Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale
Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale by William Setharesby William A. Sethares
Shares rank 3 of 4 music theory books by recommenders
Recommended for its treatment of how timbre and dissonance relate, and a commenter points to Sethares as a source for overviews of this topic.
Recommended for its treatment of how timbre and dissonance relate, and a commenter points to Sethares as a source for overviews of this topic.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Covers timbre and dissonance interrelationship
“gets right in on the topic of the interrelationship between timbre and dissonance”
Comment from 28 Jul 2026 in “Harmony Explained: Progress Towards a Scientific Theory of Music (2012)”
Other music theory books people recommend
The three most recommended other music theory books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Music Tutorialby Curtis Roads | 5 | 1 | 83% | 4 | — | — |
| Introduction to Computer Musicby Wayne Bateman | 5 | 1 | 83% | 1 | — | — |
| Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scaleby William A. SetharesThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom | 3 | 5 | 38% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
2 of the 3 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“There are much better overviews of this from Sethares and Tymoczko.”
“gets right in on the topic of the interrelationship between timbre and dissonance”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.