No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the author.
Sharpness as an Attribute of the Timbre of Steady Sounds
Abstract
A factorial investigation on verbal attributes of timbres of steady sounds had shown that the attribute sharpness represented the factor carrying most of the variance (v. Bismarck [3]). In the present experiment, sharpness was scaled by several standard psychophysical methods in order to test its consistent measurability. Sharpness of both noise and harmonic complex tones, which were nearly equal in pitch and loudness and differed e. g. in the limiting frequencies and slopes of their spectral envelopes, could be determined quantitatively with different methods. Doubling, halving and directly comparing sharpness yielded internally consistent results. Sharpness increased with the upper and lower limiting frequency as well as the slope of the spectral envelope. The fine structure of the spectrum showed a comparatively small effect on sharpness.Exploratory experiments were aimed at scaling the sharpness of sounds differing strongly in loudness and pitch. Although some of these measurements revealed large scatter in the responses, sharpness appeared as an attribute distinguishable from pitch and loudness. The observed relations between sharpness and the investigated sound parameters could be approximated by a weighted first moment of the loudness-critical band rate-pattern.
... Psychoacoustical properties, such as loudness, tonality, roughness and fluctuation strength, were selected as proper indicators for the annoyance characterization, taking into account the panel discussion, signal analyses of the car pass-by noises, and annoyance ratings from the listening experiment. Although sharpness was also considered as a possible indicator, the analysis results (von Bismarck model [39]), which can be found in Figure 7b, showed that the sharpness differences of the pass-by noises were very small and not very consistent with the annoyance ratings. An index was developed to account for the relationship between the annoyance ratings and the calculated psychoacoustical parameters. ...
... where AI is the "annoyance index", N5 is the percentile loudness in sone (according to [39]), T5 is the percentile tonality in tu (according to [42]), R is the roughness in asper (according to [43]), and FS is the fluctuation strength in vacil (according to [44]). A regression analysis between the developed annoyance index and perceived annoyance ratings resulted in a coefficient of determination of R 2 = 0.91. Figure 6 shows the results of regression analysis between the annoyance index and annoyance ratings. ...
... As the sharpness results are not suitable to characterize the pass-by noise evaluation results in this study, the analysis of the TETC index can be useful. The TETC Index values of the vehicle sounds and the annoyance ratings are shown in Figure 7a and the sharpness values of the vehicle sounds and the annoyance ratings are shown in Figure 7b (sharpness model: von Bismark [39]). The results show that the TETC Index has a clearly better correlation with the annoyance evaluation results than sharpness. ...
Road traffic noise is one of the most prominent sources of urban noise pollution. Recently, as a result of the electrification of vehicles, lower noise levels are expected in urban areas at speeds below 50 km/h. The commonly used physical descriptor, the A-weighted sound pressure level, does not sufficiently characterize the perceived annoyance of either combustion engine or electric passenger car pass-by noises. Psychoacoustical descriptors are advantageous for characterization purposes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the perceived annoyance caused by the noise from internal combustion engine, electric, and hybrid passenger cars using psychoacoustical properties. To achieve this objective, the following steps were conducted. First, the binaurally recorded sounds of 40 cars from different brands with different motorization were presented to the subjects who indicated the intensity of their perceived annoyance on a quasi-continuous scale. Second, the signal and psychoacoustical properties of the recorded sounds were analyzed. Third, a new annoyance index was developed, based on annoyance judgments and signal and psychoacoustical properties, to characterize the annoyance caused by pass-by noises. One of the novel aspects of this study is the consideration of not only the pass-by sounds of the internal combustion engine passenger cars, but also the pass-by sounds of hybrid and electric passenger cars. An acceleration from idle to a target speed of 50 km/h was selected as a traffic pass-by situation, which differs from those considered in previous studies. The results of the study show that psychoacoustical properties, such as loudness, tonality, roughness, and fluctuation strength, are very useful to characterize the annoyance perception, which is caused by single passenger car pass-by sounds in the above mentioned traffic situation. The developed index, which is a weighted combination of chosen psychoacoustical properties, can be very useful for traffic planning and traffic noise prevention measures.
... Sharpness a er Aures [4] is calculated from the speci c loudness distributions from the standardised loudness calculation [DIN 45631]]. In distinction to von Bismarck's proposal [6] who modelled sharpness only as the rst moment of the correctly weighted specific loudness distribution the sharpness Aures [4] additionally takes into account the loudness dependency of the sharpness. Roughness is calculated with an optimised roughness model [7] that has originally been proposed by Aures [5]. ...
... As the sharpness calculation after Aures [5] considers the contribution of the loudness to the sharpness sensation rather high correlation between the dBA-level and the sharpness is obtained. If one is interested in independent noise descriptors it is recommended to use the sharpness as proposed by von Bismarck [6]. Normally the roughness is not correlated with the intensity entities as well as the fluctuation strength, which is quite reasonable. ...
... As an unfortunate consequence, sound quality evaluations are sometimes informally inspected with very few participants (e.g., [6]), or the evaluations are purely based on qualitative comparisons, without acknowledging the need of perceptual testing (e.g., [7]). To (partly) cope with this problem, psychoacoustic metrics have been developed to ascribe an interpretable number to the sensation produced by sounds (e.g., [8,9]). These metrics lead to different perceptual scales, which need to be interpreted in terms of the possible range of values and the concept of JND (for a non-exhaustive review, see [10], Chapter 2). ...
... Sharpness is obtained from a weighted sum of the specific loudness pattern N of a sound, giving a stronger weighting as the frequency increased. The model was originally proposed by von Bismarck [9] and the toolbox implementation is based on the loudness model (from Sec. 2.2.1), adopting the frequency weighting from the German DIN standard [16]. ...
Sound evaluation based on listening experiments is very costly and time-consuming. Alternatively, the sounds under evaluation can be compared using psychoacoustic metrics, under the hypothesis that sounds that differ by more than one just-noticeable difference (JND) are perceived as significantly different from each other. Well-established psychoacoustic metrics are obtained from models of loudness, sharpness, roughness, fluctuation strength, and tonality. In the present study, we use these psychoacoustic models to analyse a selection of aircraft flyovers and train pass-by sounds, as well as fluctuating sounds obtained from resonances of a rotating flexible tube. In addition to the description of the adopted model implementation of each psychoacoustic metric, our discussion focuses on technical and practical aspects including (1) the dependency of the results on the appropriate sound and model calibration, and (2) how to interpret the results based on reported JNDs from the literature. We reflect on how much we can rely on a specific model implementation considering the status of the metric-standardised (or not), accessibility to algorithms and to their validation results (or not)-and external factors that may influence the obtained estimates.
... The methodology used in the the use of artificial head and acceleration sensors, provided a reliable means of measuring noise and vibration levels inside the tractor cab. Loudness, sharpness, roughness, and AI are calculated using Equa [22][23][24][25][26][27]. ...
... ETQ represents the excitation un hearing threshold. E0 represents the reference sound pressure correspon Loudness, sharpness, roughness, and AI are calculated using Equations (1)-(6) [22][23][24][25][26][27]. The loudness is calculated using Equations (1) and (2). ...
