407 research outputs found
Analyzing and organizing the sonic space of vocal imitation
The sonic space that can be spanned with the voice is vast and complex and, therefore, it is difficult to organize and explore. In order to devise tools that facilitate sound design by vocal sketching we attempt at organizing a database of short excerpts of vocal imitations. By clustering the sound samples on a space whose dimensionality has been reduced to the two principal components, it is experimentally checked how meaningful the resulting clusters are for humans. Eventually, a representative of each cluster, chosen to be close to its centroid, may serve as a landmark in the exploration of the sound space, and vocal imitations may serve as proxies for synthetic sounds
Organizing a sonic space through vocal imitations
3noA two-dimensional space is proposed for exploration and interactive design in the sonic
space of a sound model. A number of reference items, positioned as landmarks in the space,
contain both a synthetic sound and its vocal imitation, and the space is geometrically arranged
based on the acoustic features of these imitations. The designer may specify new points in the
space either by geometric interpolation or by direct vocalization. In order to understand how
the vast and complex space of the human voice could be organized in two dimensions, we
collected a database of short excerpts of vocal imitations. By clustering the sound samples on
a space whose dimensionality has been reduced to the two principal components, it has been
experimentally checked how meaningful the resulting clusters are for humans. The procedure
of dimensionality reduction and clustering is demonstrated in the case of imitations of engine
sounds, giving access to the sonic space of a motor sound model.reservedmixedRocchesso, Davide; Mauro, Davide Andrea; Drioli, CarloRocchesso, Davide; Mauro, Davide Andrea; Drioli, Carl
A quantum vocal theory of sound
Concepts and formalism from acoustics are often used to exemplify quantum mechanics. Conversely, quantum mechanics could be used to achieve a new perspective on acoustics, as shown by Gabor studies. Here, we focus in particular on the study of human voice, considered as a probe to investigate the world of sounds. We present a theoretical framework that is based on observables of vocal production, and on some measurement apparati that can be used both for analysis and synthesis. In analogy to the description of spin states of a particle, the quantum-mechanical formalism is used to describe the relations between the fundamental states associated with phonetic labels such as phonation, turbulence, and supraglottal myoelastic vibrations. The intermingling of these states, and their temporal evolution, can still be interpreted in the Fourier/Gabor plane, and effective extractors can be implemented. The bases for a quantum vocal theory of sound, with implications in sound analysis and design, are presented
Vocal imitation for query by vocalisation
PhD ThesisThe human voice presents a rich and powerful medium for expressing sonic ideas such as musical sounds. This capability extends beyond the sounds used in speech, evidenced for example in the art form of beatboxing, and recent studies highlighting the utility of vocal imitation for communicating sonic concepts. Meanwhile, the advance of digital audio has resulted in huge libraries of sounds at the disposal of music producers and sound designers. This presents a compelling search problem: with larger search spaces, the task of navigating sound libraries has become increasingly difficult. The versatility and expressive nature of the voice provides a seemingly ideal medium for querying sound libraries, raising the question of how well humans are able to vocally imitate
musical sounds, and how we might use the voice as a tool for search. In this thesis we address these questions by investigating the ability of musicians to
vocalise synthesised and percussive sounds, and evaluate the suitability of different audio features for predicting the perceptual similarity between vocal
imitations and imitated sounds.
In the first experiment, musicians were tasked with imitating synthesised sounds with one or two time–varying feature envelopes applied. The results
show that participants were able to imitate pitch, loudness, and spectral centroid features accurately, and that imitation accuracy was generally preserved
when the imitated stimuli combined two, non-necessarily congruent features. This demonstrates the viability of using the voice as a natural means of
expressing time series of two features simultaneously. The second experiment consisted of two parts. In a vocal production task,
musicians were asked to imitate drum sounds. Listeners were then asked to rate the similarity between the imitations and sounds from the same category
(e.g. kick, snare etc.). The results show that drum sounds received the highest similarity ratings when rated against their imitations (as opposed to imitations of another sound), and overall more than half the imitated sounds were correctly identified with above chance accuracy from the imitations, although
this varied considerably between drum categories.
