Dataset Information

Acoustic and Categorical Dissimilarity of Musical Timbre: Evidence from Asymmetries Between Acoustic and Chimeric Sounds.

ABSTRACT: This paper investigates the role of acoustic and categorical information in timbre dissimilarity ratings. Using a Gammatone-filterbank-based sound transformation, we created tones that were rated as less familiar than recorded tones from orchestral instruments and that were harder to associate with an unambiguous sound source (Experiment 1). A subset of transformed tones, a set of orchestral recordings, and a mixed set were then rated on pairwise dissimilarity (Experiment 2A). We observed that recorded instrument timbres clustered into subsets that distinguished timbres according to acoustic and categorical properties. For the subset of cross-category comparisons in the mixed set, we observed asymmetries in the distribution of ratings, as well as a stark decay of inter-rater agreement. These effects were replicated in a more robust within-subjects design (Experiment 2B) and cannot be explained by acoustic factors alone. We finally introduced a novel model of timbre dissimilarity based on partial least-squares regression that compared the contributions of both acoustic and categorical timbre descriptors. The best model fit (R (2) = 0.88) was achieved when both types of descriptors were taken into account. These findings are interpreted as evidence for an interplay of acoustic and categorical information in timbre dissimilarity perception.

SUBMITTER: Siedenburg K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4700179 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Acoustic and Categorical Dissimilarity of Musical Timbre: Evidence from Asymmetries Between Acoustic and Chimeric Sounds.

Siedenburg Kai K Jones-Mollerup Kiray K McAdams Stephen S

Frontiers in psychology 20160105

This paper investigates the role of acoustic and categorical information in timbre dissimilarity ratings. Using a Gammatone-filterbank-based sound transformation, we created tones that were rated as less familiar than recorded tones from orchestral instruments and that were harder to associate with an unambiguous sound source (Experiment 1). A subset of transformed tones, a set of orchestral recordings, and a mixed set were then rated on pairwise dissimilarity (Experiment 2A). We observed that r ...[more]

PMID: 26779086

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Project description:Human listeners must identify and orient themselves to auditory objects and events in their environment. What acoustic features support a listener's ability to differentiate the great variety of natural sounds they might encounter? Studies of auditory object perception typically examine identification (and confusion) responses or dissimilarity ratings between pairs of objects and events. However, the majority of this prior work has been conducted within single categories of sound. This separation has precluded a broader understanding of the general acoustic attributes that govern auditory object and event perception within and across different behaviorally relevant sound classes. The present experiments take a broader approach by examining multiple categories of sound relative to one another. This approach bridges critical gaps in the literature and allows us to identify (and assess the relative importance of) features that are useful for distinguishing sounds within, between and across behaviorally relevant sound categories. To do this, we conducted behavioral sound identification (Experiment 1) and dissimilarity rating (Experiment 2) studies using a broad set of stimuli that leveraged the acoustic variability within and between different sound categories via a diverse set of 36 sound tokens (12 utterances from different speakers, 12 instrument timbres, and 12 everyday objects from a typical human environment). Multidimensional scaling solutions as well as analyses of item-pair-level responses as a function of different acoustic qualities were used to understand what acoustic features informed participants' responses. In addition to the spectral and temporal envelope qualities noted in previous work, listeners' dissimilarity ratings were associated with spectrotemporal variability and aperiodicity. Subsets of these features (along with fundamental frequency variability) were also useful for making specific within or between sound category judgments. Dissimilarity ratings largely paralleled sound identification performance, however the results of these tasks did not completely mirror one another. In addition, musical training was related to improved sound identification performance.

Project description:BackgroundLateralized processing of speech is a well studied phenomenon in humans. Both anatomical and neurophysiological studies support the view that nonhuman primates and other animal species also reveal hemispheric differences in areas involved in sound processing. In recent years, an increasing number of studies on a range of taxa have employed an orienting paradigm to investigate lateralized acoustic processing. In this paradigm, sounds are played directly from behind and the direction of turn is recorded. This assay rests on the assumption that a hemispheric asymmetry in processing is coupled to an orienting bias towards the contralateral side. To examine this largely untested assumption, speech stimuli as well as artificial sounds were presented to 224 right-handed human subjects shopping in supermarkets in Germany and in the UK. To verify the lateralized processing of the speech stimuli, we additionally assessed the brain activation in response to presentation of the different stimuli using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).ResultsIn the naturalistic behavioural experiments, there was no difference in orienting behaviour in relation to the stimulus material (speech, artificial sounds). Contrary to our predictions, subjects revealed a significant left bias, irrespective of the sound category. This left bias was slightly but not significantly stronger in German subjects. The fMRI experiments confirmed that the speech stimuli evoked a significant left lateralized activation in BA44 compared to the artificial sounds.ConclusionThese findings suggest that in adult humans, orienting biases are not necessarily coupled with lateralized processing of acoustic stimuli. Our results -- as well as the inconsistent orienting biases found in different animal species -- suggest that the orienting assay should be used with caution. Apparently, attention biases, experience, and experimental conditions may all affect head turning responses. Because of the complexity of the interaction of factors, the use of the orienting assay to determine lateralized processing of sound stimuli is discouraged.

Dataset Information

Acoustic and Categorical Dissimilarity of Musical Timbre: Evidence from Asymmetries Between Acoustic and Chimeric Sounds.

Publications

Acoustic and Categorical Dissimilarity of Musical Timbre: Evidence from Asymmetries Between Acoustic and Chimeric Sounds.

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