Choosing Instrumental Timbres

Sampled, synthesized and generated timbres each have a job; the wrong choice is a casting error, not a quality one.

Related

TimbreSamplersPiano

The problem

The same part played by a sample library, a synthesiser or a generated timbre differs in more than realism. It differs in casting. Samples sound recorded, synths sound designed, generated tones sound collaged. The usual mistake is a beautiful timbre that does not fit the phrase, so the part sits on top of the arrangement instead of inside it.

How it works

Samples preserve the noise, resonance and playing action of a real instrument, but they have a limited number of dynamic layers; repeat one note often enough and the same recording shows through. A synth can sweep brightness, envelope and detune continuously, but it has no body, and long notes tend to die. Generated timbres sit between the two: novel and detailed, usually not editable in layers. The test is not old against new. It is whether the part needs sustain, grain, noise or a clear attack.

Practice

Write a function for every part first: bass support, rhythmic frame, colour, melody. Give solo lines to samples or a player, use synths for sustained beds, and put generated timbres in the middle ground and effects layer. Check that attack and release match the phrase; string lines need a swell, brass needs the delay before the note speaks. Put candidates on the same phrase, match loudness, then compare. Finally, hear whether the timbre still holds inside the full texture. If it does not, replace it rather than adding reverb to rescue it.

What to listen for

In Chopin's nocturne, listen to pedal resonance as part of the timbre. In Handel's harpsichord variations, listen to the grain of the plucked attack. In Bach's chorale prelude, listen to how the sustained pedal supports the harmony above. In Sor's guitar method piece, listen to pluck noise and the tail after it. These show most clearly whether a timbre supports its part.

Sources

• 采样、合成与生成音色的差别，依配器与合成器通识核对，未抄原文
• Sampled, synthesized and generated timbres, checked against general orchestration references, no text copied

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.