Perceptual Significance of Tone-Dependent Directivity Patterns of Musical Instruments

Corcuera A, Chatziioannou V, Ahrens J. Perceptual Significance of Tone-Dependent Directivity Patterns of Musical Instruments. J Audio Eng Soc. 2023;71(5):293-302. doi:10.17743/jaes.2022.0076

@article{Corcuera2023_22132,
  author = {Corcuera, Andrea and Chatziioannou, Vasileios and Ahrens, Jens},
  title = {{Perceptual Significance of Tone-Dependent Directivity Patterns of Musical Instruments}},
  journal = {Journal of the Audio Engineering Society},
  volume = {71},
  number = {5},
  pages = {293--302},
  year = {2023},
  month = may,
  publisher = {Audio Engineering Society},
  doi = {10.17743/jaes.2022.0076},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.17743/jaes.2022.0076}
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Perceptual Significance of Tone-Dependent Directivity Patterns of Musical Instruments
AU  - Corcuera, Andrea
AU  - Chatziioannou, Vasileios
AU  - Ahrens, Jens
T2  - Journal of the Audio Engineering Society
J2  - J. Audio Eng. Soc.
VL  - 71
IS  - 5
SP  - 293
EP  - 302
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/05/06
DO  - 10.17743/jaes.2022.0076
UR  - https://doi.org/10.17743/jaes.2022.0076
PB  - Audio Engineering Society
LA  - en
AB  - Musical instruments are complex sound sources that exhibit directivity patterns that not only vary depending on the frequency, but can also change as a function of the played tone. It is yet unclear whether the directivity variation as a function of the played tone leads to a perceptible difference compared to an auralization that uses an averaged directivity pattern. This paper examines the directivity of 38 musical instruments from a publicly available database and then selects three representative instruments among those with similar radiation characteristics (oboe, violin, and trumpet). To evaluate the listeners' ability to perceive a difference between auralizations of virtual environments using tone-dependent and averaged directivities, a listening test was conducted using the directivity patterns of the three selected instruments in both anechoic and reverberant conditions. The results show that, in anechoic conditions, listeners can reliably detect differences between the tone-dependent and averaged directivities for the oboe but not for the violin or the trumpet. Nevertheless, in reverberant conditions, listeners can distinguish tone-dependent directivity from averaged directivity for all instruments under study.
ER  -