Timbre Research Articles

Teaching guitar: a comparison of two methods

Musical performers have typically been categorized as either “classical” (reading music), or “playing by ear,” (usually popular or folk music). The two groups of musicians were seen at polar opposite ends of a spectrum. The intent of this study was to explore a comparison between traditional teaching from notation (reading group), and another method that focused on ear playing, and imitation of a model (hearing/modeling group), with an intact class of music education majors learning to play the guitar (N=22). A panel four of judges who evaluated each student’s final performance of a mandatory prepared piece without knowledge of their treatment group, scored each individual in five categories: note correctness, rhythmic precision, confidence, expression, relaxation and posture, tone quality, and synchronization between the hands. There was a significant difference in the final performance assessment between the hearing/modeling and reading groups. The hearing/modeling group had higher average scores (M=3.07) than the reading group (M=2.50), as well as higher scores on the specific sub-categories. Training “by ear” seems to have positive effects for accuracy and fluency of performance in beginning guitarists. Keywords: Guitar pedagogy, Guitar teaching methodology, Playing by ear, Reading music.

A methodology for perceptual image quality assessment of smartphone cameras – color quality

This research project was undertaken to develop a procedure for evaluating perceptually-based pictorial image quality for smartphone camera captures. Tone quality, color quality, and sharpness and noise were evaluated in separate experiments. In each test, observers scaled overall quality and then the individual image quality characteristic of test images from a variety of smartphone cameras relative to an anchor image. Results were reported in 2016 on the individual image quality characteristics relative to overall quality as well as on the development of objective measurements that correlate with the visual ratings for sharpness and noise. (Farnand, et al., 2016) In this work, the visual ratings for color quality were assessed relative to objective measurements with the results from this analysis indicating that high correlations between the two can be achieved. The perceptual results correlated best with colorimetric information taken from the test images, rather than images of test charts that were captured under lab conditions, which did not necessarily contain colors representative of the colors important to the scenes. Results also indicated that contrast information was needed in addition to the colorimetric information in order to achieve high correlation between subjective and objective information for all scenes. Further, results for a beach scene suggest that sand may serve as a useful memory color for predicting device capture perceptual performance.

Prediction of lute acoustic quality based on soundboard vibration performance using multiple choice model

The vibrational performance of wood materials critical affects the acoustic quality of a lute. The purpose of this research was to apply a multiple choice model to predict the quality of musical instruments based on data on lute soundboard vibrational properties of Paulownia wood. In the lute production, lute material selection mainly depends on the subjective evaluation of technicians, which is not only inefficient, but inaccurate. In this study, nine lutes were fabricated. Using the multiple selection model, the lute tone quality was predicted by the soundboard wood vibration data. Compared with the actual value, the dependent value predicted by the count of observations with the maximum probability had 22 erroneous judgments. The model precision is 87.78%. The results confirmed that the prediction model can be used as a guideline for the selection of the soundboard wood in musical instrument plants.

精神物理学と音色

G. T. Fechner proposed his logarithmic law between physical continuum of stimulus and an attribute of sensation in 1860. Fechner also proposed the distinction between outer and inner-psychophysics. Outer-psychophysics deals with the relation between the observable participant's response and stimulus. In outer-psychophysics, it can be postulated that the response is located on the interval scale when the logarithmic law between stimulus and response is established. In inner-psychophysics, the logarithmic law is established in mind on the assumption that the equality of subjective size of just noticeable difference (jnd). However, it is difficult to verify the equality of jnd using empirical procedures. Bergson strongly criticizes that Fechner's law is based on an assumption that cannot be verified. Zwislocki (1991) defines that the measurement entails matching of common attributes of things or events. According to his definition of “Natural Measurement”, we can match the different things or events on the common psychological continuum. As a result, matching operation can ensure the point of subjective equality (PSE) to be a common attribute among different objects. When an appropriate measure is applied, the same PSE from different things or events confirms the same point on the continuum of common attribute of sensation. The PSE is a physical measure. It can be measured using objective or empirical procedure. An important role of psychophysics is to find an appropriate physical measure. Usually, the standardized physical measure of adequate stimulus is modified on the basis of psychophysical data and reflects the characteristics of sensation. Therefore, a good relationship between subjective response to adequate stimulus and a standardized measure can be expected. It is true that the relation between the loudness judgment of various kinds of nonsteady sounds and a standardized index (e. g. equivalent continuous A-weighted sound pressure level: LAeq) exhibits a high coefficient correlation. However, a law derived from the experimental results depends on the psychophysical method used. For example, the method of category scaling results logarithmic law and magnitude estimation results power law. The result of the experiment using the scale discriminative method was introduced to verify whether the logarithmic law or the power law was valid for the loudness judgment. The results showed that participants' quantitative judgments were well adapted to the experimental procedure. Torgerson (1960) suggests that the participants seem to judge the stimulus taking a different strategy depending on the purpose of the experiment. In daily life situations, we are very adaptive to quantitative behavior for satisfying the purpose of the behavior. This poses a problem of ecological validity in psychophysics. Therefore, it is necessary to select the appropriate stimuli and method to simulate the daily life situations in the psychophysical experiments. Main attributes of auditory sensation are loudness, pitch and timbre. Both loudness and pitch are one dimensional, but timbre or tone quality is multidimensional. It is difficult to constitute rating scale of tone quality expressed by only one physical dimension, and at present, it is far from to establish a general psychophysical rule for applying to tone quality. However, if the sound source is limited, a possibility of establishing a physical scale to predict tone quality. Some examples of the machine sound's tone quality control were introduced.

