Eli5: Why can different singers sing the same song with the same notes but still sounds different?

Question

I understand notes as the wavelength one tone hits. Then if very skilled singers would sing the same song and hit every note right. Why does it still sounds like different people? Our ears just hear the soundwaves right?

In: 1

Answer 1

Sound waves aren’t individual notes, they are a combination of different notes known as [timbre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbre). Different singers as well as different instruments have different timbres.