Words , Movement and Timbre

Phonetic symbols describe movements of the vocal tract,tongue and lips, and are combined into complex movements forming the words of language. In music, vocables are words that describe musical sounds, by relating vocal movements to articulations of a musical instrument. We posit that vocable words allow the composers and listeners to engage closely with dimensions of timbre, and that vocables could see greater use in electronic music interfaces. A preliminary system for controlling percussive physical modelling synthesis with textual words is introduced, with particular application in expressive specification of timbre during computer music performances.