Long-term exposure to high levels of vibration and noise can have detrimental effects on the health of tractor drivers. This study aimed to evaluate the subjective comfort experienced by drivers operating large-horsepower tractors. A total of 10 tractors sourced from 5 different manufacturers were subjected to testing. The assessment encompassed three operational conditions, namely, idle, maximum torque, and rated power. Objective measurements, including A-weighted sound pressure level (A-SPL), loudness, sharpness, roughness, articulation index (AI), hand vibration, and seat vibration, were collected. Additionally, subjective comfort evaluations were carried out using a paired comparison test. To predict the subjective comfort of tractor drivers, a novel prediction model was developed by employing a simulated annealing (SA) algorithm to optimize a backpropagation neural network (BPNN). The model successfully achieved accurate predictions of subjective comfort, yielding a maximum prediction error of 4.4%. The study findings revealed that vibration had a more pronounced impact on driver comfort in environments with lower-amplitude noise, whereas high-decibel noise exerted a masking effect on vibration-induced discomfort. In conclusion, the SA-BPNN model, utilizing A-SPL, loudness, sharpness, roughness, AI, hand vibration, and seat vibration as objective parameters, effectively predicted the subjective comfort of tractor drivers. This discovery holds significant implications for tractor manufacturers, who can employ the model to optimize the design of tractor cabs and enhance driver comfort.
... In this study, to link mastication sounds with sensory evaluation by humans, we analysed mastication sounds using loudness [8] and sharpness [9], which are used as psychoacoustic scales for sounds. ...
... Sound sharpness is an index that expresses the sharpness and shrillness of sound. It was proposed by Bismarck [9], generalized by Zwicker and Fastl, and a method for its calculation was proposed in [10]. The sharpness value of sound is calculated by decomposing the critical band (the frequency bandwidth based on the auditory frequency selection system) broadband spectrum into different parts corresponding to this bandwidth. ...
A quantitative evaluation was performed by analysing the sound of mastication for the sensation of "crispy" when chewing food. It was confirmed that the loudness value increased and that many high-frequency components were included. On calculating the sharpness, it was found that the sharpness value of a sample with a large sensory level was large. It was suggested that there is a correlation between the shrillness of the different sounds perceived by humans.
... Because the sound energy becomes more biased toward higher frequencies, sharpness increases. Sharpness is expressed using Equation (1), where N'(z,t), g(z), and z represent the time variation of the loudness density, weight coefficient, and critical bandwidth number, respectively [9]. The loudness of each critical band was multiplied by the weight g(z), thereby reflecting the sensory characteristics of sharpness (which increases with the frequency). ...
Proficiency assessments of violin playing are subjective, posing a challenge to beginners in evaluating their skill levels. To address this concern, we conceptualized the quantitative assessment of proficiency levels using acoustic analysis, thereby objectively evaluating performance. The first experiment used a sharpness analysis for staccato playing. Acoustic features were observed at the beginning of the playing. In the second experiment, roughness analysis was utilized 0.2 s after the beginning of playing. Differences are evident in the number of peaks in the roughness time series. A relationship between the results of acoustic analysis and sensory evaluation was observed. Therefore, the results suggest that acoustic features can serve as proficiency indicators.
... The further the target lies to the front, the sharper the timbre gets. Sharpness is a psychoacoustic term of a phenomenon that is related to or even equal to auditory brightness [20,21]. The further the target lies to the back, the less full the timbre will sound. ...
In 2020, we released the CURAT sonification game, a multi- platform game for the remote evaluation of our three-dimensional psychoacoustic sonification. In this paper, we present an evaluation of the initial results. These indicate that gamification is a reliable means for the remote evaluation of sonification. But the game should be kept simplistic, as many players only play the default modes. The performance results are comparable to results from laboratory experiments and underline that interaction tremendously improves the precision with which users can interpret the sonification.
... Behaviorally accumulated evidence has further supported the widespread existence of cross-modal adjectives in timbre semantics. In particular, the use of metaphors inspired by touch and vision is now strongly backed by a multitude of findings that originate from several different languages (Lichte, 1941;Pratt & Doak, 1976;Rosi et al., 2023;Štĕpánek, 2006;von Bismarck, 1974;Zacharakis et al., 2014;Zacharakis & Pastiadis, 2016). Besides these indirect indications, several more recent works have directly investigated cross-modal associations with respect to timbre. ...
The examination of cross-modal correspondences between auditory and olfactory senses opens up an intriguing perspective into the study of extra-musical meaning. In a behavioral experiment, musically trained participants were presented with 26 complex synthetic tones and 12 aromatic stimuli. Their task was to report potential associations between the two. The data analysis revealed that the majority of scents featured at least one association with a sound that was above chance. The salient acoustical correlates of basic aromatic categories could be summarized as follows: both fruity (e.g., cherry, melon, and pomegranate) and sour aromas exhibited a positive correlation with pitch. Fruity scents, in addition, were more likely to be associated with sounds featuring pronounced low harmonic partials (1st-4th), low noise content, low roughness, and a greater number of distinct pitches. Conversely, sour aromas were linked with stronger energy in the higher frequencies. Sweet scents correlated with sounds characterized by a lower spectral centroid, whereas aromas in the spicy/other category were associated with weak lower partials (fundamental frequency in particular) and stronger noisy components.
... The ArtemiS SUITE Version 9.0 (HEAD Acoustics GmbH) was employed to calculate the following metrics: loudness (N ) and loudness level (L N ) in accordance with ISO 532:-1 [14] for arbitrary nonstationary (time-varying) sounds, sharpness (S) utilizing both von Bismark's method [15] and the DIN 45692 [16], and roughness (R) based on the hearing model by Sottek [17]. Additionally, the Sound Quality Assessment Toolbox (SQAT) [18] was used to determine the tonality (T ) employing Aures' method [19] and fluctuation strength (F ) according to Osses' method [20]. ...
Aircraft noise is associated with a range of adverse health effects, among which noise annoyance is one of the most prevalent. Air traffic elicits stronger annoyance reactions than road or railway traffic at comparable noise levels, emphasizing the crucial role of perception. This paper explores the prediction potential of psychoacoustic noise annoyance models for predicting and understanding the complex association of noise annoyance to air vehicle flyovers. The analysis draws from data acquired in four prior laboratory listening experiments on noise annoyance involving diverse air vehicles , namely, civil jet aircraft (current and future designs), helicopters, and propeller aircraft. A total of 151 subjects participated across these studies. These studies featured acoustical stimuli based on both, synthesised and measured sound signals that were spatially reproduced with a spherical loudspeaker array. The acoustical stimuli were analysed to get a range of acoustical and psychoacoustic parameters as well as the EPNL. These parameters will be used to identify crucial acoustical characteristics for noise annoyance and to establish psychoacoustic annoyance models. This contribution will show first models with main predictors.
... Thus, L is a function of frequency [Hz]; N(z) is the frequency [Hz] converted to z [Bark], the critical band number. The sharpness S [acum] is calculated as in Equation (3) (Bismarck, 1974). ...
Taste is perceived based on chemical and physical factors. The former includes taste and smell, while the latter includes texture, appearance, and sound. Physical factors have a considerable impact on the tastiness of solid foods. In this study, a quantitative evaluation is performed by analysing the sound of chewing for the ‘crispy’ sensation when chewing food. It is confirmed that the loudness increases and that many high-frequency components are included. The sharpness calculation results reveal that the sharpness value of a sample with a high sensory level is large. The results indicate a correlation exists between the shrillness of different sounds perceived by humans.
... Furthermore, the analysis of psychoacoustic parameters also contributed to the selection of a rich sample of soundscapes, considering the significance of the differences in psychoacoustic parameters for clustering soundscapes. 32 Sharpness, a sensation of timbre, 33 increases with increasing high frequency content. 34 Roughness is related to the beating phenomenon or relatively quick temporal changes of sound (maximum at 70 Hz). ...
