timber, rhythm and synchronisation

timber: the sound of sound, the given textural quality of a sound – rough, smooth, glassy, sharp etc. take the note C, it sounds different on a keyboard, voice, trumpet etc although its pitch is the same. music artists play with timber all the time, and you will notice this in cover versions of songs – acoustic, rock, pop versions etc. the structure of the song and its melody is the same but the timber is different because they are using different instruments or in different ways. check out Marta La Reina vs Grupo La Cumbia versions of the same songs.

rhythm: element applies to music and also sounds in everyday life, urban spaces, countryside, time rhythm – sunset and sunrise and the body’s rhythms of breathing, heart etc. Seth Kranzler’s piece ‘Steve Reich is calling’ based on Reich’s playing of similar patterns of rhythm playing at different tempos over each other to create complex rhythms – phasing music. Seth put two i-phones ringtones playing side by side at slightly different tempos – something familiar becomes something other and new. Mayan culture is also worth looking at and their way of counting based on sound, as each number is visual and can be tapped as a rhythm.

synchronisation: related to counting and rhythm. the ability to play together. djs work by synchronising different songs. beat synching where the dj lines up 2 songs, adjusting the tempo until they are playing together and looped at the same time together – mixed – to create a third song – unifying the tempos underneath. time becomes the medium.