The Cultural Significance of Timbre Analysis

This article is in three interrelated parts. In Part 1, I present a methodology for analyzing timbre that combines spectrogram analysis and cultural analysis. I define a number of acoustic timbral a ributes to which one may a une when analyzing timbre, organized as oppositional pairs of marked and unmarked terms, in order to both aid in spectrogram analysis and account for some of this cultural and perceptual work. In Part 2, building from Allan Moore’s definition of four functional layers in pop texture, I argue for the adoption of a fifth layer, which I term the novelty layer. I study its construction in 1980s hit singles via the Yamaha DX7 synthesizer. The novelty layer is imbued with several layers of semiotic significance: it functions in opposition to the melodic layer, comprises instruments whose timbral characteristics are more resistant to blending with the rest of the ensemble, and often uses “world instruments” in 1980s popular music. This la er point is a reflection of the problematic treatment of world music by 1980s music culture. I use my approach to timbre analysis to define the timbral norms for the novelty layer as opposed to Moore’s other layers. In Part 3, I create a dialogic narrative analysis of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band Aid (1984) that demonstrates what it might mean to transgress these norms. This analysis, in acknowledging the problematic cultural associations of the song, illustrates the rich discourse that can be produced when timbre is made central to the analytical process. Volume 26, Number 3, September 2020 Copyright © 2020 Society for Music Theory [0.1] Example 1 is a transcription of the prechorus and chorus of “What’s Love Got to Do with It” by Tina Turner, which reached #1 in the US in September 1984 and #3 in the UK in June 1984. To describe the texture of “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” the instruments can be understood using Allan Moore’s (2012) concept of four functional layers present in pop textures: the explicit beat layer, the functional bass layer, the melodic layer, and the harmonic filler layer. Tina Turner’s voice is the melody layer, which carries the main melody and lyrics.(1) The explicit beat layer and functional bass layer are found, as expected, in the drum set, which plays a basic rock beat, and in the bass line, which plays chord roots in slow, predictable rhythms before switching to a more linear bass in the reggae-tinged chorus, respectively. These two functional layers, according to Moore, work together to provide the “groove” of a pop song. The harmonic filler layer, which Moore defines as the layer whose function is “to fill the ‘registral’ space between [the functional bass and melody] layers,” is made up of the guitar, which plays strictly chordal accompanimental figures; one DX7 preset, . 1, which, like the guitar, plays chordal accompaniment; and the strings, which thicken this core texture. [0.2] Having exhausted Moore’s four functional layers, I have left one instrument uncategorized: the 1 synthesizer sound. The musical content of this instrument is far less predictable than the other instruments, adding syncopated melodic interjections sporadically throughout the introduction. I suspect Moore would categorize this as belonging to the melody layer, and specifically as a “secondary melodic line” (2012, 20). But to me, this obscures the most interesting feature of the 1 line: its distinct timbre, which sets it apart from the typical rock texture. How might an analyst acknowledge the way that timbre contributes to texture in this way? [0.3] In this article, I present a methodology for analyzing timbre that combines spectrogram analysis and cultural analysis. To show how this methodology can be productively implemented, I expand Moore’s system by adding a fifth functional layer, which I term the novelty layer. Using my approach to timbre analysis, I find that the novelty layer is imbued with several layers of semiotic significance: it functions in opposition to the melodic layer, it comprises instruments whose timbral characteristics are more resistant to blending with the rest of the ensemble, and it is the most typical place to find “world instruments” in 1980s popular music. This allows me to construct a narrative through the analysis of timbre and texture. [0.4] Spectrogram analysis first became popular among music theorists in the late 1970s, when computing became more accessible to academics. A sma ering of books on timbre analysis using spectrograms was released between 1975 and 1985 (Erickson 1975; Cogan 1984; Slawson 1985), yet spectrogram analysis never became a mainstream analytical tool in music theory. One possible reason for this is what a spectrogram does not show: the significant role that perception plays in the experience of timbre, as articulated by Cornelia Fales in her foundational article “The Paradox of Timbre” (2002) and reinforced by the studies of other recent timbre scholars (Blake 2012; Heidemann 2014; Lavengood 2019).