Programme et inscription (pdf) - SFA

Cloture des journées:
Petr Janata (Center for Mind and Brain University of California, Davis)
The fact that we often use various adjectives, e.g. pure, rough, dark, flowing, to describe different
timbres suggests that sounds and words activate a common semantic system which facilitates such
comparisons. Perhaps the clearest example is for environmental sounds, where the sound that an
object makes is a clear referent to that object. However, the semantic relationship between musical
timbres and more abstract concepts is not well understood. I will describe some recent studies in my
lab that try to look at such mappings. The basic approach is to ask subjects to rate the similarity
between sound and word pairs, word and word pairs, or sound and sound pairs, using a library of 60
sounds and 60 words. We then perform factor analysis on the average similarity matrix in hopes of
recovering the factor structure of the semantic space in which the items are compared. The results
suggest that words and sounds are being compared along dimensions of valence and different forms
of arousal, consistent with earlier studies of semantic and emotional structure. When considered in
terms of acoustic attributes, groups of sounds do form clusters within the factor structure for some
attributes, though individual acoustic dimensions are not aligned specifically with individual
factors.
14- Programme des Journées Perception Sonore, Lyon, 18-19 janvier 2007