Timbre Research Articles

On Hearing Colours — Cross-Modal Associations in Vowel Perception in a Non-Synaesthetic Population

On Hearing Colours — Cross-Modal Associations in Vowel Perception in a Non-Synaesthetic Population The present study is a continuation of previous investigations into the nature of sound—colour associations in a non-synaesthetic population conducted on English and Polish vowel sound systems and it aims at providing further evidence for the non-arbitrary nature of cross-modal mappings. The experiment 1 was run on a specially designed computer program and involved 90 participants who were asked to match randomised auditory stimuli (12 English vowel sounds recorded in 2 conditions: in isolation and in a CVC context) with one of 11 basic colours (red, yellow, green, blue, brown, purple, pink, orange, black, white and grey) presented as coloured rectangles on a computer screen. The program kept record of the colour choice and reaction time of the participants, who fell into 2 groups with respect to the level of their language proficiency and phonetic awareness. An analysis of the results revealed statistically significant interactions between specific colours and individual vowel sounds for all 12 English vowels examined in the combined analysis; for 10 vowels in Condition 1 (isolated auditory stimuli) and for 7 vowels in Condition 2 (stimuli in the CVC context). A group effect was not found to be significant as far as the quality of mappings was concerned; however, in the case of reaction times the less advanced learners took significantly longer to assign colours to sounds in context. The findings indicate that vowel—sound mappings in non-synaesthetic perception appear non-arbitrary and follow the general tendencies in which bright colours (yellow, green) are associated with high front vowel sounds, whereas dark colours (brown, blue, black) are attributed to back vowels, while open sounds tend to be perceived as red and central vowels are mapped onto achromatic grey.

Characterizing and Differentiating the Semantic Qualities of Auditory Tones for Products

Traditionally, sounds in user interfaces have served the practical purpose of providing feedback for control operations and informing users of various system states. The purpose of the present study was to explore properties of sounds that are not primarily functional in nature, but might be useful for characterizing and differentiating products based upon semantic qualities. Twenty nine short tonal sequences were created exhibiting a variety of musical properties. Each tonal sequence was evaluated by thirty five participants using a set of twenty three bipolar attribute rating scales intended to capture a range of semantic qualities. Results of a principal components factor analysis revealed four factors: elegance, sturdiness, complexity and activity. These results provide a conceptual framework for describing and differentiating among audio tones based upon their semantic qualities. Physical properties of sounds associated with each factor were also identified providing a design tool for creating new tones to fit a desired semantic profile.

Superior wood for violins – wood decay fungi as a substitute for cold climate

Violins produced by Antonio Stradivari during the late 17th and early 18th centuries are reputed to have superior tonal qualities. Dendrochronological studies show that Stradivari used Norway spruce that had grown mostly during the Maunder Minimum, a period of reduced solar activity when relatively low temperatures caused trees to lay down wood with narrow annual rings, resulting in a high modulus of elasticity and low density. The main objective was to determine whether wood can be processed using selected decay fungi so that it becomes acoustically similar to the wood of trees that have grown in a cold climate (i.e. reduced density and unchanged modulus of elasticity). This was investigated by incubating resonance wood specimens of Norway spruce (Picea abies) and sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) with fungal species that can reduce wood density, but lack the ability to degrade the compound middle lamellae, at least in the earlier stages of decay. Microscopic assessment of the incubated specimens and measurement of five physical properties (density, modulus of elasticity, speed of sound, radiation ratio, and the damping factor) using resonance frequency revealed that in the wood of both species there was a reduction in density, accompanied by relatively little change in the speed of sound. Thus, radiation ratio was increased from 'poor' to 'good', on a par with 'superior' resonance wood grown in a cold climate.

