MUE733

PsychologyandLearningProcesses
ofMusic
of Music
Week1
Week 1
Assoc.Prof.DrGhaziah Mohd Ghazali
FacultyofMusic
Universiti Teknologi MARA
1

Psychoacoustics
Psycho
acousticsofMusic
of Music

Whatissound?
What
is sound?
Whatismusic?
Whatisacoustics?
h i
i ?
Thephysicsofsound
Theacousticsofmusic
The acoustics of musical instruments
Theacousticsofmusicalinstruments
Soundandtheneurophysiologyofhearing
2

What
Whatissound?
is sound?
Effect
Effectofwavesproducedupontheearis
of waves produced upon the ear is
perceivedassound.
Soundwavesaregeneratedbyanyvibrating
Sound waves are generated by any vibrating
body
Soundisawavethatisanoscillationof
S
di
h i
ill i
f
pressuretransmittedthroughasolid,liquidor
gas,composedoffrequencieswithintherange
d ff
i
i hi h
ofhearing(Wikipedia)
3

What
Whatismusic?
is music?
Musicisorganizedsound
g
Soundthathasaregularpattern
Anartformconsistingofsequencesofsoundsin
time
Tonesofdefinitepitchorganizedmelodically,
harmonically rhythmically and according to tone
harmonically,rhythmicallyandaccordingtotone
colour
Soundsproducedbysingingorbymusical
p
y g g
y
instruments
Anysequenceofsoundsperceivedaspleasingor
harmonious
4

What
Whatisacoustics?
is acoustics?
It
Itisthescienceofsound
is the science of sound
Itisthestudyoftheproduction,transmission
and reception of sound (American Heritage
andreceptionofsound(AmericanHeritage
Dictionary)
Musicalacousticsisthemechanismofsound
M i l
i i h
h i
f
d
productionresultingfrommusicalinstruments

Acoustics
Sou
Soundsandmusicalsoundshavetheirown
ds a d us ca sou ds a e t e o
signature
Auditoryeventscreatesoundenvironments
y
aroundus
Soundwavestraveltoourearswhereitis
transformedintoneuralsignalsintheearand
brain
Neuralsignalsareprocessedinspecificpartsof
N
l i l
di
ifi
t f
thebrain,givingusinformationaboutits
characteristics
6

Acoustics
Acoustics
Acousticsisthescienceofsound
is the science of sound
Itsthestudyofproduction,transmissionand
reception of sound (Tan Pfordresher &Harre,
receptionofsound(Tan,Pfordresher
& Harre
2010)
Thereareacousticaldifferencesacross
Th
i l diff
instrumentsandsingers
RefertohandoutonTheacousticsofmusicalinstruments
Tan,Pfordresher &Harre,2010,p.1929)

Th Ph i
ThePhysicsof
f
Sound
8

The Physics of sound

ThePhysicsofsound
Sound
Soundismadeupofwaves
is made up of waves
Soundwavesconsistoffrequency,amplitude and
complexity
Complexityofsoundisseeninthepresenceof
C
l it f
di
i th
f
puretones,musictonesandnoise
Propertiesofsound:
p
Intensity(loudness)
Frequency(pitch)
Complexity(timbre)
Complexity (timbre)

Whatisfrequency?
Whatisamplitude?
9

Frequency
Whensoundorphysicalstimulustransmit
energywaves,thisgeneratespressureon
thesurroundingairmolecules
Thispressure/vibrationcompressesthe
j
g
moleculesadjacenttoitwhichthengo
throughcompressionandexpansion
repeatedly(oscillations)asthevibrations
traveloutawayfromthesoundsource

Frequency
Typicallyusedtomeasurewaveratesorprocessing
speed.
speed
Measuredinhertz (Hz)orrelatedunitsof
,
g
orgigahertz.
gg
measurement,suchasmegahertz
Frequencycanbeusedtomeasuretherateofwaves,
suchassoundwaves,radiowaves,andlightwaves.
Soundshavewavesthatoccuranywherefrom20to
20,000timespersecond.
Lower
Lowerfrequencies=low
frequencies = lowpitched
pitchedsounds=calledbass
sounds = called bass
frequencies.
Higherfrequencies=highpitchedsoundsandarecalled
treble frequencies
treblefrequencies.
11

