model in two ment has a high spectral flux, while the second part has a
recent pieces. mid-low flux.
The spectral centroid has multiple trajectories. One can
Ostiatim observe the motion in the second violin and the violoncello.
Ostiatim, for string quartet, comprises 15 fragments that ex- For example, in measure 8 they move from sul ponticello to
plore the sounds produced by doors and the emotional in- ordinario, which can be viewed as a movement from a high
flections of people who interact with them. The title, meaning to a mid-spectral centroid. Another example can be seen in
“door-to-door,” is meant to depict the timeline of the piece. measure 12 with a movement back to sul ponticello. Here,
Each fragment is meant to be treated like a fleeting memory. the spectral centroid shifts back to high. In measure 13, they
Sometimes connections are made, and other times, the mo- shift to sul tasto, which can be viewed as a movement to a low
ment slips away. spectral centroid. The violoncello then does one more move-

Fig. 2. Timbre cubes as they relate to Ostiatim. (© Leah Reid)

Reid, Composing with Multidimensional Timbre Representations 339

music and sound art

Fig. 3. Ostiatim’s fragment 1. (© Leah Reid)

ment to sul ponticello before playing ordinario in measures

13–15. This motion can be viewed as a trajectory of a high to
low spectral centroid.
In terms of the noise-to-pitch axis, in measure 8, both the
second violin and the violoncello move from overpressured
bowing to normale bowing. This can be viewed as a move-
ment from a high noise-to-pitch ratio to a mid-low one.
The opposite motion can be seen again in measures 11–12
and 13–14. Furthermore, in the second part of this fragment
(measures 15–17), the second violin and viola explore a mid-
high noise-to-pitch ratio while the first violin (measures
15–17) and the second violin (measure 17) explore a mid-
noise coordinate.
There are also overarching timbral poles/extremes and
large-scale trajectories occurring in the piece. For example,
the “brightest” fragment is number 12, while the “darkest”
one is fragment 14. Also, the noisiest fragment is number 10
while the “purest” one is fragment 14.
The composition is a series of abstracted door sounds that
explore both the gritty noisy aspects of these sounds and the
beautiful “emotional” side of them. The finished product is
not meant to be a replica of the original but rather an inter-
pretation of it.

Occupied Spaces
My next example, Occupied Spaces, for two pianos and per-
cussion, explores a series of timbral spaces, presented as
“rooms,” which grow, shrink and shift in shape. This piece
explores the concept of timbre in space.
The idea for the piece originated through my interest in
spatializing timbre, convolution and the topic of Normal-
ized Echo Density (NED) as defined in architectural acous-
tics [23]. NED describes how the reflections of a sound in a
given architectural space interact over time and the texture
that results. Some of the key terms and components associ-
ated with NED are: the sound’s clarity; focus and blur; the
perception of smoothness and roughness, or rather, the de-
gree of granularity of the sound; the ratio of direct to reflected Fig. 4. Ostiatim’s fragment 2. (© Leah Reid)

340 Reid, Composing with Multidimensional Timbre Representations

 music and sound art
Fig. 5. Example of an impulse
filtered to various degrees in
Occupied Spaces—measure 7,
depicting a single frequency in
a “room” vs. measure 289 with
over 43 partials. (© Leah Reid)

signal in the sound; the dryness or wetness of a signal; and (if there were any) and analyzed the rooms’ dynamic curves.
the description of the number of reflections per second of an After completing this process, I orchestrated the results,
acoustic signal. For example, noises with low NED would be choosing the instrumentation that best followed the rooms’
perceived as “sputtery” and noises with high NED would characteristic properties. Figure 6 shows the resulting analy-
be perceived as “smooth.” ses with notes on orchestration.
The work explores timbre through a series of 11 “rooms” The piece’s overall form is divided into an introduction
or conceptual spaces. Some of these spaces were modeled and six main sections. Each section determines which rooms
after physically existing rooms; others were imagined and are used, how many rooms can be present at any one time
do not follow the rules of physics and/or occur inside one’s and the degree of the noise-to-pitch ratio. Figure 7 shows a
mind/head. visualization of the piece’s form and timings of each room.
There are three impulses in the piece: a zipper, a clap and In Occupied Spaces the impulses interact with the rooms.
a balloon pop. These impulses form the material that is in- Both are essentially convolved. The rooms morph the in-
serted into the various rooms. These sounds are filtered to serted material and provide their own timbral trajectories.
various degrees, and over the course of the piece frequen- The finished piece is the result of the collision of two formal
cies are added to the impulses, thereby creating an increas- elements: the rooms themselves and the material inserted
ingly dense and, by analogy, noisy texture [24]. For example, into them.
in measure 7, only a single frequency is present within the
“room.” By contrast, over 43 partials are present during the Conclusion
climax in measure 289 (Fig. 5). I am fascinated with how we perceive timbre, “timbre
In my research, I looked at impulse responses of various spaces,” and the relationship between reverberant space and
rooms, analyzed reverbs, created delay patterns and consid- timbre, or rather the concept of “timbre in space.” Over the
ered the resonant properties of different spaces. Similar to past 13 years, I have worked toward a conceptual composi-
the NED properties discussed above, I came up with room tional model in which the “color” and “texture” of available
classifications that I based on the following specifications: the sounds are derived from multidimensional perceptual timbre
dryness/wetness of the sound, the number of reflections, the ­representations.
degree of granularity, the characteristics of the overall sound This model is essentially six parameters, organized into
and the resonance of the space. To create clear timbral poles, two interlocking spaces, or cubes. The first cube controls the
I decided that the two room-extremes would be an anechoic spectral flux, the spectral centroid and the noise-to-pitch
chamber and an imaginary room with infinite reverb. The ratio; the second cube controls the quality of the attack, the
other rooms fit between these extremes. By convolving im- dynamic level and the length of the event entering into the
pulse responses with my original clap, balloon pop, zipper first cube.
sound and a single pitch (B4), I found each room’s specific This method is a result of my admiration of and research
resonant properties, determined the rhythm of reflections into spectral and postspectral concepts, perceptual studies,

