The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of timbral instructions on pitch and timbre production. High school (n = 28) and collegiate (n = 28) trumpeters played sustained tones at two octave levels (written C4 and C5) following three types of timbral instructions (dark-timbre, bright-timbre, or neutral instructions). Presentation orders were randomly assigned. Dependent variables included one acoustical measure of pitch (absolute cent deviation) and one acoustical measure of timbre (spectral centroid). Participants also reported which type of instruction they perceived to result in their “best sound” and their “most in-tune performance.” Results indicated a significant interaction between timbral instruction condition and octave. Post hoc testing revealed that timbral instructions affected participants’ absolute cent deviation, but different effects were observed in each octave. The effect of timbral instructions on participants’ spectral centroid was nonsignificant. Participants demonstrated a preference for the neutral instruction over the dark- and bright-timbre instructions, and their tuning accuracy varied by octave and instruction condition. These data suggest that music educators may need to use timbral instructions judiciously so that the instruction to play with a different timbre does not result in unintentional changes in pitch.

中文翻译：

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明暗音色指令对音高和音色产生的影响

本研究的目的是检查音色指令对音高和音色产生的影响。高中 (n = 28) 和大学 (n = 28) 小号手按照三种音色指令（暗音色、亮音色或中性指令）演奏两个八度音阶（写作 C4 和 C5）的持续音调。演示顺序是随机分配的。因变量包括一种音高声学测量（绝对音调偏差）和一种音色声学测量（谱质心）。参与者还报告了他们认为哪种类型的指令可以产生“最好的声音”和“最合拍的表现”。结果表明音色教学条件和八度之间存在显着的相互作用。事后测试显示音色指令会影响参与者的绝对百分比偏差，但在每个八度音阶中观察到不同的效果。音色指令对参与者频谱质心的影响不显着。参与者表现出对中性指令的偏好，而不是黑暗和明亮的音色指令，并且他们的调音精度因八度音程和指令条件而异。这些数据表明音乐教育者可能需要明智地使用音色指令，以便使用不同音色演奏的指令不会导致音调的无意变化。