sonic surrounds

The article below is copied directly from the Spatial Audio Research blog of the Quality and Usability Lab at TU Berlin in order to help spread the word on this toolbox.  The toolbox comes from the AABBA Project (aural assessment by means of binaural algorithms) [pdf], which was introduced by Jens Blauert at the 2009 International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research (ISAAR).
I’ve been using their Auditory Modelling Toolbox for the Lindemann analysis below, and found it to be very well developed.

July 26, 2010 in MATLAB by Hagen Wierstorf | No comments

A new version of the growing Auditory Modelling Toolbox has been released. The main new feature is a binaural model after Lindemann (1986a) that uses a running cross-correlation with inhibition to predict the perceived lateralization of an auditory event. The output of the model depends on the auditory filters and on the time (see figure below).

To install it, you can download it from Sourceforge. You also have to install the Linear Time/frequency Toolbox. Then in Matlab or Octave just go to the directories of the toolboxes and run:

>> ltfatstart
>> amtstart

After this you are able to use the Lindemann model, see help lindemann for an introduction. To produce the figure below, you can run:

>> demo_lindemann;

Another very nice feature is the function exp_lindemann1986a that is able to reproduce the figures of the Lindemann paper. For example to reproduce figure 6 of the paper, just type exp_lindemann('fig6'). The model is under further development and will include in the next release a version of the method proposed byGaik (1993) to identify natural combinations of ITDs and ILDs. Further a version of theBreebaart model will also be included in one of the next releases.

The audio augmented reality installation: “SoundDelta- untitled” (pdf) will be presented at Maison des Metallos in Paris, from 15th May to 7th June 2009.

Dans une zone ponctuée de traces lumineuses au sol, le visiteur muni d’un casque audio est invité à explorer librement l’espace. Au cours de la trajectoire, des sources sonores ponctuelles s’activent lorsqu’on les traverse. La musique est écrite, c’est à dire structurée dans le temps, mais seule la déambulation du spectateur l’actualise, la révèle. Libre à chacun d’inventer son parcours : se laisser porter par la musique, se rapprocher des sources guidé par l’appel de la lumiére, en expérimenter les limites spatiales ou temporelles…

English translation by myself:

In an area punctuated by zones of light on the ground, the visitor, equipped with headphones, is invited to freely explore the space. Sound sources are activated as the listener crosses the zones of light. The music is “written” - that is to say structured in time - but it is only actualised and revealed by the movement of the spectator. The listener is free to make their own way through the piece - to be carried by the music, or guided by the light zones towards individual sounds - to experiment with its spatial and temporal limits.

Credits:

• François Eudes Chanfrault (composer)
• REMU
• TELECOM ParisTech
• CNRS-LIMSI (Orsay)
• Universite? Paris 13 (L2TI)
• Research supported by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche, France
• Artistic applications by: Collectif MU.