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DOI 10.3813/AAA.918303

Effect of Room Acoustics on Musicians

Performance. Part I: Experimental Investigation
with a Conceptual Model
Kanako Ueno1) , Kosuke Kato2) , Keiji Kawai3)

1)

2)
3)

School of Science and Technology, Meiji University, 1-1-1, Higashimita, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 214-8571,
Japan. uenok@isc.meiji.ac.jp
Center for Advanced Science and Innovation, Osaka University, Japan
Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kumamoto University, Japan

Summary
This study aimed to investigate the notion that musicians adjust their performance to suit the acoustics of concert
halls. First, a schematic model was developed to provide a basis for the investigation. Second, a performance
experiment was conducted: musicians performed under dierent acoustic conditions simulated in an anechoic
room. The performances were recorded, and the musicians were interviewed about the technical details of the
adjustments that they made to suit the acoustics. The results showed how expert musicians adapted their performances to the acoustics. Third, as a pilot study to examine if dierences could be objectively identied, a
listening test and acoustic analysis were conducted on a recorded violin performance. The study conrmed that
dierences could indeed be objectively identied, at least in terms of the tempo and extent of vibrato.
PACS no. 43.55.Hy

1. Introduction
In concert hall acoustics, many studies conventionally assume that the music source signals generated by performers are constant, regardless of the halls acoustics.
However, among professional performing musicians, it is
quite commonly held that they must consciously or unconsciously adjust their performance to suit to the acoustics to
convey their interpretation to the audience [1, 2]. Hence,
we may naturally suppose that the performance varies with
the acoustics. This supposition raises the question that the
conclusions of studies based on the conventional assumption (as stated above) might not be fully valid for the room
acoustics in actual concerts. To understand the role played
by the room acoustics during concert performances, we
also need to properly understand the eect of the acoustics on the performer.
Musicians subjective evaluation of stage acoustics has
been studied by several researchers [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10].
These studies mainly aimed to identify a one-on-one relationship between musicians evaluations and room acoustic parameters, without considering how the musicians adjusted their performance to the acoustics. Those studies
have provided useful knowledge to assist acoustic design
of stage enclosures. However, their subjective evaluation

Received 4 August 2009,

accepted 23 January 2010.

S. Hirzel Verlag EAA

of the acoustics is probably inuenced by the way musicians adapt their performance to the acoustics. This might
provide another perspective on acoustic design for concert
performances.
The adjustment of human action to specic acoustic environments has previously been investigated in terms of
voice production. Lombard noted that speakers tend to increase their vocal intensity in the presence of noise [11], a
phenomenon which has become well-known as the Lombard eect. Recently, Kob et al. [12] and Brunskog et al.
[13] reported that voice production by school teachers was
inuenced by room acoustics, on the basis of studies carried out in classrooms. Ternstrm showed that the acoustical environment changed the voice quality of boys choirs
by analyzing long-time average spectra [14]. These studies
support the existence of automatic feedback: that human
action reexively changes in some environments.
Musicians adjust their performance according to how
they imagine the music might be heard by the audience
[15]. Meyer described examples of modied performances
under dierent room acoustics [16]. Bolzinger and Risset
found that piano performances were adapted to dierent
room acoustic conditions by analyzing MIDI outputs [17].
They also presented a model illustrating the circulative
feedback system between the player and the room. These
adjustments in performance do not stem solely from general automatic human feedback but from acquired techniques relating to professional skills that musicians have
developed. In the study of concert hall acoustics for mu-

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Ueno et al.: Effect of room acoustics on musicians performance

Performer

Personal skill
Performing experience

Listener

Perception of
hall acoustics

Perception of
hall acoustics

Perception of
musical expression
Auditory
sensation

Dry source*IR Audience

Concert hall

Perception of
musical expression

Acquired feedback
Common feedback
Perform
actions

Auditory
sensation

Dry Source

IRAudience

sicians, it is important to develop a theoretical foundation

that considers both automatic and acquired feedback systems to fully understand the relationship between musicians and room acoustics.
In order to understand how musicians adjust their performance in concert halls, some acoustical studies have
provided empirical references and some pilot studies have
been completed. In developing a systematic approach to
the topic, this paper presents a schematic model of the
relationship between the musicians performance and the
room acoustics, together with a case study that shows the
validity of the model. First, the schematic model was developed and musicians comments relating to the model
were canvassed. Second, a performance experiment was
conducted and the musicians reactions were investigated
under ve dierent acoustic conditions which were experimentally simulated with high delity in an anechoic room.
All the performances were recorded. Third, the recorded
music signals of a violin player were objectively studied
by two approaches: a listening test and acoustic analysis.

2. Schematic model of a performing musician in a concert hall

In a previous study, the author suggested a cognitive model
to express the interactive relationship between a musician
and concert hall acoustics; this was constructed from the
result of interviews with professional musicians and supported a subjective experiment on stage acoustics [15]. Referring to the model, a schematic model to describe an
internal feedback system of a performing musician in a
hall was constructed (Figure 1). This provides a basis for
the present study that examines the adjustment of performance to room acoustics. The gure also showed a listeners model in order to clarify the distinction between a
performer and a listener.

