An exploration of the question: What is timbre? What makes the voice of the cello the voice of the cello? Special gratitude and thanks to: Clovice A. Lewis, Jr. – animations Sezgin Ramirez – mathematics Wren Consterdine – script editing David Smith – physics Les Shiaman – timbre Bernard – for being a cello Sources Visual: http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/36114/sinusoidal-wave-displacement-function (“simplest note” sinusoid GIF) http://forbidden-fruity.blogspot.com/2009/07/so-what-exactly-is-fl-studio.html (complex waveforms) http://files.csound-tutorial.net/floss_manual/Release01/Cs_FM_01_epub/ch023_a-additive-synthesis.xhtml (partials and sum complex waveform) http://beta.nodebox.net/documentation/using/animation.html (complex wave shapes) http://cambriancollegemusic.ca (brass and woodwinds) instruments and waveform shape assembled from: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=170841571 (wave shapes), http://veli.ee/tuningfork/ (tuning fork), http://www.music123.com/orchestral-strings/etude-student-series-cello-outfit (cello), https://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/newsLetter/RecordingBrass.jsp (French horn), http://www.amromusic.com/renting-a-clarinet (clarinet) http://vobarian.com/celloanly/index.html (cello waveform) Audio: http://www.mediacollege.com/audio/tone/download/ (“simplest note” sound) Content: http://physics.info/sound/ http://physics.info/music/ http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/sound/u11l1a.cfm http://www.howmusicworks.org/105/Sound-and-Music/Frequency-and-Pitch https://www.boundless.com/users/232513/textbooks/understanding-basic-music-theory/the-physical-basis-3/acoustics-for-music-theory-18/wavelength-frequency-and-pitch-89-13565/ https://www.britannica.com/science/tone-sound https://www.britannica.com/science/overtone https://www.britannica.com/science/timbre https://method-behind-the-music.com/mechanics/physics/ http://physics.bu.edu/~duffy/py105/Music.html http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/emat6680/parveen/Greek_History.htm http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/211_fall2013.web.dir/zachariah_yarbro/harmonics_and_math.html http://www.indiana.edu/~emusic/etext/acoustics/chapter1_timbre.shtml http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Music/otone.html http://science.howstuffworks.com/overtone-info.htm https://www.projectrhea.org/rhea/index.php/Fourier_analysis_in_Music Thank you for watching!