Subjective and objective assessment of instrument blending in a string ensemble
* Presenting author
Abstract:
The blending between the musical instruments is an important feature relevant in music composition, orchestration, virtual acoustics, etc, for a convincing impression of orchestral sound. Blending can be investigated in macroscopic, i.e. collective impact on listeners, and microscopic analysis in both spectral and temporal domains. As a joint work between ACTOR and VRACE projects, macroscopic analysis of blending is carried out using a live listening test conducted at Detmold concert house with a string ensemble consisting of 9 violins and 18 listeners. Variations in room acoustic conditions, listener’s locations, and source positions have diversified the test to understand the influence of these factors on the perception of blending. Initial analysis indicates that the listeners tend to lose the ability to estimate the number of players with an increase in the number of violins. An increased reverberation time and seating distance favor this effect. In addition, signal analysis of blending of the source signals is performed on the dry recordings from the spot microphones attached to the violins. Potential signal and musical features that can predict the blending impressions are estimated from the signal analysis and validated against a pilot listening test conducted on selected sound samples.