Building an Imaginary Guitar in Ravel’s Alborada del gracioso — A Metatimbral Analysis

A metatimbre is a collection of timbres presenting a strong perceptual similarity. They come at least from two different instruments within a family or ACROSS families. The sounds belonging to the same metatimbre class (metClass) have the same perceptual function and can be potentially exchanged without altering their salient timbral characteristics (they are interchangeable within an orchestration).