Psychoacoustics Lab Activity

Ryan J. Cassidy and Julius O. Smith III

REALSIMPLE Project¹

Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA)
Department of Music
Stanford University
Stanford, California 94305

RealSimple Project²

Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), and the
Department of Electrical Engineering
Stanford University
Stanford, CA

Abstract:

This laboratory exercise, aimed at an early college-level audience, serves as a primer on basic psychoacoustic principles. In addition, an included extended activity involves having the student compute a state-of-the-art loudness profile based on work by leading researchers in the field.

Detailed Contents (and Navigation)

• Introduction
• Objectives
• Background and Theory
  • Auditory Anatomy
  • The Cochlea
  • Place Theory of Sound Perception
  • Cochlear Excitation Patterns and the Excitogram
  • Equivalent Rectangular Bandwidth (ERB)
  
  
• Procedure
  • Creating a Cochlear Excitogram
  • Creating a Time-Varying Loudness Profile
  
  
• Acknowledgements
• Bibliography
• About this document ...