506

Imagination of musical
sound in audience area

Image of performance

Characteristics of hall,
preferences, etc

Dry Source*IR Performer

IRPerformer

Figure 1. Schematic model of

a performer and a listener in a
concert hall.

Table I. Status of ve professional performing musicians who

participated in the performance experiment. All musicians have
been brought up, educated, and held performing activities mainly
in Japan. Besides, OB, FL1, BR have experienced overseas musical education in Germany, United States, and Italy, respectively. All musicians have won more than one music performance
competition: VN and OB have become winners of international
competition. VN has experienced concert tours as a soloist with
Japanese and overseas orchestras. OB and FL2 are/have been
resident performers (rst chairs) of one of the most famous orchestras in Japan. All performers have experienced performances
in various concert halls in Japan and overseas. P.c.: Professional
carrier [years], R.: Recital [times/year].
ID

Instr.

Main performance style

P.c.

R.

VN
OB
FL1
FL2

Violin
Oboe
Flute
Flute

31
25
20
45

100120
70
1012
7

BR

Singer

Solo
Orchestra
Solo, Chamber music
Orchestra (retired),
Chamber music
Opera (Bass baritone)

14

60

Explication of Figure 1 is as follows: a listener passively receives the music convolved by room impulse response. There is no feedback from a listener to the music
source. On the contrary, a performer listens to the sound
and produces it at the same time. Two types of circulative feedback system can be assumed here. One is a common feedback system that is generally observed in humans as an automatic response. The other is an acquired
feedback system which is related to the performers specic skill formed by his performance experience. In the
acquired feedback system, a performer perceives musical
expression and hall acoustics from auditory sensation, creates an imagination of how the music would sound in the
audience area, forms an image of the performance to be
played, and controls his/her performing actions. The ac-

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Table II. Musicians comments on the adjustments that they make in their daily performances.
VN

OB

FL1

FL2

BR

Depending on the particular hall, I adjust (1) the depth of vibrato, (2) pressure, speed, and returning of bowing, (3) the
length of the bow, and (4) the strength with which I hold the strings with my left-hand ngers; then I gauge the sound in
terms of reverberation. When in a less reverberant room I try to enhance the sonority of sound in the instrument. When I
adjust the depth of vibrato, this depends not only on the reverberation level but also on the perceived size of the room. In a
room with excessive reverberation. I reduce the vibrato to compensate. However, in a larger room, I produce the full sonority
of the violin sound by reducing the bowing pressure and use of normal vibrato.
In a room with little reverberation, I relax the lips and allow the reeds to fully vibrate. In a reverberant room, I suppress
the sonority and vibration of the instrument. When the room sound is harder, I cut the high-frequency components of the
harmonics by increasing the area where my lips touch the reeds and softening the vibration. In terms of dynamics, I soften
the notes in a reverberant room and strengthen them in a room with less reverberation.
Depending on the level of reverberation in a room, I adjust the music tempo, articulation, and the length of notes. I do
not make many adjustments to the vibrato. In a room with less reverberation, I ensure that the soft notes are not too soft;
however, in a room with strong reverberation, I sometimes make the notes only barely audible. When playing a quick-tempo
piece in an extremely reverberant room, I slow down the tempo.
I do not have any means to adjust a switch in my mind and body in order to suit the reverberation of a room. Hence, I rely
on repeated rehearsals to adapt my playing. Regarding the setting of the tempo, I slow it down in a reverberant room and
quicken it in a room with minimal reverberation. Regarding the volume of sound, I tend to disregard that in a reverberant
room.
Since singers require their vocal cords to perform, I would strain my vocal cords if I exercised them according to the acoustic
conditions. Hence, I always choose to maintain the form without being inuenced by the surroundings. However, I may
adapt while performing and adjust my singing unconsciously, even though I actually do not intend to change it. I change
both the tempo and my enunciation. Also, the more reverberant the room is, the slower the music tempo becomes. If the
room is very reverberant, I try to vocalize the consonants more clearly.

quired feedback system is supported by performing experience of each performer.

In order to exemplify the schematic model, ve professional performing musicians who have carried performing activities in various concert halls (see Table I) were
questioned on the general methods of adjustment of their
performance which represents an output of the acquired
feedback system. Table II presents their comments on the
adjustment that each musician makes in his/her daily performances in concert halls.
Table II shows that the musicians attitude to adjustment
and their adjustment techniques diered. It is evident that
VN, OB, and FL1 consciously adjust their performance
depending on the acoustic conditions. In fact, VN and OB
mentioned specic playing techniques in order to make
these adjustments, such as altering the bowing or changing
the manner in which the lips touch the reeds. Contrarily,
FL2 and BR did not exhibit a positive attitude towards adjustment. In fact, from FL2s comments, it appears that he
chooses to adapt himself gradually while performing without consciously adjusting his technique. BR commented
that he preferred to maintain the form regardless of the
surroundings. However, all musicians mentioned adjusting their performance to room acoustics in one or more
attributes, such as tempo, vibrato, volume of sound, length
of notes, musical expression or dynamics.
As mentioned above, the method of acquired feedback
varies amongst musicians and it might be dicult to observe the general relationship between properties of hall
acoustics and conventional methods of feedback used by
musicians. However, the existence of an acquired feedback system seems to be common amongst professional
performing musicians.