William A. Quinn, Olde Clerkis Speche: Chaucer’s “Troilus and Criseyde” and the Implications of Authorial Recital. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2013. Pp. x, 252. $75. ISBN: 978-0-8132-2180-9.

William A. Quinn, <i>Olde Clerkis Speche: Chaucer’s “Troilus and Criseyde” and the Implications of Authorial Recital</i>. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2013. Pp. x, 252. $75. ISBN: 978-0-8132-2180-9.

Feature-Based Analysis of the Impact of Ground Coat and Varnish on Violin Tone Qualities

Feature-Based Analysis of the Impact of Ground Coat and Varnish on Violin Tone Qualities

Sound Properties Associated With Equiluminant Colours.

There is a widespread tendency to associate certain properties of sound with those of colour (e.g., higher pitches with lighter colours). Yet it is an open question how sound influences chroma or hue when properly controlling for lightness. To examine this, we asked participants to adjust physically equiluminant colours until they 'went best' with certain sounds. For pure tones, complex sine waves and vocal timbres, increases in frequency were associated with increases in chroma. Increasing the loudness of pure tones also increased chroma. Hue associations varied depending on the type of stimuli. In stimuli that involved only limited bands of frequencies (pure tones, vocal timbres), frequency correlated with hue, such that low frequencies gave blue hues and progressed to yellow hues at 800Hz. Increasing the loudness of a pure tone was also associated with a shift from blue to yellow. However, for complex sounds that share the same bandwidth of frequencies (100-3200Hz) but that vary in terms of which frequencies have the most power, all stimuli were associated with yellow hues. This suggests that the presence of high frequencies (above 800Hz) consistently yields yellow hues. Overall we conclude that while pitch-chroma associations appear to flexibly re-apply themselves across a variety of contexts, frequencies above 800Hz appear to produce yellow hues irrespective of context. These findings reveal new sound-colour correspondences previously obscured through not controlling for lightness. Findings are discussed in relation to understanding the underlying rules of cross-modal correspondences, synaesthesia, and optimising the sensory substitution of visual information through sound.

The Children’s Chorus: Sibling Soundscapes in *The Man Who Loved Children*

The voices of children in The Man Who Loved Children allow Christina Stead to re-imagine her childhood and also to provide a platform for representing the struggles of children more broadly. Using a diverse range of narrative techniques Stead orchestrates the voices of the siblings to provide a soundscape for the Pollit world that dramatizes and at times directs the eccentricities of adult behaviour. In so doing Stead grants the children a type of agency that is unusual in the framework of adult fiction and thereby offers readers a new way to think about children. The tonal qualities created by Stead to represent the collective voice of the Pollit siblings are of strategic importance to the narrative and an important strand in the array of language strategies that Stead uses to open a space for the child’s perspective. This essay examines the ‘sound’ of the children in Stead’s novel and comments on connections with Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse in which children also frame narrative action. The novels present a family at a moment of social change and create an opportunity for readers to listen to the voice of the child as mediated by writers who worked with sound as a component of their experimental fiction.