Frequency cont
Frequency
contd
d
Audible
Audiblefrequencyis20
frequency is 20 20,000Hz
20 000 Hz
Infrasound anysoundbelow20Hz
Ultrasound
l
d anysoundabove20,000Hz
d b
20 000

Frequencies and descriptions

Frequenciesanddescriptions
Frequency(Hz)

Octave

Description

16 to 32
16to32

1st

32to512

2nd to5th

512 t 2048
512to2048

6th to7
t 7th

8192 to
16384

10th

Thehumanthresholdoffeeling,
The
human threshold of feeling
andthelowestpedalnotesofa
pipeorgan.
Rhythmfrequencies,wherethe
lowerandupperbassnoteslie.
D fi
Defineshumanspeech
h
h
intelligibility,givesahornlikeor
tinnyqualitytosound.
Brilliance,thesoundsofbellsand
theringingofcymbals.Inspeech,
the sound of the letter "S" (8000
thesoundoftheletter"S"(8000
11000Hz)

Highfrequencywave(above)and
Lowfrequencywave(below)

Audible frequencies
Audiblefrequencies
Dogscanhear=50
Dogs
can hear = 50 45,000Hz
45 000Hz
Catscanhear=45 85,000Hz
Elephantscanhear=5
l h
h
10,000Hz
0 000
Thesensationofafrequencyiscommonly
referredtopitch.
Highpitch=highfrequency
g p
g
q
y
Lowpitch=Lowfrequency

 Many
Manypeople(especiallymusicallytrained
people (especially musically trained
people)candetectafrequencydifference
as little as 2 Hz
aslittleas2Hz
Consonantfrequencies(Pleasing)
Dissonantfrequencies(Displeasing)

Amplitude
M
Measurementofthedegreeofchange
t f th d
f h
(positiveornegative)inatmosphericpressure
(th
(thecompressionandrarefactionofair
i
d
f ti
f i
molecules)causedbysoundwaves.
Soundswithgreateramplitudewillproduce
greaterchangesinatmosphericpressurefrom
highpressuretolowpressure.

17

Amplitude
Lowestamplitude
Lowest amplitudeend(silence),someair
end (silence) some air
moleculesarealwaysinmotionandatthe
highest end the amount of compression and
highestend,theamountofcompressionand
rarefactionthoughfinite,isextreme.
Awoodwindplayermayincreasethe
A woodwind player may increase the
amplitudeoftheirsoundbyprovidinggreater
force in the air column i e blowing harder
forceintheaircolumni.e.blowingharder.

18

Amplitude
Amplitudeistheheightofthewave
p tude s t e e g t o t e a e
Thestrengthorvolumeofasignal
Measured in decibels (dB)
Measuredindecibels(dB)
Thegreater/highertheamplitude,thegreaterthe
energy/sound
gy/
Directlyrelatedtoacousticenergyorintensityof
asound
Thresholdofpainis130dB?
Humanvoiceisaround60dB

Amplitude

Decibels
the
themost
mostused
usedacousticmeasurementfor
acoustic measurement for
intensityisthedecibel(dB).
NamedinhonorofAlexanderGrahamBell
Named in honor of Alexander Graham Bell
Adecibelisalogarithmic measurementthat
reflectsthetremendousrangeofsound
fl
h
d
f
d
intensityourearscanperceive
Closelycorrelatestothephysiologyofourears
andourperceptionofloudness.
21

CharacteristicsofSoundWaves
Characteristics of Sound Waves
Sounds
Soundsaregenerallyaudibletothehuman
are generally audible to the human
eariftheirfrequency(numberofvibrations
persecond)liesbetween20and20,000
vibrationspersecond,buttherangevaries
considerablywiththeindividual.
Soundwaveswithfrequencieslessthanthose
ofaudiblewavesarecalledsubsonic;those
withfrequenciesabovetheaudiblerangeare
i hf
i
b
h
dibl
calledultrasonic
22

