3

Hi everyone, sudden thought: is it "textures" I like?

I know in the game industry a texture is not different from a texture in CGI, it's just something that covers a certain area (in our case an auditory area, which I imagine being measured on multiple scales at once; time, bandwidth, level, etc.).

Now what I am talking about is how a sound is perceived by a person and how it feels to us. For example, I love John Petrucci's guitar sound because it sounds both gritty and very smooth (if you know Dream Theater's song The Glass Prison). It feels both solid and liquid.

Am I describing what we would call the "texture" of a sound?

flag

3 Answers

4

Just add sonic in front of texture the first time you mention it and almost everyone will understand you.

link|flag
3

I would say that is accurate. Or you could say "Timbre" (pronounced Tamber) "tone", etc...

Texture seems more of an encompassing term though.

When it comes to sound, I've heard a bunch of weird adjectives; Blue, green, shiny, bubbley, shimmery, etc... Producers come up with some interesting ones... Pretty much anything goes as long as the person you're talking to understands you...

link|flag
3

This is pretty subjective. I'd say we can talk about "character" in broad terms, where "texture" is one of a few things that define it. Much of how we perceive a sound is defined by the transient part in the beginning ("crispness"? "contrast"?), as well as the "space" context of the sound (e.g. the way it echoes out if it does at all). Then there's the internal motion of a sound that can change its texture from one to another...

The beauty of audio is how interconnected these things are ;) I'm a big fan of textures. A sound with a great texture can feed my imagination and sparkle creativity out of nowhere. And having said all of the above, I'd go with "texture" just like you.

link|flag

Your Answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.