Musical Timbre and Emotion: The Identification of Salient Timbral Features in Sustained Musical Instrument Tones Equalized in Attack Time and Spectral Centroid

Timbre and emotion are two of the most important aspects of musical sounds. Both are complex and multidimensional, and strongly interrelated. Previous research has identified many different timbral attributes, and shown that spectral centroid and attack time are the two most important dimensions of timbre. However, a consensus has not emerged about other dimensions. This study will attempt to identify the most perceptually relevant timbral attributes after spectral centroid and attack time. To do this, we will consider various sustained musical instrument tones where spectral centroid and attack time have been equalized. While most previous timbre studies have used discrimination and dissimilarity tests to understand timbre, researchers have begun using emotion tests recently. Previous studies have shown that attack and spectral centroid play an essential role in emotion perception, and they can be so strong that listeners do not notice other spectral features very much. Therefore, in this paper, to isolate the third most important timbre feature, we designed a subjective listening test using emotion responses for tones equalized in attack, decay, and spectral centroid. The results showed that the even/odd harmonic ratio is the most salient timbral feature after attack time and spectral centroid.