In the current study on soundscape, the distinction between felt emotion and perceived emotion in soundscape measurement has not been addressed as much as that in music studies. This research was conducted to investigate perceived and felt emotions associated with soundscape evaluation in urban open spaces through a laboratory audio-visual experiment using photographs and binaural recordings of 16 urban open locations across Harbin, China. In total, 46 participants were required to assess both the “perceived emotion” and “felt emotion” of the soundscapes using a questionnaire (in Chinese). First, five felt emotions and seven perceived emotions associated with the soundscape were identified, among which the dominant factors were enjoyment and excitement for felt emotions and comfortable and festive for perceived emotions. Second, when comparing perceived and felt emotions, the holistic soundscape descriptor “preference” is more suitable for predicting through felt emotion, while the holistic soundscape descriptor “appropriateness” is more suitable for predicting through perceived emotion. Third, preference is a more stringent soundscape descriptor than appropriateness, indicating a higher level of requirement in its definition. Meanwhile, preference is a more emotional soundscape descriptor than appropriateness. It may be inferred that for evaluating soundscapes, the more emotional the descriptor, the greater its stringency.
... -Sharpness (S): Representation of the high-frequency sound content (von Bismarck, 1974). and Webber, 1997). ...
Vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) are considered promising solutions for urban wind energy generation due to their design, low maintenance costs, and reduced noise and visual impact compared to horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWTs). However, deploying these turbines close to densely populated urban areas often triggers considerable local opposition to wind energy projects. Among the primary concerns raised by communities is the issue of noise emissions. Noise annoyance should be considered in the design and decision-making process to foster the social acceptance of VAWTs in urban environments. For the first time, psychoacoustic annoyance is employed as an indicator to satisfy the noise objective in a controller calibration, as this novel metric provides a more reliable estimate of the human perception of wind turbine noise than conventional sound metrics. At the same time, maximising the operational efficiency of VAWTs in terms of power generation and actuation effort is equally important. This paper addresses the pivotal trade-off between operational performance and noise emissions from a controller calibration perspective. A multi-objective optimisation approach is used to obtain the optimal set of controller calibration solutions balancing the discussed objectives. To maximise the flexibility of controller calibration, the combined wind speed estimator and tip-speed ratio (WSE-TSR) tracking controller is employed as an advanced partial-load control scheme often considered in industrial turbines, and the Kω2 controller serves as a baseline strategy for comparison. By applying a multi-criteria decision-making method (MCDM), optimal solutions are found that strike a balance between power extraction, actuation effort, and psychoacoustic annoyance. An assessment of these trade-offs, using a frequency-domain framework and mid-fidelity time-domain aero-servo-elastic simulations, yields insights into the meaningful performance metrics of the optimally calibrated WSE-TSR tracking controller. The MCDM results indicate the potential application of this controller in small-scale urban VAWTs to attain power gains of up to 39 % on one side and to trade-off a reduction in actuation effort of up to 25 % at the cost of only a 2 % power decrease and a 6 % increase in psychoacoustic annoyance on the other side compared to the baseline. These findings confirm the flexible structure of the optimally calibrated WSE-TSR tracking controller, effectively balancing aero-servo-elastic performance with noise emissions.
... frequencies higher than 2700 Hz) sounds have an increasing effect on sharpness. Sharpness is calculated with the methods defined by Von Bismarck, Aures and Zwicker -Fastl[26,27,21]. Sharp sounds are unpleasant, aggressive and painful which are not preferred in terms of acoustic comfort. ...
Noise in eating establishments has been studied in architectural acoustics literature. For evaluating acoustics in these spaces, researchers predominantly investigate sound pressure levels and reverberation times. Yet, noise in eating spaces originate from a wide variety of sources and is hard to describe and evaluate with only sound pressure levels and reverberation times. Better metrics for acoustics in closed public spaces are needed. Psychoacoustic parameters of loudness, sharpness, fluctuation strength and roughness are promising metrics that have been used by many recent studies evaluating noise annoyance. However, unlike the established metrics such as reverberation time, no set of recommended values exist for these parameters, yet. The aim of this study is to investigate noise in eating establishments through psychoacoustic parameters and understand both the noise characteristics and the metrics themselves. This paper presents a set of sound recordings during lunch hours in two eating spaces in Izmir Institute of Technology. The entry and egress of occupants have been tracked manually, while sound levels have been measured and the noise has been recorded for psychoacoustics analysis. The relationship between the number of occupants and psychoacoustic parameters has been investigated through these objective measurements. The relationship between the number of occupants and sound levels is discussed in the light of the Lombard effect.
... -time-varying loudness (50 ms) -according to DIN 45631 [25] and Zwicker (1989) [24]; -sharpness (50 ms) -with methods [24,32], according to Zwicker; Bismarck [33]; -roughness (250 ms) -according to Zwicker et al. [34]; -fluctuation strength (1 s) -according to Zwicker et al. [34]. The SQ features obtained from the LabView system were determined according to the applied calculation algorithms, i.e. [31]: ...
... Loudness (N, sone), which measures the auditory sensation on a scale from quiet to loud, taking into account the effects of auditory masking, spectral sensitivity, and nonlinearities [26,57], is calculated according to ISO 532 standard [58] for time-varying sounds. Sharpness (S, acum), a sensation of timbre related to the highfrequency content [59], is calculated according to DIN 45692 standard [60]. Tonality (T, tu(HMS)), another sensation of timbre, indicating whether a sound consists of mainly tonal components or broadband noise [61], and Tonality Frequency (TF, Hz), describing the frequency of (maximum) tonality [62], are calculated according to the ECMA-74 (17th Edition) standard [63] and the hearing model of Sottek [64]. ...
Binaural perception has been acknowledged as a crucial aspect in evaluating acoustic environments as humans perceive acoustic environments through binaural hearing, which allows the perception of spatial characteristics in addition to spectral and temporal characteristics. While various objective metrics, such as psychoacoustic parameters, have been proposed to correlate with the subjective emotional evaluations of acoustic environments, most of these metrics do not reflect binaural perception. There is a lack of research on how to combine the two psychoacoustic characteristics calculated separately for each ear to correlate with subjective emotions. This study, based on a lab-based listening experiment, compares a number of existing and newly proposed methods of combining binaural psychoacoustic characteristics to assess their impacts on subjective emotional ratings of acoustic environments. Through the correlation analysis of the combined parameters and subjective ratings, the results show that subjective emotions mostly depend on the higher channel or statistics of two channels for most psychoacoustic parameters, especially Loudness, Fluctuation, and Tonality that have the greatest impacts on subjective emotions.
... Bismarck established the correlation between specific loudness and sharpness and subsequently presented a computational model of sharpness using ISO 532B:1975 [15,1]. Fastl and Zwicker generalized Bismarck's model [1]. ...
Sound-quality metrics (SQMs), such as sharpness, roughness, and fluctuation strength, are calculated using a standard method for calculating loudness (Zwicker method, ISO532B, 1975). Since ISO 532 had been revised to contain the Zwicker method (ISO 5321) and Moore-Glasberg method (ISO 532-2) in 2017, the classical computational SQM model should also be revised in accordance with these revisions. A roex auditory filterbank used with the Moore-Glasberg method is defined separately in the frequency domain not to have impulse responses. It is therefore difficult to construct a computational SQM model, e.g., the classical computational SQM model, on the basis of ISO 532-2. We propose a method for calculating loudness using the time-domain gammatone or gammachirp auditory filterbank instead of the roex auditory filterbank to solve this problem. We also propose three computational SQM models based on ISO 532-2 to use with the proposed loudness method. We evaluated the root-mean squared errors (RMSEs) of the calculated loudness with the proposed and Moore-Glasberg methods. We then evaluated the RMSEs of the calculated SQMs with the proposed method and human data of SQMs. We found that the proposed method can be considered as a time-domain method for calculating loudness on the basis of ISO 532-2 because the RMSEs are very small. We also found that the proposed computational SQM models can effectively account for the human data of SQMs compared with the classical computational SQM model in terms of RMSEs.
