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From: fjm/cja
Date: Mon, 07 Oct 1996 07:42:15 -0700 (MST)
Subject: a/b

Those things the brain uses to process sound that Jim mentioned?,
they're pitch, intensity,timbre,tonal memory, and rhythm. An intersting
read for anyone trying to design an experiment concerning sound and humans
is found at
http://hobbs.leesummit.k12.mo.us/projects/lsn/compsci/therapy_music/research.htm

Long address and no doubt I hosed it.

Lets say you were designing an experiment to see if the notes on a pianop
were different. You play a note then another and see if people hear a
difference. Many would. Now if you ask them to name the 1st note then
the second note the failure rate would go way up. Play 7ths and it goes
up even more. Octaves are also confusing. A certain group of people
would hear no difference at all or not be able to know which note was
different right after they were played. Use a very small sample and you
could get all people that can discern the 7ths and the octaves or all
people that don't hear a difference. Does this experiment tell me
whether the notes on as piano are different? No. Does it tell me
something about the way humans hear? Perhaps. Change the instrument to
harmonica and it gets even more murky. Why, because the a/b test doesn't
tell you whether the player can tell the difference between wood and
plastic and it doesn't tell you whether a long term impression about wood
and plastic sounds can be formed. If you knew me to talk to and you
called my house and my brother answered you'd think it was me. If you
were my mother and you expected me you might be tricked but the likely
hood drops and you wouldn't be fooled for long. The human processing of
sounds and memory is a very complex interaction. If I were looking to
design an experiment concerning sound I'd probably do some research 1st
and see what others have done and if and why they felt it worked.
fjm