Apparent source width: Difference between revisions

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The apparent source width and other subjective sound properties in many concert halls have been rated by experts, including [[Conducting|conductors]] and [[music critic]]s. Together, apparent source width and listener envelopment are the most important contributors to the spaciousness impression of a concert hall which is the most important contributor to the quality ratings of concert halls.<ref name=beranek />

In the field of subjective [[room acoustics]] the sound radiation characteristics are ignored and the apparent source width is explained by means of objective measures of room [[impulse response]]s, like the binaural quality index, the lateral energy fraction and the early sound strength.<ref name=beranek /><ref name=ziemer /><ref name=blau /> These tend to correlate with the subjective expert ratings. Accordingly, early, incoherent, lateral reflections together with a high [[loudness]] of low frequencies in the early reflections of the room reverberation increase the apparent source width and thus the overall spaciousness and quality of a concert hall. This knowledge is used in [[architectural acoustics]] to design a concert hall that exhibits the desired acoustical properties.<!--[[User:Kvng/RTH]]-->

==Music production==

In [[audio mastering]] and [[sound recording and reproduction]] a major task of the [[audio engineer]]s and [[record producer]]s is to make musical instruments sound huge.<ref name="huge">{{cite book|last1=Levinit|first1=D.J.|editor1-last=Greenbaum|editor1-first=K.|editor2-last=Barzel|editor2-first=R.|title=Audio Anecdotes|publisher=A K Peters|___location=Natick|volume=I|isbn=978-1568811048|pages=147–158|chapter=Instrument (and vocal) recording tips and tricks|date=2004-03-11}}</ref> The increase of apparent source width is as important as [[Equalization (audio)|spectral balancing]] and [[dynamic range compression]].<ref name="mastering">{{cite book|last1=Kaiser|first1=C.|title=1001 Mastering Tipps|date=2013|publisher=mitp|___location=Heidelberg|page=23,40}}</ref>

This is can be achieved with established recording techniques, like [[Microphone practice#A-B technique: time-of-arrival stereophony|A-B technique]], [[Blumlein pair|Blumlein technique]], [[Microphone practice#M/S technique: Mid/Side stereophony|M-S technique]], [[ORTF stereo technique]], [[Microphone practice#X-Y technique: intensity stereophony|X-Y technique]], or by experimenting with different types of microphones and microphone locations, like .<!--[[Microphone#Dynamic|dynamic microphonesUser:Kvng/RTH]], [[Microphone#Ribbon|ribbon microphones]], [[Microphone#contact microphone|contact microphones]], [[boundary microphone]]s and [[Microphone#Speakers as microphones|loudspeakers as microphones]].-->

Signals that sound too narrow — like too coherent stereo recordings monophonic recordings or synthetic sounds — can be widened by so-called pseudostereophony.<ref name="csound">{{cite journal|last1=Cabrera|first1=Andrés|editor1-last=Hearon|editor1-first=James|editor2-last=Yi|editor2-first=Steven|title=Pseudo-stereo Techniques|journal=CSound Journal|date=2011|issue=14|url=http://csoundjournal.com/issue14/PseudoStereo.html|accessdate=25 May 2018}}</ref><ref name="faller">{{cite conference|last1=Faller|first1=Christoph|title=Pseudostereophony Revisited|conference=Audio Engineering Society Convention 118|pages=paper number 6477|date=2005|url=http://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=13193|accessdate=25 May 2018}}</ref><ref name=ziemer/> These techniques have in common that they [[decorrelation|decorrelate]] the stereo channels by applying individual [[audio filter]]s, [[Reverberation#Creating reverberation effects|reverberation]] and [[Delay (audio effect)|delay effects]] to each. This way the two channels' signals are similar enough to be heard as one integrated stream, i.e., one auditory sound object. At the same time the signals are so diverse that they do not seem to originate in a tiny [[point source]] but rather in a broad source.