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“How to engineer a mood - A study of sound in audiovisual contexts” is a study on the perception of sound in audiovisual contexts, i.e. sound and the image combined. There seems to be a consensus among researchers in the field on the fact that music influences the interpretation on film. However, there does not seem to be a specific consensus in regards to other sounds than music, such as the human voice or sound effects. Guided by a set of theories, an audiovisual text will be analyzed, in part through results of a quasi-experimental pilot survey and partly by the author herself. This paper would like to contribute in making the relationship of different sounds in conjunction with the image become slightly clearer. The outcome will help to show how a mood can be created with sounds. Although there is a limited number of theoretical models that have been developed in this field of research, the theories that are introduced will hopefully help to create a better understanding of sound in audiovisual texts.  Finally the theories and results will come together in this thesis; this will lead to an analysis and produce ideas for further research on how sound in audiovisual contexts influence our emotions. As mentioned before there has not been much research in this field, hopefully this thesis will be able to provide some clues and could serve as a first step for further research to find more definite answers on how emotions work in a audiovisual context. However, many questions will remain unanswered, and further research is needed to answer them.

We begin with an overview of some signal processing terms and topics relevant to music analysis including facts about human sound perception. We then discuss common objectives of music analysis and existing methods for accomplishing them. We conclude with an introduction to a new method of automatically transcribing a piece of music from a digital audio signal.

The mammalian auditory system generates representations of the physical world in terms of auditory objects. To decide which object class a particular sound belongs to, the auditory system must recognise the patterns of acoustic components that form the acoustic “fingerprint” of the sound’s auditory class. Where in the central auditory system such patterns are detected and what form the neural processing takes that underlies their detection are unanswered questions in sensory neurophysiology. In the research conducted for this thesis I used artificial vowel sounds to explore the neural and perceptual characteristics of auditory object recognition in rats. I recorded cortical responses from the primary auditory cortex (A1) in anaesthetised rats and determined how well the spiking responses, evoked by artificial vowels, resolve the spectral components that define vowel classes in human perception. The recognition of an auditory class rests on the ability to detect the combination of spectral components that all member sounds of the class share. I generated and evaluated models of the integration by A1 responses of the acoustic components that define human vowels classes. The hippocampus is a candidate area for neural responses that are specific to particular object classes. In this thesis I also report the results of a collaboration during which we investigated how the hippocampus responds to vowels in awake behaving animals. Finally, I explored the processing of vowels behaviourally, testing the perceptual ability of rats to discriminate and classify vowels and in particular whether rats use combinations of spectral components to recognise members of vowel classes. For the behavioural training I built a novel integrated housing and training cage that allows rats to train themselves in auditory recognition tasks. Combining the results and methods presented in this thesis will help reveal how the mammalian auditory system recognises auditory objects.

