What on earth is a "leading edge of a note"??

[Cool Runnings]

And can you, how do you actually hear it??

I hear this term used by some popular audio reviewers on YouTube and finally decided to search it up. Below is what Google AI says.

What do you all think? Any of you able to hear this so called leading edge of a music note and be able to tell if it is sharp and clear and different from one component to another? Is this a valid point of contention on what can be heard by human ears vs what can be measured? Or is this yet another audio myth?

>>
In music theory, the "leading edge" of a note refers to the very beginning or start of the note, specifically its attack, or the initial transient sound. It's the initial part of the note that provides a clear beginning, allowing the listener to perceive the start of the sound distinctly. This is important for clarity, especially in complex musical textures, where individual instruments or voices might be harder to discern.

Elaboration:

• Transient Clarity:
  The leading edge is closely related to transient clarity, which refers to the sharpness and distinctness of the initial sound of a note.
  
  
• Attack:
  The leading edge is essentially the "attack" of the note, the part where the sound emerges from silence.
  
  
• Importance:
  A well-defined leading edge is crucial for understanding the musical structure, rhythm, and dynamics of a piece.
  
  
• Distinction from Other Terms:
  While the term "leading note" refers to the 7th note of a scale that naturally leads to the tonic, the "leading edge" refers to the physical characteristics of the start of a note.
  
  
• Examples:
  Consider a trumpet note. A clear leading edge allows the listener to easily hear the start and stop of each note, even when played quickly or in a complex arrangement.
  

 

[rationaltime]

I think you can not tell much from the rise time or "leading
edge" of the note. If it is faster than "natural" we call that
distortion, but it is not audible I think.

However, it is common for the start or first few "rings" of
a note to be louder than the following. I think you typically
see that at the start of a vocal line, the strike of a piano key,
and when the pick hits a string. In my opinion that does not
add "clarity", but I guess it does gives the performance its
character. I favor using a wind screen for vocals to minimize
the plosives, but you can't do that for live performance.

In other words, I don't agree with that theory.

 

[Cool Runnings]

I think you can not tell much from the rise time or "leading
edge" of the note. If it is faster than "natural" we call that
distortion, but it is not audible I think.

However, it is common for the start or first few "rings" of
a note to be louder than the following. I think you typically
see that at the start of a vocal line, the strike of a piano key,
and when the pick hits a string. In my opinion that does not
add "clarity", but I guess it does gives the performance its
character. I favor using a wind screen for vocals to minimize
the plosives, but you can't do that for live performance.

In other words, I don't agree with that theory.

Thanks. I think so too. Or else I was going to have to lobby Elon Musk to create bionic ear implants so I can hear these things for myself.

 

[unpluggged]

Below is what Google AI says.

There are better sources than text generators.

Envelope (music) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Pareto Pragmatic]

rationaltime said it well, but since I already wrote the following...

Attack is the term I would use. And I rarely think about it beyond, "Is the crack of the drum correct?"

Any of you able to hear this so called leading edge of a music note and be able to tell if it is sharp and clear and different from one component to another?

One easy example is if you listen to a soft dome tweeter versus a compression driver/horn. Compression drivers are usually pretty quick on the attack compared to others, as a general but not universal rule. This is the one area where my modified 84 Heresies do very well indeed compared to my usual aluminum/magnesium dome tweeters, or my office soft domes.

Beyond that?

If I try, I can certainly focus on things like the start of piano notes, and listen for the actual percussion of impact of hammer on strings that comes before the tone. The "pluck" of a guitar/banjo string works too (think trying to hear fingers versus picks). The sound of a drumstick hitting the drum skin, that's more subtle to my ear, but it's there. Stick on rim of drum way less subtle, but a good thing to listen to for this.

Can I hear the "rise time" of the attack that must come before the decay? No way. Can I hear differences with synths? Probably not. Horns? Doubt it, maybe on Giant Steps or some very staccato piece, but I would not try.

Vibraphone? Yep.

I've never A/B tested on this, but when the attack is not crisp, it's pretty obvious on certain things on certain recordings. At least to me, after having listened and tuned systems for a while now.

 

[somebodyelse]

If I try, I can certainly focus on things like the start of piano notes, and listen for the actual percussion of impact of hammer on strings that comes before the tone. The "pluck" of a guitar/banjo string works too (think trying to hear fingers versus picks).

Similar to the banjo finger vs. pick would be piano (hammers with felt) vs. harpsichord (plucked).

 

[A Surfer]

I think there is face validity to much of the AI explanation; however it highlights just how difficult it is to describe such ephemeral, subjective experiences. It is like describing how wind feels against your skin. We can certainly relate to a good description, but I rather doubt we could agree on a universal description.

For me this all comes down to whether or not using anything to describe or measure something produces a practically useful outcome. If people describe say attack somewhat differently, but they each understand how their subjective experience is represented in their description, does it really matter that they describe it differently?

I take the point that standardization is often the goal, but except for a select few people tasked with producing standard descriptors, I personally find it okay that there is always difference between descriptions because I don't require precision from them. Disclaimer here in that I also do acknowledge that there absolutely can be utility in precision describing such constructs.

 

[kyuu]

Worry about the "leading edge" of a note seems to me to be the usual fallacy of believing that certain drivers are "faster" than others. Of course this is nonsensical; either a driver is "fast" enough to reproduce a certain frequency or not.

