The paper describes the algorithms used in MOSS, an additive synthesis library, to realize sounds with a prescribed loudness. Loudness is a perceived attribute of sound that depends both on the amount of energy carried by the sound wave and on the way this energy is processed by the ear-brain system. The loudness routines in MOSS translate the target loudness of a sound into amplitudes of the c...

The paper describes an auditory experiment aimed at testing whether the intrinsic loudness of a stimulus with a given voice quality influences the way in which it signals affect. Synthesised voice quality stimuli in which intrinsic loudness was systematically manipulated were presented to listeners to test the effect of this manipulation on the affective colouring of the stimuli. The results sh...

In environmental noise control one commonly employs the A-weighted sound level as an approximate measure of the effect of noise on people. A measure that is more closely related to direct human perception of noise is the loudness level. At constant A-weighted sound level, the loudness level of a noise signal varies considerably with the shape of the frequency spectrum of the noise signal. In pa...

Studies of loudness change for tones with linearly varying levels using different loudness rating methods, such as direct estimation or indirect estimation based on the start and end levels, have revealed an asymmetry depending on the direction of change (increasing vs decreasing). The present study examines loudness asymmetry between increasing and decreasing levels for 1-kHz tones over the ra...

Temporal integration for loudness of 5-kHz tones was measured as a function of level between 2 and 60 dB SL. Absolute thresholds and levels required to produce equal loudness were measured for 2-, 10-, 50-, and 250-ms tones using adaptive, two-interval, two-alternative forced-choice procedures. The procedure for loudness balances was new and employed ten interleaved tracks to obtain concurrent ...

This paper reviews recent findings on the form of the loudness function for mid-frequency tones. Loudness matches between pure tones and tone complexes with equal-SL components show that loudness at threshold exceeds zero and that the loudness function approaches a power function with asymptotic exponent (re intensity) somewhat greater than unity at levels well below threshold. They also show t...

Binaural loudness balance between electric and acoustic stimulation is obtained in auditory brainstem implant listeners who had substantial acoustic hearing in one ear. The data are well described by a linear relationship between acoustic decibels and electric microamps. Based upon this linear relationship, we propose an exponential model of loudness growth in electric stimulation. The exponent...

Partial loudness can be used as high-level, perceptually relevant metadata in the context of semantic audio, especially in multitrack mixtures or wherever masking scenarios are desired. Subjective evaluation of the partial loudness model of Glasberg and Moore on multitrack signals in the form of equal loudness matching experiment is presented. The observed results imply that the current model u...

Communicating an auditory experience with words is a difficult task and, in consequence, people often rely on imitative non-verbal vocalizations and gestures. This work explored the combination of such vocalizations and gestures to communicate auditory sensations and representations elicited by non-vocal everyday sounds. Whereas our previous studies have analyzed vocal imitations, the present r...

Recent studies have shown that spectral loudness summation depends on duration. Modifications of a current loudness model were investigated with respect to their ability to predict this effect. The original version of the model could not simulate the duration dependence of spectral loudness summation. To reconcile the model with the loudness data, three different mechanisms accentuating tempora...