3. Performance experiment
The performance experiment was conducted to investigate
the ways technical adjustments were made to a performance and to record music signals for the purpose of making an objective examination on the change of the performance. In this study, a laboratory experiment technique in
which the acoustic conditions can be changed freely and
quickly without changing sight was used in order to focus
on the changes of performance generated by room acoustic
conditions.
3.1. Sound eld simulation system
To simulate actual sound elds in an anechoic room with
three-dimensional information, a 6-channel sound eld
simulation system was employed. In this system, sound
elds are recorded through a microphone system consisting of six unidirectional microphones and reproduced
through six loudspeakers in an anechoic room [18]. Applying this system to the subjective experiment on musicians,
the sound of a musical instrument played by the subject
(dry music signal) is picked up by a microphone and convolved with the directional impulse responses measured on
the stage of a real concert hall in six orthogonal directions
[7].
Figure 2a shows the arrangement of the sound source
and the microphone for the measurement of room impulse
responses at the players position onstage. This arrangement was determined by simplifying the geometrical relationship between a player and his/her musical instrument. A dodecahedral omnidirectional loudspeaker system is located at a representative position onstage. A unidirectional microphone is located at a point close to the

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Ueno et al.: Effect of room acoustics on musicians performance

300 mm

Mic. Amp
Amp

300 mm

Directional Mic.
(for
( 6 directions)

ACUSTICA

Omnidirectional
Omnidirectional
Loudspeaker
Loudspeaker

Directional
Mic.

1200 mm

2000 mm

-time Convolver
Convolver
Real-time
Real
(YamahaSREV1,
SREV1,66ch.)
(Yamaha

FrequencyEqualizer
Frequency
Equalizer

Audience
Area

PowerAmp.
Power
Amp. (6 ch.)
Loudspeakers
Loudspeakers
(6 ch.)

(b)

(a)

In anechoic room

Figure 2. Block diagram of the sound eld simulation system. (a) Measurement on stage, (b) Sound eld simulation in an anechoic
room.
Table III. Original room acoustic conditions simulated in an anechoic room for the performance experiment. *1: Reverberation time
(T60 ) measured in the audience area; *2: Reverberation time (T60 ) measured at a performers position on stage; *3: The energy level of
the early reections (10100 ms) relative to that of the direct sound; *4: The energy level of the reverberation (after 100 ms) relative to
that of the direct sound; *5: The energy of the early reections and reverberation (after 10 ms) relative to that of the direct sound, *6:
Room gain which indicates the energy of entire impulse response relative to that of the direct sound [13]. *2, *3, *4, *5, *6: Calculated
for the impulse responses measured by an omni-directional microphone set at the conguration shown in Figure 2 (1). The Learly and
Llate values correspond to STearly and STlate , respectively, except that those are 7 dB smaller than ST values because of the dierence of
the distance between the sound source and the microphone. The GRG values are also smaller than originally dened values because of
the dierence of the distance.
Room

Volume

Stage

Seats

RTA1

RTS2

L3
early

L4
late

L5
all

6
GRG

Features

AE
HS
HM
HL
CH

343
1660
14800
22776
13333

44
200
290

300
1521
2020

0.0
1.4
1.4
2.4
3.1

0.0
1.2
1.7
2.2
2.7

-14.3
-20.9
-21.9
-16.2

-17.3
-22.7
-18.8
-17.3

-12.5
-18.7
-17.1
-13.7

0.00
0.24
0.06
0.08
0.18

Anechoic room, simulation system o

Small recital hall
Mid-scale concert hall, proscenium style
Large concert hall, shoebox style
Catholic church with an elliptic plan

sound source, and the directional impulse response is measured six times by rotating the microphone in 90-degree
increments. These measurements were conducted using
the swept-sine technique.
The simulated sound eld was constructed in an anechoic room (see Figure 2b). For the dry music signal,
the sound from the subjects instrument was picked up
by a unidirectional microphone (Sony, C48) set at a point
close to the subject. The signal was convolved with the
6-channel directional impulse response signals for a duration of 2.7 s using a 6-channel real-time digital convolution
system. The direct sound from the sound source and the
sound reected from the stage oor were excluded from
the directional impulse response signals. The convolved
signals were reproduced through six loudspeakers (TANNOY, T12) arranged on a spherical surface with a radius
of 2 m (see Figure 2b).
The reproducibility of the simulation system has been
studied from both physical and subjective aspects [7].
3.2. Methods
Table III lists the ve room acoustic conditions that were
presented to the musicians in the performance experiment:

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(1) an anechoic condition that was extremely dry (AE);