 Sound
Soundtravelsmoreslowlyingasesthanin
travels more slowly in gases than in
liquids,andmoreslowlyinliquidsthanin
solids Since the ability to conduct sound is
solids.Sincetheabilitytoconductsoundis
dependentonthedensityofthemedium,
solids are better conductors than liquids
solidsarebetterconductorsthanliquids,
liquidsarebetterconductorsthangases.
Fromthepointofviewofphysics,soundis
F
th
i t f i
f h i
di
consideredtobethewavesofvibratory
motionthemselves,whetherornottheyare
ti th
l
h th
t th
heardbythehumanear.
23

 Soundwavescanbereflected,refracted(or
bent),andabsorbedaslightwaves
Thereflectionofsoundwavescanresultinan
echo,reflectionofasoundwavebacktoits
sourceinsufficientstrengthandwitha
i
ffi i t t
th d ith
sufficienttimelagtobeseparately
distinguished.
distinguished
Ifasoundwavereturnswithin110sec,the
human ear is incapable of distinguishing it
humanearisincapableofdistinguishingit
fromtheoriginalone.
24

Characteristics
CharacteristicsofMusicalSounds
of Musical Sounds
Musical
Musicalsoundsaredistinguishedfromnoises
sounds are distinguished from noises
inthattheyarecomposedofregular,uniform
vibrations while noises are irregular and
vibrations,whilenoisesareirregularand
disorderedvibrations.
Onemusicaltoneisdistinguishedfrom
One musical tone is distinguished from
anotheronthebasisofpitch,intensity,or
loudness and quality or timbre
loudness,andquality,ortimbre.

25

Perception and Cognition of Music

PerceptionandCognitionofMusic
P
Perceptionofmusicalpitch
i
f
i l i h
Perceptionofmelody
Perception of melody
Perceptionofmusical
time/rhythm/meter
Perceptionofloudness
Perception of loudness

Pitch
Relatedtofrequencyofvibrationsinsounds
Abilitytoperceivepitchreliesontheearsability
toencodefrequenciesfromphysicalstimuli
Humansdetectrangeof20 20,000Hz
Variesfrompersontoperson
p
p
Declineswithage lossofsensitivitytothe
higherranges
g
g
Terms:consonance(pleasing),dissonance
(displeasing)
27

 Pitchdescribeshowhighorlowatoneisand
depends upon the rapidity with which a
dependsupontherapiditywithwhicha
soundingbodyvibrates,i.e.,frequencyof
vibration.
Thehigherthefrequencyofvibration,the
g
;
p
g
higherthetone;thepitchofasirengets
higherandhigherasthefrequencyof
vibrationincreases.
Variationsinpitchgiverisetoasenseof
melody
28

PerceptionofMusicalPitch
Perception of Musical Pitch

Musicalpitchismultidimensional
Musical
pitch is multi dimensional
Itdoesnotexistinitspureform(tuningfork)
Absolute pitch (perfect pitch) ability is rare
Absolutepitch(perfectpitch)abilityisrare
Whatisabsolutepitch?
G d it h
Goodpitchmemoryisawidespread
i
id
d
occurrenceinsociety
Abilitytoidentifymelodieswithaslittleas3
Ability to identify melodies with as little as 3
pitches
Pitchmemorydeteriorateswithage.Why?
Pitch memory deteriorates with age. Why?