Reid, Composing with Multidimensional Timbre Representations 341

music and sound art

Fig. 7. Graphical illustration of the temporal room spatialization in

Occupied Spaces. (© Leah Reid)

Schaefferian concepts and many composers’ approaches to

timbre. It expands upon and combines these ways of think-
ing. It allows composers to use sounds as acoustic models and
to structure both small- and large-scale elements in a work
using timbre perception as a guide. With this approach, tim-
bre may be used as a lens through which many compositional
elements may be explored.
With each composition, I find new ways to approach my
model. Ostiatim explores the orchestration of noise, and Oc-
cupied Spaces explores timbre in space through filtered im-
pulses and a series of rooms or spaces.
I have also explored these concepts with electronic media
(see Ring, Resonate, Resound and Crumbs), used timbre as a
structuring device (see Clocca) and developed new ways to
work with timbre and the voice (see Apple and Single Fish).
My interest in “timbre in space” has also led to significant ex-
periment with sound spatialization (see Sk(etch) and Reverie)
and collaborations with dancers—exploring relationships
between physical and perceptual spaces. Further informa-
tion [25], examples and recordings may be found at www
.[Link].

References and Notes

1 Stephen McAdams et al., “A Meta-Analysis of Acoustic Correlates of
Timbre Dimensions,” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
120, No. 5, 3275 (2006): [Link]/10.1121/1.4777215.
2 Hiroko Terasawa and Jonathan Berger, “A Hybrid Model of Timbre
Perception,” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 124,
No. 4, 2448 (2008): [Link]/10.1121/1.4782593.
3 Caroline Traube, “Instrumental and Vocal Timbre Perception”
(2006): [Link]/38557836/Instrumental_and_vocal
_timbre_perception (accessed 1 May 2020).
4 McAdams et al. [1].
5 McAdams et al. [1].
6 Howard Pollard and E.V. Jansson, “A Tristimulus Method for the
Specification of Musical Timbre,” International Journal of Acoustics
51, No. 3, 162–171 (1982).
7 John M. Grey and James A. Moorer, “Perceptual Evaluations of Syn-
thesized Musical Instrument Tones,” The Journal of the Acoustical
Society of America 62, No. 2, 454–462 (1977).
8 Stephen McAdams et al., “Perceptual Scaling of Synthesized Musi-
cal Timbres: Common Dimensions, Specificities, and Latent Subject
Classes,” Psychological Research 58, No. 3, 177–192 (1995).
Fig. 6. Analytic transcriptions of the 11 “rooms” in Occupied Spaces.
The image depicts what results when a 16th note B4 is inserted into 9 In addition to the timbre models outlined in the article, I recom-
each room. Pitches are altered, orchestration is informed and rhythms mend studying those of Peterson and Barney [26], Singh and Woods
are generated [43]. (© Leah Reid) [27], Von Bismarck [28], Pratt and Doak [29], Wessel [30], Krum-

