3ème Congrés français d'acoustique
3rd French conference on acoustics

J. Phys. IV France 04 (1994) C5-637-C5-640
DOI: 10.1051/jp4:19945137

L'analyse de descriptions verbales dans l'étude des comparaisons de timbres musicaux

V.N. NOSULENKO^{1, 2, 3}, E.S. SAMOYLENKO³ and S. McADAMS<sup>2, 4

1</sup>  Institut de Psychologie, Académie des Sciences de Russie, Yaroslavskaya Str. 13, 129366 Moscou, Russia
²  Laboratoire de Psychologie Expérimentale, CNRS, Université René Descartes, 28 rue Serpente, 75006 Paris, France
³  Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, 54 bd Raspail, 75006 Paris, France
⁴  IRCAM, 1 place Stravinsky, 75004 Paris, France

Abstract
A study of timbre comparisons was carried out within an experimental paradigm where subjects gave numerical evaluations of the dissimilarity between pairs of complex sounds along with a free verbal description of their similarities and differences. Both professional musicians and nonmusicians participated in the study. A method of verbal protocol analysis was developed in which verbalizations were analyzed from three general points of view : 1) the logical structure of comparison operations, 2) the object-relatedness of the comparison, and 3) the referential content. The protocol analysis method proves to be effective in revealing individual differences and general tendencies in the comparison of complex sounds.

© EDP Sciences 1994