(2) I define a number of acoustic timbral a ributes to which one may a une when analyzing timbre in order to both aid spectrogram analysis and account for some of this cultural and perceptual work. But identification of these a ributes alone does not produce a stimulating analysis; this simply lays the groundwork for an engaging interpretation of a musical work. [0.5] In order to more securely a ach the spectrogram’s acoustic data to human experience, I have built my vocabulary for spectrogram analysis upon the notion of markedness, popularized in music studies by Robert Ha en (1994), as a way of analyzing the cultural associations that arise during the perceptual processing of timbral a ributes. Put succinctly, markedness is the significance given to difference, often between two opposed terms. In Part 1, I will describe my methodology in detail, showing how spectrograms and consideration of markedness can aid analysts in creating timbre analyses. Part 1 is designed to establish a flexible theory for the analysis of timbre that could be applied to a wide range of repertoires and purposes, and thus the tools I describe there are not limited to those that would apply to the analyses in this article. In this sense, Part 1 almost functions as a manual or glossary for timbre analysis. [0.6] My music analyses are in Parts 2 and 3 of this article. These two parts present analytical case studies that further develop Moore’s functional layers and my novelty layer as constructed in hit 1980s singles by the Yamaha DX7 synthesizer, an immensely popular synthesizer that helped define the sound of the 1980s. I ask readers to remember that Moore and I do not define functional layers by their timbral properties, but rather by the way the sounds are used in the track—that is, by their instrumentational role. Timbre and texture are not made equivalent in this essay, and the functional layers are descriptions of textural function rather than an assessment of timbral quality. However, by tracking the use of Yamaha DX7 presets in a number of mid-’80s hits and identifying their principal functional layers, I assess the levels of markedness within each layer to establish the timbral norms for each—norms which are particular to this idiom of 1980s mainstream popular music. I find that all DX7 presets used in the functional bass, melody, and harmonic filler layers have something in common: they have unmarked timbral characteristics that allow different instruments to blend into a texture. DX7 presets in the novelty layer, by contrast, have marked timbral features that encourage these instruments to stand out. In other words, I will show that in mainstream pop and rock music in the 1980s, the ideal for the instruments composing the former three layers (I refer to this combination as “core sounds” or “core layers”) is to blend with each other; for the novelty instruments, not to blend at all. [0.7] Part 3 concludes the article by using timbral norms to create a dialogic narrative analysis of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band Aid (1984) as an example of what it might mean to transgress the timbral norms established in Part 2. This analysis, in acknowledging the problematic cultural associations of the song, illustrates the rich discourse that can be produced when timbre is made central to the analytical process. 1. Methodology for Visual Spectrogram Analysis [1.1] With free software such as Audacity or Sonic Visualiser, anyone with access to a computer may easily view a kind of visual transcription of the timbre of any recorded sound.(3) A spectrogram charts frequency on the y-axis and time on the x-axis, while showing amplitude with changes in color as a type of z-axis (Video Example 1). This visualizes in three dimensions the relative weighting of the energy distribution within a given frequency range and provides a visual representation of most of the elements that define a timbre.(4) Put another way, a spectrogram shows the amplitude of all the frequencies present in a sound signal and the way those amplitudes and frequencies change through time. This spectrogram shows not only the fundamental pitch, but also all the overtones that the ear combines into a single tone with a unique timbre. [1.2] Another visual representation of timbre is called a spectrum plot (Example 2). In a spectrum plot, frequency is charted on the x-axis and amplitude on the y-axis, which provide two advantages over spectrograms: one, they are easier to read when showing a single moment of time, and two, they are useful for calculating exact differences in amplitude between various partials. The drawback is that spectrum plots do not show changes in timbre through time.(5) I detail some situations in which spectrum plots are particularly helpful when I define my oppositions. [1.3] Spectrograms may at first appear to have an overwhelming amount of information, so I have built into my methodology a vocabulary for describing timbral a ribute