The Oxford Handbook of Timbre

Elusive, timbre has long elicited by turns frustration and fascination. Dismissed as a secondary parameter, decried as mere sensuous surface, and deconstructed as a non-hierarchical quality beset with paradoxes, timbre has traditionally evaded straightforward classification, analysis, and definition. Recent scholarship has begun to embrace timbre in all of its rich messiness, and this volume demonstrates how a focus on timbre can reorganize the field of sound. Spanning an enormous range of sonic expressions—from Tuvan throat singing to R&B, from Homeric recitations to cochlear implants—this innovative collection puts the spotlight on timbre in its historical, philosophical, technological, and cognitive dimensions, and offers suggestions for further study.