A hiperacusia e o zumbido representam alterações na percepção dos sons, estando freqüentemente associados. Ambos refletem um estado de hiperatividade da via auditiva, gerado por alterações na plasticidade neuronal geralmente associadas à super estimulação ou deprivação sensorial. A hiperacusia refere-se a uma disfunção na percepção da intensidade de sons externos, o zumbido refere-se à percepção de um som interno que não tem uma fonte geradora externa. Afetam adultos e crianças e podem ocasionar limitações na qualidade de vida. Ainda são muito negligenciados por otorrinolaringologistas e pediatras, apesar da sua presença não ser incomum na infância. Delineamos um estudo populacional transversal randomizado entre crianças de 5 a 12 anos cujo objetivo principal foi estimar a prevalência da hiperacusia e do zumbido. O objetivo secundário foi avaliar a associação a possíveis fatores de risco e a causalidade entre os sintomas. Foram avaliadas 506 crianças em ambiente escolar. Os dados foram coletados por meio de questionário aos pais ou responsáveis, entrevista com as crianças, otoscopia e testes auditivos. A classificação dos resultados seguiu critérios previamente estabelecidos. Participaram 240 meninas (47,4%) e 266 meninos (52,6%), idade média 9.46 anos (DP= 2.09). Os limiares auditivos foram classificados como normais em 81%, disacusia de grau mínimo/leve em 14% e disacusia de grau moderado/ profundo em 4% das crianças. A prevalência da sensação de zumbido foi 37,5%, incômodo com zumbido 19,6% e hiperacusia 3,2%. Os fatores de risco foram analisados por um modelo de regressão multivariado. Em relação ao zumbido, os fatores associados foram: idade, gênero, perda auditiva, história de exposição aos sons e cinetose. Para a hiperacusia, o único fator de risco encontrado foi a perda auditiva leve na orelha esquerda. A presença de hiperacusia demonstrou ser o maior fator de risco associado ao incomodo com o zumbido / Hyperacusis and tinnitus are altered states of sound perception and are frequently associated. Both reflect a hyperactivity of the auditory pathway as an expression of neural plasticity which is often triggered by over stimulation or deprivation of sensorial stimuli. Hyperacusis is a dysfunction on loudness perception of external sounds and tinnitus a perception of an internal sound without an external source. They might affect adults and children causing interference on quality of life. They are still neglected by otolaryngologysts and pediatricians. A prospective cross sectional study was designed to estimate tinnitus and hyperacusis prevalence and evaluate association to possible risk factors and causality among them. Children from 5 to 12 years of age were evaluated in the school environment. Data was collected searching parental information, children\'s interview, otoscopy and audiometric tests. The symptoms were classified according to previous established criteria. The final sample counted on 240 girls and 266 boys, mean age 9.46 (SD= 2.09). Hearing thresholds were classified as normal in 81%, minimum to mild hearing loss in 14% and moderate to profound hearing loss in 4% of the children. Prevalence of tinnitus sensation was found to be 37.5%, tinnitus suffering 19.6% and hyperacusis 3.2%. Age, gender, hearing loss, history of noise exposure and motion sickness were risk factors to tinnitus. Left ear hearing loss was a risk factor for hyperacusis. The presence of hyperacusis demonstrated to be the highest risk factor to tinnitus suffering

A hiperacusia e o zumbido representam alterações na percepção dos sons, estando freqüentemente associados. Ambos refletem um estado de hiperatividade da via auditiva, gerado por alterações na plasticidade neuronal geralmente associadas à super estimulação ou deprivação sensorial. A hiperacusia refere-se a uma disfunção na percepção da intensidade de sons externos, o zumbido refere-se à percepção de um som interno que não tem uma fonte geradora externa. Afetam adultos e crianças e podem ocasionar limitações na qualidade de vida. Ainda são muito negligenciados por otorrinolaringologistas e pediatras, apesar da sua presença não ser incomum na infância. Delineamos um estudo populacional transversal randomizado entre crianças de 5 a 12 anos cujo objetivo principal foi estimar a prevalência da hiperacusia e do zumbido. O objetivo secundário foi avaliar a associação a possíveis fatores de risco e a causalidade entre os sintomas. Foram avaliadas 506 crianças em ambiente escolar. Os dados foram coletados por meio de questionário aos pais ou responsáveis, entrevista com as crianças, otoscopia e testes auditivos. A classificação dos resultados seguiu critérios previamente estabelecidos. Participaram 240 meninas (47,4%) e 266 meninos (52,6%), idade média 9.46 anos (DP= 2.09). Os limiares auditivos foram classificados como normais em 81%, disacusia de grau mínimo/leve em 14% e disacusia de grau moderado/ profundo em 4% das crianças. A prevalência da sensação de zumbido foi 37,5%, incômodo com zumbido 19,6% e hiperacusia 3,2%. Os fatores de risco foram analisados por um modelo de regressão multivariado. Em relação ao zumbido, os fatores associados foram: idade, gênero, perda auditiva, história de exposição aos sons e cinetose. Para a hiperacusia, o único fator de risco encontrado foi a perda auditiva leve na orelha esquerda. A presença de hiperacusia demonstrou ser o maior fator de risco associado ao incomodo com o zumbido / Hyperacusis and tinnitus are altered states of sound perception and are frequently associated. Both reflect a hyperactivity of the auditory pathway as an expression of neural plasticity which is often triggered by over stimulation or deprivation of sensorial stimuli. Hyperacusis is a dysfunction on loudness perception of external sounds and tinnitus a perception of an internal sound without an external source. They might affect adults and children causing interference on quality of life. They are still neglected by otolaryngologysts and pediatricians. A prospective cross sectional study was designed to estimate tinnitus and hyperacusis prevalence and evaluate association to possible risk factors and causality among them. Children from 5 to 12 years of age were evaluated in the school environment. Data was collected searching parental information, children\'s interview, otoscopy and audiometric tests. The symptoms were classified according to previous established criteria. The final sample counted on 240 girls and 266 boys, mean age 9.46 (SD= 2.09). Hearing thresholds were classified as normal in 81%, minimum to mild hearing loss in 14% and moderate to profound hearing loss in 4% of the children. Prevalence of tinnitus sensation was found to be 37.5%, tinnitus suffering 19.6% and hyperacusis 3.2%. Age, gender, hearing loss, history of noise exposure and motion sickness were risk factors to tinnitus. Left ear hearing loss was a risk factor for hyperacusis. The presence of hyperacusis demonstrated to be the highest risk factor to tinnitus suffering