Effects of Focus of Attention on Tone Production in Trained Singers

Motor performance in familiar tasks is often advantaged when performers focus on the effects of their movements rather than on the movements themselves. But, this phenomenon has yet to be studied systematically in the context of vocal production. I evaluated 20 trained singers’ vocal tone as they varied their focus of attention. Each participant performed a short vocalise, a phrase of “My Country ’Tis of Thee,” and a prepared solo piece under six different conditions in which they focused attention on either keeping the vibrato steady, the position of their soft palate, directing their sound to points in the room at three different distances from the singer, or imagining “filling the room” with sound. Each session began with singers performing with no focus instructions, which served as a baseline for comparison. Expert listeners rated all performances on seven variables. Multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) revealed significant effects for the evaluation variables of ring and overall tone quality in all singing tasks. Ratings were higher for ring and overall tone quality when the focus of attention moved farther from the singer.

On the Influence of Piano Technique on Timbre

The past 300 odd years since the emergence of piano, numerous excellent piano compositions of different styles and types have been created. With the emergence of these works, piano performing becomes more demanding in modern times. Piano technique is the core of piano performing, which determines the expression of music and performer’s emotion. In this paper, discussions will be made on how different piano techniques are employed on the basis of different music compositions. In the process of piano performance, many factors will affect the change of timbre. Thus, performers are required to intend proper timbre according to the style, content and emotion of composition. Of course, performers should have high performance skills, such as difficult piano techniques and performance modes. Hence, if proper piano techniques are employed, both timbre and tone quality will be improved.

The highly exaggerated attributes of the pop vocal in sound recordings

The voice in sound recordings must generally reign supreme over the rest of the multitrack arrangement. The loudspeaker mediates its interaction with the architecture. The entire upstream production chain anticipates the challenge. Recording space, microphone choice, and signal processing are carefully coordinated to maximize the audibility of multiple attributes the voice — intelligibility, emotion, musicality, and tonal quality. The highly manipulated approach to speech for sound recording can shed light on approaches taken in the built environment for the talker/listener interface.

Toward a real-time parametric percussion instrument based on a waveguide mesh

In this work, we aim to create a real-time parametric percussion instrument in which tone quality and note duration may be controlled by the user. Though the well-known waveguide mesh can be used to model two-dimensional wave propagation on drum heads of different size/shape, with variable boundary conditions ultimately influencing rate of sound decay, the prohibitive computational cost of its time-domain implementation makes it unsuitable for real-time performance. Here, the square waveguide mesh, having variable size and parametric boundaries, is replaced by its (exactly) equivalent transfer function—the ratio of the output to the input when excited and tapped at its center. The transfer function is obtained by first generating a system of difference equations describing the output of scattering junction ports—a process that is simplified by the symmetry in the square mesh when excited and tapped at its center. The final transfer function is stored for various mesh sizes, with coefficients being represented symbolically as a function of boundary parameters that can be set (for example, according to desired note duration) during real-time performance.

Acoustic and perceptual differences between novice and professional music theatre singers

Research examining contemporary commercial music (CCM) styles of singing has increased significantly over the last ten years. While acoustic analysis has helped define which characteristics define various vocal genres, discrepancy still exists in how those acoustic characteristics are perceived, described, and evaluated. The current study recorded novice and professional musical theatre singers performing belt, legit, and mix vocal samples. Three acoustic analyses were applied to the excerpted recordings from each singer using the Praat voice and speech analysis software: The spectral slope of the long term average spectrum (LTAS) was calculated, as well as the noise to harmonic ratio (NHR), and the dominant harmonic (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) was noted for each sample. Results were compared across pitch, style (belt v. legit), and training level (professional v. novice). Finally, raters listened to the recordings and rated each sample on the basis of style (belt v. legit), roughness (rough v smooth), and tone quality (brassy v flutey, and bright v dark). A 120mm liechert scale was provided to each rater for each of the rating variables. Results of the perceptual assessments were compared with acoustic measures to elucidate discrepancies in how ccm characteristics are perceived.

Construction and modernization of Kundun Pentatonic xylophone

This thesis is all about the constructional techniques and modernization of the resonant qualities of Kundun musical instrument from Birom in Plateau State of Nigeria. A discussion of the traditional Xylophone based on the field work conducted in Birom ethnic group understanding a kundun instrument maker, was made. The structure of this Xylophone highlights both the tone qualities and also the use of the cow-horn as pipes which amplifies the resonance of the slab. The construction and methods used here embodied traditional technology together with modern innovations, with the aim of improving the tone and aesthetic qualities of the instrument. This report also offered guides on the correct choice of wood and other materials for construction. Special attention was given to the acoustic behavior of kundun and the particular problems of the tropical climate conditions, to which the instrument could be exposed and to the overall tone quality of the instrument during performance. Some scientific approaches, in terms of the accurate measurements and amplification of sound, were taken into cognizance so as to enhance the knowledge of the construction of kundun musical instruments and its aesthetic quality.

