Effect of Room Acoustics on Musicians' Performance. Part II: Audio Analysis of the Variations in Performed Sound Signals

摘要

This study addresses the question of whether musicians adjust their performance to suit room acoustics. In order to quantify the variations in musician performance as a function of room acoustics, this paper analyzes the audio features of the music signals produced by four professional instrumentalists and an operatic baritone singer under five different simulated room acoustic conditions. The results for a number of performers showed that the audio features quantifying the tempo, the length of notes, the silence between notes, articulation, dynamic level, dynamic range, harmonics strength, pitch tuning, and/or vibrato extent, varied significantly with room acoustic conditions. These changes in the audio features showed considerable agreement with the statements of performers elicited through interviews. For some of the performers, the following effects of room acoustic conditions on their performances were found: The reverberation time had a positive correlation with the degree of staccato, with the silence duration between adjacent tones, and with the intensity vibrato extent. The reverberation time had a negative correlation with the frequency vibrato extent. The tempo was reduced for short and long reverberation times. For sound fields with larger reflection energies, the loudness was reduced in accordance with the decrease in the harmonics strength.