We examine the praxis implications of our working definition of aural heritage: spatial acoustics as physically experienced by humans in cultural contexts; aligned with the aims of anthropological archaeology (the study of human life from materials). Here we report on human-centered acoustical data collection strategies from our project “Digital Preservation and Access to Aural Heritage via a Scalable, Extensible Method,” supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in the USA. The documentation and accurate translation of human sensory perspectives is fundamental to the ecological validity of cultural heritage fieldwork and the preservation of heritage acoustics. Auditory distance cues, which enable and constrain sonic communication, relate to proxemics, contextualized understandings of distance relationships that are fundamental to human social interactions. We propose that source–receiver locations in aural heritage measurements should be selected to represent a comprehensive range of proxemics according to site-contextualized spatial-use scenarios, and we identify and compare acoustical metrics for auditory distance cues from acoustical fieldwork we conducted using this strategy in three contrasting case-study heritage sites. This conceptual shift from architectural acoustical sampling to aural heritage sampling prioritizes culturally and physically plausible human auditory/sound-sensing perspectives and relates them to spatial proxemics as scaled architecturally.
Technical ear training has proven to be an effective tool for developing the skills of junior audio engineers and enhancing their proficiency in audio and music production. To provide a comprehensive auditory training experience, the authors have created a gamified training program that encompasses four modules: spectral identification, auditory localization, consistent judgment, and memory of a mix balance. Each module is designed to give trainees closed-loop audiomotor training, allowing them to instantly assess their performance and identify areas where they need to improve. This new ear-training game helped players to be more engaged and resulted in the improvement of trained audio engineering skills. Moreover, the game also benefited a non-trained auditory skill, speech understanding in noise.
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