Drum Sounds Research Articles

The applications of dynamic time warping in the source separation of percussive sounds

Music source separation (MSS) is the process of splitting various components of a musical piece into individual tracks. This process combines the fields of acoustics and machine learning to extract useful data from music, which assists in a variety of music information retrieval tasks. In the past decade, many methods have been employed to perform MSS with varying levels of success. This research explores the use of dynamic time warping (DTW) for MSS tasks in the time domain. DTW is an algorithm that performs a temporal alignment of two time series to measure their similarity. It is unique in that the algorithm will minimize the Euclidean distance between the two sequences by stretching or compressing them to optimize similarity. This makes DTW a distinctive method for MSS, as it operates entirely in the time domain and classifies sounds without the interference of time warping. The research performed focuses only on the separation of transient, percussive sounds. Measurements taken with a drum kit and a selection of digital drum sounds served as the foundation for tests of the algorithm. The results of this research illustrate the potential of DTW in time domain MSS applications.

Sound Drawing and Dhol Notation: A Methodological Approach to Visualising Drum Sounds

The research introduces ‘Sound Drawing’ as an engaging instructional activity to develop a visual dhol notation system. In contrast to the conventional reliance on spoken language for dhol instruction, this research involves developing a visual notation system that effectively bridges the auditory intricacies of the dhol drum with corresponding visual representations. Through a methodical examination of sound drawings collaboratively generated by participants, this study critically assesses the effectiveness of sound drawing as an active and inclusive pedagogical instrument within the domain of dhol learning. The outcomes demonstrate how participants’ visual interpretations of dhol sounds led to creating a notation system. This system reflects a diverse range of auditory perceptions and offers a new avenue for cultural engagement and learning in music education. By introducing sound drawing as an immersive instructional activity, this research aspires to advance dhol pedagogy, rendering it more accessible to diverse cultures and communities, thus transcending linguistic barriers. This study pioneers the incorporation of sound drawing as an innovative pedagogical activity for the collective development of a visual dhol notation system, thereby instigating a transformation in pedagogical paradigms and fostering cross-cultural engagement within the rich musical tradition of the dhol.

Rancangan Instrumen Virtual Kendang Sunda Menggunakan Kontakt Sebagai Media Kreativitas Musik Digital

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to reveal the process of designing a virtual instrument for Sundanese drumming, starting from practical studies to its realization as a market-ready design. The influence of the development of digital music technology has led to various inventions in the form of virtual instruments. As part of the preservation and development of local culture-based music, it is necessary to create virtual musical instruments, including Sundanese drums. The problem that occurs today is, that virtual instrument media for Sundanese drums that facilitate learning Sundanese drums is still very rare. Method: The method is practice-led research or practice-based study by playing real drumming instruments recorded using sampling media in the form of virtual instruments in the KONTAKT Library. Result and Discussion: The design process is carried out in three stages, namely. pre-production, production, and post-production. The results showed that the pre-production analysis of tepak kendang sunda highlighted four drum sounds, namely keplak, kentrung, kemprang, and gedug. The production stage shows that the results of the tepak kendang analysis were recorded and produced a variety of different selected drum sounds. Conclusion: The sound samples were arranged in a keymap system on the KONTAKT keyboard, based on a velocity range system, so that each sound type expression can function as a virtual instrument in a DAW (digital audio workstation) application via midi. Pre-production alpha testing results with two phases state that the virtual instrument of the Sundanese drum can run well. The implication of the product design of the virtual instrument of Sundanese drums is adequate and ready to be used as a means of creativity in digital music.