Vocal Technique in a Group of Middle Eastern Singers

Objective: We aimed to report on the vocal technique in a group of Middle Eastern singers. Subjects and Method: A total of 78 Middle Eastern singers were assessed. Demographic data included age, gender, training status and number of years of singing. All singers had laryngeal videoendostroboscopy. Description and grading of posture, tension, type of breathing, type of phonation, resonance and tone quality are reported. Proportions and means (± SD) were used to describe the sample for categorical and continuous variables respectively. Associations between endostroboscopy and voice technique were determined by χ² or Fisher’s exact test. Results:There were 43 males and 35 females with an age ranging between 16 and 32 years and a mean of 23 ± 4 years. Of these, 88.5% were nontrained singers and 50% had more than 3 years of singing experience. Around 80% of Middle Eastern singers rely on either thoracic or clavicular breathing. Posture was average in 68% and moderate tension was present in 63% of the cases. Two thirds had a bright voice, 61% were hypernasal and almost 46% had a strained phonation. There was a significant correlation between posture and tension. Conclusion: Middle Eastern singing relies more on thoracic breathing and is characterized by tension.

Influence of the bocal on the sound of the bassoon

The bocal of a bassoon is characterized by geometrical parameters such as the bore, the outer contour and the wall‐thickness as well as material parameters and the coating. Professional bassoonists select bocals extremely carefully and report influences on the playability and sound colour. In order to understand the underlying effects, several experiments were performed with bocals of the same bore bent in two different shapes and with two different materials. Images of a high‐speed camera show a periodic motion of the bocal tip while the instrument is artificially blown. A modal analysis of the bocals was performed experimentally and numerically to investigate the dynamic behaviour of the structure. The first bending mode of the bocals is around 70 Hz. While the material properties shift the modal frequencies less than 2%, the shift due to the geometry is more than 10%. The experimental program included playing experiments with professional bassoonists. The setup was fixed and the players used the same reed. For each player, slight shifts in the sound spectra could be found due to the use of different bocals. The harmonic structure showed changes in the frequency bands where the bending modes differ.

Between the frog and the tip ‐ bowing gestures and bow‐string interaction in violin playing

The motion of the bow gives a natural visualization of a string performance. Watching the player's bowing may augment the communicative power of the music, but all relevant bow control parameters are not easy to capture by a spectator. The string player controls volume of sound and tone quality continuously by coordination of three basic bowing parameters (bow velocity, bow‐bridge distance, and bow force), which set the main conditions for the bow‐string interaction. At a more detailed level of description, the tilting of the bow, which among other things controls the effective width of the bow hair, enters into the model. On a longer time scale, pre‐planned coordination schemes ('bowing gestures'), including the basic bowing parameters and the angles between the path of the bow and the strings, builds the performance. Systems for recording bowing parameters will be reviewed and results from old and current studies on bowing gestures presented. The player's choice and coordination of bowing parameters are constrained both in attacks and 'steady‐state' according to bow‐string interaction models. Recent verifications of these control spaces will be examined. Strategies for starting notes and examples of how players do in practice will be presented and compared with listeners' preferences.

Observing a chameleon: How to bridge a gap between the voice training and its scientific description

An overview of the authors' research on perception and production of singing voice as well as on the methods of voice training is presented. In the first study, a correlation was found for a group of voice students between the duration of training and the strength of the singer's formant, while the tone quality estimates were not significantly higher for students with longer practice years. In the second study we investigated possible acoustical correlates of the 'forward'/'backward' placing of a voice. A 'forward' placed voice may have higher F1, F2 and/or the singer's formant frequencies as well as a higher level of the singer's formant. In the third study we investigated the intonation accuracy in a cappella performance. There are considerable inter‐individual differences between performers as to their adjustment of pitch level. The stability of intonation varies significantly both within a single rendition of the vocal exercise as well as between its consecutive renditions. There is a positive correla...

