Optimum Acoustic Criteria of Concert Halls for the Performance of Classical Music

Winckel, Fritz

doi:10.1121/1.1909024

Cited by 15 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Further research is required to analyze the acoustic properties in these auditory scenes and to adjust the dynamic compression in hearing aids accordingly. An ongoing challenge for hearing aids is the processing of high-level peaks that are often experienced in live music (e.g., Ahnert, 1984; Cabot, Center, Roy, & Lucke, 1978; Fielder, 1982; Sivian, Dunn, & White, 1931; Wilson et al., 1977; Winckel, 1962).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic Range Across Music Genres and the Perception of Dynamic Compression in Hearing-Impaired Listeners

Kirchberger

Russo

2016

Trends in Hearing

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Dynamic range compression serves different purposes in the music and hearing-aid industries. In the music industry, it is used to make music louder and more attractive to normal-hearing listeners. In the hearing-aid industry, it is used to map the variable dynamic range of acoustic signals to the reduced dynamic range of hearing-impaired listeners. Hence, hearing-aided listeners will typically receive a dual dose of compression when listening to recorded music. The present study involved an acoustic analysis of dynamic range across a cross section of recorded music as well as a perceptual study comparing the efficacy of different compression schemes. The acoustic analysis revealed that the dynamic range of samples from popular genres, such as rock or rap, was generally smaller than the dynamic range of samples from classical genres, such as opera and orchestra. By comparison, the dynamic range of speech, based on recordings of monologues in quiet, was larger than the dynamic range of all music genres tested. The perceptual study compared the effect of the prescription rule NAL-NL2 with a semicompressive and a linear scheme. Music subjected to linear processing had the highest ratings for dynamics and quality, followed by the semicompressive and the NAL-NL2 setting. These findings advise against NAL-NL2 as a prescription rule for recorded music and recommend linear settings.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic Range Across Music Genres and the Perception of Dynamic Compression in Hearing-Impaired Listeners

Kirchberger

Russo

2016

Trends in Hearing

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“…Reverberation times in real rooms vary dramatically, based on room size and other features (e.g., number of reflective surfaces, wall angles). For example, reverberation times measured in typical classrooms range from 200 to 1270 ms (Knecht et al 2002), whereas concert halls have reverberation times in excess of 3000 ms (Winckel 1962). However, the American National Standards Institutes (2002) recommends reverberation times of less than 600 ms for optimal speech understanding and learning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Noise and Reverberation on Listening Effort in Adults With Normal Hearing

Picou

Gordon

Ricketts³

2016

Ear &Amp; Hearing

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Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of background noise and reverberation on listening effort. Four specific research questions were addressed related to listening effort. These questions were: A) with comparable word recognition performance across levels of reverberation, what are the effects of noise and reverberation on listening effort? (B) what is the effect of background noise when reverberation time is constant? (C) what is the effect of increasing reverberation from low to moderate when signal-to-noise ratio is constant? (D) what is the effect of increasing reverberation from moderate to high when signal-to-noise ratio is constant? Design Eighteen young adults (mean age 24.8 years) with normal hearing participated. A dual-task paradigm was used to simultaneously assess word recognition and listening effort. The primary task was monosyllable word recognition and the secondary task was word categorization (press a button if the word heard was judged to be a noun). Participants were tested in quiet and in background noise in three levels of reverberation (T30 < 100 ms, T30 = 475 ms, and T30 = 834 ms). Signal-to-noise ratios used were chosen individually for each participant and varied by reverberation to address the specific research questions. Results As expected, word recognition performance was negatively affected by both background noise and by increases in reverberation. Furthermore, analysis of mean response times revealed that background noise increased listening effort, regardless of degree of reverberation. Conversely, reverberation did not affect listening effort, regardless of whether word recognition performance was comparable or signal-to-noise ratio was constant. Conclusions The finding that reverberation did not affect listening effort, even when word recognition performance was degraded, is inconsistent with current models of listening effort. The reasons for this surprising finding are unclear and warrant further investigation. However, the results of this study are limited in generalizability to young listeners with normal hearing and to the signal-to-noise ratios, loudspeaker to listener distance, and reverberation times evaluated. Other populations, like children, older listeners, and listeners with hearing loss have been previously shown to be more sensitive to reverberation. Therefore, the effects of reverberation for these vulnerable populations also warrant further investigation.

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“…In search of empirical evidence for the effect of room acoustics on music performance, Winckel (1962) measured sound pressure level (SPL) and tempo (derived from the total playing time) during performances of the Cleveland Orchestra in various concert halls. Interestingly, he observed no linear relation between reverberation time and tempo, but rather a maximum tempo in halls with particularly good hearing conditions.…”

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confidence: 99%

The influence of room acoustics on solo music performance: An experimental study.

Kalkandjiev¹,

Weinzierl²

2015

Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain

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For the performance of music, the room surrounding the musician and his or her audience plays an important role: it acts as an acoustical transformer, modifying the sound and thus influencing the perception of player and listeners. For the active performer, this entails a complex interaction between the production and perception of sound. The aim of this experimental study was to investigate the effect of specific room acoustical conditions on aspects of music performance such as "tempo," "loudness," "dynamic bandwidth," or "timbre." Computer models of 14 rooms were generated, corresponding to real halls and representing typical concert venues. Simulated measurements were carried out to determine room acoustical parameters according to ISO 3382-1 as well as new parameters for stage acoustics. Solo performers were recorded while playing in corresponding virtual acoustic environments generated by dynamic binaural synthesis. From these recordings, audio features were extracted to calculate descriptors for different attributes of the musical performance. The influence of room acoustical parameters on performance properties as well as the effect of the musical content and the played instrument was then analyzed based on hierarchical linear models. The analysis revealed distinct concepts of adjustment to room acoustical conditions as well as great individuality with respect to the interaction of musicians with their room acoustical environment.

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Optimum Acoustic Criteria of Concert Halls for the Performance of Classical Music

Cited by 15 publications

References 0 publications

Dynamic Range Across Music Genres and the Perception of Dynamic Compression in Hearing-Impaired Listeners

Dynamic Range Across Music Genres and the Perception of Dynamic Compression in Hearing-Impaired Listeners

The Effects of Noise and Reverberation on Listening Effort in Adults With Normal Hearing

The influence of room acoustics on solo music performance: An experimental study.

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