Timbre: Acoustics, Perception, and Cognition

Timbre: Acoustics, Perception, and Cognition

Author: Kai Siedenburg

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-05-07

Total Pages: 389

ISBN-13: 3030148327

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Roughly defined as any property other than pitch, duration, and loudness that allows two sounds to be distinguished, timbre is a foundational aspect of hearing. The remarkable ability of humans to recognize sound sources and events (e.g., glass breaking, a friend’s voice, a tone from a piano) stems primarily from a capacity to perceive and process differences in the timbre of sounds. Timbre raises many important issues in psychology and the cognitive sciences, musical acoustics, speech processing, medical engineering, and artificial intelligence. Current research on timbre perception unfolds along three main fronts: On the one hand, researchers explore the principal perceptual processes that orchestrate timbre processing, such as the structure of its perceptual representation, sound categorization and recognition, memory for timbre, and its ability to elicit rich semantic associations, as well as the underlying neural mechanisms. On the other hand, timbre is studied as part of specific scenarios, including the perception of the human voice, as a structuring force in music, as perceived with cochlear implants, and through its role in affecting sound quality and sound design. Finally, computational acoustic models are sought through prediction of psychophysical data, physiologically inspired representations, and audio analysis-synthesis techniques. Along these three scientific fronts, significant breakthroughs have been achieved during the last decade. This volume will be the first book dedicated to a comprehensive and authoritative presentation of timbre perception and cognition research and the acoustic modeling of timbre. The volume will serve as a natural complement to the SHAR volumes on the basic auditory parameters of Pitch edited by Plack, Oxenham, Popper, and Fay, and Loudness by Florentine, Popper, and Fay. Moreover, through the integration of complementary scientific methods ranging from signal processing to brain imaging, the book has the potential to leverage new interdisciplinary synergies in hearing science. For these reasons, the volume will be exceptionally valuable to various subfields of hearing science, including cognitive auditory neuroscience, psychoacoustics, music perception and cognition, but may even exert significant influence on fields such as musical acoustics, music information retrieval, and acoustic signal processing. It is expected that the volume will have broad appeal to psychologists, neuroscientists, and acousticians involved in research on auditory perception and cognition. Specifically, this book will have a strong impact on hearing researchers with interest in timbre and will serve as the key publication and up-to-date reference on timbre for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, as well as established scholars.


Book Synopsis Timbre: Acoustics, Perception, and Cognition by : Kai Siedenburg

Download or read book Timbre: Acoustics, Perception, and Cognition written by Kai Siedenburg and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-05-07 with total page 389 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Roughly defined as any property other than pitch, duration, and loudness that allows two sounds to be distinguished, timbre is a foundational aspect of hearing. The remarkable ability of humans to recognize sound sources and events (e.g., glass breaking, a friend’s voice, a tone from a piano) stems primarily from a capacity to perceive and process differences in the timbre of sounds. Timbre raises many important issues in psychology and the cognitive sciences, musical acoustics, speech processing, medical engineering, and artificial intelligence. Current research on timbre perception unfolds along three main fronts: On the one hand, researchers explore the principal perceptual processes that orchestrate timbre processing, such as the structure of its perceptual representation, sound categorization and recognition, memory for timbre, and its ability to elicit rich semantic associations, as well as the underlying neural mechanisms. On the other hand, timbre is studied as part of specific scenarios, including the perception of the human voice, as a structuring force in music, as perceived with cochlear implants, and through its role in affecting sound quality and sound design. Finally, computational acoustic models are sought through prediction of psychophysical data, physiologically inspired representations, and audio analysis-synthesis techniques. Along these three scientific fronts, significant breakthroughs have been achieved during the last decade. This volume will be the first book dedicated to a comprehensive and authoritative presentation of timbre perception and cognition research and the acoustic modeling of timbre. The volume will serve as a natural complement to the SHAR volumes on the basic auditory parameters of Pitch edited by Plack, Oxenham, Popper, and Fay, and Loudness by Florentine, Popper, and Fay. Moreover, through the integration of complementary scientific methods ranging from signal processing to brain imaging, the book has the potential to leverage new interdisciplinary synergies in hearing science. For these reasons, the volume will be exceptionally valuable to various subfields of hearing science, including cognitive auditory neuroscience, psychoacoustics, music perception and cognition, but may even exert significant influence on fields such as musical acoustics, music information retrieval, and acoustic signal processing. It is expected that the volume will have broad appeal to psychologists, neuroscientists, and acousticians involved in research on auditory perception and cognition. Specifically, this book will have a strong impact on hearing researchers with interest in timbre and will serve as the key publication and up-to-date reference on timbre for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, as well as established scholars.


Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale

Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale

Author: William A. Sethares

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-06-05

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 1447141776

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Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale focuses on perceptions of consonance and dissonance, and how these are dependent on timbre. This also relates to musical scale: certain timbres sound more consonant in some scales than others. Sensory consonance and the ability to measure it have important implications for the design of audio devices and for musical theory and analysis. Applications include methods of adapting sounds for arbitrary scales, ways to specify scales for nonharmonic sounds, and techniques of sound manipulation based on maximizing (or minimizing) consonance. Special consideration is given here to a new method of adaptive tuning that can automatically adjust the tuning of a piece based its timbral character so as to minimize dissonance. Audio examples illustrating the ideas presented are provided on an accompanying CD. This unique analysis of sound and scale will be of interest to physicists and engineers working in acoustics, as well as to musicians and psychologists.


Book Synopsis Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale by : William A. Sethares

Download or read book Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale written by William A. Sethares and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-06-05 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale focuses on perceptions of consonance and dissonance, and how these are dependent on timbre. This also relates to musical scale: certain timbres sound more consonant in some scales than others. Sensory consonance and the ability to measure it have important implications for the design of audio devices and for musical theory and analysis. Applications include methods of adapting sounds for arbitrary scales, ways to specify scales for nonharmonic sounds, and techniques of sound manipulation based on maximizing (or minimizing) consonance. Special consideration is given here to a new method of adaptive tuning that can automatically adjust the tuning of a piece based its timbral character so as to minimize dissonance. Audio examples illustrating the ideas presented are provided on an accompanying CD. This unique analysis of sound and scale will be of interest to physicists and engineers working in acoustics, as well as to musicians and psychologists.


Timbre

Timbre

Author: Isabella Van Elferen

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2020-11-12

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 1501365827

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Timbre is among the most important and the most elusive aspects of music. Visceral and immediate in its sonic properties, yet also considered sublime and ineffable, timbre finds itself caught up in metaphors: tone “color”, “wet” acoustics, or in Schoenberg's words, “the illusory stuff of our dreams.” This multi-disciplinary approach to timbre assesses the acoustic, corporeal, performative, and aesthetic dimensions of tone color in Western music practice and philosophy. It develops a new theorization of timbre and its crucial role in the epistemology of musical materialism through a vital materialist aesthetics in which conventional binaries and dualisms are superseded by a vibrant continuum. As the aesthetic and epistemological questions foregrounded by timbre are not restricted to isolated periods in music history or individual genres, but have pervaded Western musical aesthetics since early Modernity, the book discusses musical examples taken from both “classical” and “popular” music. These range, in “classical” music, from the Middle Ages through the Baroque, the belcanto opera and electronic music to saturated music; and, in “popular” music, from indie through soul and ballad to dark industrial.


Book Synopsis Timbre by : Isabella Van Elferen

Download or read book Timbre written by Isabella Van Elferen and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2020-11-12 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Timbre is among the most important and the most elusive aspects of music. Visceral and immediate in its sonic properties, yet also considered sublime and ineffable, timbre finds itself caught up in metaphors: tone “color”, “wet” acoustics, or in Schoenberg's words, “the illusory stuff of our dreams.” This multi-disciplinary approach to timbre assesses the acoustic, corporeal, performative, and aesthetic dimensions of tone color in Western music practice and philosophy. It develops a new theorization of timbre and its crucial role in the epistemology of musical materialism through a vital materialist aesthetics in which conventional binaries and dualisms are superseded by a vibrant continuum. As the aesthetic and epistemological questions foregrounded by timbre are not restricted to isolated periods in music history or individual genres, but have pervaded Western musical aesthetics since early Modernity, the book discusses musical examples taken from both “classical” and “popular” music. These range, in “classical” music, from the Middle Ages through the Baroque, the belcanto opera and electronic music to saturated music; and, in “popular” music, from indie through soul and ballad to dark industrial.