... The DIN 45631 [23] and ISO 532-2 [24] standards were omitted in this paper since, for broadband noises such as vacuum cleaners, the three standards delivered similar values. The sharpness values were calculated according to the publications of Aures and Bismarck, as well as the German Standard DIN 45692 [25][26][27]. It is important to note that the results from these different models differ in one important aspect: the Bismarck and DIN 45692 models do not take into account the influence of intensity of the signal on sharpness perception; hence, these models are usually used for sounds with similar loudness values. ...
The first aim of this paper was to determine the variability in the signal characteristics and psychoacoustic data of canister-type vacuum cleaners. Fifteen vacuum cleaners with different sound power levels, provided by the manufacturers, were selected as test units to calculate their acoustic and psychoacoustic parameters. The selection of the devices was based on an even distribution of the reported sound power levels. The investigated variability in the acoustic and psychoacoustic parameters on different vacuum cleaners was discussed to derive the common characteristics of canister-type vacuum cleaner noise. The derived common characteristics were compared with the those in the available literature on the noise generation mechanisms of vacuum cleaners. Based on these characteristics, prototypical vacuum cleaner noise was defined. The second aim of this paper was to understand the annoyance perception of vacuum cleaner noise. Annoyance assessments were obtained from two sets of listening experiments. The first listening experiment was conducted to find the correlates of annoyance evaluations. Loudness, sharpness and tonal components at lower and higher frequencies were found to be dominant correlates of vacuum cleaner noise annoyance estimations. In the second listening experiment, a possible interaction between loudness and sharpness was investigated in different listening test methods. The selected loudness and sharpness values for this experiment were consistent with the observed ranges in the first part. No significant interaction between loudness and sharpness was observed, although each separately correlated significantly positively with annoyance.
... 110 Siehe z. B. Zwicker (1958), Aures (1985b), Daniel und Weber (1997), Leman (2000), von Bismarck (1974), Aures (1985a), Aures (1985c). Eine umfangreiche Übersicht über psychoakustische Modelle findet sich in Zwicker und Fastl (1999). ...
Musik ist in vielerlei Hinsicht räumlich. Musikalische Konzepte und Musikwahrnehmung werden in vielen Kulturen mit räumlichen Begriffen beschrieben. Dieses räumliche Denken spiegelt sich in der Musik wider, von räumlichen Kompositionen bis hin zu stereophonen Aufnahme- und Mischtechniken. Folglich nutzen sowohl traditionelle Musiktheorien als auch moderne Ansätze der computergestützten Musikanalyse räumliche Konzepte und Operationen, um ein tieferes Verständnis von Musik zu erlangen. Dieses Kapitel gibt einen Überblick über die Konzepte der Räumlichkeit in der Musikpsychologie, den Stand der Technik bei der räumlichen Musikkomposition und beim Abmischen im Tonstudio sowie einen Überblick über die Räumlichkeit in der Musiktheorie und der computergestützten Musikanalyse. Die Bedeutung von Raumkonzepten in all diesen theoretischen und praktischen Disziplinen unterstreicht die Bedeutung des Raums in der Musik. Diese tiefe Beziehung wird deutlich, wenn man Musik als kreative Kunst, als akustisches Signal und als psychologisches Phänomen betrachtet.
... Timbre, as an important property in music analysis (Jensen, 2006), includes a variety of evaluation indicators. Many of these have been linked with cross-sensory feelings, such as brightness (Schubert & Wolfe, 2006), roughness (von Aures, 1985), sharpness (Bismarck, 1974), tonality (Zwicker & Fastl, 1999), richness (Stone, 2013) and warmth (Pratt & Doak, 1976). These can describe objective physical feelings, but because these indexes are established to describe auditory feelings and the purpose of this study is to describe material sensations, it is necessary to establish new evaluation and expression methods. ...
Material sound effects are widely used in virtual reality and games to convey specific material sensations to the audience and improve the immersion experience. However, systematic research on parametrically controlling the material sensations evoked by sound effects is lacking. This study presents a new method of sound design regarding the control of parameters – pitch, waveform, attenuation time and artificial harmonics. The acoustic semantic experiments demonstrate that these sound effects can convey virtual material sensations with a 78% understanding rate with only auditory cues. This study can broaden our thinking regarding sound effects, music production and related disciplines.
... Subjects may have had varying interpretations of music enjoyment measures; indeed, music enjoyment may be difficult to define and measure. However, previous work examining music perception and enjoyment in individuals with HL have described a wide range of descriptors, such as pleasantness, naturalness, richness, fullness, sharpness, and roughness (17,(33)(34)(35)(36). Visual analogue scales and their accompanying adjectives were selected from these descriptors in previous work of others (15)(16)(17)(18) and their own (4,6,14,19). ...
Objective:
To investigate music appreciation in hearing aid (HA) users with varying levels of hearing loss (HL).
Study design:
Cross-sectional, within-subjects design.
Setting:
Tertiary medical center, community.
Patients:
Adults (≥18 yr) bilateral HA users.
Interventions:
HA usage.
Main outcome measures:
Outcome variables included self-reported music enjoyment measures (pleasantness, musicality, naturalness) with and without HAs assessed with visual analogue scales (10 indicates highest level of enjoyment, 0 the least). Exposure variables include HL (better ear pure-tone average) and speech discrimination (word recognition scores [WRS]). Demographic information was collected.
Results:
One hundred nine bilateral HA users completed the study. Mean (standard deviation) age was 66.6 years (16.8 yr); 52.3% were female patients. Mean (standard deviation) better ear pure-tone average was 51.1 dB (16.3 dB) HL. Increased severity of HL and worse WRS were associated with decreased music enjoyment (p < 0.05) across all measures without HAs, adjusting for sex, age, education, race, HA type, age of HL diagnosis, duration of HL, duration of HA use, musical preference, and musical experience. However, these associations were attenuated or no longer significant with HA usage. Moreover, among all subjects, HAs (vs. no HAs) provided increased music enjoyment in pleasantness (HA, 6.94, no HA, 5.74; p < 0.01), musicality (HA, 7.35; no HA, 6.13, p < 0.01), and naturalness (HA, 6.75; no HA, 6.02; p = 0.02).
Conclusion:
HA users report increased music enjoyment with HAs compared with without HAs. Increased severity of HL and worse WRS were independently associated with decreased unaided music enjoyment. HA usage seems to mitigate this effect, particularly for those with worse HL.
... Scholars have investigated the sensory dimension of AI experiences and, as far as the vocal dimension is concerned, several authors have analyzed the impact of naturalness of the voice on technology acceptance . Prior research in psychology indicates that the most important factors in voice perception and influence on listeners are acoustic in origin: voice pitch (perceived highness, low vs. high) and timbre (perceived brightness, dull vs. bright, Baumann and Belin, 2010;Von Bismarck, 1974). For instance, voice pitch and timbre affect arousal and pleasure (Laukka, Juslin, and Bresin, 2005), gender identification, attraction (Puts et al., 2011) as well as attitude and behavior towards the speaker (Zoghaib, 2017;. ...
... The output of the frequency analysis is the frequency response, showing the sound intensity levels of the individual frequency components of the signal. The impulse excitation technique was used (described by [39]) to excite the bar vibrations. For our experiment, the experimental device (shown in Figure 3) was designed to simulate the conditions resembling those in which a musician would play a xylophone. ...
