Teaching Timbre Topics (TTT) Report
Teaching Timbre Topics (TTT) Report
Created by Lena Heng and Kelsey Lussier,
under the supervision of Prof. Stephen McAdams, Prof. Robert Hasegawa, Dr. Kit Soden, and André Martins de Oliveira
August 31st, 2022
Aims & goals
The aim of the Teaching Timbre Topics project is to collect and organize materials for educational modules based on previous courses taught at ACTOR partner institutions. These materials could be used in course design for entire courses on timbre and orchestration, or as standalone sections to part of a course.
Three modules have been created:
Defining and Characterizing Timbre
Analyzing Timbre
Applications of Timbre and Timbral Analysis
Each of these modules include descriptions about its:
Objectives
Resources
Assignment suggestions
A wide range of resources, activities, and assignments have been incorporated. It is possible for the suggested materials to be used for different levels, and lecturers may select resources, activities, and assignments depending on the desired depth of the topic to be covered.
Background information
Many factors play a role in defining how we hear and describe timbre. While there are physical acoustical aspects to a sound, auditory processing mechanisms shape the way listeners conceptualize timbre. It has also emerged as an important organizing feature of much music composed or created since the middle years of the twentieth century. The study of music will be enriched by a deeper understanding of aspects of timbre perception and practical uses of timbre such as in performance, composition, and orchestration.
Within ACTOR institutions, several courses dealing with different aspects of timbre have been designed and implemented. These range from acoustics and psychoacoustics, as well as aspects of perception and cognition of timbre, of which a scientific and systematic study is fundamental to understanding the role timbre plays in music and the listening process, to timbre analysis and a study of how it can be used in organizing and structuring music, and to practical uses of timbre in composition and orchestration.
The motivation for this project arose out of the interest from music scholars, students, researchers, performers, and composers with regards to various topics around timbre. Even with this increase in interest about timbre and its role in music, courses focusing on timbre are not as commonplace as other topics in music. It is with this in mind that the available materials have been organized into modules which could be easily incorporated into music courses.
Methodology
These teaching materials, organized into modules, sub-modules, and sub-sub-modules are the result of the survey and compilation of course syllabi generously created and shared with ACTOR and the TTT team by Jennifer Beavers, Landon Morrison, Robert Hasegawa, Stephen McAdams, Judy Lochhead, Emily Dolan, Megan Lavengood, and Lindsey Reymore & Matthew Zeller. Some additional resources, especially some of those on conducting (Module III: Interpreting orchestration: musical tone and timbre in ensemble performance) and performance (Module I: Timbre vs. Musical Tone) were recommended by performers, conductors, and composers including Murray Lefebvre, Holly Winter, Taryn Plater, and Matthew Kim. Moreover, many resources were also contributed by the TTT research assistants and supervision team, aiming to provide bibliographies that were as comprehensive as possible for each of the relevant topics.
The TTT team approached this project in four phases from June 13th to August 21st, 2022. Details are below. The work was divided equally between both research assistants.
Phase 1: Preparation and Creation of Module I
June 13th – July 4th, 2022
This phase involved surveying the available course syllabi on timbre and extracting the topics covered within and across them. Additionally, the resources, activities, and topics from each syllabus were categorized according to their relevance to each of the three pre-defined modules (i.e., defining and characterizing, analyzing, and applications of timbre). Bibliographies for each topic were compiled based on these sources and organized using Zotero citation management software (access request link given in the Resources section of this report). Once this process of familiarization and organization was complete (after approximately 2.5 weeks), Kelsey and Lena began building Module I using these collected materials.
Phase 2: Creation of Module II and Module I edits
July 11th – August 1st, 2022
Just before the beginning of this phase, the ACTOR Y4 workshop took place, during which the TTT research assistants presented our work to the TOR working group. We received lots of extremely helpful feedback, including suggestions for the inclusion of more sub- and sub-sub-modules from performer perspectives, the addition of keywords to help navigation of the website, and encouragement to consider the intended audience of our work. This feedback motivated a few edits to the tables in Module I (including the creation of the Tone vs. Timbre sub-sub-module). Following this workshop, Kit began to format the Module I content for this project’s TOR page, which inspired more Module I edits for clarity and flow.
The bulk of this phase consisted of the creation of Module II, focusing on the many ways of analyzing timbre. It was most challenging to parse topics and activities between Modules I and II. For instance, the sub-sub-module entitled “Defining timbre for music analysis” was originally conceived to fit within Module I, but since its primary focus is examining definitions of timbre solely for music-analytical purposes, it was transplanted into the second Module. It was agreed upon by the members of the TTT team that overlap between modules and sub-modules was acceptable, given that each sub-sub-module is intended to be independent and self-sufficient to the extent they may each be lifted (in whole or in part) and placed into relevant pedagogical contexts.
