Caroline Traube

Koechlin’s volume: Perception of sound extensity among instrument timbres from different families

Charles Koechlin’s Traité de l’orchestration ascribes different dimensions to timbre than those usually discussed in multidimensional scaling studies: “volume” or grosseur, related to extensity (the sound’s perceived size), and intensity, related to loudness. Koechlin also provides volume rankings for orchestral instruments in different registers. Studies show that humans, as well as several animal species, perceive extensity for many sound sources, but none has demonstrated its relevance for musical instruments from different families. To test extensity, samples of seven orchestral instruments equalized in pitch, but not in loudness, were used. Task 1 required participants to order eight sets of samples on a largeness (grosseur) scale from “less large” (moins gros) to “larger” (plus gros). Task 2 required them to quantify the sounds’ largeness compared to a reference sample on a ratio scale. Both studies show that participants share a common extensity perception for instrument timbres of different families that is very similar to Koechlin’s proposed scale. This perception seems to be related to spectral shape and particularly to acoustic energy in the lower frequencies. Perception of this attribute is unrelated to musical training, native language, and the presence of minor hearing loss, which suggests that extensity could be a universal attribute of timbre perception that is useful in orchestration practice and theory.

Piano tone control through variation of “weight” applied on the keys

To control the tone of their instrument, piano teachers at University of Montreal recommend to act on the double escapement action by modifying the “weight” applied on the keys. When the pianist uses more weight, the key is pressed to the bottom of the keyboard and the pianists feel a bump when they pass the escapement threshold. When using less “weight”, they play more at the surface of the keyboard. The present study aims to verify if this variation of weight has an impact on the piano tone. Two series of recordings were analysed. In a first series, pianists played a short musical phrase varying several control parameters (with/without weight, with/without pedal) and at several intensity levels. In a second series of recordings, isolated notes were played in the same conditions. Simultaneously to the recording of the piano tones, a video image of double escapement grand piano action was captured with a camera placed inside the piano. The analysis of the data shows that the piano tones produced with and ...

Perception, verbal description and gestural control of piano timbre

Musical expressivity in virtuosic pianistic performance relies heavily on timbre and performers call upon a vast vocabulary to describe the nature of their sound; examples of adjectives include velvety, metallic, bright, round and dark. The present study aims to determine whether this vocabulary, its perceptual meaning and the gesture applied to obtain the sounds it describes, stand as consensual among pianists. The relations between timbre, articulation, register and dynamics are also examined. Nearly 100 verbal descriptors were collected as well as the description of the associated gestures. Some timbres are specific to certain dynamic levels and others are the result of a combination of at least two sonic elements into one resulting sound object, where articulation, ‐ the relation between one note to the next ‐ plays a crucial role. A subset of these adjectives has been selected for further study. A professional pianist performed, on a computer‐controlled recording acoustic piano, three short project‐d...