(24) three representative conditions for concert halls,
ranging from a small to a large size (HS, HM, and HL);
and (5) a condition in a church with excessive reverberation (CH). The acoustic properties were shown for the
middle frequency range in two octave bands including the
500 Hz and 1 kHz bands.
Five professional musicians (see Table I) participated in
the experiment, namely, 1 violinist (VN), 1 oboist (OB),
two utists (FL1 and FL2), and 1 baritone singer (BR).
Each subject was positioned at the centre of the simulated
sound eld and was required to play his/her instrument (or
sing) while imagining that they were performing on a real
stage.
First, the subjects examined the characteristics of each
experimental condition by playing arbitrary notes; then,
they were required to comment on his/her auditory impression of the room acoustic conditions on such points as
spatial impression, reverberation properties, sound propagation characteristics, and ease of performance. Subsequently, the subjects played phrases from the following
two pieces of music: Ave Maria (D839) by Franz Schubert and Gavotte by Gossec (see Figure 3). The former

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Table IV. Examples of the musicians comments on their performance under each acoustic condition.
VN

OB

AE

I increase the bowing, without adding to the pressure, and

input air into the violin to create more sonority. For that purpose, I play with a slower and larger vibrato.

Since the sounds disappear the moment the note ends, I play
to create resonance. I maintain normal tempo and reduce the
intervals between notes. Also, I adjust the intervals between
phrases as well as the length and speed of the notes with
staccato.

HM

Since there is not much reverberation in the room, when

playing Gavotte, I place vibrato on every note to compensate for the lack of reverberation. Since the perceived size
of the hall is not too large, I increase the bowing pressure
to avoid an impression of poor sound volume. I maintain a
normal tempo. Since the reverberation level is appropriate
for me, I concentrate on the performance without worrying
about the reverberation characteristics of the room.

I feel that the reverberation quality of the room is moderate. Therefore, there is nothing I especially need to do. The
vibrato is relatively shallower and faster; deeper vibrato is
not required. The tempo at which Gavotte is played can be a
little faster.

CH

Since the room has excessive reverberation, the sound

becomes confused when performing with normal tempo.
Hence, I slow down the tempo. If I suppress the vibrato,
the music loses its complexity. Therefore, I play with a normal vibrato but reduce the bowing pressure. I also reduce the
length of the short notes and make them sharper. I minimize
the sonority of the violin to make good use of the reverberation of the hall.

Due to reverberation, the sound of the oboe is a little blatant;

hence, I restrain the performance considerably. I slow down
the vibrato and enlarge its depth. I also slow down the tempo
and play the ne notes carefully. In addition, I soften the
attack, slow down the initial rise in tone, and suppress the
harmonics for Ave Maria.

also sought during interview. During the experiment, the

experimenter stayed in the anechoic room and conversed
directly with the subjects to elicit their comments.
3.3. Results

Figure 3. Musical scores used for the performing experiment.

was selected as a slow piece with long notes; the latter as

a fast piece with a staccato passage. The baritone singer
performed Gia il sole dal Gange by Scarlatti instead of
Gavotte. The pieces were informed to each musician in
advance of the experiment. The musical keys were chosen by each musician according to his/her preference. The
phrases, which were approximately 20 s long and occurred
at the beginning of each piece, were repeated three times.
The performance sound signals were recorded onto a DAT
(Fs = 48 kHz), using a directional microphone placed in
close proximity to the instrument. At this position the feedback sound from the loudspeakers was 17.2 dB lower than
the dry instrument sound in the condition HS in which the
reproduced sound from the loudspeakers are in the highest
level.
Following the performance, the subjects were required
to comment on the adjustments that they made to their
playing technique in response to the acoustic conditions.
These adjustments were noted in terms of a predetermined
list of aspects, including musical tempo and vibrato, as
well as additional aspects from the subjects own perspective. Their aim or intention in making the adjustment was

Table IV presents examples of the musicians comments

after their performances in each experimental condition;
in these they shared their thoughts about the room acoustics and the adjustments they made to their playing. The
comments presented in Table IV are more detailed and
specic than those provided in Table II; this may be caused
by the actual performance in acoustic conditions presented
sequentially. From Table IV it can be observed that the
comments of the two musicians are based on their own adjustment style. However, common statements such as I
enhance the sonority of the instrument in AE and slow,
modest expression in CH are still observed in some cases.
The comments made by all the musicians included the following points:
Musical phrases: tempo, articulation, intervals between
notes, and end of phrase,
Notes: length, attack, vibrato, harmonics and tonal
quality,
Expressions: dynamics, volume of sound, and tuning,
Use of body: for support and form,
Technique: bowing, lipping to touch the reeds, and
breathing.
Table V presents an overview of the interview results and
indicates which adjustment attributes each player commented in his/her interview. All musicians referred to the
tempo and playing length of notes. Amongst the three

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Ueno et al.: Effect of room acoustics on musicians performance

Table V. Attributes adjusted by each player.

