Spectromorphology. Typomorphologie. Spektromorfologi.
| English | Français | Norsk | Definition |
| Spectromorphologic categories | Typo-morphologie | Spektromorfologiske kategorier | |
| Sound spectrum | Masse/Spectre Sonore | Lydspektrum | That aspect of the sound in which the perception of pitch and pitch content is founded |
| Pitched sound | Son tonique | Toniske lyd | Sounds that have a clearly perceivable pitch or fundamental |
| Complex or unpitched sound | Son complexe | Kompleks lyd (stemt) | No perceivable fundamental |
| Variable sound | Son varié | Glissando | Sound-objects with a gradual internal development in their sound spectrum (glissandi or sounds with gliding formants) |
| Impulse | Impulsion | Impuls | Short thrust of energy |
| Sustained sound | Son Tenue | Utholdt lyd | Continuous energy |
| Iteration | Itération | Tremulert lyd | Discontinuous energy |
| Vacillating sound | Échantillon | Vingelklang | Unpredictably diversified energy articulation |
| Accumulation | Accumulation | Mylderklang | Unpredictably diversified iterations. |
| Dystonic sound | Son cannelé | Dystonisk klang | Sounds whose sound spectrum is formed by a mixture of pitched elements and clusters. |
| Sinusoidal sound | Son pur | Sinusoid lyd | Only fundamental, no overtones |
| Quasi-pitched dystonic sound | Son cannelé quasi tonique | Nesten-tonisk dystonisk lyd | Perception of fundamental, but no harmonic spectrum; ‘unvoiced’ sonority (compare voiced vs. unvoiced consonants) |
| Unvoiced complex sound | Son complexe aphonique | Ustemt kompleks Lyd | No perception of fundamental, complex spectrum; ‘unvoiced’ sonority (compare voiced vs. unvoiced consonants) |
| Composite sound | Son composé | Sammensatt lyd | Pair of sounds, such as a grace note added to (or inserted into) a main note, or a trill or mordent. |
| Stratified sound | Son composite | Spalteklang | Sustained sounds that show different degrees of internal differentiation. The simplest case is a sustained sound with a prominent harmonic |
Types of velocity and duration
| English | Français | Norsk | Definition |
| Type of Velocity | Type de velocité | Hastighetstype | |
| Gesture-time sound | Son formé/ Temps du geste | Gjenstandstid | Velocities 25–200 bpm (approx.) |
| Ripple-time sound | Temps ondulant | Krusningstid | Velocities 200–500 bpm (approx.) |
| Flutter-time sound | Temps vibrionnant | Flimmertid | Velocities faster than 500 bpm (approx.) |
| Ambient-time sound | Son Homogène/ Temps ambiant | Omgivelsestid | Velocities slower than 25 bpm (approx.) |
| English | Français | Norsk |
| Pulse typology | Typologie de pulsation | Puls typologi |
| Regular pulse | Régulier | Regelmessig puls |
| Irregular pulse | Irrégulier | Uregelmessig puls |
| Oblique pulse | Oblique | Skjev puls |
Schaefferian Special Cases
| English | Français | Norsk | Definition |
| Special cases | Cas particuliers | Spesialtilfeller | Special cases of sound objects found in Schaeffer’s ‘Traité’ |
| Sound-web | Trame | Klangvev | An object in ambient-time with a constantly changing spectrum. A special case of stratified sounds. |
| Enlarging sound | Grosse note | Storklang | An object in slow gesture-time with a slowly and predictably evolving spectrum. A special case of stratified sounds with a variable sound spectrum. |
| Ostinato | Pedal | Ostinat | A repeated sequence of sonic objects, ostinato-like. A special case of composite sound-objects. |
| Cell | Cellule | Lydcelle | An accumulation with a total duration in the range of gesture-time |
| Incident | Incident | Insident | A special case of composite objects. |
| Accidents | Accident | Aksident | A special case of stratified objects. |
| Homogeneous sound | Homogène | Lyd i omgivelsestid | An ambient-time sound-object with stable, non-evolving spectrum and energy. |
