A Model of the Cognitive Linguistics of Musical Instrument Timbre Qualia

Title: A Model of the Cognitive Linguistics of Musical Instrument Timbre Qualia
Authors: Lindsey Reymore
Source URL: https://www.timbreandorchestration.org/tor/modules/video-series/symposiums-workshops/y2/reymore

Abstract:

The cognitive linguistics of timbre has recently emerged as promising sub-field in timbre research, offering possibilities for deeper understanding of the ways in which representations of timbre and accompanying phenomenology structure musical experiences. I first present a model of the cognitive linguistic dimensions of musical instrument timbre qualia. The language of the model was generated through 23 open-ended interviews with musicians in which they were asked to imagine and describe 20 musical instrument timbres; this language was employed in a rating task in which 460 participants characterized the same 20 instruments, resulting in a final timbre qualia model of 20 dimensions. This model was then used in a subsequent rating task in which 243 participants rated 34 Western orchestral/wind ensemble instruments. This process yielded "Timbre Trait Profiles" for each of the rated instruments, which are presented here. These Timbre Trait Profiles serve as personality/character sketches of instruments that can be used in future research and music theoretical analysis, particularly in analysis of orchestration practices. A third rating task employing recorded stimuli asked 47 participants to characterize sounds of the oboe and the French horn as they varied in pitch/register and dynamic/intensity. The results suggest that while some dimensions change in similar ways for the two instruments, much of their variation in timbre qualia is likely idiosyncratic to instrument type. Comparisons of ratings across all three studies suggest that the model holds external reliability, and that there are only minimal differences in how it is applied to imagined and recorded sounds.