Tempo
Length of notes,
Interval between notes
Vibrato
Dynamics, Agogics
Attack, Pronunciation
End of phrase, Breathing
Support in body, Form
Tuning
Harmonics

VN

OB

FL1

FL2

BR

players who consciously adjusted their performance according to the room acoustics, vibrato and dynamics were
the most common attributes mentioned.
To detail the particular adjustments made by the subjects in each condition, Table VI summarizes their comments on tempo, length of notes, vibrato, and other aspects which were frequently referred to. With regard to
the length of notes, (also referred to as intervals), all comments indicated a common tendency: longer notes in less
reverberant rooms and shorter ones in more reverberant
rooms. In terms of tempo, the following adjustment was
made by all musicians in the excessively reverberant condition (CH): slow down the tempo. However, in the
moderate condition (HS), there were contradictory adjustments: VN, faster and FL1, a little slower. Concerning vibrato, comments made by the three players varied
in CH: FL1, shallower and ner, VN, moderately, and
OB, slower and deeper. Under some conditions, a common tendency was not evident, partly because the verbal
expressions were dicult to compare. Still, two or more
musicians made the following comments in AE, HM, and
CH, respectively: by creating sonority inside the instrument, adjustment is not necessary, and by suppressing
the sonority of the instrument.

4. A case study with recorded sources by a

violinist
The results of the interview indicated that the musicians did subjectively adjust their performances to suit
the rooms acoustic conditions. Next question to be raised
is whether this phenomenon can be observed objectively.
As a case study to explore this issue, a listening experiment and acoustic analysis were conducted using music
recorded by the musician VN.
4.1. Listening experiment
A listening experiment was designed to investigate the audibility of variations in the performed music signals and to
examine which attributes listeners could perceive.
4.1.1. Procedure
The experiment was conducted using recorded music signals from the violinist who made detailed comments on

510

Table VI. Adjustment of performance by the ve subjects under

each experimental condition. Length: Length of notes.
Tempo:
AE Normal (OB)
HS Faster (VN)
A little slower (FL1)
HM Normal (VN)
A little faster (OB)
HL Not very fast (OB)
CH Slow (VN, FL1, OB, and BR)
Vibrato:
AE Slower and deeper (VN)
To some extent (FL1)
HS As small as possible (VN)
Without special eorts (OB)
HM Place a vibrato on each note (VN)
Softer and rather quickly (OB)
HL Modest (VN)
With a dierent pattern (FL1)
CH Moderate (VN)
Shallower and ner (FL1)
Slower and deeper (OB)
Length of notes:
AE Longer staccato (FL1)
Shorter interval between notes (OB and BR)
HS Separate the notes clearly (FL1)
HM
HL Short (VN, FL, and OB)
CH Shorten notes (VN)
A little short (FL1)
Increased interval between notes (FL2)
Others:
AE Create sonority in the violin (VN)
Play with afterglow (OB)
Be conscious of the changing of notes and the end of
the phrases (FL1)
HS Set up the music in smaller scale (VN)
Clearer (FL1)
HM Perform without considering reverberation (VN)
No special considerations (OB)
Play as one would with normal reverberation (FL1)
HL Widen the dynamics (FL1)
CH Suppress the sound of the violin (VN)
Play rather quietly. Soften the attack, slow down the initial rise of tone, suppress the harmonics for Ave Maria
(OB)
With a soft, delicate nuance (FL1)
Make the shorter notes less sounded (FL2)

the technical adjustments. The second performances of the

three repetitions for each of the two phrases, Ave Maria
and Gavotte, in four dierent acoustic conditions, (with
the exception of HM), were used as test signals. Thus,
four stimuli for Ave Maria and four for Gavotte were presented to the listeners in pairs (six pairs for each phrase,
respectively) by using headphones. The volume was set at
a comfortable listening level, adjusted by each listener. For
each pair, the subjects used a computer mouse to click on

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Table VII. Attributes for the dierence between the pairs as described by the six listeners. The numbers denote the number of subjects
who commented. *1: The following number of listeners pointed out each attribute and order of the dierence: >: 46 listeners, : 23
listeners.
Tendency in comments1

Attributes

Main expressions

Ave Maria

Gavotte

Tempo

Fast, Slow, Quick

Ave Maria: (HS, AE) CH

Gavotte: HS > HL > (CH, AE)

