conTimbre learn

conTimbre learn informs you about the possibilities of contemporary instrumental playing techniques.
The diversity of modern instrumental techniques has become increasingly difficult to survey. conTimbre learn presents possibilities for making this diversity more tangible and easier to organize according to the needs of the user.

How does a tone sound? How can one notate it?
What acoustical properties does it possess?
How does the instrument producing the sound look like?

conTimbre learn makes it possible for the user to listen to the classical and contemporary sound of a given instrument. He can gain experience with instruments which are often unavailable to him at work, played by first-rate instrumentalists. A search interface allows the user to find sounds by their acoustic properties.

Browser

Safari™, Chrome™ and Firefox™ are recommended browser interfaces for conTimbre learn.

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Sound play area

The current sound may be played:

or

Sound selection area

A sound is sorted hierarchically by group, family, instrument, playing mode, pitch/version, dynamic and type. The type of a sound takes into account that the same sound may be different when played by different musicians or different instruments or different circumstances.

You can bookmark your preferred sounds.

Information categories

Several information tabs allow the presentation of different kind of informations:

Instrument

presents photos of the instruments, auxiliary materials and explanatory photos for the production of the sound.

Comments

Additional text information about the instrument, the production of the sound and for example fingering codes.

Pitch

In the case of harmonics, pitch and fundamental are different. The microtonal pitch represents the exact pitch of the sound with a deviation from the chromatic pitch in cents. A tuning of 442 Hz for the standard pitch is assumed.

Partials

The most important partials are presented. The partial pitches are measured in MidiCents or notated as quarter tones, based on 442 Hz. The intensity of the partials is indicated in dBA at a distance from the instrument of 1m.

Notation

A proposition to notate the sound, including for example fingering schemes and special symbols.

Spectrum

shows the averaged spectral envelope of the sound and the spectral center. The spectral center is musically equivalent to the brilliance of a sound. A sound with a high spectral center sounds clear, a sound with low center sounds dull.

Other/Intensity

The absolute intensity of a sound is the maximal intensity in dBA at a distance of 1m. The nominal intensity is the maximal intensity of the sound file (maximum intensity is related to 0dB, root mean square method). The nominal intensities of the sound files are not necessarily in proper relations to each other, but may be relatively higher for soft sounds.

Other/spectral complexity

A sound with low spectral complexity (close to zero) resembles a sine wave. A sound with high complexity (close to 1) resembles white noise.

Search interface

An additional window is opening. Here, sounds may be searched by their properties.