This is very well done. As a synthesist, I'd suggest (since you got so close) that you add one detail towards the end:
the amplitude and frequencies of the overtones are ALL that gives (apart from attack/decay and modulations) any instrument (physical or electronic) playing a single note its individual character.
Interesting idea! I think that, as another commenter said, there's a lot in that "apart from..." - I feel like I risk oversimplifying it (plus, as I'm sure you know, convincing physical instruments are notoriously hard to reproduce with oscillators and envelopes and filters alone).
But yeah, maybe I could do more to show just how wide the application of this concept is... it's not just limited to abstract waveforms, it's the fundamental rules for all instruments. Will give this some thought (and if you have ideas for how to demo it, let me know!)
Well, sort of. Depends on how experienced the listener is (and/or is willing to become - many/most listeners CRAVE instant familiarity).
But that importance depends on how different the instruments are already. The saxophone and the clarinet are quite different 'steady state'. Bell and piano are quite different. So I proposed a 'gateway concept'. Else it takes a long time to grok it all.
Eventually the differences all add up to very complex waveforms (I didn't even mention register, which is important for differentiating the classical string families). Personally, I'm glad of this, since the timbre space explored by conventional instruments is a VERY VERY small part of the sonic universe.
the amplitude and frequencies of the overtones are ALL that gives (apart from attack/decay and modulations) any instrument (physical or electronic) playing a single note its individual character.
It'd be really cool if you could demo that.