We examined perception of artificial timbre blending using recordings of two actual instruments. ... more We examined perception of artificial timbre blending using recordings of two actual instruments. In Experiment 1, participants heard stimuli comprising different proportions of sounds from an oboe and a trumpet, constructed using both a linear and a logarithmic algorithm, and judged the degree of blending. In Experiment 2, participants chose between an oboe and a trumpet in each blend condition. In both experiments, participants were able to track the degrees of blending between the two anchor points quite accurately. In Experiment 3, participants matched test blends to two target blends in an ABX design and showed no evidence for categorical perception of oboe and trumpet timbres in their judgments. Further, participants with and without musical training showed similar patterns of responding. The findings suggest a high level of sensitivity for timbre coding in auditory perception and also have implications for timbre manipulation as a compositional device and sound morphing techni...
The flexibility of current hardware and software has made the mapping of relationships between a ... more The flexibility of current hardware and software has made the mapping of relationships between a sound's parameters and physical source of control a relatively trivial task. Consequently, the endeavor of sophisticated digital instrument design has been accessible to the creative community for several years, which has resulted in a host of new instruments that explore a variety of physical mappings. The emphasis on physicality exhibited by so-called "gestural controllers" stands in contrast to the practice of conventional laptop performance. While the laptop computer is certainly a digital musical instrument, its associated performance practice is often criticized based on a perceived lack of physicality. This paper examines motivations behind the foregrounding of gesture in computer-based performance. Critical theory and neuroscience research are drawn upon in order to consider ways in which the desire for connections between sound and motion amount to more than mere fascination with virtuosity.
We examined perception of artificial timbre blending using recordings of two actual instruments. ... more We examined perception of artificial timbre blending using recordings of two actual instruments. In Experiment 1, participants heard stimuli comprising different proportions of sounds from an oboe and a trumpet, constructed using both a linear and a logarithmic algorithm, and judged the degree of blending. In Experiment 2, participants chose between an oboe and a trumpet in each blend condition. In both experiments, participants were able to track the degrees of blending between the two anchor points quite accurately. In Experiment 3, participants matched test blends to two target blends in an ABX design and showed no evidence for categorical perception of oboe and trumpet timbres in their judgments. Further, participants with and without musical training showed similar patterns of responding. The findings suggest a high level of sensitivity for timbre coding in auditory perception and also have implications for timbre manipulation as a compositional device and sound morphing techni...
The flexibility of current hardware and software has made the mapping of relationships between a ... more The flexibility of current hardware and software has made the mapping of relationships between a sound's parameters and physical source of control a relatively trivial task. Consequently, the endeavor of sophisticated digital instrument design has been accessible to the creative community for several years, which has resulted in a host of new instruments that explore a variety of physical mappings. The emphasis on physicality exhibited by so-called "gestural controllers" stands in contrast to the practice of conventional laptop performance. While the laptop computer is certainly a digital musical instrument, its associated performance practice is often criticized based on a perceived lack of physicality. This paper examines motivations behind the foregrounding of gesture in computer-based performance. Critical theory and neuroscience research are drawn upon in order to consider ways in which the desire for connections between sound and motion amount to more than mere fascination with virtuosity.
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Papers by W. Brent