Cultural relationship between rural soundscape and space in Hmong villages in Guizhou

The Hmong is one of the oldest ethnic groups in south-western China, and sound plays an important role in their culture. According to the general classification of landscape science, the rural soundscape of Hmong villages is divided into three types: a point soundscape dominated by a single sound source, a line soundscape with a typical Hmong rural village alley space as the sound field interface, and an area soundscape with the Bronze-drum Square, the only open public space of Hmong nationality, as the field. Combined with a sound collection and field test during field investigation, we obtained the characteristics of various rural soundscapes and evaluated the acoustic environment. The results showed that the “point” soundscape of medium- and low-frequency powder shotgun and wooden drum sounds in the unclosed Hmong villages exceed the transmission distance and sound durability. The “line” soundscape utilizes the turning point and envelope of different spaces to increase the acoustic reflection surface and create reverberation, increasing the propagation time and distance of the sound, and emphasizing the directivity of the sound through a long and narrow space. The “surface” soundscape includes the richest medium- and high-frequency-based human voice and music sounds and medium- and low-frequency musical instrument sounds, among others. The values of T30, EDT, and C80 in the sound field, all changed significantly because of the lack of acoustic reflection from the ceiling, through the top opening. Finally, the study reveals the cultural association between rural soundscape and space, which is reflected in the Hmong's “defensive” function and “group” culture. Thus, the Bronze-drum Square sound field does not meet the requirements of the current specification of cultural interpretation, and it is in the participatory Hmong performance mode, centered on drum club group structure.

Religious Belief through Drum-Sound Experience: Bengal’s Devotional Dialectic of the Classical Goddess and Indigenous God

The epistemic question about what constitutes religious belief in non-Western contexts is addressed here through the ontology of sonic experience. I demonstrate that religious beliefs are habitually ingrained as long-sustaining visceral memories, when afforded by sensory—for instance, aural—affects. Bengal’s peculiar devotional milieu constructs a prototype of oppositions. On one end is the urban, classical, martial goddess, Durga, with elite histories of acquiring a high Brahmanical form, and whose autumnal rituals are based on scriptural rules, caste hierarchies, and distance among the devotees and deity. On the other end is the rural, indigenous, non-classical, peasant god, Shiva, whose spring-time worship celebrating primordial death and regeneration is based on intensely embodied and communitarian principles of identity among the caste-equal bodies of devotee men, and even their god. Based on immersive ethnographic analyses, the paper argues that these dual psychological ends of the regional sacred cosmos are made vividly real through differential perceptive experiences of percussion sounds (ubiquitous in these festivities), their varied tempos, textures, volumes, and rhythm modulations. Through phenomenological deep listening, I describe stark styles of making and playing the sacred membranophone drum, dhak, which embodies distinct rhythm styles, relationships with rituals, and psychophysical effects on the devotional ensembles. I show how the bodies of devotees, dhak players (dhakis), deities, and even the dhak, become tied to the tonalities of the drum, which is taught through generations of deft learning among dhakis, to sound distinctly when echoed for Durga and Shiva. The paper’s main argument is that these dhak sounds, which have remained a conceptual oversight in literature, not only aid in, but indeed, enable the experience of and belief in Bengal’s divergent deities. It is through such empowering sensory sedimentations of the different sounds of the same percussion, that people recognize, remember, and maintain the region’s devotional dialectic and complex religious lifeworld. In essence, the body’s powerful experiences of drum sounds make religious belief palpable and possible.

Familiarity reduces aggression but does not modify acoustic communication in pairs of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and black-chinned tilapia (Sarotherodon melanotheron).

Reproduction involves multiple complex behaviours, and the effects of familiarity on such social interactions are seldom described in fish. This is particularly true for sound production and communication within aggressive or non-aggressive context. This study explores the effects of a common garden rearing without parental care of two closely related cichlid species (Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus and black-chinned tilapia Sarotherodon melanotheron) on their sound production features and social interactions. After 9months in common garden rearing, from embryonic stage to first maturity, sound production and associated behaviours were recorded on specimens of the two species in intraspecific and interspecific pairings. The authors found that fish were able to produce the same kind of sounds as those recorded in similar context for their parents. Drum sounds were associated to chasing, lateral attack and courtship in O. niloticus and only to fleeing or avoidance in S. melanotheron. Specific grunts were produced in chasing, after biting and in nest building by O. niloticus, and specific rolling sounds were associated to courtship in S. melanotheron. Sound production and behaviours were not correlated to sex steroid levels, but the number of sounds recorded in aggressive context was correlated to dominance in O. niloticus. The authors conclude that one generation of common garden rearing does not modify sound features, which remain specific and innate in the two cichlids. Despite the familiarity, O. niloticus remained dominant on S. melanotheron, but the aggressiveness between the two species decreased.