Length of notes

Long, Without interval,

Staccato, Sticky, Clear-cut

AE > HS HL, CH > HS,

CH HL in Gavotte

Vibrato

Large, Deep, Fine

AE > HL HS, AE CH in Ave Maria

Dynamics

Dynamic, Expressive,
Romantic, Heavy

AE > (CH, HL) in Ave Maria

one of the graphical buttons, labeled A or B, to reproduce

a test signal. The subjects could listen to the test signal as
many times as required; they were then required to provide
their opinions on the following two questions: (1) What
is the extent of dierence between the three categories?
(see Figure 4) (2) How are they dierent from each other
(based on a free-style description)? Six subjects who were
accustomed to listening to classical music in concert halls
participated in the listening experiment.
4.1.2. Results
Figure 4 presents the listeners responses to the rst question. Since 54% of the responses were clearly dierent
and 44% were subtly dierent, it can be deduced that the
listeners were able to perceive the dierences. Responses
indicated that the dierence between the two reverberant
conditions (HL and CH) and the two extreme conditions
(AE and CH) was relatively small. The latter unexpected
result may be related to the players comments indicating
that those two were challenging conditions that required
the most careful adjustments of their playing techniques.
Table VII presents the attributes for the dierence in the
pairs as described by the subjects. By comparing Tables
V and VII it is clear that the attributes generally correspond to the players subjective remarks. Many subjects
commented on the tempo, vibrato, and dynamics for Ave
Maria, whereas the tempo and length of notes were mainly
mentioned for Gavotte. The other attributes that was not
shown in Table VII were expressions such as light, soft,
emotional, and steady.
4.2. Acoustic analysis
An acoustic analysis was conducted to clarify the acoustic
dierences between the performed music signals. Among
the attributes identied in the performance experiment and
in the listening tests, the music tempo and the extent of vibrato were analyzed. In addition, sound level was analyzed
by referring the study of Brunskog et al. [13], which indicated that sound power produced by speakers is inuenced
by room acoustic property.
4.2.1. Procedure
The music tempo was examined from the recordings of
three trials for each of two music pieces. In order to quan-

condition
Judgment of dissimilarity
: clearly different
: subtly different
: not different at all

HS

HL

CH

AE
HS
Upper line: Ave Maria
Lower line: Gavotte

HL

Figure 4. Results of the listening experiment on the dissimilarity

of VNs recorded signals.

tify the music tempo of a recording, performance duration, (dened as the time from the onset of the rst played
note to the onset of the nal note), was measured. The results were transformed to the tempo scale in units of beats
per second. In order to compare the results of two music pieces, the tempo was normalized by the mean tempo
of each music piece, called n-Tempo. Total materials included 30 phrases (Ave Maria: 5 room conditions 3 trials; Gavotte: 5 room conditions 3 trials).
The extent of vibrato was analyzed for ve long notes
taken from the recordings of Ave Maria. The vibrato is
one of the important ornaments of violin performance and
it can be quantied by the quasi-periodic uctuations of
the fundamental frequency (F0 ) and amplitude. In this experiment, the uctuations of F0 were analyzed by tracking contours using the autocorrelation function (integration interval: 20 ms, moving step: 4 ms, time window: rectangular). The resulting F0 contours were low-pass ltered
at 10 Hz to extract a periodic frequency uctuation of F0
ranging from 4 to 8 Hz. Figure 5 shows examples of the
measured relative F0 contours of a long note. Here, 100
cents denotes one semitone. The uctuation of F0 for the
room condition HM was observed to be larger than that for
the room condition HS.
Based on the F0 contours, the extent of vibrato was
quantied as follows. First, the amplitude of the wave for
each cycle of uctuation of F0 was determined by Prames
strategy [19] where three adjacent peaks of a F0 waveform were used to calculate. The amplitude values were
obtained for each semi-cycle of a F0 waveform. Next, the
segment in which the calculated amplitude values exceed
10 cents was dened as the body of vibrato. The threshold of 10 cents was determined by inspecting the vibrato

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Ueno et al.: Effect of room acoustics on musicians performance

12

**

**

**

**

Figure 5. Examples of measured relative F0 of a long note played

under two dierent room acoustic conditions (solid curve: HS
and dashed curve: HM) as performed by a professional violinist
(VN1) with note "E4".

n-Tempo [%]

(a) Music tempo (Ave Maria)

(b) Music tempo (Gavotte)
(c) F0 V E (Ave Maria)
(d) Sound level (Ave Maria)
(e) Sound level (Gavotte)

Room

Note Number

85**
91**
59**
73**
97**

25**

AE

HS

4.2.2. Results
Figure 6 shows the distribution of n-Tempo for Ave Maria
and Gavotte. Each error bar indicates the fastest and the
slowest performance within three trials performed under
each room acoustic condition. The mean n-Tempo for Ave
Maria ranged between 9.3% (CH) and +3.4% (HM),
while n-Tempo for Gavotte ranged between 4.6% (CH)
and +7.0% (HS). Table VIII shows the result of a oneway ANOVA test, setting room conditions as a factor, inputting 15 data of n-Tempo (5 room conditions 3 trials)
for each music piece. The result shows that the main effects of room conditions (room) were highly signicant.
Moreover, pair-wise comparisons between the ve room
conditions were conducted by Tukey HSD tests. Signicant pairs were marked in Figure 6. It can be seen that,
for Ave Maria, the n-Tempo of the room condition CH

512

HL

CH

Room

**

-9

Ave Maria

**

**

Gavotte

-12

**

Figure 6. Calculated n-Tempo for ve room acoustic conditions.

The statistical signicance for the dierence of each pair is indicated by asterisks (*: 5% signicant level and **: 1% signicant
level).

40

F0 V E [+-cents]

**

waveform, and then the mean value of the amplitude values for the body of vibrato was calculated for each note.
This mean value, denoted as F0 V E, indicates the vibrato extent calculated from F0 contours. The analysis
was conducted on 75 notes (5 notes 3 trials 5 room
conditions).
The sound level, equivalent continuous A-weighted
sound pressure level, was calculated from the recordings
of three trials for each of two music pieces. In order to
compare the results of two music pieces, the sound level
was normalized by the mean sound level of each music piece, called relative sound level. Total materials included 30 phrases (Ave Maria: 5 room conditions 3 trials; Gavotte: 5 room conditions 3 trials).

