Unmasked and partially masked loudness in musical dynamics
Eberhard Zwicker · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1989
In music, two varieties of loudness are important. In one case, the loudness of the whole orchestra is being judged. The sensation may be characterized by the expression, “The finale was impressively loud.” In the second case, the loudness of a single voice or instrument that is almost totally masked by other instruments is being judged. Here, the sensation may result in a statement such as, “The voice of the singer was hardly audible.” There are two reasons for such masking, both realized in music: the spectral (simultaneous) partial masking and the temporal (post-stimulus) partial masking. The first is more pronounced in music and influences the transparency of the presentation. The second is related to the reverberation time. Dependencies of partially masked loudnesses are outlined quantitatively using abstract and musical sounds. A videotape presentation will illustrate these effects using the temporal variation of specific loudness-critical band rate distributions outlined on the screen of these loudness meters.