The Fusion and Layering of Noise and Tone: Implications for Timbre in African Instruments

Since their earliest explorations of African music, Western researchers have noted a fascination on the part of traditional musicians for noise as a timbral element. The authors present the results of perceptual and acoustic investigations of the fusion and “layering” of noise and tone. These results have implications for pitch and timbre in both traditional and non-traditional, acoustic and synthesized music. The results define possible perceptual relations between noise and tone and reveal that the construction of noise devices should follow relatively precise acoustic rules involving the frequency, the bandwidth and the level of the noise relative to those of the tone. The results also exemplify the fusion of two extremely different timbres, with implications for the blending of instrumental timbres in an orchestral setting. The experiments should be of interest to composers who synthesize mixtures of noise and periodic sound and for whom the control of such mixtures remains problematic.