Role Of Timbre Research Articles

Тембр и смысл: когнитивные стратегии восприятия музыкального содержания вокального произведения (на примере романса С. В. Рахманинова «Здесь хорошо»)

The purpose of the study is to identify how the listener perception of the musical content of a vocal work is built when the timbre component changes at the stage of its performing interpretation. The article will compare various versions of S. V. Rachmaninoff’s romance “How Nice It Is Here”, which not only strictly materialize the original composer’s text in sound, but also make various timbre changes to it, as well as analyze various strategies of listener perception associated with changing the timbre-acoustic appearance of the work. The scientific novelty lies in the comprehensive consideration of the issue, combining the approaches of psychoacoustics, psychology of perception, sound engineering with traditional musicological research methods. Based on the methodological approach of E. V. Nazaikinsky, who separates the actual sound principle of music from intonation, as well as on the results of his own research on the role of timbre in fixation, translation and perception of musical content, acoustic, neurocognitive and semantic aspects of this process are revealed. As a result, it was determined that any timbre changes made by performers to the original text of a vocal composition lead not only to a variation in its acoustic parameters, but also to a transformation of perception of the content represented by it.

Sonic branding of meat- and plant-based foods: The role of timbre

Despite the wide body of literature available on the sound symbolism of food, the role of timbre in influencing food perception is yet underexplored. Given the shared gender stereotypes between timbre (musical instruments) and foods, this research examined the relationship between masculine/feminine instruments and meat/plant attributes across four studies. We identified the masculine timbre-meat and feminine timbre-plant associations (Study 1), which hold even within the same food category (Study 2a and 2b). Interestingly, the feminine timbre-plant associations (vs. masculine) were found to be stronger at the implicit level (Study 3). Study 4 demonstrated that sogos created in feminine instruments activate the feminine concepts linked to plant appeal and results in enhancing these regardless of consumers’ perceived pleasantness of the sogos. These insights suggest novel sonic branding strategies for brand managers, and advertisers in the plant-based (meat-alternative) food industry.

Монодия как предмет изучения когнитивной этномузыкологии

The article discusses monody as a phenomenon of musical culture and the archetypal type of thinking for many peoples of the world. Examination is made of the historiography, terminological apparatus and practice of applying the term in Russian musicology as well as in musicological systems of other countries. Despite the fact that monody is intrinsic to the musical cultures of many peoples, it has remained practically unstudied from the positions of cognitive ethnomusicology – a contemporary trend placing as its aim the comprehension of the underlying foundations of the organization of the musical text, its structure and content, as well as the demonstration of their inner hierarchy. The signification of studying Finno-Ugric monody as a type of musical thinking is actualized in the article. The importance of the issue of polyphony within monody, as well as the role of timbre and intonating are actualized in the article. According to the cognitive approach, music presents a part of the picture of the world in the consciousness of the human being, and its study may be carried out by means of studying the information it contains. The information extracted from a phonogram, along with its cultural context, comprise a complexly organized ethnomusicological text the study of which is prospective from the positions of methodology of cognitive musicology. Keywords: cognitive ethnomusicology, Finno-Ugrian musical studies, monody, monodic thinking, intonating, vocal structure, articulation, timbre, polyphony in monody, heterophony of monodic nature, heterophony.

