words4sounds.speak (en)

List of words frequently used to describe the perceived characteristics of a sound

The lexicon words4sounds.speak was developed to acquire a vocabulary to communicate on the perceived characteristics of a sound, and to foster the perception of these characteristics by listening to sound examples.

Each word is presented by a definition, in French and in English, which makes it possible to establish a correspondence between the two languages.

The word list and definitions are based on an analysis of articles and interviews with sound professionals. This work is part of the thesis by Maxime Carron [1].

All the sound examples were created or recorded under the direction of composer Roque Rivas, except the environmental sounds which were proposed and recorded by François Hamon as part of his internship at DNSEP Design Sonore, Esad- TALM.

Ircam is the owner of all the sounds ©Ircam_2021.

The words4sounds.speak lexicon was developed within the Sound Perception and Design team (Ircam STMS Lab) under the supervision of Patrick Susini in collaboration with Olivier Houix, Nicolas Misdariis, Victor Rosi, and Romain Barthelemy.

Each word of the words4sounds.speak lexicon is illustrated by a definition and sound examples.

For example: the word bright (brillant) is often used to describe a sound; the opposite word used is dull (mat).

The words dull and bright refer to the amount of high-frequency energy perceived within a sound. A dull sound has a low amount of high-frequency components. The term muffled is also used. A bright sound contains a substantial amount of high-frequency components. The term sharp is also used.

Good musical examples for bright are the glockenspiel and the trumpet.

The words in the lexicon are grouped into three typologies:

• general qualities related to intensity (quiet/loud), pitch (low/high), etc.
• timbre associated with the sensations of brightness (dull/bright), roughness (smooth/rough), etc.
• morphology associated with temporal variations in intensity (crescendo/decrescendo), etc.

The sound examples cover five categories of sounds: musical sounds, voice sounds, environmental sounds, elementary sounds, complex sounds.

[1] Speaking about sounds: a tool for communication on sound features. Carron M, Dubois F, Rotureau T, Misdariis N, Susini P. Journal of Design Research, 2017, 15(2), 85-109