Ces travaux de thèse concernent la conception d’un dispositif de restitution sonore léger en salle usuelle, permettant la diffusion de signaux binauraux. La priorité du travail est la précision dans la reproduction du niveau et du timbre, avant la spatialisation du son. Afin d’assurer la compatibilité avec les signaux binauraux existants et pour proposer un système à faible nombre de canaux, la technologie transaurale est prise comme point de départ. Pour limiter la coloration introduite par la salle d’écoute, particulièrement gênante, il est proposé de placer les sources du système à proximité de l’auditeur afin de maximiser le rapport champ direct sur champ diffus. Ce placement inhabituel a plusieurs effets, parmi lesquels quatre ont été étudiés séparément : l’influence des filtres transauraux sur les sources électro-acoustiques, les variations inter-individuelles de morphologies, l’effet de salle et le placement de l’auditeur. Des tests d’écoute ont été réalisés pour une sélection de configurations, et les résultats ont permis d’implémenter des indicateurs objectifs représentatifs des réponses des auditeurs. La synthèse de ces indicateurs a permis de proposer trois configurations considérées comme optimales, et dont la combinaison pourrait être envisagée. / This work deals with the design of a 3D sound system involving a few number of loudspeaker and able to work inside any usual room, for reproducing binaural sounds. This system focuses on an accurate reproduction of perceived level and timbre, even before the sound spatialization. To ensure compatibility with binaural recordings and to achieve a system with a low number of loudspeakers, this work started from a transaural system. To avoid tone coloration induced by the listening room, the sound sources are placed close to the listener, thus maximizing the energy ratio between direct and diffuse fields. This has consequences on other aspects, four of which are considered separately: inter-individual morphological variations, demands on the electro-acoustic sources, room effect and misalignment of the listener. Some configurations have been evaluated in listening tests, and objective indicators are deduced from these results. The generalization allows to propose three configurations considered as optimal, and which might be combined.

