Lexicon of Analyzed Tones. Part 3: The Trumpet

Sounds produced by computers can be divided into several classifications. One such grouping would differentiate sounds which can be identified as artificial and electronic, and sounds which seem to be quite natural. Besides using computers to create music, computer musicians can also use computers to analyze sounds to find out what makes the sound of a traditional acoustic musical instrument inherently interesting to the human ear. If such components of a sound can be found, then computers can be programmed, as desired, to create music which has a "lively" quality similar to that produced by traditional instruments. The "Lexicon of Analyzed Tones" presents the results of research done by John Grey and James Anderson Moorer at Stanford University, with a running commentary to explain both their work and its significance for computer music. The first installment of the "Lexicon" appeared in Computer Music Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2, and presented the analysis of a violin tone. In the second installment (Computer Music Journal, Vol. 1, No. 3), we presented analyses of clarinet and oboe tones; that installment also included a review of the definition of timbre, "additive" synthesis and the idea of "formants" in traditional music instruments. This installment of the "Lexicon" features the analysis of a trumpet tone followed by a discussion of how to reduce the huge amount of data obtained by such an analysis without losing any fidelity in the process.