Explain Briefly the Physiological Process of Hearing in Humans. Which Factors Affect Our Hearing in Terms of Perception of Loudness and Pitch, and What Part Does Psychoacoustics Play in Our Perception of Sound? Then,
Sound Engineering Principles
Module SED1001
Brief;
Explain briefly the physiological process of hearing in humans. Which factors affect our hearing in terms of perception of loudness and pitch, and what part does psychoacoustics play in our perception of sound?
Then, give an overview of the main historical developments in recording sound. Which development do you think is the most significant and why?
Student n°:1104830
Marking Tutor: Stuart Avery
Date of submission: 23/11/2011
Word count: 1629
It is possible to explain shortly the hearing process, fundamental for any human being, as it follows:
Outer ear
As a sound reaches the ear, this gets directed into the ear canal by the pinna, a funnel-like structure.
The ear canal increases the sound pressure within the range of frequencies corresponding to the human voice, then the tympanic membrane, or eardrum, a boundary between outer and middle ear located at the end of the canal, reacts to the sound and starts to vibrate sympathetically.
Middle ear
The tympanic membrane's vibrations set in motion the middle ear's mechanism, which comprises three ossicles (stapes, incus and malleus) and two small muscles (tensor tympani and stapedius).
Tensor tympani and stapedius normally allow for the ossicles' free motion , but they can tighten up and inhibit their action when the sound gets too loud, in order to prevent damage.(1)
The role of the middle ear's mechanism consists in transmitting the tympanic membrane's vibrations to the fluid filling the inner ear.
10
Inner ear
As the fluid is being set in motion, a real time spectral decomposition of the acoustic signal processed by the ear is carried out by the cochlea, an 'hydromechanical frequency analyzer' (2), which further provides a spatial frequency map of the sound to the vestibular nerves linked to the brain.
The cochlea has a coiled shape, and it is divided in three ducts, the vestibular canal, the tympanum canal and the cochlear duct.
The floor of the cochlear
Module SED1001
Brief;
Explain briefly the physiological process of hearing in humans. Which factors affect our hearing in terms of perception of loudness and pitch, and what part does psychoacoustics play in our perception of sound?
Then, give an overview of the main historical developments in recording sound. Which development do you think is the most significant and why?
Student n°:1104830
Marking Tutor: Stuart Avery
Date of submission: 23/11/2011
Word count: 1629
It is possible to explain shortly the hearing process, fundamental for any human being, as it follows:
Outer ear
As a sound reaches the ear, this gets directed into the ear canal by the pinna, a funnel-like structure.
The ear canal increases the sound pressure within the range of frequencies corresponding to the human voice, then the tympanic membrane, or eardrum, a boundary between outer and middle ear located at the end of the canal, reacts to the sound and starts to vibrate sympathetically.
Middle ear
The tympanic membrane's vibrations set in motion the middle ear's mechanism, which comprises three ossicles (stapes, incus and malleus) and two small muscles (tensor tympani and stapedius).
Tensor tympani and stapedius normally allow for the ossicles' free motion , but they can tighten up and inhibit their action when the sound gets too loud, in order to prevent damage.(1)
The role of the middle ear's mechanism consists in transmitting the tympanic membrane's vibrations to the fluid filling the inner ear.
10
Inner ear
As the fluid is being set in motion, a real time spectral decomposition of the acoustic signal processed by the ear is carried out by the cochlea, an 'hydromechanical frequency analyzer' (2), which further provides a spatial frequency map of the sound to the vestibular nerves linked to the brain.
The cochlea has a coiled shape, and it is divided in three ducts, the vestibular canal, the tympanum canal and the cochlear duct.
The floor of the cochlear
Bibliography: McGraw-Hill (2007) McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, New York, NY, USA Dallos, P SSR Resources (2011), Psychoacoustics Beheng, D Howard, D. & Angus, J. (2007), Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, Oxford, UK Ramsey, F