Musical notes have distinct onset, steady-state, and offset acoustic phases.

Evidence

FIGURE 5.1 Waveform and Spectrogram of Whole Note (Upper) and Onset Phase (Lower) for C4 Played on the Principal 8′ Organ Stop (Open Flue), for Which an LTAS Is Shown in Figure 4.17. (Note that onset, steadystate and offset phases are marked.) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1442

Categorization

• DEFINE: The figure caption explicitly names the three temporal phases—onset, steady-state, offset—that structure psychoacoustic analysis of a sustained tone.
• XREF: Links to the LTAS discussed in Figure 4.17, tying this chapter’s spectral analysis to the long-term average spectrum framework from Chapter 4. — connects to: Musical instrument notes have a gradual onset before steady state — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1478; Note onsets are composed of many separable acoustic cues; Even steady-state musical notes vary in amplitude envelope over time. (+16 more)

Broader Connections

• Musical instrument sounds divide into attack, decay, sustain, and release phases #expands (1.00) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 686
• Attack and release phases lasting milliseconds largely determine a note’s timbre #corroborates (1.00) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1454
• Individual instrument note onsets are irreproducible even under identical conditions #corroborates (1.00) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1447
• A sound’s onset transients largely determine instrument identity #expands (1.00) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1185
• Simple integer frequency ratios between notes produce the greatest measured consonance #complicates (1.00) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1296
• Musical instrument notes have a gradual onset before steady state #qualifies (0.95) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1478
• Note onsets have staggered harmonic entry times that define each instrument’s timbre #expands (0.95) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1449
• A note’s onset phase matters most for perceived timbre #expands (0.95) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1469
• Instrument identity relies heavily on note onset and offset phases #expands (0.95)
• Instrument note onsets vary hugely across takes, players, and environments #corroborates (0.95) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1473
• A note’s onset, not its steady state or decay, most strongly determines perceived timbre. #expands (0.95) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1444
• A strictly periodic tone can still be perceived as two distinct notes #contradicts (0.95)
• Reed instruments show fundamental frequency rising during note onset #expands (0.95)
• The cochlea’s logarithmic place analysis explains why musical intervals sound the same across registers. #complicates (0.95) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 823
• Note onsets are composed of many separable acoustic cues #qualifies (0.85)