The Oxford Handbook of Timbre

The Oxford Handbook of Timbre

Author: Emily I. Dolan

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 740

ISBN-13: 0190637226

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"With essays covering an array of topics including ancient Homeric texts, contemporary sound installations, violin mutes, birdsong, and cochlear implants, this volume reveals the richness of what it means to think and talk about timbre and the materiality of the experience of sound"--


Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of Timbre by : Emily I. Dolan

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Timbre written by Emily I. Dolan and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021 with total page 740 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "With essays covering an array of topics including ancient Homeric texts, contemporary sound installations, violin mutes, birdsong, and cochlear implants, this volume reveals the richness of what it means to think and talk about timbre and the materiality of the experience of sound"--


The Oxford Handbook of Timbre

The Oxford Handbook of Timbre

Author: Emily I. Dolan

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021-09-15

Total Pages: 740

ISBN-13: 0190637250

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Despite its importance as a central feature of musical sounds, timbre has rarely stood in the limelight. First defined in the eighteenth century, denigrated during the nineteenth, the concept of timbre came into its own during the twentieth century and its fascination with synthesizers and electronic music-or so the story goes. But in fact, timbre cuts across all the boundaries that make up musical thought-combining scientific and artistic approaches to music, material and philosophical aspects, and historical and theoretical perspectives. Timbre challenges us to fundamentally reorganize the way we think about music. The twenty-five essays that make up this collection offer a variety of engagements with music from the perspective of timbre. The boundaries are set as broad as possible: from ancient Homeric sounds to contemporary sound installations, from birdsong to cochlear implants, from Tuvan overtone singing to the tv show The Voice, from violin mutes to Moog synthesizers. What unifies the essays across this vast diversity is the material starting point of the sounding object. This focus on the listening experience is radical departure from the musical work that has traditionally dominated musical discourse since its academic inception in late-nineteenth-century Europe. Timbre remains a slippery concept that has continuously demanded more, be it more precise vocabulary, a more systematic theory, or more rigorous analysis. Rooted in the psychology of listening, timbre consistently resists pinning complete down. This collection of essays provides an invitation for further engagement with the range of fascinating questions that timbre opens up.


Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of Timbre by : Emily I. Dolan

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Timbre written by Emily I. Dolan and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-09-15 with total page 740 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite its importance as a central feature of musical sounds, timbre has rarely stood in the limelight. First defined in the eighteenth century, denigrated during the nineteenth, the concept of timbre came into its own during the twentieth century and its fascination with synthesizers and electronic music-or so the story goes. But in fact, timbre cuts across all the boundaries that make up musical thought-combining scientific and artistic approaches to music, material and philosophical aspects, and historical and theoretical perspectives. Timbre challenges us to fundamentally reorganize the way we think about music. The twenty-five essays that make up this collection offer a variety of engagements with music from the perspective of timbre. The boundaries are set as broad as possible: from ancient Homeric sounds to contemporary sound installations, from birdsong to cochlear implants, from Tuvan overtone singing to the tv show The Voice, from violin mutes to Moog synthesizers. What unifies the essays across this vast diversity is the material starting point of the sounding object. This focus on the listening experience is radical departure from the musical work that has traditionally dominated musical discourse since its academic inception in late-nineteenth-century Europe. Timbre remains a slippery concept that has continuously demanded more, be it more precise vocabulary, a more systematic theory, or more rigorous analysis. Rooted in the psychology of listening, timbre consistently resists pinning complete down. This collection of essays provides an invitation for further engagement with the range of fascinating questions that timbre opens up.


Catalogue de Timbres de France 2020-2021

Catalogue de Timbres de France 2020-2021

Author: Spink Maury

Publisher: Spink Books

Published: 2019-08-31

Total Pages: 736

ISBN-13: 1912667169

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The Spink Maury Catalogue has traditionally provided the highest level of detail for the stamps and covers of France and the French colonies, with thousands of top quality illustrations and prices updated every year. It was acquired by Spink in 2015, and the editors have since endeavoured to make this the premium reference work of its kind.


