TIMBRE COMO IDENTIDADE SONORA: UMA PROPOSTA DE SEMIOTIZAÇÃO

TIMBRE AS SOUND IDENTITY: A SEMIOTICAL APPROACH

Abstract

Timbre is commonly defined as an acoustic property that identifies the source of a given sound event. Current literature on the subject presents a double description strategy, either by nominalization or by qualification. This timbre-generated identity can be semiotically described by means of the concept of figurativity, as well as semantic enrichment. These concepts were articulated through the analytical tools of the tensive schematism. The developed model is successful in covering a gradual scale of timbral identities, going from the most generic up to the most specific. This scale can be segmented into three major regions of specification: a minimum level, an intermediate level, and a maximum level. At the first one, the timbre is nonspecific and only renders the identification of abstract qualities possible. The intermediate level comprises descriptions and categorizations of timbre into the so-called instrument families, identifiable through its most prototypical member. The last degree comprises those identifiable to unique and exclusive entities in the natural world. These timbres are often referred to through anthroponyms. Such timbristic identities are built up by the discourse. The results of this study display an abstract model of semiotic description of timbre that outdo specific timbre typologies.