Tonal Scale Research Articles

Evaluating the Image Permanence of Full Tonal Scale Human Skintone Colors in Photographs Using the CIELAB Colorimetry Based WIR i-Star “Retained Image Appearance” Metric

People are the principal subjects in the great majority of consumer photographs and the rich and vibrant reproduction of skintones in prints is an essential requirement for professional portrait and wedding photographers. Current ISO and WIR methods for the evaluation of image permanence in color prints only take into account fading in cyan, magenta, and yellow patches, as well as fading and color imbalance changes in neutral scale patches (at a single density of 1.0 with ISO 18909 and at two density points, 0.6 and 1.0 with WIR). The ISO and WIR methods do not directly address fading and color balance changes in human skintones. This shortcoming is particularly significant for prints made with complex inkjet inksets that, in addition to cyan, magenta, and yellow inks, may contain dilute cyan and magenta inks, as well as red, green, blue, orange, or other ink colors and multi-level black/gray inks. WIR i-Star, a CIELAB colorimetry-based, full tonal scale “retained image appearance” metric, provides a method to evaluate the permanence of human skintone colors, neutrals and nearneutrals, as well as a full range of the printable colors in sRGB or other color spaces over the full tonal scale found in photographs. The WIR i-Star metric can be used to evaluate changes in colors as well as changes in both localized and overall image contrast.

Sisterhood and tonal scaling*

Abstract. This paper discusses central aspects of the effects of hierarchical structure on tonal scaling in intonation. The core results of a number of phonetic studies on this topic, by Ladd, by van den Berg, Gussenhoven and Rietveld, as well as experimental results of our own, are reviewed. We review the suggestions of this earlier work and argue for an addition to the theory. The principle ‘The deeper the steeper’ says that downstep among sister nodes is relatively larger if these sister‐nodes are relatively more deeply embedded in the prosodic representation.

A “Retained Image Appearance” Metric For Full Tonal Scale, Colorimetric Evaluation Of Photographic Image Stability

This paper describes a computational model based on CIELAB colorimetry and full tonal scale evaluation to define objective boundary conditions for “Retained Image Appearance” in a photograph where 100% retention equates to no visual change and 0% retention means total functional loss of image information content. The “Retained Image Appearance” model, I*, examines the color information (hue and chroma) and the black-and-white spatial information (lightness and contrast) in order to characterize the complete life cycle of a photograph as it ages with respect to color, contrast, and lightness. The I* model can also be used to compare tone reproduction accuracy between different renditions of a photographic image and may therefore have applicability in initial print or proof print quality studies as well.

Pitch Spelling: A Computational Model

In this article, cognitive and musicological aspects of pitch and pitch interval representations are explored via computational modeling. The specific task under investigation is pitch spelling, that is, how traditional score notation can be derived from a simple unstructured 12-tone representation (e.g., pitch-class set or MIDI pitch representation). This study provides useful insights both into the domain of pitch perception and into musicological aspects of score notation strategies. A computational model is described that transcribes polyphonic MIDI pitch files into the Western traditional music notation. Input to the proposed algorithm is merely a sequence of MIDI pitch numbers in the order they appear in a MIDI file. No a priori knowledge such as key signature, tonal centers, time signature, chords, or voice separation is required. Output of the algorithm is a sequence of "correctly" spelled pitches. The algorithm is based on an interval optimization approach that takes into account the frequency of occurrence of pitch intervals within the major-minor tonal scale framework. The algorithm was evaluated on 10 complete piano sonatas by Mozart and had a success rate of 98.8% (634 pitches were spelled incorrectly out of a total of 54,418 notes); it was tested additionally on three Chopin waltzes and had a slightly worse success rate. The proposed pitch interval optimization approach is also compared with and tested against other pitch-spelling strategies.

Contrast-Computing Darkroom Exposure Meter

A darkroom exposure meter has been designed to compute from a single measurement sequence both the exposure time and the paper contrast necessary to accept the full tonal scale of the negative. The photographer moves a phototransistor probe across the projected image to sample all areas that are to show gradation in the finished print. A microcomputer accepts the digitized probe output, compares the whole range of readings with paper characteristics stored in its memory, and calculates contrast grade and exposure time. A prototype constructed on this basis has demonstrated the feasibility of this concept. Such a device can greatly improve darkroom productivity.

Music and modularity

It is argued that the current modular conception of the human mind has important implications for the status of music processing in the architecture of the cognitive system. This conceptualization led us to treat several issues that have been neglected in the cognitive study of music. The major issue concerns the importance of specifying both models and experimental tasks in terms of stages in information processing. This approach is advocated as a preliminary step for identifying separable components in the processing of music and for assessing whether these comonents possess modular properties. In this perspective, and on the grounds of the available empirical facts, encoding of pitch information in terms of tonal scales is suggested to be a serious candidate for modularity. These computations appear to be made in an automatic way and seem to be acquired precociously and without explicit tutoring. This would support the proposal that music processing cannot be wholly attributed to general-purpose mechan...

