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Adjectives Characterizing Instrument Tone - What do they really mean?


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Posted

First - my apologies if this is a topic that belongs in a different forum.

 

Second - my apologies, again, because I imagine this is going to be an extraordinarily difficult question to answer.

 

As a new guitar player, one of the concepts I am struggling with is the array of adjectives that folks use to describe a musical instrument's characteristics. The ones that seem to be used most frequently are:

 

Bright/Dark

 

Fat/Thin

 

Warm/Cold

 

I have no idea what these distinctions really sound like.

 

I've been looking around for examples on YouTube or similar where a player plays something on one guitar and then the same something on another guitar and pronounces one to be brighter/darker/fatter/thinner than the other - but I'm not having any success.

 

Can somebody help me out? At least with a starting point? It seems that all musicians/sound engineers manage to pick up this knowledge quickly - and I feel like I'm stuck at square one. :confused:

 

I suspect explanations in terms of how these terms can be illustrated using adjustments on a graphic equalizer would be particularly helpful to me, as I can play around with the settings on the Windows Media Player graphic equalizer in an attempt to help this sink in.

 

Many thanks

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Posted

 

As a new guitar player, one of the concepts I am struggling with is the array of adjectives that folks use to describe a musical instrument's characteristics. The ones that seem to be used most frequently are:


Bright/Dark


Fat/Thin


Warm/Cold


I have no idea what these distinctions really sound like.

 

 

All of these adjectives involve what is called "timbre". Long story short - nearly every musical note that we hear is made up of multiple notes that are musically and mathematically related called "harmonics". The harmonic content of any particular note is what people are trying to describe when they use the terms you listed. Read the links for the background info.

 

Bright - implies a emphasis for the higher frequency harmonic components of the note. Taken a step too far - this quality can become "harsh" or "ice pick-ish".

 

Dark - implies a emphasis for the lower frequency harmonic components of the note. Taken a step too far - this quality can become "boomy" or "muddy".

 

Bright and Dark are opposites. Les Paul guitars (and humbucker p/u's in general) tend to be darker than Fender guitars (and single coil p/u's in general).

 

Fat (or Thick or Warm) - implies a emphasis for the mid-lower frequency harmonic components of the note. Think in terms of a "warm" / pleasant distortion.

 

Thin (or Cold) - implies a de-emphasis of the mid-lower frequency harmonic components of the note. Think in terms of an un-amplified electric guitar sound.

 

I hope that helps. There really are a lot of different ways to describe these things and each person tends to have their own language.

 

cheers,

  • Members
Posted

Oh easy!

 

Warm = no high-end

Twangy = no low-end

Thick = anytime you play a les Paul, it produces a "thick" tone. It's described as thick no matter what actually comes out.

Thin = same thing but play a tele instead.

 

Just trying to help :-)

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Posted

Trying to describe all these terms is a waste.

 

If you REALLY want to know..

 

Dial up as many tones as your rig/guitars will allow and try to replicate what you think would be described as your terms.

 

Some of these are only understood by playing with said tonal qualities.

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Posted

FAT TONE is a potbellied corporate dude in his 50's playing fusion licks with a Les Paul thru a Boogie Roadster at his dad-band classic rock bar gig.

 

THIN TONE is a skinny, 19 year old Wal Mart employee playing power chords with a Peavey Raptor thru a Crate FlexWave 15 in the basement of his girlfriends house.

 

BRIGHT TONE is a post college unemployed dude in his late 20's playing oh-so-sincere jangle chords with a Squire Tele (that's been Plek'd) thru a Vox Valvetronix at his all Monday night 7p slot at a bar to 3 people.

 

DARK TONE is a dude in his early 30's who has been trying to "make it" in metal bands since high school, and plays fast palm muted riffs in drop C on his "customized" Ibanez RG (he put blackbacks in it) thru a 5150 II (they don't make em any more!) a the 8p slot at a bar to 3 people. And bitches that no one showed up cuz of the "Tom Petty bull{censored}" that warmed them up, and how "Tele's suck".

 

WARM TONE is anyone playing a late 80's PRS Custom 24 thru a Brown Note D'Lite 44 at any gig anywhere.

 

COLD TONE is anyone playing a Variax thru a Line 6 Spyder II at any gig anywhere.

 

.....and there you have it.:lol::wave:

  • Members
Posted

FAT TONE is a potbellied corporate dude in his 50's playing fusion licks with a Les Paul thru a Boogie Roadster at his dad-band classic rock bar gig.


THIN TONE is a skinny, 19 year old Wal Mart employee playing power chords with a Peavey Raptor thru a Crate FlexWave 15 in the basement of his girlfriends house.


BRIGHT TONE is a post college unemployed dude in his late 20's playing oh-so-sincere jangle chords with a Squire Tele (that's been Plek'd) thru a Vox Valvetronix at his all Monday night 7p slot at a bar to 3 people.


DARK TONE is a dude in his early 30's who has been trying to "make it" in metal bands since high school, and plays fast palm muted riffs in drop C on his "customized" Ibanez RG (he put blackbacks in it) thru a 5150 II (they don't make em any more!) a the 8p slot at a bar to 3 people. And bitches that no one showed up cuz of the "Tom Petty bull{censored}" that warmed them up, and how "Tele's suck".


WARM TONE is anyone playing a late 80's PRS Custom 24 thru a Brown Note D'Lite 44 at any gig anywhere.


COLD TONE is anyone playing a Variax thru a Line 6 Spyder II at any gig anywhere.


.....and there you have it.
:lol::wave:

 

Flat out awesome response!

  • Members
Posted

 

Oh easy!


Warm = no high-end

Twangy = no low-end

Thick = anytime you play a les Paul, it produces a "thick" tone. It's described as thick no matter what actually comes out.

Thin = same thing but play a tele instead.


Just trying to help :-)

 

 

Well if that Les Paul you own happens to be an Epiphone Les Paul 100 with the stock ceramic pickups - you can replace "thick" with "squealing", "compressed", and "spiky".

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