РОЛЬ СИНЕСТЕЗИИ В ТВОРЧЕСКОЙ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ КОМПОЗИТОРОВ

The paper examines the problems of researching the scientific knowledge of synaesthesia and its role in creative compositional activity. An analysis of various approaches to the definition of the phenomenon of synaesthesia as a concept reflecting the form of perception, the connection between feelings in the psyche, the results of their manifestations in specific art fields: the art-aesthetic culture of the 20th century, reflects the culturological component of the phenomenon; the ratio of synaesthesia with a sensory impression having a certain color. The role of synaesthesia in creative musical activity is defined and the relationship with the general features of the style of the Romantic era and the individual psychological qualities of the composers is indicated. Consideration is given to belonging to a certain national musical culture, which bears one or another national style. An example of the manifestation of synaesthetic tendencies in the musical art in the direction of impressionism is given. V. Moskalenko distinguishes three versions of reconstruction by the performer of the composer's plan: real, conditionally real and hypothetical. One of the main distinguishing features of the composer's letter of the first half of the twentieth century is the submission to the general technocratic tendencies inherent in the culture as a whole. In the second half of the XX - beginning of the XXI centuries, the intuitive beginning in the creative process was updated. The ultimate manifestation of the intuitive and sensual principle in the process of composing practice is reflected in the ideas of the Russian composer D. Kurlyandsky, which testifies to the extreme actualization not only of the intuitive beginning, but also of the bodily, sensual experience in creating a musical work. A productive method of constructing the components of the composer's intention is the method proposed by N. Kolyadenko for establishing synesthetic models of the stages of the artistic process, where the synaesthetic model of the artistic process corresponds to the composer's intention. The role of timbre and harmony in the music of the twentieth century is noted. The texture reflects the many-sided changes in the musical paradigm of the twentieth century. The simplest example of fixing the composer's spatial thinking is the notation record. The tendencies of the graphic nature of the musical texture, which only became apparent in the works of K. Debussy, were transformed into an important component, and sometimes the predominance of textured graphics in the music of the twentieth and early twentyfirst centuries. T. Krasnikova points out such forms: a point, a line, a strip, a stream, a stain, a scattering, a cloud, a sound rain. The special research devoted to this phenomenon testifies to the potential of researching composer's remarks as an embodiment of the "semantic" palette of the "stylistics of the composer's musical speech", as well as the "artistic" picture of the world of the "composer" (by A. Sokol's definition). Thus, the remarks being the "key" to understanding the compositional sense of music, in this classification once again demonstrate the inclusion of both emotional and synesthetic components in the sensory image of the sound of a musical work. The synaesthetic analysis objectifies musical sounding with the help of synaesthetic markers, capable of directing an understanding of its meaning. However, the significance of the above mentioned components of the creative process increases when studying the composer's intention of a synesthetic character - the synesthetic concept laid down by the composer - and his performing realization.

Interactions between instrumental timbre and consumers’ regulatory focus

Although music is widely used as a sensory marketing tool and incorporated in multisensory consumer–computer interactions, the role of timbre in marketing has not been extensively discussed. This study used five experiments which demonstrate that compared with violin/flute timbres, the piano timbre fits listeners’ prevention focus. This is because the piano timbre is familiar to individuals and induces feelings of security congruent with the listener’s prevention orientation. When exposed to a piano (vs. violin/flute) timbre as background music in an advertisement, consumers evaluate both the advertisement and the product/service more positively when they are prevention (vs. promotion) focused or when the advertisement message is framed in a preventive (vs. promotional) way. However, the timbre’s effect exists only when consumers’ cognitive load is low. This research contributes to sensory marketing in theory and practice and suggests that marketing managers should avoid using obsessive sensory stimuli in virtual and augmented reality.

Combinatorics as a constant principle of I. Stravinsky’s orchestral writing

Combinatorics as a constant principle of I. Stravinsky’s orchestral writing

Beobachtungen zum Verhältnis von Klangfarbe, Raum und Zeit bei Ligeti

The notion of sound (Klang) has been discussed intensely during the last 200 years. Similarly, in the writings of György Ligeti, timbre (Klangfarbe) is one of the crucial terms. The aim of this text is to reconsider the role of timbre and the relationship between timbre, space, and time in Ligeti’s music. With an analysis of Atmosphères and the first movement of the Piano Concerto, the discussion also includes two further important notions: process and threshold.

Perceiving categorical emotion in sound: The role of timbre.

Perceiving categorical emotion in sound: The role of timbre.