The Tonal Chromatic Scale as a Model for Functional Chromaticism

Some recent empirical studies concerning the perception of tonal melodies are based upon the theoretical assumption that it is adequate to distinguish "tonal" from "atonal" tunes with reference to diatonic and chromatic pitch collections, respectively. Such a principal of demarcation, however, fails to account for the intuitive sense that melodies may display relative degrees of "tonal-ness" and that chromaticism may function to establish and reinforce tonal centers. What appears necessary for the evaluation of results of such studies, as well as for the formulation of further experiments, is a tonal-functional theory of chromaticism that will allow the distinction between "tonal" and "atonal" to be appropriately clarified. This article presents an informal model for a functional theory of chromaticism based upon a "tonal chromatic" scale. Drawing upon a critique of a functional model formulated by Deutsch and Feroe, this study develops concepts central to the notion of chromatic function. These concepts are then employed in a critique of four proposed forms of chromatic scales, specifying weaknesses in each. Following this, the author proposes a "tonal chromatic" scale which overcomes difficulties inherent in previously proposed scale forms. Analytical examples are offered that illuminate the structural implications of the model.

Foot-controlled musical instrument

A foot-controlled musical instrument, the control portion of which includes a heel rest mounted for rotation so that, while the heel of the playing person is firmly placed on the rest, the foot may easily be turned to various angular positions within a range of about 90 degrees, to bring the anterior part of the foot into position to make contact with any desired one of several (preferably six) pedal keys which, when activated, cause production of various sounds, e.g. according to a tonal scale. The pedal keys are mounted on a spring-loaded plate which may be depressed by foot pressure, the depression thereof serving to control certain characteristics of the produced sound. The heel rest plate is also mounted for movement in one or more linear directions in addition to its rotary movement, and these linear movements control other characteristics of the produced sound. Various other details of the control assembly are disclosed, as well as details of one form of sound production device appropriate for control by the control device or portion of the instrument.

Tonal Principles as Teaching Principles in Music

Numerous experiments have demonstrated the effects of acculturation to a tonal scale system among Western listeners. Programmed instruction methods for the teaching of music can take advantage of this acculturation. Here I report several studies demonstrating the effectiveness of such programs. Both nonmusicians and musicians benefitted from training, although the greatest improvement was among students with some initial capacity. Interestingly, training with tonal materials led to improved test performance with both tonal and atonal items.

Tonal scale step encoding and the recognition of octave-scrambled melodies

Octave-scrambled melodies, having their pitches randomly distributed over several octaves, are difficult to recognize. Such melodies do not preserve pitch-interval patterns of undistorted melodies, but only their sequences of chromas—that quality of pitch shared by tones an octave apart. It was shown previously [W. J. Dowling, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Suppl. I 64, S146 (1978)] that such melodies can be recognized if preceded by a title or a melody cue (an unscrambled version). Here melody cues preceded unfamiliar tonal or atonal, scrambled or unscrambled test melodies. Unscrambled repetitions of tonal melodies were easier to recognize than atonal ones for all subjects. Even inexperienced subjects encoded scale steps of tonal cue melodies more effectively than they encoded pitches of atonal cue melodies. Musically experienced (but not inexperienced) subjects found tonal scrambled melodies easier to recognize than atonal. Subjects apparently tested encoded cue patterns against chromas of comparison melodies. Experienced subjects used that information more effectively to evaluate the chroma patterns of octave-scrambled melodies.

Musical experience and tonal scales in the recognition of octave-scrambled melodies.

Musical experience and tonal scales in the recognition of octave-scrambled melodies.

Chrome and interval in melody recognition: Effects of acquiring a tonal schema

Pitch intervals of melodies in long‐term memory are produced and recognized quite accurately by both musicians and nonmusicians. This could be either because memory represents intervals directly, or because pitches are represented as chromas in a tonal scale schema (a do‐re‐mi‐like representation). Changing chromes (but not intervals) of test melodies should disrupt recognition in the latter case, but not the former. Here I controlled chrome by introducing each melody with a chord sequence that ended with either a tonic (do‐mi‐sol) or dominant (sol‐ti‐re) chord. The melody was constructed around the root of that chord (do or sol). Recognition was tested with transpositions that either preserved or changed chord context. Listeners tried to distinguish between exact (interval‐preserving) transpositions and near transpositions having one pitch altered. Inexperienced listeners succeeded whether chroma changed or not. Moderately experienced listeners succeeded only when chroma was preserved. The latter store melodies in terms of chromas and have difficulty recognizing them when chromas are changed. This result converges with others relating schema use and musical experience.