| Fragment | Fragment | Lydfragment | An extremely short sound. |
| Chord | Accord | Akkord | Simultaneous entry of several sounds |
Spectral Brightness, Spectral Profile
| English | Français | Norsk | Definition |
| Spectral brightness | Spectre harmonique | Spektral lyshet | |
| Bright | Clair | Lys | Bright spectrum such as in the vowel [i] and intermediary cases can easily be conceived |
| Dark | Sombre | Mørk | Darks spectrum such as in the vowel [u] |
| Spectral profile | Profil de masse | Spektral profil | Evolution of the spectral brightness and thickness of the spectrum over time |
| Expanding | Dilaté | Ekspanderende | |
| Bulging | Delta | Bulende | |
| Receding | Aminci | Avtakende | |
| Concave | En creux | Konkav |
Onset and Offset genres
| English | Français | Norsk | Definition |
| Onset | Attaque | Ansats | |
| Brusque | Abrupte | Brysk ansats | E.g. A sound caused by a metal hammer stroke against metal the attack transient is clearly and separately perceived |
| Sharp onset | Raide | Skarp ansats | E.g. A sound caused by a mallet or plectrum the onset sound is closer to the character of the main body of the sound, in contrast to the brusque onset |
| Marked onset | Marqué | Markert ansats | Normal (non-legato) onset of a wind or string instrument |
| Flat onset | Plat | Flat ansats | No particular marking of the onset as in legato playing, for example |
| Swelled onset | Enflé | Svellende ansats | A short crescendo/decrescendo |
| Gradual onset | Graduel | Gradvis ansats | The sound begins with a swell or a crescendo |
| No onset | Nulle | Ingen ansats | Dal niente |
| English | Français | Norsk | Definition |
| Offset | Fin | Uttoning | |
| Abrupt ending | Fin abrupte | Brysk uttoning | Sounds with an accentuated ending phase, containing elements alien to the main body of the sound; e.g. A vibrating string dampened with a metal rod |
| Sharp ending | Fin raide | Skarp uttoning | Sounds with an ending phase containing elements intrinsic to the main body of sound itself; e.g. A harpsichord tone |
| Marked ending | Fin marquée | Markert uttoning | Sounds stopped suddenly, rather than rounded off |
| Flat ending | Fin plate | Flat uttoning | Unmarked |
| Soft ending | Fin douce | Bløt uttoning | The ending of the sustained sound is rounded off with a diminuendo |
| Resonating ending | Fin résonnante | Resonnerende uttoning | A resonating sound is let free to resonate until it dies out; ‘laissez vibrer’ |
| Interrupted resonance | Fin résonnante interrompue | Avbrutt resonans | A resonating sound is suddenly stopped |
Sound Gait
| English | Français | Norsk | Definition |
| Gait/pace | Allure | Gangart | The gait of a sound-object is the undulating movement or characteristic fluctuation that often can be found in the sustained part of sound-objects. The gait of a sound could be defined as a generalised vibrato |
| Pitch gait | Allure hauteur | Tonisk gange | |
| Dynamic gait | Allure dynamique | Dynamisk gange | |
| Spectral gait | Allure spectral | Spektral gange | |
| Deviation | Écart | Utslag | |
| Pulse velocity | Vitesse des pulsations | Pulshastighet |
Granularity
| English | Français | Norsk | Definition |
| Granularity | Grain | Kornethet | Sound-dimension comparable to the abrasiveness one can feel when touching a piece of cloth or a mineral; in other words, as the overall perception of irregularities of detail (‘grains’) that affect the surface of the sound-object |
| Coarseness | Rugosité | Grovhet | |
| The sound spectrum of the grain | Spectre sonore de grain | Kornethetens lydspektrum | |
| The weight of the grain | Poids du grain | Vektlegging av kornethet | |
| The placement of the grain | Placement du grain | Plassering av kornethet |
