Aesthetic sound-quality reactions depend strongly on sociocultural background

Evidence

How the Study of Noise Legislation Reveals Cultural Differences Noise by-laws are not created arbitrarily by individuals; they are argued into existence by societies. Hence they can be read to reveal different cultural attitudes toward sound phobias. For instance, along with articles dealing with well-known noise sources, the city of Genoa (Italy), in its Regolamento di Polizia Comunale (1969), identifies some unusual problems. Article 65 states that from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., shutters must be opened and closed as quietly as possible. A keynote for the European, the shutter is a soundmark for the outsider. — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 646 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Whether a sound is figure or ground has partly to do with acculturation (trained habits), partly with the individual’s state of mind (mood, interest) and partly with the individual’s relation to the field (native, outsider). It has nothing to do with the physical dimensions of the sound, for I have shown how even very loud sounds, such as those of the Industrial Revolution, remained quite inconspicuous until their social importance began to be questioned. — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 503 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Add to this the popular notion that we all “hear differently,” that one person’s meat might be another person’s poison, and we have a situation where a universally satisfying solution might not be possible. Fortunately reality is not so complex, and although tastes in music are demonstrably highly personal, enormously variable, we discover that recognizing the most common deficiencies in reproduced sounds is a surprisingly universal skill when listeners are given a chance to reveal their unbiased opinions. More good news is that most people can do it, even those who think they have “tin ears.” Inexperienced listeners take more time, make more mistakes along the way, but in the end, their opinions generally agree with those of the experts. Only those with hearing loss routinely depart from the norm. To a remarkable extent we seem to be able to separate the evaluation of a reproduction technology from that of the program. It is not necessary to be familiar with or to enjoy the music to be able to recognize that it is or is not well reproduced. — , Toole, Floyd E - Sound reproduction-…, 48 (#contradicts, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Music communicates emotion and shared cultural symbolism rather than propositional content; Noise by-laws function as ethnographic records of cultural sound attitudes — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 646; Acoustic prominence depends on culture and attention, not loudness — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 503 (+7 more)

Related

• Noise by-laws function as ethnographic records of cultural sound attitudes (similarity 0.87)
• Cultural background outweighs sound energy in perceived noise (similarity 0.85)
• Acoustic prominence depends on culture and attention, not loudness (similarity 0.83)
• Sound-source evaluation reflects personal culture more than physical acoustic properties (similarity 0.82)
• Recognizing reproduced-sound deficiencies is a universal skill independent of taste (similarity 0.81)
• Sound quality is fundamentally subjective and requires perceptual testing to characterize (similarity 0.81)
• Sound denotes both a physical wave and the subjective percept it evokes (similarity 0.80)
• Sound reproduction quality depends on both physical acoustics and human perception (similarity 0.80)
• Social and demographic factors shape how people evaluate urban sound levels (similarity 0.80)
• High-quality sonic ambience literally increases human acoustic perceptual capacity (similarity 0.80)
• Noise legislation is a documentary register of acoustic phobias (similarity 0.80)
• Psychoacoustics quantifies physical sound signals into perceived auditory attributes (similarity 0.80)
• Psychoacoustic findings are experimentally established yet often lack anatomical or physical explanation. (similarity 0.79)
• Noise pollution persists because music education neglected soundscape awareness (similarity 0.79)
• Attention shapes what a listener perceives as loud in complex soundscapes (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Noise by-laws function as ethnographic records of cultural sound attitudes #corroborates (0.85) — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 646
• Acoustic prominence depends on culture and attention, not loudness #corroborates (0.80) — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 503
• Musical taste and harmonic conventions evolve as innovations become tradition #expands (0.80)
• Recognizing reproduced-sound deficiencies is a universal skill independent of taste #contradicts (0.80) — , Toole, Floyd E - Sound reproduction-…, 48
• Pitch perception rests on universal psychoacoustic mechanisms across all cultures #contradicts (0.75) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 771
• Room acoustics and presentation method alter how listeners perceive sounds #qualifies (0.72)