A study of the changes in musical dynamics in concert hall acoustics as measured by perceptual changes in loudness and envelopment.

Abstract

In this thesis, the perception of musical dynamics in concert hall acoustics is studied by using two of the most influential and more intuitive perceptual factors: loudness and envelopment/width. This study is carried out by using a listening test and interview to assess the loudness and envelopment/width of seven different European concert halls at three different listening positions. The accompanying literature review explores the pschyoacoustics and objective measures of loudness and envelopment as well as the seminal works of perceptual studies in concert hall acoustics. The experiment makes use of a state-of-the-art listening room and a pair-wise comparison listening test to evaluate samples with four different dynamic levels which have approximately constant SPL for the same dynamic levels. The main findings align with previous studies of dynamic responsiveness by Pätynen and Lokki, concluding that shoebox-style halls exhibit better musical dynamics than modern vineyard-style halls. The findings also show that differing seat position has a greater effect on the perception of musical dynamics, where little change is found for differing musical dynamics at the same seating position. Finally, objective measures of strength and SPL are found not to follow subjective loudness suggesting a new objective measure is required.