This article presents a proposal of thermal modification of Norway spruce and sycamore maple for special wood products, mainly for musical instruments. Selected physical and acoustical characteristics (PACHs), including the density (ρ), dynamic modulus of elasticity along the wood grain (EL), specific modulus (Esp), speed of sound along the wood grain (cL), resonant frequency (fr) and acoustic constant (A), logarithmic decrement (ϑ), loss coefficient (η), acoustic conversion efficiency (ACE), sound quality factor (Q), and the timbre of sound, were evaluated. These two wood species were chosen regarding their use in the production or repair of musical instruments. For the thermal modification, a similar process to the ThermoWood process was chosen. Thermal modification was performed at the temperatures 135 °C, 160 °C and 185 °C. The resonant dynamic method was used to obtain the PACHs. Fast Fourier transform (FFT) was used to analyze the sound produced. The changes in the observed wood properties depended on the treatment temperature. Based on our results of all properties, the different temperature modified wood could find uses in the making of musical instruments or where the specific values of these wood characteristics are required. The mild thermal modification resulted in a decrease in mass, density, and increased speed of sound and dynamic modulus of elasticity at all temperatures of modification. The thermally modified wood showed higher sound radiation and lower loss coefficients than unmodified wood. The modification also influenced the timbre of sound of both wood species.
... Semantic scales for describing musical timbres of steady tones have been a subject of scientific research for more than a century [34,35]. Using dimensionality reduction methods such as cluster analysis [35][36][37], principal component analysis [39][40][41], and factor analysis [42], researchers have proposed concise sets of interpretable attributes for describing musical timbres. The most common conceptual labels in the examined papers were related to luminance, texture, temperature, and width. ...
This paper presents a novel deep learning model for synthesizing single-cycle waveforms from timbral attributes. The motivation was to investigate a viable alternative to traditional wavetable oscillators with intuitive control. Based on a thorough literature review and practical considerations , we selected three attributes appropriate for describing timbral characteristics of steady and harmonic tones: bright, warm, and rich. A deep learning network was designed to map magnitudes of these attributes to single cycle waveforms. The architecture was based on stacking of upsampling and convolutional layers to model temporal dependencies within the waveform. The network was trained on a large number of waveforms extracted from NSynth dataset. Audio features closely related to the selected attributes were used as inputs, while the custom loss function was employed to minimize the difference in normalized power spectra between outputs and training wave-forms. Four models with different hyperparameters were trained and the best one was selected using the validation dataset. Further experiments with the selected model showed that synthesized waveforms generally match the input attributes well, as the mean absolute errors for normalized attributes were 0.07, 0.05, and 0.18 for bright, warm, and rich respectively on the testing dataset.
... Loudness is defined as a physical value that represents the sound intensity in human perception (Zwicker et al., 1957). Sharpness is defined as the physical value that represents the balance between low and high frequencies, where high values correspond to higher frequencies of sound (Bismarck, 1974). ...
Introduction
Wind instrument players sometimes suffer from erosion of the mucous membrane of the lip. This is caused by the action and pressure of the mouthpiece of the wind instrument against teeth. To address this problem, a lip shield is fitted over the dental arch to prevent direct contact between the lips and teeth. However, there are a few studies on the influence of the lip shield on the acoustics of wind instruments. The purpose of this study was to analyze the psychoacoustics of a clarinet performance with the player wearing a custom-made soft lip shield to prevent mucosal erosion of the lower lip.
Case Description
A lip shield was custom-made with a soft thermoplastic material for a female clarinetist who complained of mucosal erosion and pain of the lower lip. The psychoacoustics of her musical performance played in different dynamics, fortissimo, mezzo forte and pianissimo were analyzed, including loudness and sharpness. A self-evaluation questionnaire with items rated on a 10-point scale was administered. After wearing the lip shield, the patient reported that the mucosal erosion and pain of her lower lip when playing clarinet resolved. The lip shield had little effect on the loudness. There was a slight decrease in sharpness when the lip shield was worn compared to when it was not, describing the reduction of high frequencies. Furthermore, fewer variations in sharpness between the tones were observed.
Conclusion
The results suggest that lip shields made of soft materials can eliminate mucosal erosion and pain of the lower lip while having little effect on performance, although, a slight change in timbre is possible.
... There are several methods, that use different weighting functions, proposed to calculate the metric [25,[27][28]. In this work, DIN 45692 method was used that is based on the Zwicker & Fastl's method [25]. ...
Whereas noise generated by road traffic is an important factor in urban pollution, little attention has been paid to this issue in the field of hydrogen-fueled vehicles. The objective of this study is to analyze the influence of the type of fuel (gasoline or hydrogen) on the sound levels produced by a vehicle with an internal combustion engine. A Volkswagen Polo 1.4 vehicle adapted for its bi-fuel hydrogen-gasoline operation has been used. Tests were carried out with the vehicle when stationary to eliminate rolling and aerodynamic noise. Acoustics and psychoacoustics levels were measured both inside and outside the vehicle. A slight increase in the noise level has only been found outside when using hydrogen as fuel, compared to gasoline. The increase is statistically significant , can be quantified between 1.1 and 1.7 dBA and is mainly due to an intensification of the 500 Hz band. Loudness is also higher outside the vehicle (between 2 and 4 sones) when the fuel is hydrogen. Differences in sharpness and roughness values are lower than the just-noticeable difference (JND) values of the parameters. Higher noise levels produced by hydrogen can be attributed to its higher reactivity compared to gasoline.
... Describes the difference between sharp and dull sounds. A 1 kHz tone at 60 dB corresponds to 1 acum (Bismarck 1974) Roughness (asper) R Defines the degree of amplitude and frequency modulation in the signal for modulation frequencies between 30 to 300 Hz. Reaches its maximum at modulation frequencies of 70 Hz. ...
Acoustic measurements in workplaces are used to assess the risk for hearing damage and noise annoyance. Traditional measurement methods are primarily intended to determine the risk for hearing damage and are not always sufficient for quantification of noise annoyance. The main disadvantages are related to time and spatial averaging of the signal, and the lack of directional information. The use of an aurally adequate measurement technique is therefore necessary. For this purpose binaural technology is useful. Binaural technology means that the sound is recorded by an artificial head, which consists of a replica of the human head and torso, where two microphones are situated at the entrance of the ear canal. Binaural recordings give the possibility to reproduce sound events as they originally occurred, which is used for listening tests. This article gives a brief overview of different acoustic measures in relation to five typical noise signals. The focus is on the psychoacoustic descriptors like, Loudness, Sharpness, Tonality, Roughness, and Fluctuation strength. Psychoacoustic descriptors rely on aurally adequate spectral analysis, which considers the masking properties, and the time-and frequency resolution of human hearing.
... Their study used words to relate these quality changes to perception, "dull-sharp, compact-scattered, colorfulcolorless, full-empty." Among these scales, dull-sharp carries the most variance and is an adequate relation to frequency limit and spectral slope (von Bismarck, 1974;Luo et al., 2019). ...
In multi-talker listening environments, the culmination of different voice streams may lead to the distortion of each source’s individual message, causing deficits in comprehension. Voice characteristics, such as pitch and timbre, are major dimensions of auditory perception and play a vital role in grouping and segregating incoming sounds based on their acoustic properties. The current study investigated how pitch and timbre cues (determined by fundamental frequency, notated as F0, and spectral slope, respectively) can affect perceptual integration and segregation of complex-tone sequences within an auditory streaming paradigm. Twenty normal-hearing listeners participated in a traditional auditory streaming experiment using two alternating sequences of harmonic tone complexes A and B with manipulating F0 and spectral slope. Grouping ranges, the F0/spectral slope ranges over which auditory grouping occurs, were measured with various F0/spectral slope differences between tones A and B. Results demonstrated that the grouping ranges were maximized in the absence of the F0/spectral slope differences between tones A and B and decreased by 2 times as their differences increased to ±1-semitone F0 and ±1-dB/octave spectral slope. In other words, increased differences in either F0 or spectral slope allowed listeners to more easily distinguish between harmonic stimuli, and thus group them together less. These findings suggest that pitch/timbre difference cues play an important role in how we perceive harmonic sounds in an auditory stream, representing our ability to group or segregate human voices in a multi-talker listening environment.
