Instrument timbre differences stem from harmonic spectra that shape masking breadth

Evidence

Pure tones appear relatively rarely in nature. Only some bird songs and the sounds produced by a flute can be considered to be pure tones. Most of the instrumental sounds in music are composed of a fundamental tone and many harmonics. The difference in timbre produced by different musical instruments depends on the frequency spectra of their harmonics. Whereas a flute produces primarily one single component, the fundamental, a trumpet produces many harmonic partials and therefore elicits a much broader masking effect than a flute. — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 449

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s psychoacoustics corpus on how spectral composition shapes perception; also relevant to instrument acoustics generally. — connects to: Timbre reduces to a weighted ratio of fundamental and resolved versus unresolved harmonics; An oboe-like timbre is reproduced by four harmonics with exponentially decreasing amplitudes — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5290; Only harmonics below the fifth to seventh are individually resolved in timbre perception (+20 more)
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 449

Broader Connections

• Only harmonics below the fifth to seventh are individually resolved in timbre perception #complicates (0.78)
• Bright timbres stem from strong energy in harmonics above the seventh #expands (0.78)
• Timbral differences between instruments can be plotted dynamically through critical bands #expands (0.78) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1514
• Timbre reduces to a weighted ratio of fundamental and resolved versus unresolved harmonics #complicates (0.75)
• An oboe-like timbre is reproduced by four harmonics with exponentially decreasing amplitudes #expands (0.72) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5290
• Timbre perception arises from basilar membrane vibration patterns, not pitch alone #complicates (0.72) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 783
• Each instrument’s timbre is defined by its unique recipe of harmonic partials #expands (0.72)
• Filtering alters timbre, but nearby spectral boosting can partially offset the loss #expands (0.70)