The evolution of drum modes with strike intensity: Analysis and synthesis using the discrete cosine transform

The synthesis of convincing acoustic drum sounds remains an open problem. In this paper, a method for analysing and synthesising pitch glide in drums is proposed, whereby the discrete cosine transform (DCT) of an unwindowed drum sound is modelled. This is an extension of the scheme initially proposed by Kirby and Sandler [(2020). Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Digital Audio Effects, Vienna, Austria, pp. 155-162], which was able to reproduce key components of drum sounds accurately enough that they could not be distinguished from the reference samples. Here, drum modes were analysed in greater detail for a tom-tom struck at 67 different intensities to investigate their evolution with strike velocity. A clear evolution was observed in the DCT features, and interpolation was used to synthesise the modes of intermediate velocity. These synthesised modes were evaluated objectively through null testing, which showed that a continuous blending of strike velocities could be achieved throughout the data set. An AB listening test was also performed, where 20 participants attempted to distinguish between pairs of real and synthesised sounds. Exactly 50% accuracy was achieved overall, which demonstrates that the synthesised samples were deemed to sound as realistic as genuine samples. These results demonstrate that the DCT representation is a valuable framework for analysis and synthesis of drum sounds. It is also likely that this approach could be applied to other instruments.

Sound discrimination of two sympatric, threatened fish species allows for their in situ mapping

Abstract Human impacts on marine ecosystems are increasing and the number of fish species listed in the Red List is constantly growing. In the Mediterranean Sea, seven of the 10 bony fishes defined as Threatened by the IUCN are known to be vocal, including the target species of this study: the shi drum (Umbrina cirrosa Linnaeus, 1758) and the brown meagre (Sciaena umbra Linnaeus, 1758). As a result, non‐invasive passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) can be used to pinpoint their distribution at sea. However, for PAM to be effective, reliable acoustic discrimination is required because the sounds they emit during reproduction are remarkably similar (i.e. short broadband pulsed sounds). The shi drum and the brown meagre are closely related, elusive, vocal sciaenids, partially overlapping in their ecological niche. During summer 2019, three PAM surveys were conducted along the tidal inlets of the Venice lagoon (Italy). Here, the calls of both species have been recognized according to their temporal features: shi drum sounds were made up of a lower number of longer pulses with a different envelope, repeated at a lower rate than those of the brown meagre. Further, shi drum and brown meagre sounds of different origins (aquaculture and semi‐natural conditions) were analysed and compared with those collected during the survey of the study area in order to validate the field collected data. Call discrimination allowed for a fine‐scale species mapping, showing a partially overlapping distribution of the two species along the inlets. This is the first case in which two sciaenids have been documented to share their reproductive habitat in the Mediterranean Sea. This study demonstrates that it is feasible to acoustically monitor the target species even in those parts of the Mediterranean Sea where they co‐exist. This, in its turn, could provide managers with the required data for effective conservation measures to be implemented.

Human beatbox sound recognition using an automatic speech recognition toolkit

Human beatboxing is a vocal art making use of speech organs to produce vocal drum sounds and imitate musical instruments. Beatbox sound classification is a current challenge that can be used for automatic database annotation and music-information retrieval. In this study, a large-vocabulary human-beatbox sound recognition system was developed with an adaptation of Kaldi toolbox, a widely-used tool for automatic speech recognition. The corpus consisted of eighty boxemes, which were recorded repeatedly by two beatboxers. The sounds were annotated and transcribed to the system by means of a beatbox specific morphographic writing system (Vocal Grammatics). The recognition-system robustness to recording conditions was assessed on recordings of six different microphones and settings. The decoding part was made with monophone acoustic models trained with a classical HMM-GMM model. A change of acoustic features (MFCC, PLP, Fbank) and a variation of different parameters of the beatbox recognition system were tested: (i) the number of HMM states, (ii) the number of MFCC, (iii) the presence or not of a pause boxeme in right and left contexts in the lexicon and (iv) the rate of silence probability. Our best model was obtained with the addition of a pause in left and right contexts of each boxeme in the lexicon, a 0.8 silence probability, 22 MFCC and three states HMM. Boxeme error rate in such configuration was lowered to 13.65%, and 8.6 boxemes over 10 were well recognized. The recording settings did not greatly affect system performance, apart from recording with closed-cup technique.