... Psychoacoustic properties of sound that have been linked to affective responses in humans discussed in the previous section include loudness (e.g., as calculated according to a revised version of the Zwicker model, DIN 45631; see Zwicker and Fastl, 1999), sharpness (high frequency emphasis; Carr and Davies, 2017;von Bismarck, 1974), roughness (quasi-periodic variability in amplitude and frequency in the 15-300 Hz range; Daniel and Weber, 1997), fluctuation (quasi-periodic variability of amplitude and frequency in the 1-20 Hz range; Zwicker and Fastl, 1999), and tonality (related to harmonic-to-noise ratio; Bienvenue et al., 1991). Research by V€ astfj€ all et al. (2003) and V€ astfj€ all (2012) shows that these acoustic properties load onto different components of a two-dimensional affective space structured in terms of valence (e.g., pleasant to unpleasant) and arousal (e.g., low activation to high activation), a structure that is commonly accepted in the study of human emotional response to visual and auditory stimuli (Cacioppo and Berntson, 1994;Lang et al., 1990). ...
Exposure to noise—or unwanted sound—is considered a major public health issue in the United States and internationally. Previous work has shown that even acute noise exposure can influence physiological response in humans and that individuals differ markedly in their susceptibility to noise. Recent research also suggests that specific acoustic properties of noise may have distinct effects on human physiological response. Much of the existing research on physiological response to noise consists of laboratory studies using very simple acoustic stimuli—like white noise or tone bursts—or field studies of longer-term workplace noise exposure that may neglect acoustic properties of the noise entirely. By using laboratory exposure to realistic heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) noise, the current study explores the interaction between acoustic properties of annoying noise and individual response to working in occupational noise. This study assessed autonomic response to two acoustically distinct noises while participants performed cognitively demanding work. Results showed that the two HVAC noises affected physiological arousal in different ways. Individual differences in physiological response to noise as a function of noise sensitivity were also observed. Further research is necessary to link specific acoustic characteristics with differential physiological responses in humans.
... The spectral envelope of a sound is responsible for the sensation of sharpness, whereas the fine spectral structure is relatively unimportant in sharpness, according to Fastl and Zwicker [26]. There are three acknowledged models for the calculation of sharpness available, which exhibit either no loudness dependency (DIN 45692, Bismarck model) [27,28] or a certain loudness dependency influencing the impression of sharpness (Aures model) [29]. The psychoacoustics parameters fluctuation strength and roughness model the perception of modulations and adapt to the algorithm, developed by Fastl and Zwicker [26]. ...
This work reviews the literature of 46 peer-reviewed papers and presents the current status on the use of psychoacoustic indicators in soundscape studies. The selection of papers for a systematic review followed the PRISMA method. Afterwards, descriptive analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) were realised. For the PCA, the following parameters extracted from the papers were analysed: psychoacoustic indicator, hypothesis, statistical units, data collection method and major findings for each investigated psychoacoustic indicator. The results show an overview of the use of psychoacoustic indicators, through main hypothesis and findings for each psychoacoustic indicator i.e. the importance of statistical units, such as percentiles, to investigate the hypothesis related to the description of auditory descriptors and perceptual attributes. Another important finding is that many papers lack the specification of computation methods limiting the comparability of study results and impeding the meta-analyses.
... Sharpness is, according to Von Bismarck (1974), explained as the measure of tone 'colour'. Fastl (2005) further explains that an excessive amount of sharpness can make the sound of a product 'aggressive', while a carefully considered amount is effective for creating the character of 'powerfulness'. ...
As a medium of interaction between users and products, the sound emitted by a product plays an important role in people's product experiences. However, in order to enhance user-product interaction, the design of auditory features of products is generally overlooked in the course of design process. This is in comparison with the significant effort spent by designers for the visual features of products. In this context, the purpose of this thesis is to explore the current and future practice of product sound design and to conceptualize a set of suggestions from a 'design for interaction' perspective that respond to auditory interaction opportunities within product design. The foundational literature review focuses on crossovers between user experience and auditory interaction, whilst also uncovering present thinking and research in relation to the anatomy and classification of sounds, and proposed methods for product sound design. A 'research through design' approach is adopted for the thesis fieldwork, combining the iterative design of a conceptual tool (SoundsGood V1, V2, V3) with feedback and design suggestions generated through interviews and focus vi group sessions conducted with industrial designers. SoundsGood V3 is proposed as a suitably specified solution to stimulate designers to develop auditory user-product interaction ideas within their wider product design processes. The thesis concludes with suggestions for the consideration, generation and communication of auditory interaction ideas by industrial designers, in addition to a presentation of the features of SoundsGood V3.
... The perceptual data on sharpness for narrow-band (NB) noise, high-pass (HP) noise, [8]. There are three well-known computational models of sharpness; the model is proposed by Bismarck [7], the generalized model is proposed by Fastl & Zwicker, which is based on Bismarck's model, and the loudness-dependent computational model proposed by Aures [8].These models are calculated from Zwicker's loudness model. ...
Sound quality metrics (SQMs), such as sharpness and fluctuation strength, are used for objectively evaluating sound quality related to human perception. Recent research has revealed the auditory characteristics, such as the level-dependency and asymmetry, of auditory filter shapes. However, the existing models of the SQMs do not take into account such auditory characteristics. It is unclear whether these models can accurately account for sound quality. This paper proposes computational models of sharpness and fluctuation strength using proposed loudness models composed of the gammatone auditory filterbank and gammachirp auditory filterbank. These two metrics (sharpness and fluctuation strength) for several test signals were calculated using the proposed models then compared with those from perceptual data. The results indicate that the sharpness calculated with the proposed computational models of sharpness was similar to that from the perceptual data on sharpness and was more accurate than the baseline models. Also, the fluctuation strength calculated with the proposed computational models of fluctuation strength was almost similar to that from the perceptual data on fluctuation strength.
... Sharpness quantifies the high frequency content of a sound, i.e., a sound is per ceived as sharper when it has more high frequency content. This SQM was im plemented using the method of van Bismarck [128] and its unit is the acum. A narrowband noise with width of one critical band centered at 1 kHz has 1 acum of sharpness. ...
Today's globalized world depends on civil air transportation, which has been continuously growing over the last decades. Nevertheless, the sustainability of this expansion is a challenge due to environmental problems. Along with greenhouse gas emissions, noise represents a severe hazard for human health, and consequently, noise regulations limit the airport capacity and impose night curfews. Noise is therefore an important design driver for future aircraft, and accurate noise predictions are essential at an early design stage. The total noise emission of an aircraft poses a complex problem, as the distinctcomponents emit noise with different characteristics. High fidelity methods are computationally demanding and time-consuming at an early design phase and less complex solutions, such as semi-empirical methods, are often considered to be more suitable. This thesis focuses on aspects that can improve noise predictions for a new generation of silent aircraft.The concept of noise shielding is present in many future aircraft designs, in which engine noise is partially shielded by the airframe, resulting in a noise reduction on the ground. The noise shielding predictions presented in this work use a theory based on the Kirchhoff integral and the Modified Theory of Physical Optics. This method was extended to consider other noise source radiations patterns than the monopole and to calculate the creeping rays originated by smooth edges.Experiments in the wind tunnel were used to validate these methods and showed that the values of noise shielding are strongly dependent on the source directivity and the shape of the obstacle. Flyover measurements of rear engined aircraft were compared with predictions of noise shielding. The good agreement obtained considering a sharp-edged wing in the predictions was further improved by considering the curvature of the leading edge.A low-noise variation of the Boeing 747-400 is explored using noise shielding predictions, and the optimal engine positions were found to be different when considering the wing leading edge as sharp and with a curvature. This analysis shows how the design of an aircraft is affected by the approximations adopted in the noise shielding predictions, therefore also affecting its performance.For conventional aircraft, the noise emission is commonly estimated using semi-empirical methods. These models are based on experimental data and require detailed input of the aircraft geometry and engine settings. This work uses experimental data to test the limitations of such empirical methods during take-off and landing. The efforts to reduce aircraft noise are only meaningful when resulting in a decrease of annoyance. Traditional metrics such as the Effected Perceived Noise Level are used to assess the annoyance caused by aircraft flyovers but do not provide information about the sound characteristics, such as tonal content and fast and slow amplitude oscillations. Sound quality metrics provide a more complete characterization of a sound and can be combined in psychoacoustics annoyance metrics. Flyover measurements of different aircraft types during take-off and landing were used to investigate the correlation between the sound quality metrics and the aircraft geometry and propulsion system. Strong correlations were found between the sound quality metrics and a number of aircraft characteristics, indicating that psychoacoustic metrics can be used to drive the design process, similarly to existing methods that apply traditional metrics for the same purpose. The variability of the sound quality metrics and psychoacoustic annoyance within the same aircraft type was also investigated. This variability was attributed to the aircraft operating conditions.
