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 syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...

of a tone 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 (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...

, or

timbre In music, timbre ( ), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or musical tone, tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voice ...

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 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), a scien ...

, or

pedal A pedal (from the Latin '' pes'' ''pedis'', "foot") is a lever designed to be operated by foot and may refer to: Computers and other equipment * Footmouse, a foot-operated computer mouse * In medical transcription, a pedal is used to control p ...

, 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 th ...

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 while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...

. 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 A. Wayne Slawson (born December 29, 1932) is a composer and professor. Best known for ''Wishful Thinking About Winter'', composed at MIT in 1967, a computer-generated setting of a haiku that uses a wide range of spectral glide A spectral glide is ...

's computer-generated ''Wishful Thinking about Winter'' (Decca DL 710180) uses speechlike sounds featuring a large range of spectral glide rates.

Loren Rush Loren is a given name, nickname and surname which may refer to: Given name Men * Loren Acton (born 1936), American physicist and astronaut * Loren C. Ball (born 1948), amateur astronomer who has discovered more than 100 asteroids * Loren M. Berry ...

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