HM

-3
-6

Table VIII. Eect size ( ) [%] of the factors from the result of
ANOVA. The statistical signicance of each eect is indicated
by asterisks (**: 1% signicant level).

**

**

**

**

**
**

**

30

20

10

AE

HS

HM
Room

HL

CH

Figure 7. Calculated F0 V E for ve room acoustic conditions.

The statistical signicance for the dierence of each pair is indicated by asterisks (*: 5% signicant level and **: 1% signicant
level).

was signicantly slower than for the others and the dierence between the conditions, except for CH, were not signicant. For Gavotte, more pairs (seven pairs out of ten)
exhibited signicant dierence. These results concur well
with the listening experiment, where dierences of tempo
were mainly mentioned for Gavotte.
Figure 7 shows the results of the analysis of F0 V E.
Each error bar indicates the standard deviation. The mean
value of F0 V E for each room condition ranged between
19 cents (HS) and 30 cents (AE). To test for results
signicance, a two-way ANOVA, setting room conditions
and note number as factors, inputting 75 data of F0 V E (5
room conditions 5 notes 3 trials) was performed. The
result shows that the eect of room was highly significant (see Table VIII). Again, pair-wise comparisons between the ve room conditions were conducted by Tukey

Ueno et al.: Effect of room acoustics on musicians performance

Relative sound level [dB]

**

Ave Maria
Gavotte

1
0
-1

AE

HM
Room

HS

5. Discussion

HL

5.1. Accordance of experiment/analysis results

CH

-2
-3

**

-4

**
**

-5

**

**

Figure 8. Calculated relative sound level for ve room acoustic

conditions. The statistical signicance for the dierence of each
pair is indicated by asterisks (*: 5% signicant level and **: 1%
signicant level).
Table IX. Correlation coecient between relative sound level
and room acoustic parameters. 1 : calculated from 12 data of four
room condition S because the acoustic parameters cannot be calculated for anechoic condition (AE).

Ave Maria
Gavotte

Vol. 96 (2010)

softer performance in conditions of larger reections and

reverberations. This result is in coincident with the phenomenon that speaker decreases the sound projection level
under the room acoustic condition with a larger room gain
[13].

ACTA ACUSTICA UNITED WITH ACUSTICA

RTS

L1
early

L1
late

L1
all

GRG

0.19
-0.21

-0.73
-0.18

-0.82
-0.40

-0.84
-0.33

-0.48
-0.59

HSD tests and the results are illustrated in Figure 7. All

pairs, except those of HS and HL, provided results that
were signicantly dierent.
Figure 8 shows the distribution of the relative sound
level for Ave Maria and Gavotte. Each error bar indicates the loudest and the softest performance within
three trials performed under each room acoustic condition. The mean relative sound level for Ave Maria ranged
between 0.6 dB (HS) and +0.9 dB (HM), while relative
sound level for Gavotte ranged between 1.8 dB (HS) and
+1.4 dB (AE). Table VIII shows the result of a one-way
ANOVA test, setting room conditions as a factor, inputting
15 data of the relative sound level (5 room conditions
3 trials) for each music piece. The result shows that the
main eects of room conditions (room) were highly signicant. Moreover, the results of pair-wise comparisons
(Tukey HSD tests) were indicated in Figure 8. It can be
seen that, for Ave Maria, the relative sound level of the
room condition HM was signicantly louder than AE, HS,
and CH and the dierence between the conditions, except for HM, were not signicant. For Gavotte, more pairs
(seven pairs out of ten) exhibited signicant dierence.
Table IX shows the correlation coecient of the relative
sound level and acoustic indices indicated in Table III. It
was found that the relative sound level of performed signal negatively correlated with the indices for the energy of
reections and reverberations, especially with Ave Maria:

Table X summarizes the results for the case study of musician VN obtained by three approaches; subjective reports
observed in the performance experiment, the attributes detected by listening experiment, and physical dierences
obtained by acoustic analysis. It can be seen that the order of clear or signicant dierences were the same for
the three approaches. These results indicate that the violinist consciously controlled her performance to suit room
acoustic conditions and the dierence in performed music
signals between the acoustic conditions can be objectively
detected.
Figure 4 shows that the perceived dissimilarity between
the performances recorded under two extreme conditions
(AE and CH) was relatively small. This is reasonable because both the dierence in tempo and extent of vibrato
between the performances (AE and CH) were also relatively small (see Figures 6 and 7).
With regard to the relationship between the change of
the music signals and room acoustic parameters, it was
found that the tempo roughly correlated to the values of
reverberation time: slower tempo in conditions of longer
reverberation, except for the condition AE. This relationship between tempo and reverberation time, including the
exception observed in AE, coincides with Meyers indication [16]. As for vibrato, no clear relationship between vibrato extent and the rooms acoustic parameters was noted.
5.2. Validity of the experimental method
Experimental conditions
Although there are some advantages for a eld experiment
in real halls as discussed in [3], there are some advantages
for this study in having a synthetic sound eld that enables
quick changes of room acoustic conditions. In the past,
the acoustic conditions created by the synthetic sound eld
were restricted because sound quality or delity was limited [3]. However, the sound eld simulation system used
in this study provided room acoustic conditions on a stage
by using the convolution technique in real time. From a
subjective aspect, musicians obtained real and natural impressions as if they were playing in a real, physical concert
hall environment [7]. Thus, we can claim that the experimental conditions provided a realistic situation.
A parametric investigation into acoustic factors that
have a dominant eect on the musicians performance remains to be done. This could be part of a future study
that utilizes parametrically synthesized room impulse responses. In addition, it should be noted that this study
did not provide any visual information of the room which