Perceptual studies of violin vibrato

Although it seems obvious to violinists that vibrato has a large influence on the perception of violin tone quality, published studies of violin vibrato have mainly concerned its influence on the sound from a scientific point of view, i.e. the characterisation of its time-frequency properties. Work will be described to explore the link between the perception of vibrato notes, the extent of frequency modulation and the level of damping of the resonance modes of the violin. Damping influences the "peakiness" of the frequency response function. The test methodology is based on liveliness ratings and triadic comparisons, where subjects have to select the most similar and the most different pair in each triad (presentation of three sounds). The sounds of the corpus are synthesised using sawtooth waves with frequency modulation, whose amplitude is varied, filtered through a set of admittances corresponding to a reference violin and two modified violins, one with the damping of all modes increased, the other one with the damping decreased.

Influence of the geometrical parameters in flue instruments on the vorticity modulation near the separation points of the jet

In the making of the recorder, great care is given to the shape of the chamfers at the exit of the channel. Makers insist on the need of sharp chamfers, for a good tone quality. Recorders made with rounded chamfers present a noisy sound. On the other hand, in the flute, the channel is made by the lips of the musician, defining a rounder geometry. Previous work show that variations of the geometry of the exit of the channel has little influence on the velocity profile of the jet and on the position of the separation points. Thus, variations of the geometry are expected to affect mainly the interaction between the air jet and the acoustic field. The paper will present measurements together with direct Navier Stokes calculations for different geometrical configurations of a jet emerging in a transverse oscillating velocity field. We investigate the modulation of the vorticity of the jet shear layers by the acoustical field, in the vicinity of the separation points, in an attempt to develop a model that allows to predict the influence of the geometry.

<i>I Swallow Turquoise for Courage</i> (review)

Reviewed by: I Swallow Turquoise for Courage Robin Riley Fast (bio) Hershman R. John (Sun Tracks). I Swallow Turquoise for Courage. Tucson: U of Arizona P, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-8165-2592-8. 103 pp. Hershman R. John's first book is infused with Navajo history and culture. At the same time his engagement with non-Native cultures is also clear, in allusions to, among others, Basho, Anne Sexton, Langston Hughes, the Statue of Liberty, and Midas. Grandmothers and Coyote figure prominently, as do references to the Navajo creation story, turquoise, and weaving. In a book of great formal variety, the use of juxtaposition is particularly noteworthy as a structural principle and a mode for creating meaning and tone. "A Sheep Dog Locked in Photograph" [End Page 104] and "Coyote's Ad Infinitum" offer very different examples. The book exemplifies some of the traits of contemporary Navajo poetics described by Luci Tapahonso: "symbolism, concrete diction, and imagery. [. . .] rich, connotative allusions to time, surrounding physical conditions, and historical as well as spiritual imagery" (25). Further, "The combination of [traditional Navajo genres and poetics with 'written literary techniques'] results in poetry [. . .] that is innovative in terms of format, use of space [. . .] and, most important, a tonal quality that is at once historical, literal, and spiritual" (33). John's book also reflects saad: our way of seeing the world and of relating to all things [. . .] sustained [the Navajo people] [. . .] and thus the acquisition of knowledge or saad remains important today. Saad [. . .] is the essence of what we were taught: that as long as we recognize our responsibilities to each other and the world we will go on. (Tapahonso 35) With this book, Hershman John joins a strong company of contemporary Navajo writers, only a few of whom I will mention, to suggest how I Swallow Turquoise might be located in relation to this larger body of work. Perhaps the most recognized of these writers is Tapahonso herself. While she does not avoid painful subjects, her poems and stories tend to point toward grounds for hope. With a grounding as solidly Navajo as Tapahonso's, John's poems more commonly suggest persistent sadness or tensions. The traditional "mythological" elements on which the two writers most explicitly draw also differ, and it may be that, by alluding most directly to early parts of the creation story (the first two worlds), John creates a context not only in which uncertainty and screwups, danger, and pain are likely (as they also are in Tapahonso's work) but in which outcomes are uncertain. The elusiveness of resolutions is also characteristic of the work of Laura Tohe and Sherwin Bitsui. Tohe's dominant focus on boarding school and its aftermath is the source of her book's predominant bleakness, anger, and implied questions about the future. The immediate sources of pain in John's poetry differ: deaths, children's alienation from elders, radiation poisoning, and [End Page 105] the destruction of the buffalo are among the causes of the griefs he probes, and though some poems promise love or solidarity (e.g., "A Postcard from Van Gogh," "Grandmother Moon"), ambiguity or outright dread or sorrow are more common in his poems. Examples include "Gambling a Good Night Away," "Four Days, Four Nights," "Buffalo Head Nickel," "Spider Woman's Children," and "Refusing to Be Blessed." Finally, Sherwin Bitsui's recurrent references to conquest, exploitation, and violence create a tone that often approaches the apocalyptic, with images that fuse the surreal with the recognizable real, and often nightmarish, effects. Throughout, Bitsui suggests the presence of resistant energy, but his poems afford practically no hope until the final pages, and even here that hope seems tenuous. Grief, painful knowledge of history, and resistance are variously evident in all of these writers' works; tonally, Hershman John's poetry stands between the relative serenity of Tapahonso's, on the one hand, and, on the other, the furious bleakness of Tohe's and the difficult, driven energies of Bitsui's. Meditating on mortality, locatedness, and the necessity of stories, "The Dark World" exemplifies many of this book's strengths. The creation story, begun by Grandmother Spider, is continued by "Altsé Hastiin, First Man," speaking from...

