Musical Timbre and Voice Types

• Timbre, or tone color, sets the mood and expresses feelings in music.
• It is the quality of a musical note that differentiates it from other sound production, such as voices and instruments.
• A human voice is a special instrument capable of producing sounds and tones in varying timbre.
• Voices are generally classified as soprano, alto, tenor, and bass.

Soprano

• Soprano generally refers to a female singer with the highest vocal range.
• Soprano voices are described as brilliant and light.
• Young boys whose voices have not changed can sing in the soprano range.
• They often replace women's voices in the choir.

Alto

• Alto, often referred to as contralto, has a vocal range lower than soprano.
• Alto voices are described as thick and full.

Tenor

• Tenor refers to a male singer with a high vocal range.
• The name "tenor" comes from the Latin word "tenere," which means "to hold."
• Tenor voices are described as brilliant and thin.

Bass

• Bass refers to a male singer with the lowest vocal range.
• Bass voices are described as powerful and heavy.
• Apart from vocal timbre, instrumental timbre is also present.
• Instrumental timbre is produced by musical instruments.
• A group of instruments that play string, wind, brass, and percussion is called the orchestra.

String Family

• The string family makes up more than half of the orchestra.
• String instruments have strings made from gut, steel, or nylon.
• They may look similar but have very different sizes and sounds.
• They are played by drawing a horsehair bow across the strings, or by plucking or tapping the strings.
• Examples of string instruments: violin, viola, double bass, cello

Woodwind Family

• Woodwind instruments were originally made of wood.
• Today, they can be made of metal or a combination of both.
• Air is blown into woodwind instruments to produce sound.
• Examples of woodwind instruments: flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon

Brass Family

• Brass instruments are primarily made of brass.
• They can play the loudest within the orchestra.
• They're played by buzzing into a cup-shaped mouthpiece.
• Examples of brass instruments: trumpet, trombone, tuba, french horn

Percussion Family

• The percussion family encompasses many instruments, from small to large, simple to complicated.
• Percussion instruments are played by hitting, shaking, scraping, or striking against itself.
• Mallets or sticks are also used.
• Percussion instruments are used to keep the rhythm and create texture.
• Examples of percussion instruments: maracas, triangle, timpani, castanets, drum, cymbals, xylophone, tambourine
• The conductor leads and guides the orchestra.
• The conductor holds a stick called the baton.
• The conductor stands on a small box called the podium.
• A choir is the largest vocal group and consists of SATB (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) voices.
• Choirs can perform with or without music accompaniment, either a cappella (without music) or with accompaniment.
• Examples of accompaniment: keyboard, organ, or guitar
• Contrasts are differences between related elements such as color, shape, value, type, texture, alignment, direction, and movement.
• The more contrast is shown, the more a viewer's attention is obtained.
• Texture has more impact through variation and relief.
• Contrasting rough areas with smooth will make a print far more interesting.
• Harmony in art and design is achieved by combining similar and related elements.

Color Harmonies

• Complementary harmony is achieved through a combination of any opposite colors in the color wheel e.g., red and green.
• Monochromatic harmony combines different intensities, value lightness and darkness or brightness and dullness of one color e.g., blue, light blue, and dark blue.
• Analogous harmony combines of two or more neighboring colors in the color chart.