Timbre — Post-Prog-Metal

Timbre (16)

Plucking position Amplitude of the nth harmonic is proportional to (1/n²)·sin(nπa/L). Plucking at the midpoint suppresses all even harmonics.

plucked right by the bridge for a bright nasal harmonically dense attack, or over the fingerboard for a round hollow one

Speaker band-limiting A guitar speaker is specified 70–5,000 Hz; distortion generates harmonics far above that which are never heard.

through a real valve amp and 4x12 cabinet, band-limited with no fizz because the speaker rolls off steeply above 5 kHz

Pickup resonance A loaded pickup peaks between roughly 2 and 5 kHz depending on inductance and cable capacitance.

a bright cutting resonant emphasis around 3 to 5 kHz, or a warm singing peak around 2 to 2.5 kHz

Frequency-selective clipping A filter placed before a clipper decides which frequencies distort most.

a filter before the distortion so the boosted band saturates hard while everything outside it stays comparatively clean

Volume swell The attack is removed by raising volume after the note is struck.

notes with the attack completely removed, swelling in from silence like a bowed instrument

Controlled feedback Sustain maintained by acoustic coupling between speaker and string.

notes that bloom into sustained feedback rather than decaying, held indefinitely

Natural harmonics (chimes) Light touch at a node isolates a partial. Called chimes or bells in slack key.

bell-like chiming harmonics ringing out clear and glassy against fretted notes

Pinched harmonic The thumb catches the string immediately after the pick, forcing a high partial.

sudden squealing high harmonics punctuating the ends of phrases

Harp harmonics One right-hand finger touches a node while another plucks the same string, letting harmonics sound over fretted notes.

harmonics and fretted notes alternating in one cascading line, high chimes interleaved with normal notes

Slap harmonics The string is slapped directly over a node.

percussively slapped chiming harmonics with a hard attack

Sympathetic strings (tarab) Undamped strings that resonate passively with the played note.

undamped strings ringing in sympathy behind everything, a continuous shimmering halo around each note

Prepared guitar Objects placed on or between strings altering the vibrating mass.

objects damping and rattling against the strings, producing buzzing and pitched percussion

Body percussion The instrument's top and sides struck as a drum.

the body of the guitar struck as a drum between the notes

Resonator cone A metal cone mechanically amplifies string vibration inside the body — a construction category, not a playing technique.

a metallic, nasal, mechanically amplified acoustic tone with a hard midrange bark

Octave fuzz A fuzz circuit generating an upper octave, unstable on low notes.

fuzz with a screaming upper octave riding on top, spitting and unstable in the low register

Reverse reverb Reverb applied to a reversed signal so the tail precedes the note.

sound swelling backwards into each note so the reverb arrives before the attack