Can Inexperienced Listeners Hear Who Is Flat? The Role of Timbre and Vibrato

Research has shown that the distribution of spectral energy and the presence of vibrato in a complex tone can affect pitch perception. This study sought to answer the questions: "Does timbre affect the perception of difference in pitch in complex synthetic stimuli modeled after singing voices?" "Does vibrato affect the perception of difference in pitch in complex synthetic stimuli modeled after singing voices?" and "Does the direction of timbre difference affect the perception of pitch difference?" This is a repeated-measures factorial design. The experiment consisted of three experimental blocks at the pitches A3, G4, and F5, each with a vibrato and no-vibrato subblock. For each block, two reference stimuli (mezzo-soprano and soprano) and six test stimuli (mezzo-soprano at frequencies of -1%, -2%, and -3%, soprano at frequencies of -1%, -2%, and -3%) were synthesized on the vowel /ɑ/. Each reference stimulus was paired with itself, with the other reference stimulus, and with all the test stimuli. Vibrato stimuli had a rate of 5.6Hz and a frequency vibrato extent of ±50 cents. Listeners indicated the degree to which stimuli differed in pitch. Differences in timbre and vibrato were significant main effects on the perception of pitch difference. The direction of timbre difference was a consistent significant effect on the perception of pitch difference for the pitch G4; however, this was not a consistent effect at the pitches A3 and F5. Numerous factors can affect the perception of pitch including timbre and presence of vibrato.

Role of timbre and fundamental frequency in voice gender adaptation.

Prior adaptation to male (or female) voices causes androgynous voices to be perceived as more female (or male). Using a selective adaptation paradigm the authors investigate the relative impact of the vocal fold vibration rate (F0) and timbre (operationally in this paper as characteristics that differentiate two voices of the same F0 and loudness) on this basic voice gender aftereffect. TANDEM-STRAIGHT was used to morph between 10 pairs of male and female speakers uttering 2 different vowel-consonant-vowel sequences (20 continua). Adaptor stimuli had one parameter (either F0 or timbre) set at a clearly male or female level, while the other parameter was set at an androgynous level, as determined by an independent set of listeners. Compared to a control adaptation condition (in which both F0 and timbre were clearly male or female), aftereffects were clearly reduced in both F0 and timbre adaptation conditions. Critically, larger aftereffects were found after timbre adaptation (comprising androgynous F0) compared to F0 adaptation (comprising an androgynous timbre). Together these results suggest that timbre plays a larger role than F0 in voice gender adaptation. Finally, the authors found some evidence that individual differences among listeners reflect in part pre-experimental contact to male and female voices.

What's That Sound?: Korean Fusion Music and the Ascendancy of the Haegŭm

In the last 20 years, musicians specializing in the performance of Korean tradi tional (kugak) have been drawn in increasing numbers to participate in hybrid musical combinations of Korean instruments, vocal styles, and repertory with originating in other parts of the world?primarily, but not exclu sively, the West. What Korean musicians produce under the general rubric of music (p'yuj?n ?mak)1 is often immediately recognizable as Korean not so much from musical form, melody, or even from rhythmic pattern, as from instrumental timbre.2 The issue of timbre has often appeared in the scholar ship on Korean music, especially in writings identifying the unique qualities of Korean traditional music. Lee Byong Won (Yi Py?ngw?n)3 states flatly that A kind of or buzzing sound quality seems to be the preferred timbre in Korean music (1997, 53), from the extremely raspy sound of the pdnsori singers and Southwestern folksinger s voices to a wide variety of Korean instru ments: the sound of the bowed zither (ajaeng), the two-stringed fiddle (haeg?m) and the double reeds (p'iri and taepy?ngso), the dark, rough, scrap ing and scratching (Lee Byong Won 1997,55) sounds of the 6-stringed plucked zither (k?mungo), to the buzzy sound of the side-blown flute (taeg?m), and the piercing, trebly sound of the small flat gong (kkwaenggwari) and the upper-register playing of taepy?ngso and haeg?m. There are whole chapters or sections thereof on timbre in Lee Byong Wons Styles and Esthetics in Korean Traditional Music (1997) and in So Inhwas (So Inhwa) Theoretical Perspectives on Korean Traditional Music: An Lntroduction (2002), among others. It would seem, therefore, that careful attention should be paid to timbre in the new forms of Korean emerging in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, including Koreas increasingly prominent fusion music. Hybridity has become an increasingly central concern of much contempo rary scholarship in ethnomusicology, but scholars of Korean music, with the notable exception of Lee So Young (Yi Soy?ng) (1999, 2003, 2005a, 2005b), Song Hyejin (2000), Yun Chunggang (2004), Ch?n Chiy?ng (2004), and Keith Howard (2002), have had relatively little to say about the recent surge of fusion music, and even less about the role of timbre in fusion music. Koreas indig enous stringed, wind, and percussion instruments all have distinctive timbres,

