tone color

American  

noun

Music.

1. tone quality; timbre.

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Etymology

Origin of tone color

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

But in this new study that we’ve done, we looked at cases where people were using a skin tone color for their emoji that didn’t match their actual skin color.

From The Verge • Dec. 12, 2018

In addition to his usual eloquent, communicative delivery, Mr. Scholl showed a typical care for diction in a nonnative language, delicate shadings of tone color and dynamics, lively humor and so much more.

From New York Times • May 22, 2016

As a fiddler, though, to reach the top, she will need to cultivate a much wider range of tone color, particularly in slow, lyrical sections; the sound was too often dry or pinched.

From Washington Post • May 8, 2016

The young composers followed suit mainly by putting much emphasis on tone color.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 13, 2015

Each voice has a unique tone color that is described using adjectives or metaphors such as “nasally,” “resonant,” “vibrant,” “strident,” “high,” “low,” “breathy,” “piercing,” “ringing,” “rounded,” “warm,” “mellow,” “dark,” “bright,” “heavy,” “light,” “vibrato.”

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

Related Words

• timbre