Subject: origin of 'timbre' From: beaucham <beaucham(at)MANFRED.MUSIC.UIUC.EDU> Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2004 15:54:11 -0500I would like to have a good historical reference for the word "timbre".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(at)uiuc.edu (also: beaucham(at)manfred.music.uiuc.edu) phone: +1-217-344-3307 (also: 217-244-1207 and 217-333-3691) fax: +1-217-344-3723 (also: 217-244-4585) WWW: http://ems.music.uiuc.edu/beaucham