The role of timbre in pitch matching abilities and pitch discrimination abilities with complex tones

Control of fundamental frequency (F0) is important for singing in-tune and is an important factor related to the perception of a talented singing voice. One purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between pitch-matching skills, which is one method of testing F0 control, and pitch discrimination skills. It was observed that there was a relationship between pitch matching abilities and pitch discrimination abilities. Those subjects that were accurate pitch matchers were also accurate pitch discriminators (and vice versa). Further, timbre differences appeared to play a role in pitch discrimination accuracy. A second part of the study investigated the effect of timbre on speech discrimination. To study this, all but the first five harmonics of complex tones with different timbre were removed for the pitch discrimination task, thus making the tones more similar in timbre. Under this condition no difference was found between the pitch discrimination abilities of those who were accurate pitch matchers and those who were inaccurate pitch matchers. The results suggest that accurate F0 control is at least partially dependent on pitch discrimination abilities, and timbre appears to play an important role in differences in pitch discrimination ability.

The role of timbre, pitch, and loudness changes in determining perceived metrical structure

The role of differences in pitch, loudness, and timbre as determinants of metrical structures was investigated. A repeated sequence of 12 pure tones was systematically partitioned into 4 groups of 3 tones or 3 groups of 4 tones by introducing changes in F0, intensity, and spectral complexity between sounds at serial positions 1, 4, 7, 10 or 1, 5, 9, respectively. Listeners used a rating scale to indicate if a triple, quadruple, or ambiguous meter was perceived. For changes in only one parameter at a time, perception of rhythmic structure followed the physical markers. When changes in more than one parameter were made concurrently, multiple cues for triple or quadruple meter were available. Coincident changes led to reinforcement of the rhythm demarcated by the points of change. Conflicting changes led to different outcomes: Timbre and pitch changes dominated over a loudness-based accent structure. Pitch versus timbre stimuli were rated as having ambiguous meter. A combination of any two parameters versus the third dominated in determining the metrical structure. The results raise questions about the role of timbre in rhythm perception in general and as a tool for marking metrical units in particular.

The role of timbre in the segregation of simultaneous voices with intersecting F0 contours

When the fundamental frequency (F0) contours of two speakers' voices intersect, the listener is presented with a problem. The listener must decide which of the F0 contours emerging from the intersection is a continuation of which contour entering the intersection: have the F0 contours crossed or merely approached and parted? In the present experiment, subjects listened to two simultaneous diphthong-like sounds with F0 contours that either approached and diverged or crossed over. The task was to report whether the pitches "crossed" or "bounced" away from each other. Despite the changing timbres of the two sounds, the subjects were able to discriminate crossing and bouncing F0s, provided that the timbres of the vowels differed at the moment when their F0s were the same. When the timbres were the same, the subjects could not make the discrimination and tended to hear a bouncing percept. These results are consistent with the idea that listeners use continuity of timbre rather than continuity of F0 movement to disambiguate F0 intersections.