606 クラシックギターの表面板力木等配置の変更の効果について

In the research of the tone quality of a classic guitar, the control of the vibration modes on the surface board is important. It is necessary to combine the traditional trial and error approach with the engineering approach. Here are the some kinds of studies for stiffening rib layout on the sound board of the guitar. We need to get the impact volume of the guitar sound for the lower frequency zone and the rich quality of the sound for the higher frequency zone. We give the suitable distribution of stiffening rib layout density for the optimization of the guitar sound.

William Kanengiser—Classical Guitar and Beyond, and: LAGQ Live! (review)

William Kanengiser-Classical Guitar and Beyond. DVD. Directed by Bill Bay. Pacific, MO: Mel Bay Publications, 2006. 21487DVD. $24.95. LAGQ Live! DVD. Directed by Doug Witherspoon. Pacific, MO: Mel Bay Publications, 2005. 21047DVD. $29.95. William Kanengiser's remarkable mastery of the classical guitar extends far beyond the world of the concert soloist. His talents are just as extraordinary when applied to the roles of ensemble performer, composer, and arranger. This comes through loud and clear in two recently released DVDs from Mel Bay Publications. William Kanengiser-Classical Guitar and Beyond is primarily a performance DVD but it also reveals fascinating information about the performer as well as the compositions he presents. Kanengiser takes time to introduce the viewer to the most important elements of each of the fifteen compositions before he performs them during this 151-minute DVD. These verbal program notes can considerably enhance the viewer's understanding and appreciation of each work. The first half of the DVD presents Kanengiser's performances of works from the standard classical guitar repertory. Pieces by Sor, Aguado, and Giuliani are played with clarity, authority, and tasteful expression. In the second half of the performance we are treated to pieces written by composers influenced by the Spanish culture, world music and jazz. Great works by Rodrigo, de Falla, Hand, and Domeniconi are lavished upon the viewer with all the power, sensitivity, and poignancy that those great compositions deserve and require. Kanengiser does not hold back; he lets us have it all. But his great tone quality and accuracy never suffer regardless of the fast tempos and his passionate involvement. A delightful and enlightening feature of this superb DVD is an interview with Kanengiser. The viewer learns about his years of being mentored by classical guitar master, Pepe Romero, at the University of Southern California (USC). Kanengiser, who is now a member of the guitar faculty at USC, also shares some extremely useful advice concerning learning new pieces, conserving motion in playing, and making effective use of practice time. The piece de resistance, however, of this DVD is a segment in which Kanengiser makes a humorous presentation at a recent convention of the Guitar Foundation of America. He proves himself to be a superb impersonator as he presents his impression of famous classical guitarists and how they might discuss the future of their art. Whether or not one is familiar with the artists being parodied, this segment will provide the viewer with a howling good time of continuous belly laughs! …

