Re: Loudness of complex tones

[BIGGERSTAFF THAD LEWIS <thad@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 21 Nov 1994 repp@HASKINS.YALE.EDU wrote:

> Dear colleagues:
>
>         I am just completing a small experiment that demonstrates that
> lower-pitched piano tones are perceived as louder than higher-pitched tones
> matched for peak rms sound level. (The opposite would be true for pure tones
> in the same fundamental frequency range, below 1000 Hz.)
> I suspect that is so because of the larger number of harmonics and energy
> in a larger number of critical bands when the fundamental frequency is low
> rather than high. I am not very up-to-date on the literature concerning
> loudness perception and have encountered hardly any papers on the loudness
> of complex tones, on realistic instrument tones in particular. Can anyone
 point
> me in the right direction? Is my result obvious from what is known about
> the loudness of complex harmonic tones? Has anyone predicted or shown that
> such tones get louder as you lower their fundamental? Many thanks in advance.
>
>         Bruno H. Repp
>         Haskins Laboratories
>


Have you (or anyone else) read the articles in Computer Music Journal on
granular synthesis. There have been two, one in each of the last two
issues, which have an "alternative" perspective on among other things
loudness perception of complex tones. He contrasts his approach with that
of Fourier analyisis, saying that Fourier analysis does not truly take into
account time as a parameter, and that it is actually quite important to
do so in order to understand sound.  I would be very interested in
hearing anyones reactions to his method of composing using granular
synthesis and the claims he makes regarding this method...  In any case,
I'd point you in this direction :)

Regards-
-Thad Biggerstaff