Timbre

The quality of a sound that distinguishes it from another of the same pitch and loudness, determined by its overtone content and how it changes over time.

Timbre is why a note on a neck pickup sounds different from the same note on a bridge pickup, and why no two guitars sound identical even with the same hardware. It is set by the mix of overtones present, how quickly they decay and how the attack differs, all of which are physical properties of the string, the instrument and the player's touch. Electronic parts then filter that starting material rather than inventing it.

Example: rolling a tone control down does not change the pitch or the loudness, but it changes the timbre enough to move the sound from cutting to soft.

Timbre

See also