... There are a few exceptions, however. Von Bismarck (1974) found that perceptual sharpness relates to spectral centroid rather than to the global shape of the spectral envelope or spectral fine structure. Grey and Gordon (1978) observed that pairs of synthesized sounds that had exchanged spectral envelopes also exchanged orders on the MDS axis that correlated most strongly with the spectral centroid weighted by the loudness function of the Zwicker and Scharf (1965) model. ...
A psychophysical experiment was conducted to perceptually validate several spectral audio features through ordinal scaling: spectral centroid, spectral spread, spectral skewness, odd-to-even harmonic ratio, spectral slope, and harmonic spectral deviation. Several sets of stimuli per audio feature were synthesized at different fundamental frequencies and spectral centroids by controlling (wherever possible) each spectral feature independently of the others, thus isolating the effect that each feature had on the stimulus rankings within each sound set. Listeners were overall able to order stimuli varying along all the spectral features tested when presented with an appropriate spacing of feature values. For specific cases of stimuli in which the ordering task partially failed, psychophysical interpretations are provided to explain listeners' confusions. The results of the ordinal scaling experiment outline trajectories of spectral features that correspond to listeners' perceptions and suggest a number of sound synthesis parameters that could carry timbral contour information.
In advance of anticipated wider deployments of advanced air mobility technology, the potential effects of introducing new sound sources such as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS, aka 'drones') on communities are largely unknown. To support the development of evidence-based strategies for incorporating these novel aircraft into the airspace, experimental efforts to increase understanding of subjective perception and response to UAS sound immissions are valuable. The aims of this study included investigating how varying UAS flight operations, vehicle types and event quantities could affect noticeability and noise annoyance judgements in a controlled experiment incorporating 3D spatially-rendered acoustic environments. A range of UAS vehicle designs and sizes were used to auralise flight events employing a hybrid approach that combined simulation and sound recordings. Two contrasting ambient acoustic environments were incorporated into the auralisations using ambisonic soundscape recordings for a calm urban park and a busy city street. Flight operations included takeoff, flyby and landings at varying distances and altitudes. A second part to the study investigated the effect of the number of flyby events in one stimulus, enabling consideration of the frequency of flight events on responses. The results of the experiment provide insights into how perception and reactions to UAS sound could be influenced by vehicle characteristics and airspace design strategies, which may be useful for informing the optimisation of flightpath routing for advanced air mobility operators and planners.
Vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) are considered promising solutions for urban wind energy generation due to their design, low maintenance costs, and reduced noise and visual impact compared to horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWTs). However, deploying these turbines close to densely populated urban areas often triggers considerable local opposition to wind energy projects. Among the primary concerns raised by communities is the issue of noise emissions. Noise annoyance should be considered in the design and decision-making process to foster the social acceptance of VAWTs in urban environments. At the same time, maximising the operational efficiency of VAWTs in terms of power generation and actuation effort is equally important. This paper balances noise and aero-servo-elastic performance by formulating and solving a multi-objective optimisation problem from a controller calibration perspective. Psychoacoustic annoyance is taken as a novel indicator for the noise objective by providing a more reliable estimate of the human perception of wind turbine noise than conventional sound metrics. The computation of the psychoacoustic annoyance metric is made feasible by integrating it with an accurate and computationally efficient low-fidelity noise prediction model. For optimisation, an advanced partial-load control scheme – often used in industrial turbines – is considered, with the Kω2 controller as a baseline for comparison. Optimal solutions balancing the defined objectives are identified using a multi-criteria decision-making method (MCDM) and are subsequently assessed using a frequency-domain controller analysis framework and mid-fidelity time-domain aero-servo-elastic simulations. The MCDM results indicate the potential application of this controller in small-scale urban VAWTs to attain power gains of up to 39 % on one side and to trade off a reduction in actuation effort of up to 25 % at the cost of only a 2 % power decrease and a 6 % increase in psychoacoustic annoyance on the other side compared to the baseline. These findings confirm the flexible structure of the optimally calibrated wind speed estimator and tip-speed ratio (WSE–TSR) tracking controller, effectively balancing aero-servo-elastic performance with noise emissions and marking the first instance of integrating residential concerns into the decision-making process.
Two experiments examined the influence of timbre on auditory stream segregation. In Experiment 1, listeners heard sequences of orchestral tones equated for pitch and loudness, and they rated how strongly the instruments segregated. Multidimensional scaling analyses of these ratings revealed that segregation was based on the static and dynamic acoustic attributes that influenced similarity judgments in a previous experiment (P. Iverson & C. L. Krumhansl, 1993). In Experiment 2, listeners heard interleaved melodies and tried to recognize the melodies played by a target timbre. The results extended the findings of Experiment 1 to tones varying in pitch. Auditory stream segregation appears to be influenced by gross differences in static spectra and by dynamic attributes, including attack duration and spectral flux. These findings support a Gestalt explanation of stream segregation and provide evidence against a peripheral channel model.
Engine sound in boats was considered a source of noise and was studied as a reduction objective. In other mobilities, on the other hand, engine noise is designed to enhance the emotional value of the vehicle. However, there is still a major lack of research into the potential of motor and motor sounds in boats to improve sensory value. This study is the first step toward improving the sensory value of the boat through the engine and motor sounds. The effects of engine and motor sound were evaluated in a Randomized Controlled Trial using a fictitious advertising video in the Japanese market. The results indicate that the engine and motor sounds have the potential to improve the attractiveness of the boat and driving performance in advertising videos. The results suggest that engine and motor sounds may improve the attractiveness of the boat.
Timbre emerges quite rapidly from the process of auditory-unit formation, more rapidly than loudness, pitch, and perceived location. It only takes a few milliseconds to identify vowel sounds or the sounds of musical instruments, whereas loudness and pitch have integration times of more than 10 ms. Timbre is a multi-faceted auditory attribute difficult to define in general. Three timbre attributes are relatively well defined, however, roughness, breathiness, and brightness, and these are discussed in more detail. To reduce the complexity of the problem, the study of timbre is often limited to a relatively well-defined category of sounds. This relates in particular to the sounds of spoken vowels and those of musical instruments. This chapter describes how to study the perceptual structure of the timbre space of these sounds and the complexities of these methods. It is often stated that onsets and transients play an important role in the perception of timbre. Indeed, many auditory units have a complex structure at their onsets, such as the consonant cluster at the start of many syllables and the onsets of the sounds of musical instruments. The role of these onsets and transients in timbre perception is discussed. Some timbre attributes can best be considered as composite attributes. For instance, the sensory pleasantness of a sound has been described as a composite of loudness, roughness, and sharpness, which have a negative contribution, and the opposite of breathiness, tonalness, which contributes positively to sensory pleasantness. Two other composite timbre attributes are discussed, voice quality and perceived effort. Another issue is that the timbre of a certain sound segment depends strongly on what comes before and after that segment. The important role of this context effect is emphasized. This chapter ends with a summary of how to study the timbre of environmental sounds, i.e., sounds other than speech and musical sounds.