Körper und Stimme - Erfolgsinstrumente in der Kommunikation

Music and language, speaking and singing have common roots both from a phylogenetic but more from an ontogenetic view. In language acquisition these appear in particular by initial including of simple melodic and rhythmic expressions, which increasingly differentiate in the further process as consciously integrated prosodic features during speaking. Prosodic features contribute to a clear structure of the information communicated. Beyond that they obtain substantial information about emotional conditions and intentions of the communicator. In voice training prosodic features like speech melody, speech rhythm, dynamics and tone quality prove to be good tools for the speaking voice. With a voice training program, which can be accomplished in group formation, students learn to consciously apply variable gesture and prosody as well to let the voice become equally durable and expressive.

A self-organizing map with twin units capable of describing a nonlinear input–output relation applied to speech code vector mapping

This paper describes a new type of self-organizing map (SOM) with twin units as opposed to the single unit type conventional SOM proposed by Kohonen. The present self-organizing map with twin units (TW-SOM) can describe a nonlinear input–output relation with high accuracy. It is applied to voice conversion problem from bone conduction voice to air conduction voice (nonlinear code vector mapping), and its superiority over the conventional method using Linde–Buzo–Gray (LBG) algorithm is discussed. The tone quality of the converted voice is examined not only from the quantization distortion viewpoint, but also from the auditory sensation viewpoint through actual listening tests. The enhancement of the tone quality was experimentally confirmed.

Musical acoustics: Science and performance

Musicians of the Salt Lake City Jazz Orchestra and their director, Jerry Floor, are staples of the Jazz Scene in the Intermountain West. This evening, rather than limiting your interest to the scientific elements of musical acoustics, will lift your spirits with the rich, exciting sounds of this wonderful ensemble. Before a particular instrument family is featured in a performance, Uwe will simply help you understand why, for example, a clarinet sounds different than a trumpet. The basic science of each instrument group will be introduced before you have an opportunity to fill your ears with the sound of that family. You will experience each family, Strings, Brasses, Woodwinds, Piano, and Percussion through the lush sounds of the Salt Lake City Jazz Orchestra. At the same time you will gain some insight into the nature of tone production and tone quality for each instrument, you will actually see some wave-shapes and some spectra. The evening will conclude with a number of full ensemble performances of some of your favorite music.

The burst-pulse nature of ‘squeal’ sounds emitted by sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus)

Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) typically produce sharp onset, broadband pulse sounds at varying repetition rates. Acoustic recordings of different social units of sperm whales in the Mediterranean Sea included apparent non-click sounds of tonal quality, termed ‘squeals’. Quantitative analysis of the spectral signal and waveform indicate that although squeals are perceived as tonal and appear spectrally as narrowband frequency-modulated structures with harmonics, they actually consist of pulses at high repetition rates exceeding 1600 clicks/s. Squeals contained energy at between 400 Hz and 22 kHz, with mean peak energy at the relatively low frequency of 700 Hz. Five spectral forms of squeal could be recognized, with the dominant form (45%) of squeals showing a decrease in frequency along the squeal contour. Mean click repetition rate ranged between 713 and 1385 clicks/s for individual squeals, and also varied within squeals at rates of between 64 and 444 clicks/s. Variation in click repetition rate was reflected in the frequency spacing of the spectral sidebands, in a statistically significant inverse relationship. Squeals were recorded only during bouts of sperm whale social behaviour, consistent with their having a communicative social function. Sperm whale squeals are structurally and audibly similar to the burst-pulse sounds produced by many smaller odontocete species, and might fall on the continuum between distinct click trains and pure-tone whistles.

