Influence of the key played on the timbre variation of recorders key
Michael Christian Haverkamp · 2024
Tone-to-tone variation of timbre is a characteristic feature of recorders of the Renaissance and Baroque era.Nowadays, original instruments are used as design models for recent flutes used in terms of historically informed performance (HIP).Typically, a variety of spectral types occurs at each individual instrument, which causes alterations of timbre throughout the scale played.Complicated fingering patterns contribute to this kind of variability.It is an individual feature of the particular instrument design because recorders are limited in intentional changes of timbre while playing a single tone.Timbre changes influence the overall appearance of musical motifs and scales.However, chromatic sequences manifest the full extent of variability.Based on the spectral types observed in previous studies, it is analysed whether a specific sound characteristic of specific keys (in the meaning of tonality) may occur during a performance.If a key is performed that on the circle of fifths shows a large distance to the basic key of the instrument, it is necessary to apply a large number of complicated cross-fingerings, which may cause increased variability.However, statistical evaluation of timbres shows that instruments are found that are stable in the statistical occurrence of spectral types, while others strongly vary in the occurrence of timbres throughout the twelve diatonic scales.