Phase 3: Creation of Module III
August 2nd – 22nd, 2022
Phase 3 consisted of the creation of our third Module (Applications of Timbre and Timbre Analysis). The sub-modules in this module were developed based on how timbre is used across musical disciplines, including conducting, composition, performance, analysis, and general enthusiasm (e.g., in popular music).
Phase 4: Finishing touches of Module III and final report creation
August 22nd – 31st, 2022
In addition to the creation of this report, the final phase of this project involved some minor adjustments to Module III, with the aim of creating activities that were as accessible as possible to a wide range of potential audiences.
Results & Conclusions
As mentioned above, this work culminates in several tables of teaching materials that focus on specific aspects of timbre scholarship and practice. The research team prioritized the goal of approaching the development of teaching materials from as many different perspectives as possible. Each broad module features a series of general goals, which help focus their comprising materials. Similarly, each sub-sub-module is prefaced with a short “central problem and goals” blurb, which outlines a brief justification for the inclusion of the sub-sub-module within the teaching materials and previews for readers the aims and general topics that are touched upon within the materials that follow. These brief, focusing blurbs were essential for defining the scope of each large and sub-module.
Each broad module is then broken down into a few smaller sections (sub-modules), each comprising at least one table of teaching materials (sub-sub-modules). These distinctions allow for multiple related topics to be grouped together into sub-module headings. The first row in each sub-sub-module table features its objectives. These bullet points can be understood as learning objectives and their wording incorporates learning objective verbs from Bloom’s Taxonomy[1] as much as possible for both clarity and efficacy, demonstrating that pedagogical theory guided the formatting and creation of materials. The next row in each table details the specific topics that pertain to the sub-sub-module heading and whose relevant scholarship may be used to address the objectives outlined in the previous row and the central problem and goals outlined at the top of each chart. These topics are then used as headings in the resources section (the third row), which includes APA style bibliographies for each listed topic. Finally, the fourth row of each table includes multiple recommended activities created and compiled by the research assistants.
These suggested activities are both those from shared syllabi and original activities created by the research assistants. Original activities were drawn from many sources, including (but not limited to) our respective personal teaching experiences, assignments that we have completed as students in other classes that we adapted to this context, and other original activities such as those motivated by pedagogical theories known to the research assistants. Some of the activities in Module I are categorized according to their suitability for in-class or assessment contexts, but most of the activities proposed throughout these modules are intended to be flexible enough to adapt to many different contexts and audiences. In order to prioritize this flexibility, among other reasons, assessment criteria for the proposed activities are not included within these materials. Many of the activities are discussion based, which work well in contexts that range from the formal graduate seminar to the undergraduate class, and to the private or small studio teaching setting. Other activities focus on creative approaches to engaging with the topic and demonstrating the skill(s) that will fulfill the learning outcome(s). Some activities also include proposed modifications depending on the resources available to the teacher (i.e., smaller or more extensive versions of the activity that may be more suited to one context or another). Many of the assignments are also intended to reflect the professional activities of music scholarship in timbre studies from music theory, music perception & cognition, music technology, performance, composition, and conducting perspectives.
As mentioned above, these materials were intended to be created for flexible use: a teacher may pick and choose topics, activities, resources, and objectives from many different sub-sub-modules to supplement their courses or lessons; an entire module, sub-module, or sub-sub-module may be used to create or supplement a course; or a curious, diligent student may be able to approach these materials and engage with them independently. As a result of the desired independence of each sub-sub-module table, some resources and topics appear twice or three times within and across Modules. This was allowed during the creation of these materials to ensure the self-sufficiency (and therefore flexibility) of each resulting table. Links between modules and sub-sub-modules are given in blue text in Module I. Connections between modules are also most relevant in the first module, as it addresses definitions and characteristics of timbre, which underpin many of the topics addressed in the second and third Modules.
In all, the TTT research team believes that these teaching materials provide both a comprehensive summary of current pedagogy on timbre, instrumentation, and orchestration (especially across universities in North America) and a contribution to advancing and mobilizing knowledge of timbre and its research. We welcome any and all feedback on the materials that have resulted from this project. If you would like to submit feedback or have any questions, please feel free to reach out to any of the TTT team:
Lena Heng: lena.heng@mail.mcgill.ca
Kelsey Lussier: kelsey.lussier@mail.mcgill.ca
Acknowledgments
These modules have been created primarily from course syllabi generously shared with the Teaching Timbre Topics Team by Jennifer Beavers, Landon Morrison, Robert Hasegawa, Stephen McAdams, Judy Lochhead, Emily Dolan, Megan Lavengood, and Lindsey Reymore & Matthew Zeller. Many of these syllabi are available on the Timbre and Orchestration Resource website here. Thank you all for your contributions!
References
For a list of available resources, please request for membership at https://www.zotero.org/groups/4730197/actor_teaching_materials.
[1] Bloom’s Taxonomy is a skills-based method of classifying learning outcomes, directed mostly by the verbs that define them. More information on the Taxonomy and how it may be used is available here: https://tips.uark.edu/using-blooms-taxonomy/