origin of 'timbre'

[beaucham <beaucham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I would like to have a good historical reference for the word
"timbre". One book (Helmholtz's Sensations of Tone) says it
was the original word for timpani. Another source says "a sort
of drum with stretched strings". A dictionary says both "bell
struck by a hammer" and "tymbanon kettledrum". Is there a
good source that discusses the original meaning of the word
and how it came to take on its modern meaning?

Jim

James W. Beauchamp
Professor Emeritus of Music and Electrical & Computer Engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2136 Music Bldg. MC-056
1114 W. Nevada, Urbana, IL 61801  USA
email: jwbeauch@uiuc.edu (also: beaucham@manfred.music.uiuc.edu)
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