Western and non-western approaches to control timbre using multi-resonator/generator systems of wind instruments

Wind instruments are often modeled as a coupled generator-resonator system, which for the case of the clarinet consists of a reed and a cylindrical pipe. However, the fact that the throat and oral cavities behind the tone generator also play a critical role is often neglected. While the resonance pipe of a wind instrument can be adjusted in length through keyholes or valves, its width is fixed. The opposite can be observed for the human resonance system where the length is fixed but the dimensions of the cross-section are variable. This important fact is routinely used to shape the timbral qualities of tones. In many non-western music cultures, time-varying timbral modifications are more important than melodic aspects, for example, in traditional digeridoo practice. The effects of vocal tract control including Tongue Controlled Embouchure (TCE) will be analyzed and discussed using extended saxophone techniques with adaptive mouthpieces [Braasch, 2014, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 135, 2245].

Shedding light on economic opportunity: skin tone and job quality during the Great Recession

ABSTRACTA significant body of literature suggests that skin-tone segmentation is a salient characteristic of inter-group economic inequality in the United States. Yet, empirical investigations of this social phenomenon and its impact on labour-market outcomes for worker’s in the United States remains limited or focused on the impact of skin tone on wages. This article examines whether or not phenotypic variability in skin tone among workers influenced levels of job quality experienced during the recessionary era (2007–2012). Data from the Puerto Ricans and the Impact of the Great Recession Survey were used to estimate a Poisson Regression with Endogenous Treatment Effects to consider the impact that variations in skin tone have on levels of job quality experienced by workers. Findings suggest evidence of skin-tone labour-market segmentation, as workers with darker skin shades experienced lower levels of job quality than those workers with lighter skin tones within and across larger racial and ethnic groups. The results also suggest important regional variations in the experience of skin-tone labour-market segmentation in the United States. The article concludes by reflecting on the implications of the findings for racial economic inequalities and patterns of social stratification in the contemporary United States.

Effects of Modified Hearing Aid Fittings on Loudness and Tone Quality for Different Acoustic Scenes.

To compare loudness and tone-quality ratings for sounds processed via a simulated five-channel compression hearing aid fitted using NAL-NL2 or using a modification of the fitting designed to be appropriate for the type of listening situation: speech in quiet, speech in noise, music, and noise alone. Ratings of loudness and tone quality were obtained for stimuli presented via a loudspeaker in front of the participant. For normal-hearing participants, levels of 50, 65, and 80 dB SPL were used. For hearing-impaired participants, the stimuli were processed via a simulated hearing aid with five-channel fast-acting compression fitted using NAL-NL2 or using a modified fitting. Input levels to the simulated hearing aid were 50, 65, and 80 dB SPL. All participants listened with one ear plugged. For speech in quiet, the modified fitting was based on the CAM2B method. For speech in noise, the modified fitting used slightly (0 to 2 dB) decreased gains at low frequencies. For music, the modified fitting used increased gains (by 5 to 14 dB) at low frequencies. For noise alone, the modified fitting used decreased gains at all frequencies (by a mean of 1 dB at low frequencies increasing to 8 dB at high frequencies). For speech in quiet, ratings of loudness with the NAL-NL2 fitting were slightly lower than the mean ratings for normal-hearing participants for all levels, while ratings with CAM2B were close to normal for the two lower levels, and slightly greater than normal for the highest level. Ratings of tone quality were close to the optimum value ("just right") for both fittings, except that the CAM2B fitting was rated as very slightly boomy for the 80-dB SPL level. For speech in noise, the ratings of loudness were very close to the normal values and the ratings of tone quality were close to the optimal value for both fittings and for all levels. For music, the ratings of loudness were close to the normal values for NAL-NL2 and slightly above normal for the modified fitting. The tone quality was rated as very slightly tinny for NAL-NL2 and very slightly boomy for the modified fitting. For noise alone, the NAL-NL2 fitting was rated as slightly louder than normal for all levels, while the modified fitting was rated as close to normal. Tone quality was rated as slightly sharper for the NAL-NL2 fitting than for the modified fitting. Loudness and tone quality can sometimes be made slightly closer to "normal" by modifying gains for different listening situations. The modification for music required to achieve "normal" tone quality appears to be less than used in this study.

