Chapter 1T - Introduction to sound synthesis 1T

From the psychoacoustic point of view, the intensity of a sound infl uences the
perception of its pitc h. Without go ing into too many details, it suff ices to note
that above 2,000 Hz, if we increase the intensity of a sound whi le maintaini ng
fixed fr equency, we wil l perceive that t he pitch is rising, w hile below 1,000 Hz,
as int ensity increases, there w ill be a perceived d rop in t he pitch. On the othe r
hand, fr equency also influe nces our perception of its intensity: the sensitivity of
the ear to volume decreases at higher freq uencies, increases in the midrange,
and decreases great ly at low frequencies. This means that the amplitudes of two
sounds must d iffer, depending on th eir frequencies, in order to produce the
same perceived sensation of intensity. A low sound needs more pressure t han
is required for a mid range sound to register wit h the same impact .
There is a graph ical representat ion of t he varying sensit ivity of t he ear to d if -
f erent freq uencies and sound pressures. In f igu re 1.15 we see t his diag ram,
wh ich conta ins isophonic curves that represent conto urs of equal loudness.
The vert ical axis indicates the level of pressure in dB, whi le the ho rizonta l axis
represents frequency. The curves are measured using a unit calied a pho n 12
and ind icate, w it hin t he audib le frequen cy range, t he sound pressure needed
t o prod uce equal impressions of loud ness for a listener. 13

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10 100 1000 10k 100k

Fig. 1.15 Diagram of equal lo udness contours (ISO 226:2003 )

12 The phon is a measure of perceived level of int ensity wh ich takes psychoacoustics into account.
1 phon is equal to 1 dB SPL at a frequency of 1000 Hz.
13 The diagram of equal loud ness contou rs is named after H. Fletcher and W.A. M unson, who
created the chart used fo r many years in psychoacousti c experiments all over the world . Recently,
t his diagram has been refin ed, and the new measures have been adopted as a standard by the
Internat iona l Organizatio n fo r Standardizati on as ISO code 226 :20 03 (see fig . 1.15).
17