Subjective acoustic survey of Korean traditional wind instruments, piri and daegeum, in a concert hall using auralisation techniques

Abstract

In this study, acoustics of piri and daegeum, which are representative traditional Korean wind instruments, was investigated objectively and subjectively. The acoustic directivity patterns of piri and daegeum were measured in a full anechoic chamber. A subjective acoustic survey of piri and daegeum solo performances was conducted with 60 music students using an auralised concert hall with a volume of 18,838 m3. The sound produced by piri had extensive high-frequency harmonics and strong forward and downward directivity. In addition to a strong lateral and upward directivity, the sound produced by daegeum exhibited more explicit fundamental notes than those produced by piri. The reverberance, loudness, and envelopment of piri and daegeum were affected by early decay time (EDT), sound pressure level (SPL), and lateral energy fraction (LF80), respectively. The clarity of piri showed no explicit relationship with the clarity index (C80), but the clarity of daegeum was affected by the C80. Room acoustical conditions around a reverberation time of 2.6 s were preferred for the piri solo. However, for the daegeum solo, room acoustical conditions around a reverberation time of 1.7 s were preferred. The overall impression of piri was highly correlated with loudness and mid-treble balance. However, the overall impression of daegum did not show a strong linear correlation with other subjective attributes, such as piri (r > 0.6).