Un des enjeux actuels de la synthèse sonore est le contrôle perceptif (i.e. à partir d’évocations) des processus de synthèse. En effet, les modèles de synthèse sonore dépendent généralement d’un grand nombre de paramètres de bas niveau dont la manipulation nécessite une expertise des processus génératifs. Disposer de contrôles perceptifs sur un synthétiseur offre cependant beaucoup d’avantages en permettant de générer les sons à partir d’une description du ressenti et en offrant à des utilisateurs non-experts la possibilité de créer et de contrôler des sons intuitivement. Un tel contrôle n’est pas immédiat et se base sur des hypothèses fortes liées à notre perception, notamment la présence de morphologies acoustiques, dénommées ``invariants'', responsables de l’identification d’un évènement sonore.Cette thèse aborde cette problématique en se focalisant sur les invariants liés à l’action responsable de la génération des sons. Elle s’articule suivant deux parties. La première a pour but d’identifier des invariants responsables de la reconnaissance de certaines interactions continues : le frottement, le grattement et le roulement. Le but est de mettre en œuvre un modèle de synthèse temps-réel contrôlable intuitivement et permettant d’effectuer des transitions perceptives continues entre ces différents types d’interactions (e.g. transformer progressivement un son de frottement en un son de roulement). Ce modèle s'inscrira dans le cadre du paradigme ``action-objet'' qui stipule que chaque son résulte d’une action (e.g. gratter) sur un objet (e.g. une plaque en bois). Ce paradigme s’adapte naturellement à une approche de la synthèse par modèle source-filtre, où l’information sur l’objet est contenue dans le ``filtre'', et l’information sur l’action dans la ``source''. Pour ce faire, diverses approches sont abordées : études de modèles physiques, approches phénoménologiques et tests perceptifs sur des sons enregistrés et synthétisés.La seconde partie de la thèse concerne le concept de ``métaphores sonores'' en élargissant la notion d’objet à des textures sonores variées. La question posée est la suivante : étant donnée une texture sonore quelconque, est-il possible de modifier ses propriétés intrinsèques pour qu’elle évoque une interaction particulière comme un frottement ou un roulement par exemple ? Pour créer ces métaphores, un processus de synthèse croisée est utilisé dans lequel la partie ``source'' est basée sur les morphologies sonores des actions précédemment identifiées et la partie ``filtre'' restitue les propriétés de la texture. L’ensemble de ces travaux ainsi que le paradigme choisi offre dès lors de nouvelles perspectives pour la constitution d’un véritable langage des sons. / Perceptual control (i.e. from evocations) of sound synthesis processes is a current challenge. Indeed, sound synthesis models generally involve a lot of low-level control parameters, whose manipulation requires a certain expertise with respect to the sound generation process. Thus, intuitive control of sound generation is interesting for users, and especially non-experts, because they can create and control sounds from evocations. Such a control is not immediate and is based on strong assumptions linked to our perception, and especially the existence of acoustic morphologies, so-called ``invariants'', responsible for the recognition of specific sound events.This thesis tackles the problem by focusing on invariants linked to specific sound generating actions. If follows two main parts. The first is to identify invariants responsible for the recognition of three categories of continuous interactions: rubbing, scratching and rolling. The aim is to develop a real-time sound synthesizer with intuitive controls that enables users to morph continuously between the different interactions (e.g. progressively transform a rubbing sound into a rolling one). The synthesis model will be developed in the framework of the ``action-object'' paradigm which states that sounds can be described as the result of an action (e.g. scratching) on an object (e.g. a wood plate). This paradigm naturally fits the well-known source-filter approach for sound synthesis, where the perceptually relevant information linked to the object is described in the ``filter'' part, and the action-related information is described in the ``source'' part. To derive our generic synthesis model, several approaches are treated: physical models, phenomenological approaches and listening tests with recorded and synthesized sounds.The second part of the thesis deals with the concept of ``sonic metaphors'' by expanding the object notion to various sound textures. The question raised is the following: given any sound texture, is it possible to modify its intrinsic properties such that it evokes a particular interaction, like rolling or rubbing for instance? To create these sonic metaphors, a cross-synthesis process is used where the ``source'' part is based on the sound morphologies linked to the actions previously identified, and the ``filter'' part renders the sound texture properties. This work, together with the chosen paradigm offers new perspectives to build a sound language.

Dissertation The Trip focuses on auditory experience and verbal description of certain surroundings. Essential is cooperation with a blind person Martin Chrastecky, who applies seriously to audio perception. The main outputs are audio records which came into being during this cooperation and the mutual discovering of the space where we live is recorded there.