Multitimbral
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Often used in the realm of digital keyboard synthesizers, an instrument that is multitimbral is one which allow combining several voices or timbres at the same time. This may be done by splitting the keyboard at a given point and being able to play, for example, a bass sample with the left hand and a piano sample with the right hand. Another possibility would be to have several separate instruments connected via MIDI to a multitimbral synthesizer and to play different sounds from the same synthesizer with each instrument.
[edit] Background
Multitimbrality is achieved by having a synthesizer with more than one sound producing module. In a fully digital system, each sound module is virtual, since in reality algorithms combine samples together in real time for output to a single D-A (digital to analogue) circuit.
Synthesizers that can combine n timbres together are called n voice multitimbral. For example, a synthesizer capable of playing eight voices or timbres at one time would be an eight voice multitimbral instrument.
This should not be mistaken with the number of voices a synthesizer can produce.
[edit] Applications
Inexpensive multitimbral synthesizers combined with a MIDI equipped computer (such as the Atari ST, before PCs became equipped as standard with a MIDI interface) made home studio recording much more accessible to the digital musician, particularly instrumental keyboard players. By capturing information digitally via MIDI, one could play back an entire work with several voices on a single multitimbral synthesizer. This, combined with a relatively cheap four track tape machine or higher end 16 and 24 track reel-to-reel machines would allow a musician to layer a number of keyboard tracks digitally, and then use a single track for MIDI information and the rest for analogue sounds, without requiring intermediate mix-downs to gain additional needed synth tracks.
