Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for shaping amplitude contours of musical notes. A method for shaping amplitude contours of musical notes in time of particular pitch and duration includes processing musical notes to modify a contour of an amplitude shape curve of each note differently in accordance with its relationship to its succeeding note, the processing including calculating an initial amplitude shape curve, modifying a first portion of the calculated initial amplitude shape curve to be more convex or more concave, and independently modifying a second portion of the calculated initial amplitude shape curve to be more convex or more concave, the resulting modifications improving a timbre quality.