# Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale by William Sethares Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/tuning-timbre-spectrum-scale/ 3 people recommended Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale by William Sethares in Hacker News comments and none criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 12 months, in 1 thread. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule. 3 of the 3 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “Harmony Explained: Progress Towards a Scientific Theory of Music (2012)”. **Verdict:** Recommended for its treatment of how timbre and dissonance relate, and a commenter points to Sethares as a source for overviews of this topic. Summary written by Claude from 2 comments. ## Why people recommend it - Covers timbre and dissonance interrelationship (1 comment in the sample): "gets right in on the topic of the interrelationship between timbre and dissonance" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49086305)) ## Other music theory books people recommend - [Computer Music Tutorial by Curtis Roads](https://hackerapproved.com/p/computer-music-tutorial/): 5 recommend, 0 mixed, 1 criticize - [Introduction to Computer Music by Nick Collins](https://hackerapproved.com/p/introduction-to-computer-music/): 4 recommend, 1 mixed, 1 criticize - [Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom](https://hackerapproved.com/p/music-theory-for-the-21st-century-classroom/): 3 recommend, 0 mixed, 5 criticize ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale by William Sethares", https://hackerapproved.com/p/tuning-timbre-spectrum-scale/ (3 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.