342 Reid, Composing with Multidimensional Timbre Representations

 music and sound art
shansl [31], Iverson and Krumhansl [32], Lakatos [33], the IPA vowel 27 Sadan Singh and David R. Woods, “Perceptual Structure of 12 Ameri-
space [34] and the Timbre Is a Many-Splendored Thing conference can English Vowels,” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
proceedings [35]. 49, No. 6, 1861–1866 (1971).
10 Gérard Grisey, “Tempus ex Machina: A Composer’s Reflections on 28 Gottfried Von Bismarck, “Timbre of Steady Sounds: A Factorial
Musical Time,” Contemporary Music Review 2, No. 1, 239–275 (1987). Investigation of its Verbal Attributes,” Acustica 30, No. 3, 146–159
(1974).
11 François Rose, “Introduction to the Pitch Organization of French
Spectral Music,” Perspectives of New Music 34, No. 2, 6–39 (1996). 29 R.L. Pratt and Philip Ellis Doak, “A Subjective Rating Scale for Tim-
bre,” Journal of Sound and Vibration 45, No. 3, 317–328 (1976).
12 Danuta Mirka, “To Cut the Gordian Knot: The Timbre System of
Krzysztof Penderecki,” Journal of Music Theory 45, No. 2, 435–456 30 David Wessel, “Timbre Space as a Musical Control Structure,” Com-
(2012). puter Music Journal 3, No. 2, 45–52 (1979).
13 Kaija Saariaho, “Timbre and Harmony: Interpolations of Timbral 31 Carol Lynne Krumhansl, “Why Is Musical Timbre So Hard to Un-
Structures,” Contemporary Music Review 2, No. 1, 93–133 (1987). derstand?” in S. Nielzén & O. Olsson, eds., Structure and Perception
of Electroacoustic Sound and Music (Amsterdam: Excerpta Medica,
14 Pierre Schaeffer, Traité des Objets Musicaux: Essai Interdisciplines 1989) pp. 43–53.
(Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1966).
32 Paul Iverson and Carol Lynne Krumhansl, “Isolating the dynamic
15 Philipp Blume, “Mathias Spahlinger’s 128 erfüllte augenblicke and attributes of musical timbre,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of
the Parameters of Listening,” Contemporary Music Review 27, No. 6, America 94, No. 5, 2595–2603 (1993).
625–642 (2008).
33 Stephen Lakatos, “A Common Perceptual Space for Harmonic and
16 This list is not exhaustive. For a few additional examples, I recom- Percussive Timbres,” Perception & Psychophysics 62, No. 7, 1426–1439
mend the reader refer to research by Cogan [36], Erickson [37], (2000).
­Lerdahl [38], Slawson [39], Terasawa [40], Thoresen [41] and Wishart
and Emmerson [42]. 34 IPA Vowel Chart: [Link]/sites
/default/files/IPA_Kiel_2015.pdf (accessed 1 February 2021).
17 Saariaho [13].
35 Etienne Thoret, Meghan Goodchild and Stephen McAdams, eds.,
18 SPEAR is a sinusoidal partial editing analysis and resynthesis tool, Timbre 2018: Timbre Is a Many-Splendored Thing (Montreal, QC:
available at [Link]/spear (accessed 1 May 2020). McGill University, 2018).
19 AudioSculpt is an IRCAM software for viewing, analyzing and pro- 36 Robert Cogan and Pozzi Escot, Sonic Design: The Nature of Sound
cessing sounds described at [Link] and Music (Cambridge, MA: Publication Contact International,
/software/audiosculpt (accessed 1 May 2020). 1984).
20 OpenMusic is a visual programming language based on Common 37 Robert Erickson, Sound Structure in Music (Berkeley: University of
Lisp and developed at IRCAM. The program is a useful environment California Press, 1975).
for music composition and is described at [Link]
.[Link] (accessed 1 May 2020). 38 Fred Lerdahl, “Timbral Hierarchies,” Contemporary Music Review 2,
No. 1, 135–160 (1987).
21 Orchids/Orchidea is a computer-assisted orchestration program de-
veloped at IRCAM and available at [Link] 39 Wayne Slawson, Sound Color (Berkeley: University of California
/detail/orchidea (accessed 1 May 2020). Press, 1985).
22 Bach is a source library providing Max/MSP for computer-aided 40 Hiroko Terasawa, “A Hybrid Model for Timbre Perception: Quan-
composition, available at [Link] (accessed 1 May titative Representations of Sound, Color, and Density” (Stanford
2020). University, PhD thesis, 2009).
23 Patty Huang et al., “Reverberation Echo Density Psychoacoustics,” 41 Lasse Thoresen, Andreas Hedman and James Grier, Emergent Musi-
Proceedings of the Audio Engineering Society’s 125th Convention cal Forms: Aural Explorations (London, ON: Department of Music
(San Francisco, 2008). Research and Composition, Don Wright Faculty of Music, Univer-
sity of Western Ontario, 2015).
24 While the densification of frequencies in itself does not equate with
an increased level of noisiness, in the case of Occupied Spaces, the 42 Trevor Wishart and Simon Emmerson, On Sonic Art (Austria: Har-
impulses themselves are different noises. Therefore, as more frequen- wood Academic Publishers, 1996).
cies are added, by analogy, the true “noisy” nature of the sound is
revealed, thus creating an increasingly noisy texture. 43 These analyses were created using AudioSculpt and OpenMusic.

25 Leah Reid, “Composing Timbre Spaces, Composing Timbre in

Space: An Exploration of the Possibilities of Multidimensional Manuscript received 1 May 2020.
Timbre Representations and Their Compositional Applications”
(Stanford University, DMA final project, 2013).
Leah Reid is a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic mu-
26 Gordon E. Peterson and Harold L. Barney, “Control Methods Used
in a Study of the Vowels,” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of sic. She is currently an assistant professor at the University of
America 24, No. 2, 175–184 (1952). Virginia.

Reid, Composing with Multidimensional Timbre Representations 343

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