Fingerboard attachment for stringed instruments

A stringed musical instrument with fixed frets is provided with the capability of employing more than one tonal scale. At least two fretted fingerboards are provided with frets located at different relative positions on the respective fingerboards. A transversely opening groove is formed on the instrument beneath and parallel to the strings. On the underside of each fingerboard, a corresponding groove is provided which opens transversely with respect to the fingerboard. Each of the fingerboards can be mounted to the instrument when desired by engaging the groove on the selected fingerboard with the corresponding groove on the instrument. A mechanism is provided for forcing the grooves together so that the fingerboard is secured to the instrument in a releasable fashion.

Photographic Image Simulation

AbstractA photogrophic-image simulation technique is described with which phatographs have been generated having prescribed spread function, granularity. tonal scale and image size or scale. Each of these image-strucwre factors can be both varied and accurately measured independently of one another. The simulation technique is a modified contact-printing process wherein the image of the original is selectively altered to form the reproduction by control of the intensity distribution of the light source area. the distances between the light source and the original and the degree af contact between the original and the reproduction. Granularity is simulated by covering the print film with a film sheet bearing an image of grain structure. This technique has proved to be a valuable tool in image-evaluation studies.

THE DETAILED AUDIOGRAM

USUALLY audiometric records of the hearing function are taken for the octaves of the (great) C, viz., for the tones of frequencies 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192 H. and with, some audiometers. 9747 cycles per second or a higher value. In this way only eight or nine points of the ideal continuous threshold curve of hearing are fixed. Thus only a rough idea is obtained about the hearing for low, middle and high tones, and all intervening tones are neglected. Since it is known that a great hearing loss may exist in a very small area of the tonal scale, causing a so-called dip, the need of an audiogram more detailed, especially for the higher tones, has become urgent. Some investigators, struggling with the imperfection of the routine audiogram, made threshold determinations for intervening tones. For clinical use, however, it takes too much time to get a result

The Photographic Reflecting Power of Colored Objects

In A previous communication1 the use of panchromatic negative film for motion picture work was discussed at some length, and the many advantages arising from the use of this material in the reproduction of scenes consisting of collections of variously colored objects was emphasized. In a later communication2 the subject of characteristics of light filters and methods of using them to obtain any desired rendering of colored objects was treated. In these papers attention was directed chiefly to the exposition of fundamental laws and theoretical relationships which determined the quality of tone reproduction obtained when a series of colored objects is rendered by a photographic process as a series of brightness values entirely lacking in differentiated hue and saturation factors. Reasoning from these established relationships, certain qualitative conclusions relative to the photographic rendition of colored objects were drawn, but no data of a quantitative character relative to the subject were given. For instance, it is evident from a consideration of the spectral sensitivity of photographic materials and the spectral sensibility (visibility) of the eye that while a red object may have a very high visual brightness and hence be equivalent visually to a gray near the white end of gray scale, this same red object when rendered by means of ortho-chromatic film will have a low photographic brightness and hence will be rendered in the photographic reproduction near the black end of the tonal scale. Likewise, from a consideration of the spectral sensitivity of panchromatic film, it is apparent that this same red object when rendered by means of panchromatic film should have a much higher photographic brightness and therefore lie nearer to the white end of the gray scale and hence be rendered more nearly as it is seen visually. From the data already given relative to the spectral sensitivity of photographic materials, quality of light, and reflection characteristics of colored objects, it is possible to draw many such qualitative conclusions.

Light Filters, their Characteristics and Applications in Photography

In a previous communication <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1</sup> the use of panchromatic film for motion picture purposes was discussed at some length. The fundamental principles involved in the photographic reproduction of the tonal scale, that is brightness and brightness differences, in the case of colored objects were outlined and attention called to some of the advantages arising from the use of panchromatic film for this purpose. The use of light filters was mentioned briefly but no attempt was made to deal with this subject in detail. Since a thorough understanding of the nature of light filters and their use for obtaining a desired effect is essential to the attainment of the best results in the application of panchronlatic film to various problems confronting the photographic worker, it seems desirable at this time to present a somewhat more complete and detailed treatment of the subject. Believing firmly in the premise that the nearest approach to perfection in the practice of a science can be attained with greatest facility and certainty through an adequate knowledge of the theoretical aspects of the subject, the first part of this paper will be devoted to a discussion of some of the fundamental principles involved in the use of light filters. In the latter part the more practical phases of the subject will be dealt with and some data relative to the use of light filters will be given.