Vocal drum sounds in human beatboxing: An acoustic and articulatory exploration using electromagnetic articulography.

Acoustic characteristics, lingual and labial articulatory dynamics, and ventilatory behaviors were studied on a beatboxer producing twelve drum sounds belonging to five main categories of his repertoire (kick, snare, hi-hat, rimshot, cymbal). Various types of experimental data were collected synchronously (respiratory inductance plethysmography, electroglottography, electromagnetic articulography, and acoustic recording). Automatic unsupervised classification was successfully applied on acoustic data with t-SNE spectral clustering technique. A cluster purity value of 94% was achieved, showing that each sound has a specific acoustic signature. Acoustical intensity of sounds produced with the humming technique was found to be significantly lower than their non-humming counterparts. For these sounds, a dissociation between articulation and breathing was observed. Overall, a wide range of articulatory gestures was observed, some of which were non-linguistic. The tongue was systematically involved in the articulation of the explored beatboxing sounds, either as the main articulator or as accompanying the lip dynamics. Two pulmonic and three non-pulmonic airstream mechanisms were identified. Ejectives were found in the production of all the sounds with bilabial occlusion or alveolar occlusion with egressive airstream. A phonetic annotation using the IPA alphabet was performed, highlighting the complexity of such sound production and the limits of speech-based annotation.

Acoustic characteristics of synthesized signals of Chinese bahaba (Bahaba taipingensis)

As a member of Sciaenidae, Chinese bahaba (Bahaba taipingensis) generate sounds using sonic muscles to drive the swim bladder. In this study, the drumming sounds of Chinese bahaba in two groups differing in body size were recorded in an indoor aquarium and an outdoor pond. A piecewise exponential oscillation function was developed to synthesize the signals with a good agreement. Statistical comparisons found that the oscillation frequency and damping coefficient (part 1) of synthesized signals from larger-sized fish were lower. The results suggest that the acoustic characteristics of Chinese bahaba signals are related to fish morphology as the physiological age alters.

Drum-Aware Ensemble Architecture for Improved Joint Musical Beat and Downbeat Tracking

This letter presents a novel system architecture that integrates blind source separation with joint beat and downbeat tracking in musical audio signals. The source separation module segregates the percussive and non-percussive components of the input signal, over which beat and downbeat tracking are performed separately and then the results are aggregated with a learnable fusion mechanism. This way, the system can adaptively determine how much the tracking result for an input signal should depend on the input's percussive or non-percussive components. Evaluation on four testing sets that feature different levels of presence of drum sounds shows that the new architecture consistently outperforms the widely-adopted baseline architecture that does not employ source separation.

Acoustic signals produced by Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus and black-chinned tilapia Sarotherodon melanotheron during intra- and interspecific pairings

We characterised, for the first-time, the sound production of black-chinned tilapia Sarotherodon melanotheron and show differences with that of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus in a hybridization pairing context. Although both species were able to produce drum sounds, they showed different acoustic features. Drum sounds were produced in aggressive (chasing or lateral attack) and non-aggressive (courtship) contexts by O. niloticus but only in aggressive situations (fleeing or avoidance) by S. melanotheron. The second type of sounds produced by O. niloticus were grunts, produced in both aggressive (chasing and after biting) and non-aggressive contexts (nest building). The second type of sound produced by S. melanotheron was a rolling sound, produced only during courtship. Each species was able to produce common sounds (drum) and species-specific sounds (grunts and rolling). This implies that species can communicate without being able to understand each other because the sounds emitted may probably have different significance. Drumming corresponded only to aggressivity in S. melanotheron, whereas this was not true for O. niloticus. 11-ketotestosterone (11-kt) levels were significantly higher in male O. niloticus than male S. melanotheron, but there was no significant correlation between 11-kt or estradiol concentrations and the number of sounds produced in aggressive or non-aggressive behavioural contexts in either species. During interspecies interactions, O. niloticus drum sounds are likely considered to be aggressive by S. melanotheron and could potentially constitute a reproductive barrier between the two species.

