Friday, August 21, 2009

Brain & Hearing

We don't all hear the same thing the same way. Part of it has to be genetic. Part of it is also how our brains are programed by previous experience and social conditioning. Here's a neat example of that over on John Ericson's Horn Notes.

He's reviewing a model of horn no longer made that has a certain reputation among horn players. In this quote he's describing the results of a blind listening test.

>>The results . . .  show that when people did not know it was a Reynolds they loved the tone and when they did know it was a Reynolds they hated it.<<

1 comment:

  1. Jeffrey - Thanks for that comment. What I find so tantalizing about this is wondering if there isn't some way use it in a positive way. Musicians spend a lot of time working on technique hoping to more deeply affect their audiences. What if there were some simple nonmusical way of helping the audience experience the music the way you'd like them to?

    Also, thanks for making the connection to the previous post about listening with eyes closed. The penny didn't drop until I read your comment.

    ReplyDelete