Reverberation Time and Musical Emotion in Recorded Music Listening

Abstract

The influence of acoustic space on musical emotion has to a degree been studied musicologically and empirically. However, there remain large gaps, related to limitations in emotion measures and a narrow range of examined acoustic settings. This study explored the ways in which room acoustic parameters may influence the emotional experience of music listening. A quantitative approach was adopted, whereby musical stimuli in parametrically altered acoustic settings were heard over user headphones. These were compared for domain-specific musical emotions on the Geneva Emotional Music Scale (GEMS). The main findings showed that room acoustic features did not have a strong effect on ‘Unease’ or ‘Vitality’ components of the GEMS, but rather influenced aspects of ‘Sublimity’ (i.e., ‘Nostalgia’, ‘Transcendence’, ‘Wonder’). These results suggest that subjective percepts beyond pleasantness or emotional impact are altered by room acoustic space, creating scope for more complex interactions between room acoustics and musical emotion.