Book Synopsis Catalogue de Timbres de France 2020-2021 by : Spink Maury

Download or read book Catalogue de Timbres de France 2020-2021 written by Spink Maury and published by Spink Books. This book was released on 2019-08-31 with total page 736 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Spink Maury Catalogue has traditionally provided the highest level of detail for the stamps and covers of France and the French colonies, with thousands of top quality illustrations and prices updated every year. It was acquired by Spink in 2015, and the editors have since endeavoured to make this the premium reference work of its kind.


Catalogue de Timbres de France 2019

Catalogue de Timbres de France 2019

Author: Spink Maury

Publisher: Spink Books

Published: 2018-09-01

Total Pages: 1144

ISBN-13: 1912667053

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A catalogue made by collectors for collectors. This year the Spink Maury Catalogue, heir to the prestigious Maury, Ceres and Dallay catalogues, continues its work of research, compiled over generations of philately. It covers all French stamps from 1849 to the present day, offering hundreds of changes – with oddities, new varieties and discoveries presented, as always, in an exceptional way. Included in the new material is the continuation of the monographic studies, presenting a stamp per page with all varieties known until the First World War; a redesign of types Merson and Pasteur; and a specialised part devoted to Marianne de Beaujard, reviewed in depth. In addition the section on current usage stamps (TUC) is fully updated following feedback from our contributors and readers. France has one of the most beautiful philatelic legacies in the world, and we are pleased to be its modest ambassador to the numerous international readers who join us each year. “Layout and coverage are sumptuous … The trite phrase “mine of information” does not begin to do justice to this immense achievement. To any collector of France beyond the elementary stage, this would be a bargain at twice the official retail price … Highly recommended. ….an absolute must for collectors of French stamps…” Michael Round, Journal of the France & Colonies Philatelic Society


Book Synopsis Catalogue de Timbres de France 2019 by : Spink Maury

Download or read book Catalogue de Timbres de France 2019 written by Spink Maury and published by Spink Books. This book was released on 2018-09-01 with total page 1144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A catalogue made by collectors for collectors. This year the Spink Maury Catalogue, heir to the prestigious Maury, Ceres and Dallay catalogues, continues its work of research, compiled over generations of philately. It covers all French stamps from 1849 to the present day, offering hundreds of changes – with oddities, new varieties and discoveries presented, as always, in an exceptional way. Included in the new material is the continuation of the monographic studies, presenting a stamp per page with all varieties known until the First World War; a redesign of types Merson and Pasteur; and a specialised part devoted to Marianne de Beaujard, reviewed in depth. In addition the section on current usage stamps (TUC) is fully updated following feedback from our contributors and readers. France has one of the most beautiful philatelic legacies in the world, and we are pleased to be its modest ambassador to the numerous international readers who join us each year. “Layout and coverage are sumptuous … The trite phrase “mine of information” does not begin to do justice to this immense achievement. To any collector of France beyond the elementary stage, this would be a bargain at twice the official retail price … Highly recommended. ….an absolute must for collectors of French stamps…” Michael Round, Journal of the France & Colonies Philatelic Society


The Orchestral Revolution

The Orchestral Revolution

Author: Emily I. Dolan

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2013-01-17

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1107028256

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This book explores the relationship between the history of orchestration and the development of modern musical aesthetics in the Enlightenment. Using Haydn as a focal point, it examines how the consolidation of the modern orchestra radically altered how people listened to and thought about the expressive capacity of instruments.


Book Synopsis The Orchestral Revolution by : Emily I. Dolan

Download or read book The Orchestral Revolution written by Emily I. Dolan and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-01-17 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the relationship between the history of orchestration and the development of modern musical aesthetics in the Enlightenment. Using Haydn as a focal point, it examines how the consolidation of the modern orchestra radically altered how people listened to and thought about the expressive capacity of instruments.


