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Ricardo Juanito Balledos

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Professor Ana Felisa Lorenzo


ENG 10 THX5
April 28, 2016

Tone Color
We might have been familiar of tone which is present in an artwork such as a painting
and the like. This element, in an artistic context, refers to the light and dark values used to
portray a realistic subject or to create an abstract composition. This could be expressed through
the careful use of various strokes and effective shading and tinting.
What does tone color in music mean? Tone color - also referred to as timbre - can be
simply defined as the darkness and brightness, or the thickness and thinness of a sound. To which
a dark sound can be described as round, while a bright sound is described as sharp, as what our
previous music classes might have taught us.
The Acoustical Society of America defined timbre as "that attribute of auditory sensation
which enables a listener to judge that two non-identical sounds, similarly presented and having
the same loudness and pitch, are dissimilar". We can then simply put that timbre is the unique
quality of sound produced by a specific instrument that makes it distinguishable from others of
the same type.

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I have come across a passage in Thomas Proctor Halls book Tone Color where each
notes of the diatonic scale is described. The descriptive words used are carefully selected to
begin with the same letter as the sol-fa syllables and pitch names of each note. This would give
us an idea on how tone colors, this time only by how each note sounds, can be described.
do' defiant

C' - Clearness

ti trying

B - Brightness

la lurid

A - Adversity

so strong

G - Gladness

fa fateful

F - Faith

mi mild

E - Ease

re rousing

D - Desire

do dauntless

C - Constancy

What causes tone color? There are several factors on tone production. The most basic one
is the raw material from which the instrument is made and crafted. An instrument made of metal,
for example a trombone, will have a different sound quality than an instrument made of wood,
like a guitar. However, variations in the specific raw materials also affect tone color. For
example, making a flute from silver rather than stainless steel, and substituting one kind of wood
for another in a violin. Various instruments are made from different materials which, at any time,

can be altered. Professional musicians have their own preference on how they should sound and
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most have their instruments customized.

An orchestra is a group of different kinds of instruments ranging from those which are
bowed, blown, plucked, and hit. A broad division between instruments of prevailingly dark or
bright suggestion is found below: (Instruments in brackets have an exceptional color range)
Bright

Dark

Violin

Viola

[Cello]

[Cello]

Piccolo

Double bass

Flute

Oboe

[Clarinet]

[Clarinet]

Trumpet

English horn

[Tenor trombone]

Bass Clarinet

Small percussion

Bassoon
Double bassoon
Horn
[Tenor trombone]
Bass trombone
Tuba
Large percussion

With the combination of these different instruments, an orchestra effectively plays a


music mainly because of its wide range of colors which is very useful especially in question-

answer sections and in emphasizing certain passages as well. This leads me to my metaphor that
an orchestra is a painting. It is the result of mixing different colors and making it act as one, these
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colors and pigments being the string, wind and percussion sections of the orchestra.
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difference in tone quality of each instrument is the main factor of the success and beauty of an
orchestral music.
Tone color can also be manipulated by a musician. But first, of course, one must know
how to produce different tones on his/her instrument to achieve great results. This could be
achieved by knowing, practicing, and mastering different performance techniques. Like in
playing classical guitar, the fingernails and the angle and the area of the attack on the strings,
may it be close to the sound hole or away from it, are very crucial in tone production, which
usually takes time to perfect. Meanwhile in the piano, the musician could produce a wide
variation of tones depending on how much force he/she applies when striking the keys.
Let us take our own music as an example. Philippine music is very expressive. It is a
reflection of Filipinos lives, culture and personality. Music has been used by Filipinos to express
their feelings to a person, event, or simply to a particular subject, kundiman, serenades and
protest songs are example of such. Tone color is very important to these, not just because of the
added aesthetic value to the piece, but also because it helps to convey the message of the song or
music, and at the same time, it enhances and emphasizes the idea of the piece as well.
Various songs and traditional music in the Philippines have different tone qualities,
mostly are based according to their categories, or genres. As to what I have observed, there is
music which is too bright and is very common to dances, which helps in giving it a lighter feel
and a more groovy feel; there are also some darker than the others, while some are just evenly

round, for instance is our kundiman. However, according to Sir Lester Demetillo, one of the
Philippines' leading classical guitar performers and teachers, Philippine music, traditional music
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in particular, does not have a predetermined, specific tone color to use, rather it is very
subjective. It is based on what you feel about the music during the moment that you are playing
it. It is less like the Western approach in performing music that tone colors are usually
preconceived. This, according to him, is more artificial and, as he put it, is plastic. A piece
should be interpreted the way you feel it, thus letting your affective side decide which tone color
to use, so that it would be much more honest. This makes Philippine music distinct from the
other music out there.
Also for an additional, our popular music has also considered the use of different tone
color. For instance the song Spoliarium of Eraserheadsstarts with a very dark tone which
helped set the confusing mood of the song, while
the song Ligaya by the same artist used a very
bright tone to enhance the songs slightly
romantic comedy theme.
Tone color can also be interpreted
scientifically. A tone color of an instrument can be
identified or described by looking at and
analyzing its sound waves.
Waves with a very sharp edge is referred to as a
bright or brilliant sound, while those smooth sound waves have a more round, not-so-dark tone.

However, tone color is much more complicated than revealed by spectral analysis. For
example, Harvey Fletcher in a classic study of piano tone color wrote:
It is true that the quality [or color] depends upon the wave-form
[Helmholtz's differing partials with differing intensities]. But it also

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depends upon the pitch (especially regis- ter, as we have just observed),
the loudness, the decay and attack time, the variation with time of the
intensity of the partials, the impact noise of the hammer, the noise of the
damping pedal, and also the characteristic ending of the tone by the
damping felt, etc.
Tone color has a great effect to the musics intention and quality and it could also help in
setting the atmosphere of the piece. Difference tones apply to different moods of the music, and
the appropriate ones enhances and emphasizes the intention of the music. Being able to produce
a good tone on your instrument is like fining the music it gives off. It makes the music more
sensitive, expressive and therefore more interesting. On the other hand, musicians whose tones
are not so good and well-polished often produce low-quality music. This is because of the lack of
the substance which usually makes the sound beautiful, thus making the music less appealing
to listeners.
Tone color therefore plays a vital role in improving the quality of the music and it reflects
the musicians artistry, interpretation and expression of the music.

Works Cited

Bentley, I. Madison. The Simplicity of Color Tones. The American Journal of Psychology
14.1 (1903): 9295. Web. 27 April 2016
Cogan, Robert. Reconceiving Theory: The Analysis of Tone Color. College Music Symposium
15 (1975): 5269. Web. 27 April 2016
Hall, T. Proctor. Tone Color. The Scientific Monthly 10.2 (1920): 142149. Web. 27 April 2016
Nypaver, Alisha. Tone Color in Music: Definition & Explanation. n.p. n.d. Web. 19 April 2016
Rogers, Bernard. "The Palette". The Art of Orchestration; Principles of Tone Color in Modern
Scoring. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1951. 3+. Print.

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