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Ueno et al.: Effect of room acoustics on musicians performance

Table X. Comparison of results for VN1. 1 : ordered by the following comments; HS: faster, HM: normal, CH: slow; 2 : ordered by the
following comments; AE: deeper, CH: moderate, HL: modest, HS: as small as possible; 3 : The following number of listeners pointed
out the attribute and order for the dierence; >: 46, : 23; 4 : The dierences between pairs are signicant at the following level; :
1%, >: 5%, : no signicance.

(a) Music tempo (Ave Maria)

(b) Music tempo (Gavotte)
(c) F0 V E (Ave Maria)

Subjective report

Listening experiment3

Acoustic analysis4

HS > HM > CH1

HS > HM > CH1
AE > CH > HL > HS2

(HS, AE) CH
HS > HL > (CH, AE)
AE > HL HS, AE CH

HM HS HL AE CH
HS HL HM AE CH
AE HM CH > HL HS

could inuence musicians perception and performance

in the actual auditoriums. Moreover, this study examined
only the case of solo performance and the case of ensemble performance should raise other issue to be investigated.
These limitations of this study could be considered in future works.
Musical pieces to be performed
For this study two types of musical piecesa slow piece
with long notes and a fast piece with a staccato passage
were selected for the performances and the adjustments
to the room acoustic conditions were observed separately
for the two pieces. The results are possibly related to
the fact that the musicians preferred acoustic conditions
varies according to music tempo [5, 10]. Besides, it should
be pointed that the musical pieces selected in this study
did not include dierent dynamic levels (such as pp, ),
which might be related to the adjustments to room acoustic conditions. These points concerning variation of musical pieces should be taken into account in further investigations of musicians playing adjustments.
Interviews to explore the musicians feedback
Musicians opinions about the room acoustic conditions
were explored through cooperative conversation between
the subjects (musicians) and the experimenter, using the
method adapted from the previous study [7, 15]. As illustrated by the schematic model (Figure 1), the performers
reactions to room acoustics is clearly individually acquired
and is not common to all musicians. Therefore, a determinative questionnaire using predetermined psychological
scales might not work properly in this kind of study. Moreover, the musicians reactions to the room acoustics were
generally kinetic actions in playing style as opposed to verbal responses. Considering these facts, it can be said that
an explorative conversation to cooperatively extract musicians subconscious perceptions and actions is an eective method to reveal individual skill involved in making
each adjustment. In further investigation on the topic, using explorative interviews to extract musicians perceived
impression of the room acoustics, their image of and adjustment to the performance, will provide important cues
to understand linkages between performers internal feedback systems.

6. Conclusions
This study investigated the adjustment of performances to
room acoustics on the basis of a schematic model designed

514

to represent the feedback system of a performer in various physical room acoustic conditions. We employed a
high-delity sound eld simulation, explorative interviews
with performing musicians, and an objective evaluation of
the recorded music signal through a listening test and an
acoustic analysis so that we could systematically explore
the inuence of room acoustics on a musicians performance.
Based on the interviews with the musicians, it was inferred that they adjusted their performance to room acoustics, at least subjectively. It was also observed from the
listening experiment that there are perceivable dierences
between the performed music signals depending on the
acoustic conditions of the recordings. The attributes that
the listeners identied for the variations in the performed
music pieces were mostly in accordance with those identied in the players subjective report. Acoustic analysis for
the musical tempo, the extent of vibrato, and sound level
also demonstrated that the dierences in music performed
under various acoustic conditions were statistically significant.
In this study we have demonstrated the existence of
a circulative system of feedback between performer and
room acoustic conditions, which relates to an acquired
skill of the performing musician. Studying this interactive
model in the context of concert hall acoustics might contribute to a better understanding of the musicians requirements of concert hall acoustics. If we know more about
the adjustment that expert musicians need to make, this
could be useful for learners aiming to develop the skill
necessary to perform in concert halls. More detailed results of acoustic analysis and discussion on the dierences
between musicians have partly been reported [20, 21] and
will be presented in a future paper for further investigation.
Acknowledgement
The authors thank all the musicians who participated in
this study for their willing cooperation. Also, this work
was supported in part by the Sound Technology Promotion Foundation. The part of this work was presented at
the 19th International Congress on Acoustics (2007).
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