Descriptors of sound
Throughout literature and the great world wide web, you will most likely come across descriptors of musical elements such as “tinny”, “warm”, “muddy”, etc…
Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.
Based on colours
There’s two of these, which keeps it nice and simple:
- Dark: lacking in higher frequencies
- Bright: prominent higher frequencies
Based on frequencies
| Term | Frequency |
|---|---|
| Airy | 15-20 kHz |
| Boomy | ~125 Hz |
| Boxy | 250-500 Hz |
| Brilliant | 6-16 kHz |
| Honky | 500-700 Hz |
| Nasal | ~600 Hz |
| Piercing | 3-10 kHz |
| Sibilant | 4-8 kHz |
Other terms
Punchy
This one causes a bit of a debate online. To me, punchy is when a sound:
- Has an “impact” (a transient of sorts) – so it will have a quick attack
- Is in the low end / low mids (60 - 250 Hz)
- Cuts through the mix
It’s almost as though you can feel it more than you can hear it, though it’s very audible! It’s easily found in EDM.
✏️ – WIP