The findings from the vocal imitation experiments highlight the capacity of musicians to vocally imitate musical sounds, and some limitations of non–
verbal vocal expression. Finally, we investigated the performance of different audio features as predictors of perceptual similarity between the imitations and
imitated sounds from the second experiment. We show that features learned using convolutional auto–encoders outperform a number of popular heuristic
features for this task, and that preservation of temporal information is more important than spectral resolution for differentiating between the vocal imitations and same–category drum sounds
Vocal imitation for query by vocalisation
PhDThe human voice presents a rich and powerful medium for expressing sonic
ideas such as musical sounds. This capability extends beyond the sounds used
in speech, evidenced for example in the art form of beatboxing, and recent
studies highlighting the utility of vocal imitation for communicating sonic concepts.
Meanwhile, the advance of digital audio has resulted in huge libraries of
sounds at the disposal of music producers and sound designers. This presents
a compelling search problem: with larger search spaces, the task of navigating
sound libraries has become increasingly difficult. The versatility and expressive
nature of the voice provides a seemingly ideal medium for querying sound
libraries, raising the question of how well humans are able to vocally imitate
musical sounds, and how we might use the voice as a tool for search. In this
thesis we address these questions by investigating the ability of musicians to
vocalise synthesised and percussive sounds, and evaluate the suitability of different
audio features for predicting the perceptual similarity between vocal
imitations and imitated sounds.
In the fi rst experiment, musicians were tasked with imitating synthesised
sounds with one or two time{varying feature envelopes applied. The results
show that participants were able to imitate pitch, loudness, and spectral centroid
features accurately, and that imitation accuracy was generally preserved
when the imitated stimuli combined two, non-necessarily congruent features.
This demonstrates the viability of using the voice as a natural means of
expressing time series of two features simultaneously.
The second experiment consisted of two parts. In a vocal production task,
musicians were asked to imitate drum sounds. Listeners were then asked to
rate the similarity between the imitations and sounds from the same category
(e.g. kick, snare etc.). The results show that drum sounds received the highest
similarity ratings when rated against their imitations (as opposed to imitations
of another sound), and overall more than half the imitated sounds were
correctly identi ed with above chance accuracy from the imitations, although
this varied considerably between drum categories.
The fi ndings from the vocal imitation experiments highlight the capacity
of musicians to vocally imitate musical sounds, and some limitations of non-
verbal vocal expression. Finally, we investigated the performance of different
audio features as predictors of perceptual similarity between the imitations and
imitated sounds from the second experiment. We show that features learned
using convolutional auto-encoders outperform a number of popular heuristic
features for this task, and that preservation of temporal information is more
important than spectral resolution for differentiating between the vocal imitations
and same-category drum sounds.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/G03723X/1)
The Race of Sound
In The Race of Sound Nina Sun Eidsheim traces the ways in which sonic attributes that might seem natural, such as the voice and its qualities, are socially produced. Eidsheim illustrates how listeners measure race through sound and locate racial subjectivities in vocal timbre—the color or tone of a voice. Eidsheim examines singers Marian Anderson, Billie Holiday, and Jimmy Scott as well as the vocal synthesis technology Vocaloid to show how listeners carry a series of assumptions about the nature of the voice and to whom it belongs. Outlining how the voice is linked to ideas of racial essentialism and authenticity, Eidsheim untangles the relationship between race, gender, vocal technique, and timbre while addressing an undertheorized space of racial and ethnic performance. In so doing, she advances our knowledge of the cultural-historical formation of the timbral politics of difference and the ways that comprehending voice remains central to understanding human experience, all the while advocating for a form of listening that would allow us to hear singers in a self-reflexive, denaturalized way
Culturally Speaking
Examines racial and gendered dimensions of voice in American culture, showing how vocal sound helps to shape cultural power dynamics
Chinese instruments in a western contemporary idiom selected works of Chen Yi
The purpose of this study is to show composer Chen Yi (b.1953)’s musical synthesis of East
and West. Examples and analysis are made from the following selected pieces: Fiddle Suite, The
Points, Ancient Dances, Ning, Song in Winter, Chinese Fables and Ancient Beauty, which all
contain Chinese instruments. Technical issues of combining Chinese and Western instruments are
discussed, as well as Chinese philosophy and the arts that inspire the pieces. In addition, examples
are made to show the influences of Chinese traditional music in Chen’s music, as well as the
absorption of Western twentieth century compositional techniques as more systematic methods to
support her compositions
- …