The significance of offset transients in listener identification of pipe organ stops
Alastair C. Disley, David M. Howard · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2007
Onset transients have been demonstrated to have a significant effect on listener identification of pipe organ stops and have been widely studied (Disley, A. C., and Howard, D. M., (2006). Onset transient significance in listener identification of pipe organ stops, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 119, 3333, abstract only). Offset transients in contrast are frequently ignored, but the authors’ previous research suggests that for certain stops, in particular reed stops, the offset transient is a significant cue in correct listener identification. Eight samples of individual pipes, covering most common stop types, were presented to trained organists in a listening test. Each sample was presented with and without its offset transient, the transient being replaced by an amplitude ramp in the latter case. To avoid an obvious curtailment of a reverberant tail, all samples were recorded within a closed swell box, and then had reverberation added using impulse responses of real churches to preserve the impression of a real and typical listening environment. The results demonstrate that offset transients are important in listener identification of some stops, but the significance varies between different classes of stop.