The Relentless Pursuit of Tone

The Relentless Pursuit of Tone

Author: Robert Fink

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-09-18

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 0190908017

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The Relentless Pursuit of Tone: Timbre in Popular Music assembles a broad spectrum of contemporary perspectives on how "sound" functions in an equally wide array of popular music. Ranging from the twang of country banjoes and the sheen of hip-hop strings to the crunch of amplified guitars and the thump of subwoofers on the dance floor, this volume bridges the gap between timbre, our name for the purely acoustic characteristics of sound waves, and tone, an emergent musical construct that straddles the borderline between the perceptual and the political. Essays engage with the entire history of popular music as recorded sound, from the 1930s to the present day, under four large categories. "Genre" asks how sonic signatures define musical identities and publics; "Voice" considers the most naturalized musical instrument, the human voice, as racial and gendered signifier, as property or likeness, and as raw material for algorithmic perfection through software; "Instrument" tells stories of the way some iconic pop music machines-guitars, strings, synthesizers-got (or lost) their distinctive sounds; "Production" then puts it all together, asking structural questions about what happens in a recording studio, what is produced (sonic cartoons? rockist authenticity? empty space?) and what it all might mean.


Book Synopsis The Relentless Pursuit of Tone by : Robert Fink

Download or read book The Relentless Pursuit of Tone written by Robert Fink and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-09-18 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Relentless Pursuit of Tone: Timbre in Popular Music assembles a broad spectrum of contemporary perspectives on how "sound" functions in an equally wide array of popular music. Ranging from the twang of country banjoes and the sheen of hip-hop strings to the crunch of amplified guitars and the thump of subwoofers on the dance floor, this volume bridges the gap between timbre, our name for the purely acoustic characteristics of sound waves, and tone, an emergent musical construct that straddles the borderline between the perceptual and the political. Essays engage with the entire history of popular music as recorded sound, from the 1930s to the present day, under four large categories. "Genre" asks how sonic signatures define musical identities and publics; "Voice" considers the most naturalized musical instrument, the human voice, as racial and gendered signifier, as property or likeness, and as raw material for algorithmic perfection through software; "Instrument" tells stories of the way some iconic pop music machines-guitars, strings, synthesizers-got (or lost) their distinctive sounds; "Production" then puts it all together, asking structural questions about what happens in a recording studio, what is produced (sonic cartoons? rockist authenticity? empty space?) and what it all might mean.


The Race of Sound

The Race of Sound

Author: Nina Sun Eidsheim

Publisher: Duke University Press

Published: 2018-12-06

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0822372649

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In The Race of Sound Nina Sun Eidsheim traces the ways in which sonic attributes that might seem natural, such as the voice and its qualities, are socially produced. Eidsheim illustrates how listeners measure race through sound and locate racial subjectivities in vocal timbre—the color or tone of a voice. Eidsheim examines singers Marian Anderson, Billie Holiday, and Jimmy Scott as well as the vocal synthesis technology Vocaloid to show how listeners carry a series of assumptions about the nature of the voice and to whom it belongs. Outlining how the voice is linked to ideas of racial essentialism and authenticity, Eidsheim untangles the relationship between race, gender, vocal technique, and timbre while addressing an undertheorized space of racial and ethnic performance. In so doing, she advances our knowledge of the cultural-historical formation of the timbral politics of difference and the ways that comprehending voice remains central to understanding human experience, all the while advocating for a form of listening that would allow us to hear singers in a self-reflexive, denaturalized way.


Book Synopsis The Race of Sound by : Nina Sun Eidsheim

Download or read book The Race of Sound written by Nina Sun Eidsheim and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2018-12-06 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Race of Sound Nina Sun Eidsheim traces the ways in which sonic attributes that might seem natural, such as the voice and its qualities, are socially produced. Eidsheim illustrates how listeners measure race through sound and locate racial subjectivities in vocal timbre—the color or tone of a voice. Eidsheim examines singers Marian Anderson, Billie Holiday, and Jimmy Scott as well as the vocal synthesis technology Vocaloid to show how listeners carry a series of assumptions about the nature of the voice and to whom it belongs. Outlining how the voice is linked to ideas of racial essentialism and authenticity, Eidsheim untangles the relationship between race, gender, vocal technique, and timbre while addressing an undertheorized space of racial and ethnic performance. In so doing, she advances our knowledge of the cultural-historical formation of the timbral politics of difference and the ways that comprehending voice remains central to understanding human experience, all the while advocating for a form of listening that would allow us to hear singers in a self-reflexive, denaturalized way.