Spectrum analysis and tone quality evaluation of piano sounds with hard and soft touches

Whether the piano touch can affect the piano tone quality or not has been a subject of discussion for more than 70 years. Many studies have been conducted on this subject, but most of the conclusions so far were on the negative side. This is possibly because the effect of the touch on physical and tone quality differences are so small and, therefore, very careful recording and analysis are needed to find the subtle differences. This paper describes results of spectrum analysis of hard and soft touch tones, which were recorded with a maximum attention on the equality of sound levels of tones to be compared. Recording and analysis of notes G3, G4, and G5 showed that the touch can affect the spectrum of sound only for G5 in a very small degree, which might become invisible without careful graphical comparisons. The listening tests conducted using recorded sounds showed that not all but some people can discriminate the differences of tone quality between the hard and sort touches. The result of this study is very important since it showed, for the first time, that the touch can produce physical and psychological differences of piano tones even though in a much lesser degree than most pianists expect.

Recent approaches in understanding Cristofori's fortepiano

Although Bartolomeo Cristofori is appreciated as the inventor of the fortepiano action, the musical performance of his instruments is little known, since none of his three surviving fortepianos is in its original condition. Reproduction instruments in the last decade have explored the potential of the early Cristofori fortepiano and revealed the extent to which the tone is dependent on the maker's choices when stringing and voicing. The technical content of Scipione Maffei's article of 1711 describing Cristofori's invention can be seen on closer examination probably to have been written by Cristofori, and describes his conception of the fortepiano. The tonal quality was intended to be significantly different from the harpsichord with a sweeter, softer sound. The new fortepiano was intended for chamber music, not churches, with at most a few accompanying instruments. Cristofori's ingenious double-bentside construction made possible a heavier stringing than in his harpsichords. Experience shows that the lighter the fortepiano is strung, the more brightly the maker will tend to voice it. The heavier stringing confers more dynamic range, but the player must still exercise skill in order to avoid detuning the treble strings. Cristofori's action was designed for speed and, with the check which he developed, is comfortable and reliable to play. The touch weight is a little more than that of the average Viennese actions. By 1726 Cristofori had developed hammerheads with sizes increasing from treble to bass, which clearly indicate his intention to graduate the tone colour and avoid the brighter, harder tone at normal playing volumes. His use of brass strings and cypress for the soundboards tend to produce a warmer, softer sound than results with the iron strings and spruce soundboards normally used in pianos.

Effects of peg’s positions of low-registered strings on acoustic gain by a stage riser: Theoretical model analysis

This paper theoretically analyzes acoustic gain by a stage riser, which has been observed when playing the low strings, e.g., a violoncello and a double bass, on the riser in concert auditoria [Beranek et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 36, 1247–1262 (1964)]. The previous paper reported that ‘‘the tone quality increased in richness with the risers, particularly when the pegs of the instruments were placed about 4 in. from the edge’’ as musician’s comments. The author discusses effects of the peg’s positions of the low strings on the acoustic gain, through numerical examples of theoretical model analysis. The solution of a sound field is obtained when playing the low string on the riser placed on the rigid floor, which receives a spherical incident wave and mechanical excitation force from the low string. Numerical examples show that peg’s positions of the low string affect peaks and dips of the acoustic gain, which are caused by eigenvibrations of a top plate of the riser. And, the acoustic gain becomes a positive value at more frequencies as the standing position of the low string shifts towards the riser’s edge.

Preliminary Investigations into 3D Auditory Attitude Displays: Comparing Training and Methods to Display Azimuth and Elevation

Audio displays have the capability to off-load the oversaturated visual channel for completing multiple tasks simultaneously. The challenge is designing audio symbology to portray complex information, and knowing how long to train people so they can effectively transfer the meaning of the information to the task at hand. This study evaluated two audio symbology sets and four training sessions to determine the most effective way of incorporating audio information into an aircraft task. The audio symbology varied by 1) localizing the audio information in both azimuth and elevation, and 2) localizing the audio information in azimuth and changing the tonal quality of the audio information to represent elevation. Training and feedback sessions were interspersed with the data collection sessions to increase the amount of training participants received over time. Results showed that changing the tonal quality to represent elevation information was significantly more effective than using localized elevation audio information. Interestingly, there was no significant difference in performance when varying the amount of training.