Perceptual spectrographic modeling extends from instrument timbre into speech, forensic audio, and singing.

Evidence

Table 5.1, which has been adapted from Howard and Tyrrell (1997), provides a useful summary of the key features of the human hearing spectrogram example timbre descriptors (including those proposed by Helmholtz) and example acoustic instruments for each of the four Helmholtz general rules. Howard and Tyrrell (1997) note, though, “that the grouping of instruments into categories is somewhat generalized, since it may well be possible to produce sounds on these instruments where the acoustic output would fall into another timbral category based on the frequency domain [hearing modeling] description, for example by the use of an extended playing technique.” Human hearing modeling spectrographic analysis has also been applied to speech (Brookes et al., 2000), forensic audio (Howard et al., 1995) and singing (Howard, 2005), where it is providing new insights into the acoustic content that is relevant to human perception of sound. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1506

Categorization

• XREF: Links to the chapter’s Helmholtz general rules of timbre and the earlier hearing-model spectrogram examples.
• SEED: Angle: how the same perceptual-spectrogram tool reading violin timbre also reads a forensic voiceprint — one analysis, three domains.