Ansätze zur Schallfeldsynthese zielen darauf ab, ein gewünschtes Schallfeld zu erzeugen. Konventionell sind diese Ansätze physikalisch motiviert. Akustische Eigenschaften definieren das gewünschte Schallfeld. Auf die technische Umsetzung folgt eine wahrnehmungsbezogene Bewertung des Hörerlebnisses. Die psychoakustische Schallfeldsynthese, wie sie in diesem Kapitel vorgestellt wird, verfolgt ein anderes Paradigma. Hier bestimmen die psychoakustischen Eigenschaften das gewünschte Schallfeld. Dieses Paradigma erlaubt die Implementierung von Hörschwellen und Integrationszeiten des Gehörs in die Herleitung des Schallfeldsynthesekerns. Dies ermöglicht eine unhörbare Reduzierung der zeitlichen, räumlichen und spektralen Auflösung. Das Ergebnis ist ein natürliches, räumliches Hörerlebnis und eine präzise Schallquellenlokalisation für mehrere Hörer bei vergleichsweise geringem Rechenaufwand und unhörbaren Synthesefehlern.
Usually when noise effects are considered with respect to well-being and health, A-weighted sound pressure level indicators are analyzed. However, several decades ago researchers started to use measurement methods to quantify auditory sensations in more detail. Later the soundscape pioneer Murray Schafer described acoustics and psychoacoustics as the cornerstones to understanding the physical properties of sound and the way sound is perceived. This approach emphasized that all aspects of soundscape are related to perception. Psychoacoustic data are considered for a more comprehensive evaluation of acoustic environments that goes beyond the simplified use of sound level indicators. Moreover, a key consideration is that acoustic environments are perceived binaurally by humans. Thus, measurement equipment that collects spatial information about the acoustic environments is increasingly being applied in soundscape investigations and consequently is suggested in soundscape standards. Following the soundscape concept, all measurements and analyses must reflect the way soundscape is perceived by people in the appropriate context. This insight led to an increase in research and applications of psychoacoustic measurements to understand the effects of acoustic environments on humans in more detail. Although the general value of psychoacoustics is broadly acknowledged in soundscape research, several research questions remain that must be addressed to fully understand the relevance of psychoacoustic properties in different environments and contexts.KeywordsAcoustic environmentsArtificial headAuditory perceptionBinaural hearingEnvironmental noiseMaskingPsychoacousticsPsychoacoustic parametersSoundscape assessment
Wood is a natural material that is available in large quantities and is easy to produce, making it the perfect material to consider for the circular economy. Its importance has dramatically increased in recent years. This increase is accompanied by the development of new research methods that open new possibilities in the areas related to wood and wood products in the process of their production, processing, and final use. The main topics of this Special Issue were: the knowledge of the quality of wood and other lignocellulose materials; the processes of their effective utilization and processing for more efficient processing; the adoption of techniques and research around using wood for environmentally friendly composite production and the positive impact of this on the environment; wood’s interaction with solid substances and with different mechanical loads, chemicals, and other substances; and the different forms of energy and surface modification of wood and wood composites.
This chapter introduces typical input representations of an Audio Content Analysis system and describes their computation. It covers some fundamental properties of audio signals and the description of audio signals. The chapter outlines typical preprocessing steps such as blocking and down‐mixing. It then introduces time‐frequency representations of the audio signal, followed by the description of often‐used features and their postprocessing. An audio signal as perceived by humans can be described as a function of time‐variant sound pressure level. A periodic signal repeats itself in constant time intervals. In contrast to periodic signals, future values of random signals cannot be predicted no matter how long the signal has been observed. Many other input representations for audio analysis systems have been proposed and used. These include Wavelet Transforms, Correlograms, and various other representations.
p>In most music analyses, timbral issues are rarely explored. The principal aim of this Thesis is to put discussion of timbre on an equal footing with discussion of other parameters; a conceptual model of musical timbre is proposed and issues of terminology and perception are addressed. In order to place the timbre model into a theoretical framework, methodological contexts are investigated with a focus on recent performance analysis studies.
The methodological issues are drawn into suggestions for a theory of timbre for music analysis. Interrelationships between timbre and pitch are discussed from an auditory streaming perspective; Huron's voice-leading Principles (forthcoming 2000) and Richard Parncutt's pitch salience algorithm (1993) are applied. A theory of timbral change is proposed with suggestions of possible governing principles.
The timbre model and proposed theory are absorbed into studies of music by Second Viennese School composers. In a study of Arnold Schoenberg's 'Farben' (1909) and Berg's Wozzeck timbral issues are broadened into a discussion of (extra-)musical allusion and narrative. An extensive study of Anton Webern's Five Orchestra Pieces Opus 10 follows, situating timbre and pitch within a yet wider context; the study focuses principally on timbral and pitch links, refers to issues of sketches and chronology, and proposes an interpretation of Opus 10 from an extra-musical perspective. In conclusion, timbral perspectives are judged to offer much insight into the perceptibility of musical structures, providing a range of possible schemata for listeners; they are potentially useful for the analysis of a variety of musics.</p
In the context of acoustic urban planning, the use of noise mappings is a worldwide well-established practice. Therefore, the noise levels in an urban environment are calculated based on models of the sound sources, models of the physical sound propagation effects and the position of the receivers in the area of interest. However, the noise mapping method is limited to sound levels in frequency bands due to missing temporal and spectral information of the sound signals. This, in turn, leads to missing information about the qualitative sound properties, as they can be evaluated in psychoacoustic parameters. Beyond the scope of the classical noise mapping, auralization and physically-based simulation of sound fields can be applied to urban scenarios in the context of urban soundscape analysis. By supporting the auralization technology with a visual counterpart of the urban space, a plausible virtual representation of a real environment can be achieved. The presented framework combines the possibilities of the open-source auralization tool Virtual Acoustics with 3D visualization. In order to enable studies with natural human response or for public communication of urban design projects, those virtual scenes can be either reproduced with immersive technologies—such head-mounted displays (HMD)—or using online video platforms and traditional playback devices. The paper presents an overview of what physical principles can already be simulated, which technological considerations need to be taken into account, and how to set up such environment for auralization and visualization of urban scenes. We present the framework by the case study of IHTApark.
Soundscape studies are showing the importance and the benefits regarding the sonic the environment in our daily lives. The soundscape paradigm shift, not just negative aspects, common on environmental noise studies, is highlighted, but also how the sonic environment can be recovering to the welfare of communities. Thinking on the valuation of settings, past studies focused mainly on how much the environmental noise cost society. This kind of valuation followed several methods like hedonic pricing, contingent valuation, and benefits transfer methods based just on economic factors involving socio-economic aspects. This study aims to show a new approach which fits better with the soundscape paradigm shift established by the ISO 12913. The study highlights the valuation of positive and negative aspects of the evaluated soundscape, together with the interaction of socio-economic and socio-cultural, psychoacoustic, landscape, thermal-comfort, and air quality aspects, which are other stimuli that can influence our general environmental perception. Context also has great importance. Through the diversification of data collection (soundwalks and interviews) with different target public, it was possible to ensure the coverage and understanding of this aspect on soundscape studies and the development of the proposed Soundscape Cost Index. The index shown in this work can explain 58% of the combination of the above-mentioned aspects related to public spaces users' soundscape expectations, helping to redirect public authorities' efforts to provide healthy and comfortable public areas and ensure a reliable and better life quality.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.