Interaction between time-varying tone inharmonicity, fundamental frequency and spectral shape affects felt tension and timbral semantics

Zacharakis, Asterios; Pastiadis, Konstantinos

doi:10.1051/aacus/2021007

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We found inharmonicity median for single-note stimuli to be among the top 10 most important features for predicting exertion ratings in both linear and nonlinear models. The current results and those of Zacharakis and Pastiadis (2021) suggest that inharmonicity is strongly associated with perceived exertion and felt tension. Even if these two ratings are measuring different concepts, Wallmark's motor-mimetic account of timbre perception would suggest that the two would be related, as ecologically, the experience of physical exertion is coupled with felt physical tension.…”

Section: Exertionsupporting

confidence: 62%

Modeling Noise-Related Timbre Semantic Categories of Orchestral Instrument Sounds With Audio Features, Pitch Register, and Instrument Family

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Audio features such as inharmonicity, noisiness, and spectral roll-off have been identified as correlates of “noisy” sounds. However, such features are likely involved in the experience of multiple semantic timbre categories of varied meaning and valence. This paper examines the relationships of stimulus properties and audio features with the semantic timbre categories raspy/grainy/rough, harsh/noisy, and airy/breathy. Participants (n = 153) rated a random subset of 52 stimuli from a set of 156 approximately 2-s orchestral instrument sounds representing varied instrument families (woodwinds, brass, strings, percussion), registers (octaves 2 through 6, where middle C is in octave 4), and both traditional and extended playing techniques (e.g., flutter-tonguing, bowing at the bridge). Stimuli were rated on the three semantic categories of interest, as well as on perceived playing exertion and emotional valence. Correlational analyses demonstrated a strong negative relationship between positive valence and perceived physical exertion. Exploratory linear mixed models revealed significant effects of extended technique and pitch register on valence, the perception of physical exertion, raspy/grainy/rough, and harsh/noisy. Instrument family was significantly related to ratings of airy/breathy. With an updated version of the Timbre Toolbox (R-2021 A), we used 44 summary audio features, extracted from the stimuli using spectral and harmonic representations, as input for various models built to predict mean semantic ratings for each sound on the three semantic categories, on perceived exertion, and on valence. Random Forest models predicting semantic ratings from audio features outperformed Partial Least-Squares Regression models, consistent with previous results suggesting that non-linear methods are advantageous in timbre semantic predictions using audio features. Relative Variable Importance measures from the models among the three semantic categories demonstrate that although these related semantic categories are associated in part with overlapping features, they can be differentiated through individual patterns of audio feature relationships.

show abstract

Section: Exertionsupporting

confidence: 62%