ERATO Proceedings Istanbul 2006.pdf - Odeon

Multiple Regression « Speech »
R2 = 0,79
p = 0,002: The Equation of the regression is:
a = 181,35 - 9,94 * Strength +29,67 * Reverb Time + 9,21 * Clarity- 2,6 * Dist- 272,86 * STI
Multiple Regression « Music Piano »
R2 = 0,69 p = 0,028 The Equation of the regression is :
a = 109,727 + 11,662 * Reverb -1,268 * Dist- 4,158 * Strength+ 2,112 * Clarity-87,492 * STI
It is clear that for speech, the overall impression is better explained by the physical parameters than
the judgement on the music: RT and Clarity have a very positive effect, instead of the strength and
distance (closely linked) have a negative impact. In this situation, the effect of the Clarity is
controlled by the impact of the distance; so the RT remains the main component
3 CONCLUSION
This piece of research of ERATO constitutes a complementary knowledge to the main Work
Packages of this European project, especially on Taxonomy of the theatres and odea of the
Hellenistic and Roman period as well as the computer simulations of acoustic characteristics of
these theatres
1) - The primary results from this psycho-acoustic experiment consists in a close link between the
physical calculation made by the model ODEON and the perception expressed by a sample of
people on the subjective qualities of the auralised sounds: this corresponds to a global and reciprocal
validation of the modelisation and of the psychological methods applied in this research .
There are very few differences between the preferences provided for the speech signal and for a
piece of classic music. However the acoustic qualities, required according the choices of the sample,
are better determined in the case of the speech signal, in term of reverberation time and strength
The influence of personal variables, like age, gender, to be musician or not, to have some hearing
impairment or not is very low, with no statistical significance
2) – Relationship between physical acoustic parameters and public preference
The perceptive judgements about speech sounds are positive when: the feeling of strength is high,
and that the sound seems to be near the receiver, and when there are a high feeling of RT and Clarity
On the contrary, sounds are judged as negative when G is very high, seems to be very close to the
receiver, and have a low intelligibility and low subjective RT
The feeling on the presented sounds also could be related to the presence of some elements of
architecture in the theatre, and this could provide guidelines for the modern performances to be
presented in old theatre:
The presence of the stage wall is important for the intensity and reverberation of the sound.
For short distance source-receiver, canopy is not useful, and the presence of colonnades is not
required. The position of the source near a stage wall is an interesting feature, to provide sufficient
RT and subjective strength. The source position near the stage wall is particularly good for the
speech perception.
For long distance between the sources and the public, at the second half rows of seats, for instance,
attention must be paid to sufficient strength , that give a feeling of vicinity to the source, but the