Spatial Localization of Musical Instruments in Immersive Audio Environments

Onen U, Urgen BA, Cakmakci A. Spatial Localization of Musical Instruments in Immersive Audio Environments. In: Express Paper. Audio Engineering Society; 2025.pp. 358:1-. Available from: https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=23032

@inproceedings{Onen2025_23032,
  author = {Onen, Ufuk and Urgen, Burcu A. and Cakmakci, Ahsen},
  title = {{Spatial Localization of Musical Instruments in Immersive Audio Environments}},
  pages = {358:1-},
  year = {2025},
  month = oct,
  publisher = {Audio Engineering Society},
  url = {https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=23032}
}

TY  - CPAPER
TI  - Spatial Localization of Musical Instruments in Immersive Audio Environments
AU  - Onen, Ufuk
AU  - Urgen, Burcu A.
AU  - Cakmakci, Ahsen
SP  - 1
M1  - Paper 358
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/10/14
UR  - https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=23032
PB  - Audio Engineering Society
LA  - en
AB  - Spatial hearing enables listeners to localize sound sources in complex auditory environments accurately. Despite extensive research using simple stimuli (e.g., pure tones or noise bursts), how spatial localization operates with ecologically valid, musical stimuli remains underexplored. In this study, we examine how listeners perceive the spatial positions of different musical instruments presented through a Dolby Atmos system in an experimental setting. Five instruments (guitar, piano, violin, flute, and vocals) will be positioned across five distinct spatial locations (front-center, lateral-elevated, overhead, rear-horizontal, rear-elevated) in different trials. Human participants will perform a spatial localization task where they are asked to identify the perceived spatial origin of a given musical instrument in every trial, while reaction times and localization accuracy will be recorded. Our experimental design aims to assess not only the main effects of spatial position on localization performance but also potential differences across instrument types. We hypothesize that localization will be more accurate and faster for instruments positioned near the front and horizontal plane compared to rear-elevated sources. Moreover, we expect instrument-specific effects driven by differences in spectral content and onset dynamics (attack times). Overall, this interdisciplinary study will provide behavioral insights directly applicable to spatial music production, immersive audio mixing, and auditory scene analysis.
ER  -