Timbral attributes for sound effect library searching

Abstract

To improve the search functionality of online sound effect libraries, timbral information could be extracted using
\nperceptual models, and added as metadata, allowing users to filter results by timbral characteristics. This paper
\nidentifies the timbral attributes that end-users commonly search for, to indicate the attributes that might usefully be
\nmodelled for automatic metadata generation. A literature review revealed 1187 descriptors that were subsequently
\nreduced to a hierarchy of 145 timbral attributes. This hierarchy covered the timbral characteristics of source types
\nand modifiers including musical instruments, speech, environmental sounds, and sound recording and reproduction
\nsystems. A part-manual, part-automated comparison between the hierarchy and a freesound.org search history
\nindicated that the timbral attributes hardness, depth, and brightness occur in searches most frequently.