An instrument’s opening attack largely determines its perceived timbre

Evidence

A bell struck in the normal way can have a luscious timbre. Yet, if the continuous bell tone is recorded, and then played back with an abrupt beginning, or perhaps a smooth onset, it sounds very clinical. The same can be said for many instruments deprived of their normal attack. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2245

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: how the transient attack defines identity — connects to why synthesized instruments sound sterile and to how sample libraries fake realism.
• XREF: connects to: Grey’s timbre findings confirm that note onset transients largely determine perceived instrument identity — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1508