Rhythmic Recursion? Human Sensitivity to a Lindenmayer Grammar with Self-similar Structure in a Musical Task

Processing of recursion has been proposed as the foundation of human linguistic ability. Yet this ability may be shared with other domains, such as the musical or rhythmic domain. Lindenmayer grammars (L-systems) have been proposed as a recursive grammar for use in artificial grammar experiments to test recursive processing abilities, and previous work had shown that participants are able to learn such a grammar using linguistic stimuli (syllables). In the present work, we used two experimental paradigms (a yes/no task and a two-alternative forced choice) to test whether adult participants are able to learn a recursive Lindenmayer grammar composed of drum sounds. After a brief exposure phase, we found that participants at the group level were sensitive to the exposure grammar and capable of distinguishing the grammatical and ungrammatical test strings above chance level in both tasks. While we found evidence of participants’ sensitivity to a very complex L-system grammar in a non-linguistic, potentially musical domain, the results were not robust. We discuss the discrepancy within our results and with the previous literature using L-systems in the linguistic domain. Furthermore, we propose directions for future music cognition research using L-system grammars.

Evaluation System for Groove Feelings Evoked by Drum Sounds

Evaluation System for Groove Feelings Evoked by Drum Sounds

Vocal imitation of percussion sounds: On the perceptual similarity between imitations and imitated sounds.

Recent studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of the voice for communicating sonic ideas, and the accuracy with which it can be used to imitate acoustic instruments, synthesised sounds and environmental sounds. However, there has been little research on vocal imitation of percussion sounds, particularly concerning the perceptual similarity between imitations and the sounds being imitated. In the present study we address this by investigating how accurately musicians can vocally imitate percussion sounds, in terms of whether listeners consider the imitations ‘more similar’ to the imitated sounds than to other same–category sounds. In a vocal production task, 14 musicians imitated 30 drum sounds from five categories (cymbals, hats, kicks, snares, toms). Listeners were then asked to rate the similarity between the imitations and same–category drum sounds via web based listening test. We found that imitated sounds received the highest similarity ratings for 16 of the 30 sounds. The similarity between a given drum sound and its imitation was generally rated higher than for imitations of another same–category sound, however for some drum categories (snares and toms) certain sounds were consistently considered most similar to the imitations, irrespective of the sound being imitated. Finally, we apply an existing auditory image based measure for perceptual similarity between same–category drum sounds, to model the similarity ratings using linear mixed effect regression. The results indicate that this measure is a good predictor of perceptual similarity between imitations and imitated sounds, when compared to acoustic features containing only temporal or spectral features.

Perspectives on African Rhythm and Dance in Onwueme’s Riot in Heaven

Studies in the life and works of the literary icon, Tess Onwueme has been manifolded. Her ideologies on gender and other topical issues have enjoyed academic patronage by scholars in the humanities with her works succinctly capturing the histories and cultural heritages of the African people. As pervasive as her works have been, there exists a relative lack in the capture of performative nuances of the African people. This writer thus undertakes a study on the different perspectives of African rhythm and dance in Onwueme’s Riot in Heaven. Through an enduring content analysis against the historicity of the play’s setting and a review of related literature, the writer arrived at findings which further reveal the creative ingenuity of Tess Onwueme. These include the utilization of aural, visual and psychological rhythms against the background of African dance forms. Aural rhythm is made manifest in vocal renditions like songs, instrumentations, hand clapping, shouts and chants. Visual rhythm which addresses the sense of sight is exemplified in the play by the use of ceremonial and social dances of worship, unity and protest; marches and procession as well the floor patterns and movements. Psychological rhythm which works in the remote reserves of the human mind is revealed through characterization as travellers and living deads. The ideas of coming and going, living and dying, death and rebirth, violent drum sounds and deafening gunshots create psychological rhythm in the minds of the readers. Onwueme has beautifully captured the African life and setting through rhythm and dance in Riot in Heaven. This study serves as a springboard for further researches on performance components of literary works.

