The discussion revolves around whether two identical guitars, when played by the same or different individuals to produce notes of the same pitch, will differ in sound quality, specifically timbre. Participants explore various factors affecting sound perception, including playing technique and instrument characteristics.
Participants generally disagree on the extent to which identical instruments can produce identical sound qualities. While some acknowledge that differences in sound are inevitable, others challenge the notion of sound identity under controlled conditions.
Participants express uncertainty regarding the measurement of sound quality and the subjective nature of timbre descriptions. The discussion also highlights the complexity of sound production and the influence of both the instrument and the player.
Musicians, sound engineers, and those interested in acoustics may find this discussion relevant, particularly regarding the nuances of sound quality and the factors influencing it.
Any musical instrument is a very complex structure. So are instrumentalists. They will pluck the strings at different distances from the bridge (altering the harmonic content) and with different force and velocity. The stopping finger can be pressing hard or sofltly and the finger pads can greatly affect the damping (just try an experiment where you stop hard or soft / right behind the fret wire or well behind it. If a barre is being played, the strength of the hands can make a big difference to the damping of the string. Then the tension can be altered by the stopping finger (not only when pulling the note) and can brighten a note by raising the pitch fractionally. I have noticed that the dynamics of the stopping finger can make a difference to the sustain; it's easy to kill a note by removing the finger too soon, ready for the next note. Many jazz guitarists seem to release between notes (that's part of the 'jazz sound'), even when there is no chord change whereas others get more continuous sounds by keeping the pressure. The action makes a difference to what you can actually achieve, here. A high action can be very hard work, which some players can cope with and others not. They many never fully depress the string. In an acoustic guitar, the arms and body can damp differently, depending on how the guitar is held or the clothing.Nemika said:It's a very simple question but still,
When two identical guitars are played day two persons to give notes of the same pitch, will they differ in quality?
Please specify with reason.
Thanks for the replies.
My last post gives a list of reasons why notes may not sound the same from player to player. i.e. Timbre will be different - and even pitch, in subtle ways. The player can make at least as much difference as you get between instruments of the same quality / price group. Of course, a really duffer guitar will probably never sound nice but a £1000 instrument can be made to sound terrible by some people.Nemika said:By saying quality I meant timbre.
And if amplitude and frequency is same does that mean timbre will be same if the sound is played on identical instruments?
Yes, absolutely. A single pure tone (sinusoid) is the only note that will sound the same as another of the same pitch. All instruments have harmonics and also the attack and decay / sustain will affect the sound. Pitch and amplitude are easy quantities to measure and describe but the detailed shape of the waveform is pretty well impossible to quantify - except in very broad terms. Reading reviews of instruments (as with hi fi and radio reviews) is full of BS phrases and the occasional meaningful one where the writer has tried to describe the sound. If you google terms like stringed instrument waveforms then you will find images and soundbytes. You have used the term "timbre" and that is used to cover all that stuff, plus all the other expressions like "bright", "toppy", "dead", "groovy", which are only qualitatitve and mean different things to different people. Perhaps my reply could be summed up by "Yes but you can't measure it reliably"Nemika said:I mean is there any property other than pitch and amplitude
I said already the guitars were identical so the material of the strings would also be same.HunterThomson said:It is very importantwhat materialthe stringswere made
If everything is identical then why should they? You are changing the rules here.Nemika said:if the same person plays the same notes on both these instruments (without any human error) will they differ.
OK let's forget about any guitars.sophiecentaur said:Different people will make different sounds on the same guitar and one person will make different sounds on two identical guitars.