Mission 003
Timbre — Tone Colour
Why a saw at 220 Hz sounds different to a sine at 220 Hz.
Same pitch, same loudness, different sound. That gap is timbre.
+50 XP
// WHAT IT DOES
Play a C on a piano and a C on a violin at the same loudness. You hear two different sounds. The 'different' part is — the colour or character of the sound.
Timbre comes from the SHAPE of the wave. A pure sine is the smoothest possible shape; it sounds hollow and flute-like. A saw wave is jagged; it sounds bright and buzzy. Same note, same loudness, different shape, different colour.
Almost all of synth design is reshaping that wave to get the colour you want.
Think of it like → Pitch is which note. Loudness is how hard. Timbre is which instrument is playing it.
▸ WHY YOU CARE
- • It's why two presets at the same pitch can sit in completely different places in your mix.
- • It's why a bass and a flute don't fight even when playing the same melody.
- • Understanding timbre is what lets you swap from 'pick a preset' to 'design a sound'.
// SEE & HEAR IT
▸ Two oscillators blend to one waveform. Detune fattens by making them slightly out of tune.
▸ HOW IT WORKS
▸ Signal flow — watch the dot
▸ SIGNAL FLOW
Glowing dot = your signal travelling through Live.
▸ LISTEN FOR
- • Brightness rising as more harmonics come through.
- • Hollowness when only odd harmonics are present.
- • Buzz / edge when all harmonics are present at full level.
▸ WALKTHROUGH (4 steps)
- 1. DO: Init the synth to a sine wave. Hold a note.▸ LISTEN: Smooth, hollow tone — minimum timbre.
- 2. DO: Switch the oscillator to saw without touching pitch or level.▸ LISTEN: Brighter, buzzy. Same pitch and loudness — only timbre changed.
- 3. DO: Switch to square.▸ LISTEN: Hollow / clarinet-like. Different shape, different colour.
- 4. DO: Back on saw, open and close the slowly.▸ LISTEN: Timbre changes continuously without pitch or loudness moving.
▸ COMMON MISTAKES
- ✗ Trying to fix a dull mix with more volume (a louder dull sound is still dull).
- ✗ Assuming a 'rich' preset is always desirable — sometimes the mix wants a sine for the sub.
// QUIZ (QUICK)
Question 1 / 30 correct
Timbre is determined by