Behavioural responses of male ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus, L.) to playbacks of drumming displays

AbstractBirds use a variety of sounds in their courtship displays, but the majority of behavioural studies have focused on vocalizations. In contrast, little is known about how non‐vocal sounds, or sonations, are used, even though many avian species produce them. The ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) is a useful species to examine non‐vocal sounds because they lack vocal components in their courtship and rely on a non‐vocal sound to attract mates and defend their territory. Their courtship display, known as “drumming,” is created by the wings, and the number of pulses and speed (pulse rate) varies significantly among males. Anecdotal evidence suggested that males can affect the drumming behaviour of neighbouring males in drumming “duels” in an analogous way to song contests. Here, we test whether males do respond to the playback of drumming sounds of an unfamiliar male. Using a portable speaker system, we played recordings of drumming displays to males that were actively drumming themselves. Throughout each playback, we recorded the drumming behaviour of target males so that we could assess whether drumming activity changes following a playback as well as whether males change the speed of their display. Overall, male grouse were equally likely to approach the speaker or continue drumming following a playback. For those males that continued drumming, their drumming pulse rate was significantly faster following playbacks, but they drummed less often. These results indicate that male ruffed grouse do respond to drumming sounds, but the specific response differs among males. Because the differential response was not related to colour phase or whether a male was drumming in proximity to other males, we suggest that the response of individuals likely varies with other traits, such as hormone levels or behavioural syndrome.

The Asymmetrical Influence of Timing Asynchrony of Bass Guitar and Drum Sounds on Groove

Groove is a pleasant feeling that compels people to move their bodies along with music. In the past, there was some consensus among both musicians and researchers that the main factor in inducing this feeling is onset asynchrony of sounds. However, recent studies have asserted that no-asynchrony is the condition that will obtain the highest groove. The current study examined whether no-asynchrony exclusively elicits the highest groove. In Experiment 1, we measured the groove increment of a backbeat drum pattern as a function of the asynchronies between bass guitar and hi-hat cymbal sounds. Upon evaluation, the scores of no conditions exceeded those of the synchronous condition. However, the condition with slight bass guitar precedence over the hi-hat achieved an approximately equal score to the condition with complete synchrony, and that score was higher than the ones achieved with bass delay. In Experiment 2, we measured the participants’ sensitivities to timing discrimination. The results confirmed that the amount of bass precedence in Experiment 1 was perceptible to the listeners. These findings suggest that complete synchronization is not always the best condition to achieve groove and that listeners prefer perceivable asynchronies in some cases.

Metal Sounds Stiffer than Drums for Ears, but Not Always for Hands: Low-Level Auditory Features Affect Multisensory Stiffness Perception More than High-Level Categorical Information.

Most real-world events stimulate multiple sensory modalities simultaneously. Usually, the stiffness of an object is perceived haptically. However, auditory signals also contain stiffness-related information, and people can form impressions of stiffness from the different impact sounds of metal, wood, or glass. To understand whether there is any interaction between auditory and haptic stiffness perception, and if so, whether the inferred material category is the most relevant auditory information, we conducted experiments using a force-feedback device and the modal synthesis method to present haptic stimuli and impact sound in accordance with participants’ actions, and to modulate low-level acoustic parameters, i.e., frequency and damping, without changing the inferred material categories of sound sources. We found that metal sounds consistently induced an impression of stiffer surfaces than did drum sounds in the audio-only condition, but participants haptically perceived surfaces with modulated metal sounds as significantly softer than the same surfaces with modulated drum sounds, which directly opposes the impression induced by these sounds alone. This result indicates that, although the inferred material category is strongly associated with audio-only stiffness perception, low-level acoustic parameters, especially damping, are more tightly integrated with haptic signals than the material category is. Frequency played an important role in both audio-only and audio-haptic conditions. Our study provides evidence that auditory information influences stiffness perception differently in unisensory and multisensory tasks. Furthermore, the data demonstrated that sounds with higher frequency and/or shorter decay time tended to be judged as stiffer, and contact sounds of stiff objects had no effect on the haptic perception of soft surfaces. We argue that the intrinsic physical relationship between object stiffness and acoustic parameters may be applied as prior knowledge to achieve robust estimation of stiffness in multisensory perception.