Developing methodologies to study perceived sound qualities of violins*
Violin makers and acousticians have long sought correlations between sound qualities, construction parameters and vibroacoustic measurements. This is challenging for three main reasons: it is difficult to build violins reliably enough to ensure that the change in the sound is only a result of the in...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
EDP Sciences
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Acta Acustica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://acta-acustica.edpsciences.org/articles/aacus/full_html/2025/01/aacus240068/aacus240068.html |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849387355208679424 |
|---|---|
| author | Fritz Claudia Stoppani George Igartua Unai Woodhouse Jim |
| author_facet | Fritz Claudia Stoppani George Igartua Unai Woodhouse Jim |
| author_sort | Fritz Claudia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Violin makers and acousticians have long sought correlations between sound qualities, construction parameters and vibroacoustic measurements. This is challenging for three main reasons: it is difficult to build violins reliably enough to ensure that the change in the sound is only a result of the intended change of construction parameters; no clear link has been found so far between measurements and perceived qualities; and when listening to violins being played, differences tend to be smoothed out by the players who adapt very quickly. Therefore, while we have previously preferred using players in our experiments to maximise ecological validity and account for the complexity of the interaction between the player and the instrument, in this study we test whether other methods that reduce the player's influence, though more artificial, may be useful for exploring the impact of certain construction parameters on the sound. In the context of a set of violins built with controlled thickness variations in their plates, we conducted two listening tests, based on real recordings of a player and a bowing machine, along with synthesised sounds created from an excerpt recorded with piezo sensors by convolution with radiation measurements in an anechoic chamber. The hybrid synthesis was found to be the most effective of the three in highlighting instrument differences, capturing properties perceived in the actual instruments, and correlating with radiation measurements. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e6b1e1196afc409f95791361b22de126 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2681-4617 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | EDP Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Acustica |
| spelling | doaj-art-e6b1e1196afc409f95791361b22de1262025-08-20T03:53:51ZengEDP SciencesActa Acustica2681-46172025-01-0193210.1051/aacus/2025014aacus240068Developing methodologies to study perceived sound qualities of violins*Fritz Claudia0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0545-2172Stoppani George1Igartua Unai2Woodhouse Jim3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6645-1635Institut Jean Le Rond D’Alembert, UMR 7190, CNRS/Sorbonne UniversitéViolin maker, ManchesterBele, Conservatorio de Musica – Juan Crisostomo de Arriaga, BilbaoCambridge University Engineering Department, CambridgeViolin makers and acousticians have long sought correlations between sound qualities, construction parameters and vibroacoustic measurements. This is challenging for three main reasons: it is difficult to build violins reliably enough to ensure that the change in the sound is only a result of the intended change of construction parameters; no clear link has been found so far between measurements and perceived qualities; and when listening to violins being played, differences tend to be smoothed out by the players who adapt very quickly. Therefore, while we have previously preferred using players in our experiments to maximise ecological validity and account for the complexity of the interaction between the player and the instrument, in this study we test whether other methods that reduce the player's influence, though more artificial, may be useful for exploring the impact of certain construction parameters on the sound. In the context of a set of violins built with controlled thickness variations in their plates, we conducted two listening tests, based on real recordings of a player and a bowing machine, along with synthesised sounds created from an excerpt recorded with piezo sensors by convolution with radiation measurements in an anechoic chamber. The hybrid synthesis was found to be the most effective of the three in highlighting instrument differences, capturing properties perceived in the actual instruments, and correlating with radiation measurements.https://acta-acustica.edpsciences.org/articles/aacus/full_html/2025/01/aacus240068/aacus240068.htmlviolinperceptionconstruction parameterssound qualityloudness |
| spellingShingle | Fritz Claudia Stoppani George Igartua Unai Woodhouse Jim Developing methodologies to study perceived sound qualities of violins* Acta Acustica violin perception construction parameters sound quality loudness |
| title | Developing methodologies to study perceived sound qualities of violins* |
| title_full | Developing methodologies to study perceived sound qualities of violins* |
| title_fullStr | Developing methodologies to study perceived sound qualities of violins* |
| title_full_unstemmed | Developing methodologies to study perceived sound qualities of violins* |
| title_short | Developing methodologies to study perceived sound qualities of violins* |
| title_sort | developing methodologies to study perceived sound qualities of violins |
| topic | violin perception construction parameters sound quality loudness |
| url | https://acta-acustica.edpsciences.org/articles/aacus/full_html/2025/01/aacus240068/aacus240068.html |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT fritzclaudia developingmethodologiestostudyperceivedsoundqualitiesofviolins AT stoppanigeorge developingmethodologiestostudyperceivedsoundqualitiesofviolins AT igartuaunai developingmethodologiestostudyperceivedsoundqualitiesofviolins AT woodhousejim developingmethodologiestostudyperceivedsoundqualitiesofviolins |