Area of Study 4 Timbre and Dynamic

Timbre
Instruments: the instruments used, the sound type produced,
the family they belong to,
e.g.: strings/woodwind/brass/percussion.
Solo: one player, duet etc
Voices
The sound quality produced by use of technology: synthesised,
computer generated, sampling, reverb, distortion, echo, pitch
bend.
Playing techniques: con arco (with bow), pizzicato ( plucked
string), con sordino (with mute), tremolo/tremolando (shaking
the note), double stopping ( 2 notes on a string instrument),
hammer-on (guitar).
Vocal techniques: falsetto (higher pitch male), vibrato (making
the voice shake).
Dynamics
Louds and softs Italian terms: fortissimo, forte, mezzo forte,
mezzo piano, piano, pianissimo.
Gradual increase: crescendo (cresc), gradual decrease:
diminuendo (dim).
Suddenly loud Sforzando (sfz).