Intoner

An **intoner** is a person or thing that produces musical tones or sounds, often with the intent of establishing a specific pitch, key, or musical phrase. This can apply to human voices, musical instruments, or even electronic devices. The act of intoning often involves careful attention to pitch accuracy, timbre, and the overall musical context. In a broader sense, the term can also describe someone or something that sets the tone or mood of a situation or environment, often in a less literal sense, setting the initial pitch for what is to follow. The skill of an intoner is often based on practice, experience, and ear training. It can also involve mechanical aids, such as tuning forks or electronic tuners, to establish a precise initial pitch. An intoner helps create the musical and emotional experience, and the quality of intonation impacts the quality of the overall sound.

Intoner meaning with examples

• The church cantor, a skilled intoner, began the service with a perfectly pitched note, immediately establishing the key and setting the tone for the hymns that followed. Their voice was clear, resonant, and precise, demonstrating years of vocal training. Their clear pronunciation and perfect pitch helped the congregation readily join in singing.
• Before the orchestra's performance, the concertmaster, acting as the primary intoner, sounded the 'A' on their violin, allowing the other instrumentalists to tune their instruments accurately. The careful attention to this initial pitch ensured the ensemble would play together harmoniously throughout the complex pieces. Without a reference tone, the performance's musicality would have suffered greatly.
• The experimental music composer utilized a new piece of software, a digital intoner, to generate a series of complex harmonic patterns at the beginning of the piece. It would then dictate the sound of the music to the live musicians using these tones, producing the unique sound he desired. The software allowed for fine adjustments in microtones.
• The speaker, a masterful intoner of persuasive rhetoric, began their speech with a deliberate pause and a calm, measured tone, setting a serious and respectful atmosphere. The words they choose and their intonation set the scene of the overall narrative. Every emphasis placed in their words was deliberate and designed to influence the audience's mood.