Pengoreksi Nada Menggunakan Mikrokontroler untuk Meningkatkan Kualitas Suara pada Biola

AbstrakBiola merupakan alat musik berjenis tanpa fret (fretless) sehingga kualitas permainan biola sangat bergantung pada ketelitian pemain dalam memainkan setiap nadanya. Untuk para pemula proses penjarian merupakan proses yang membutuhkan waktu lama, sehingga jika kemampuan belum memadai, nada-nada yang dihasilkan dari gesekan pemain pemula sering sumbang sehingga kurang nyaman untuk didengarkan. Untuk mengatasi hal ini, diperlukan suatu alat untuk menghasilkan nada biola yang tidak sumbang ketika pemain memainkan biola secara langsung. Sistem yang dibuat menggunakan sensor suara sebagai penangkap gelombang nada biola, mengubahnya menjadi sinyal listrik untuk diproses deteksi nilai nadanya –membaca sesuai nilai interval frekeuensi nada utama –dan memainkan data audio nada utama biola yang tidak sumbang. Proses utama dilakukan oleh mikrokontroler dengan bantuan Shield Audio. Keluaran sistem berupa nada tidak sumbang sesuai harapan yang keluar melalui speaker.Dalam mengolah nada sumbang menjadi nada utama yang sesuai, dari uji coba menggunakan sine wave sistem menghasilkan tingkat kepreisisian 100%. Dari uji coba menggunakan nada biola pra-rekam sistem menghasilkan tingkat kepresisian 17,33%. Dari uji coba menggunakan nada biola dalam permainan langsung sistem menghasilkan tingkat kepresisian 10,66%. Kata kunci— biola, nada biola, pengoreksi nada, gelombang sinus, pencacah frekuensi Abstract Violin is a frteless musical instrument so that carefulness of the player affects the tone quality. For begineers, it tooks a lot of time for fingering process, so if they are not skillfull enough it will generate many out-of-tune pitches which uncomfortable to be heard. For clearing this issue, it needs an equipment for generating in-tune pitches while the violinist is playing-live.System is made using sound sensor for receiving the wave of the violin, turned it out to electric signal and then detecting its pitch value – reading it as the interval of the main frequency – and then playing desired in-tune audio data of violin tones. The main process is done by microcontroller supported by audio shield. The output is in-tune audio data which played through speaker.System achieved 100% accuracy while using pure sinusoid wave tones for testing. System achieved 17,33% accuracy while using pre-recorded violin tones for testing. System achieved 10,66% accuracy while using live-played violin tones for testing. Keywords— violin, violin pitch, pitch correction, sinusoid wave, frequency counter

CALCULATION OF PITCH FOR THE IRANIAN TRADITIONAL MUSIC GENRE CLASSIFICATION STUDIED ON TWO STRINGED INSTRUMENTS THE TAR AND THE SETAR

Audio signal classification system analyzes the input audio signal and creates a label that describes the signal at the output. These are used to characterize both music and speech signals. The categorization can be done on the basis of pitch, music content, music tempo and rhythm. A musical sound is said to have four perceptual attributes: pitch, loudness, duration and timbre. These four attributes make it possible for a listener to distinguish musical sounds from each other. Pitch is a perceptual and subjective attribute of sound and plays an important role in the human understanding of sound. Although the pitch estimation of monophonic sound is well resolved, the polyphonic pitch estimation has been proved to be a very difficult task. Here, the main purpose is to calculate pitch for classification of The Radif of Mirzâ Abdollâh which has been played by two famous stringed instruments the Tar and the Setar

Tone Quality Recognition of Instruments Based on Multi-feature Fusion of Music Signal

The traditional expert-based instrumental music evaluation strategy can’t meet the requirements of the rapidly accumulated audio data. The traditional strategy not only takes a high cost of human’s energy and time but also may have some problems on consistency and fairness of judgment. This paper aims at designing a complete recognition and evaluation strategy to automatically identify the timber of wind instruments. We take the clarinet as example and propose a strategy based on multi-feature fusion and random forest. First, we use the identification of fundamental frequency algorithm to automatically distinguish the notes performed by the instruments. Second, we extract 3 types of features including MFCC, brightness and roughness to describe the instrumental signals. Then, considering two kinds of variants: note and tone quality, we design 5 strategies to remove the influence of different notes in the evaluation of tone quality. By analyzing these strategies, we explore the optimal strategy for the recognition. The final evaluation results over 840 music slices demonstrate the effectiveness of this method.