SUBJECTIVE PREFERENCE OF CELLISTS FOR THE DELAY TIME OF A SINGLE REFLECTION IN A PERFORMANCE

To provide knowledge useful in designing the stage enclosure in a concert hall, Nakayama reported the subjective preference of alto-recorder players for sound fields with a single reflection [Acustica54, 217–221 (1984)]. The present study evaluates the subjective preferences, with regard to ease of performance, of five cello soloists for the delay time of a single reflection. The scale values of preference for the delay time of a single reflection were obtained using a paired comparison method, and the results were compared with those for the alto-recorder players and listeners. The scale values of preference for both individuals and for global cellists with regard to the delay time of reflection can be expressed by a single approximate formula, normalizing the delay time by the most-preferred delay time observed for different music motifs. A notable finding is that the most-preferred delay time of a single reflection for each cellist can be calculated from the amplitude of the reflection and the minimum value of the effective duration (τe)minof the running autocorrelation function of the music motifs played by each cellist.