 

[DVDdoug]

One easy example is if you listen to a soft dome tweeter versus a compression driver/horn. Compression drivers are usually pretty quick on the attack compared to others, as a general but not universal rule. This is the one area where my modified 84 Heresies do very well indeed compared to my usual aluminum/magnesium dome tweeters, or my office soft domes.

WRONG!

Worry about the "leading edge" of a note seems to me to be the usual fallacy of believing that certain drivers are "faster" than others. Of course this is nonsensical; either a driver is "fast" enough to reproduce a certain frequency or not.

RIGHT! Any differences also show-up in the frequency response. Transient and impulse response are directly related (and mathematically interchangeable) with frequency response.

 

[sq225917]

People might describe it as speed, but in all actuality it's just one or another form of distortion of combinations of distortions with no natural measure.

 

[Oddball]

I think you asked the wrong question. The right question is what gear can do what was asked. And anyway, the question you have is impossible to answer without being more specific.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

My hearing is in the severe to moderate impairment range. One thing I can hear clearly is the "leading edge." Probably because of my choral singing experience when I was in my teens I think of it as attack. Some setups exaggerate it and others muffle it. Some reproduce it reasonably naturally. The production of the recording is also a factor. I can't hear high frequencies well although most of those are higher than the high end fundamentals of most instruments. Attack is one of my primary criteria for subjective judgement. To be fair, with live unmiced instruments perceived attack varies with distance and angle. I remember from grade school music when I failed at the clarinet that tonguing and bowing were components of the grade. Attack is part of those.

 

[izeek]

Attack:
The leading edge is essentially the "attack" of the note, the part where the sound emerges from silence.

my description would be similar to this statement. how sharp a drum hit, one of the best examples, is at the beginning of the note, is where i hear what <i> think you mean. as when the stick meets the drum skin, or even better, cymbals.

ive demoed some similar gear to mine a few times. yadda, yadda, room, memory, etc. i still feel like you get a reasonable enough presentation to decide if you like a sound or not. none of it had the note attack on drums that my kit had. i played mouth of kala-gojira for my test. on my kit, the drum hit is visceral. and pretty bright light-rsd. those 2 do a great job demonstrating attack. summer madness-kool and the gang is also a great example of attack, i think.

at last year's Capitol Audiofest, i heard a quite a few with great attack. most cost a lot more than mine. but it did tell me that my impressions of my kit were spot on.

 

[izeek]

My hearing is in the severe to moderate impairment range. One thing I can hear clearly is the "leading edge." Probably because of my choral singing experience when I was in my teens I think of it as attack. Some setups exaggerate it and others muffle it. Some reproduce it reasonably naturally. The production of the recording is also a factor. I can't hear high frequencies well although most of those are higher than the high end fundamentals of most instruments. Attack is one of my primary criteria for subjective judgement. To be fair, with live unmiced instruments perceived attack varies with distance and angle. I remember from grade school music when I failed at the clarinet that tonguing and bowing were components of the grade. Attack is part of those.

<Some setups exaggerate it and others muffle it. Some setups exaggerate it and others muffle it.>
my experience, as well.

 

[Somafunk]

I feel the kick of a TB-303 drum machine programmed beat has a more defined leading edge and smoother decay than a TR-606 drum machine which has an aggressive leading edge and staccato decay, the TR-909 is an entirely different beast, such poise and prat in the delivery of it's programmed beats almost makes it the perfect combination of the TB-303 and TR-606 but that comes at a cost as it needs a very beefy and pure AC power supply.

 

[kemmler3D]

I feel the kick of a TB-303 drum machine programmed beat has a more defined leading edge and smoother decay than a TR-606 drum machine which has an aggressive leading edge and staccato decay, the TR-909 is an entirely different beast, such poise and prat in the delivery of it's programmed beats almost makes it the perfect combination of the TB-303 and TR-606 but that comes at a cost as it needs a very beefy and pure AC power supply.

The TB-303 is a bass synth, probably the most famous one there is.

You're probably thinking of the TR-808. The 909 and 606 are indeed drum machines.

Most settings on all of these machines produce pretty sharp attacks.

 

[Somafunk]

The TB-303 is a bass synth, probably the most famous one there is.

You're probably thinking of the TR-808. The 909 and 606 are indeed drum machines.

Most settings on all of these machines produce pretty sharp attacks.

But that would spoil the “joke” in my post

TR-606 + TR-808 does not add up to TR-909

 

[kemmler3D]

But that would spoil the “joke” in my post

TR-606 + TR-808 does not add up to TR-909

I didn't see the joke, I saw you misidentify the 303 and my brain glitched out, sorry

 

[kyuu]

This is my off-the-cuff thinking on why some systems seem to reproduce the "attack" of a snare drum or the like better than others. Spoiler: it will have nothing at all to do with a driver being "fast" versus "slow". Disclaimer: I am not an expert, and I'm sure (and hope) that someone more knowledgeable will be along to correct any mistakes in my thinking (or slap me down if I'm entirely wrong).

Horns/compression drivers are often described as being superior at delivering the "attack" on drums and the like compared to other speaker types, as demonstrated by @Pareto Pragmatic bringing up their Heresies earlier. What horn-loaded speakers actually excel at, in my understanding, is sensitivity/efficiency. My thinking is that drums and like have a large amplitude spike on their attack, requiring large dynamics from the speaker/amplifier system. Due to their inherent efficiency, horn-loaded speakers are less likely to exhibit severe distortion and/or compression when reproducing these large-amplitude "attacks", which is what actually lends them their realism relative to other speaker systems.

 

[GD Fan]

I guess this is the difference between downstrokes and upstrokes when picking a guitar string?