A spectral glide is a music-composition concept, consisting of a "modification of the vowel quality of a tone" (Erickson 1975, p. 72). Since the

vowel quality A vowel is a speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract, forming the nucleus of a syllable. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness a ...

of a

tone Tone may refer to: Visual arts and color-related * Tone (color theory), a mix of tint and shade, in painting and color theory * Tone (color), the lightness or brightness (as well as darkness) of a color * Toning (coin), color change in coins * ...

is determined by the

overtone An overtone is any resonant frequency above the fundamental frequency of a sound. (An overtone may or may not be a harmonic) In other words, overtones are all pitches higher than the lowest pitch within an individual sound; the fundamental i ...

spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...

, or

timbre In music, timbre (), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound of a musical note, sound or tone. Timbre distinguishes sounds according to their source, such as choir voices and musical instrument ...

of that tone (all three terms describe approximately the same hearing experience), a spectral glide is a move from a spectrum characteristic of one vowel to a spectrum characteristic of another vowel. A spectral glide may be accomplished through a wah-wah,

mute Muteness is a speech disorder in which a person lacks the ability to speak. Mute, Mutes or the Mute may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Mute'' (2005 film), a short film by Melissa Joan Hart * ''Mute'' (2018 film), ...

, or pedal, or through the modification of one's

vocal tract The vocal tract is the cavity in human bodies and in animals where the sound produced at the sound source (larynx in mammals; syrinx in birds) is filtered. In birds, it consists of the trachea, the syrinx, the oral cavity, the upper part of t ...

while speaking, singing, or playing an instrument such as the

didgeridoo The didgeridoo (;()), also spelt didjeridu, among other variants, is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous Drone (music), drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgerido ...

. Lip-vibrated instruments with large mouthpieces such as tuba and trombone allow extensive modification of vowel quality, while woodwinds have a smaller range, with the exception of the flute in air-sound mode. Strings have the smallest range (Erickson 1975, p. 72). The glide rate and the vowel contrasts used are important factors in the compositional use of spectral glides.

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

specifies the use of a trumpet wa-wa mute in his ''

Punkte ''Punkte'' (Points) is an orchestral composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen, given the work number ½ in his catalogue of works. History ''Punkte'' originated as a punctual orchestral work which was begun in September in Hamburg and had reached a ...

'' (1952/1962/64/66/93) through open and closed circles connected by a line. A. Wayne Slawson's computer-generated ''Wishful Thinking about Winter'' (Decca DL 710180) uses speechlike sounds featuring a large range of spectral glide rates.

Loren Rush Loren Rush (born August 23, 1935) is a U.S. composer. Biography His works include the drone piece ''Hard Music'' (1970) for three amplified pianos. The piece features no melodic figuration but rather clouds created by only one note, the low D a ...

began investigating in 1967 the computer-generated modeling of timbres "in between" familiar instruments such as a bassoon and bass clarinet, and devised a program to provide a smooth transition between timbres (Erickson 1975, p. 73).

Sources

*Erickson, Robert (1975). ''Sound Structure in Music''. University of California Press. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Spectral Glide Musical performance techniques Vowels Timbre

See also

Sources