Perception of Melody
PerceptionofMelody
Memory
Memoryformelodiccontourisstrongly
for melodic contour is strongly
affectedbykey
Tonalmemorycontributestobettermelodic
Tonal memory contributes to better melodic
memory
Ourmemorystoresintervalinformation
Our memory stores interval information
Musicalpitchprocessingispredominantlyat
the right hemisphere of the brain
therighthemisphereofthebrain
Musiciansmayprocesspitchattheleft
hemisphere (language)
hemisphere(language)

Perception of musical time

Perceptionofmusicaltime
/rhythm/meter
Perceptionsofmusicaltiminginvolvessense
of beat
ofbeat
Rhythmisasetoftimespansthatelapse
between note onsets
betweennoteonsets
Rhythmandtempoareindependentofeach
other
th
Tempoconcernsthespeedatwhichrhythmic
patternsunfold(rateofthebeat)

Meter
Conceptualized
Conceptualizedasapatternofstrong
as a pattern of strong
andweakbeats
Meterisdetectedinapatternof
Meter is detected in a pattern of
accents
Metercanrangefromsimpleto
Meter can range from simple to
complex
Brainmayneedtodomorework
Brain may need to do more work
whilelisteningtocomplexrhythms.
Why?

Loudness
Physical
Physicalloudnessofasoundreferredtoits
loudness of a sound referred to its
intensity(dB)
Whisperat3ftaway=1015dB
Whisper at 3ft away = 10 15dB
Conversationat3ftaway=65dB
Hearinglossisprevalentamongthoseplaying
FrenchHorn,trumpet,bassoon,flute,double
bass,percussions
g
g
p
Damagetohearingisinstrumentspecific
33

Perception of loudness
Perceptionofloudness
The
Themostintensesoundwecanhearwithout
most intense sound we can hear without
immediatelydamagingourearshasalevel
about120dBabovethesoftestsoundwecan
detect
Loudnessisdefinedasthatattributeof
auditorysensationintermsofwhichsounds
canbeorderedonascaleextendingfrom
quiettoloud
i
l d
Loudnessissubjective

Timbre
Also
Alsoknownas
known as tone
tonecolor
color
Itistheintrinsicanddistinctivequalityof
sound produced by musical source
soundproducedbymusicalsource
Timbreperceptionisverycomplex
Qualityoftimbredependsonwaveform
Differentinstrumentsproducedifferentwave
p
forms

35

SoundandtheNeurophysiology
ofhearing
Theearisasensitivehumanorgan
e ea s a se s t e u a o ga
Madeupof3parts:outer,middleandinnerear
The auditory canal links the parts and acts as a
Theauditorycanallinksthepartsandactsasa
resonator
Outereardetectswheresoundiscomingfrom
Middleeartransferssignalsfromdifferentmediumsin
theear(airtofluid)
Innerear(cochlea)isfilledwithfluidandtransmits
Inner ear ( o hlea) is filled ith fl id and transmits
electrochemicalenergythroughaprocesscalled
transduction.Itactsasafrequencyanalyzer

SoundandtheNeurophysiology
ofhearing
fh
Sound
Soundwavescharacterizedbyfrequency,
waves characterized by frequency
amplitudeandcomplexitycorrespondtothe
psychological qualities of sound pitch,
psychologicalqualitiesofsound
pitch
loudnessandtimbre
Physicalpropertiesof
soundwaves

Psychological propertiesof
tone

Frequency(Hz)
Amplitude(dB)
Complexity

Pitch
Loudness
Timbre
37

Parts of the inner ear

Partsoftheinnerear

38

Physiologyoftheear
Threemainsections:outer,middleandinnerear.Outereargathers
soundwavesandfunnelthemthroughtheauditorycanaltothe
middleandinnerear.Innerearchangespressurewavesinto
iddl
di
I
h
i t
electricalsignals.

Auditory cortex
Auditorycortex
A
Areasrelated
l t d
tothe
processingof
i
f
auditory
signalsfrom
i l f
theeartothe
b i
brain

Speechperception
Speech perception
Complex
Complexacousticalpatternsofspeechare
acoustical patterns of speech are
interpretedbythebrainandperceivedas
linguistic units (Moore B An introduction to
linguisticunits(Moore,B.Anintroductionto
thepsychologyofhearing)
Researchhasshownthattheareasofthe
Research has shown that the areas of the
braininvolvedinspeecharethesameareas
which processes music
whichprocessesmusic