@inproceedings{vonBergSchwoererPrinzetal.2023, author = {von Berg, Markus and Schw{\"o}rer, Paul and Prinz, Lukas and Steffens, Jochen}, title = {Analysis of physical and perceptual properties of room impulse responses: development of an online tool}, series = {Forum Acusticuum 2023: 10th Convention of European Acoustics Association, Turin, Italy, 11th-15th September 2023}, booktitle = {Forum Acusticuum 2023: 10th Convention of European Acoustics Association, Turin, Italy, 11th-15th September 2023}, publisher = {EAA}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:due62-opus-41955}, pages = {8}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Over the past decades, research in room acoustics has established several derivative measures of an impulse response, some of which are incorporated in the ISO 3382 standards. These parameters intend to represent perceptual qualities, but were developed without a consistent modeling of room acoustical perception. More recent research proposed comprehensive inventories of room acoustic perception that are purely based on evaluations by human subjects, such as the Room Acoustical Quality Index (RAQI). In this work RA-QI scores acquired for 70 room impulse responses were predicted from room acoustical parameters. Except for Reverberance, the prediction of RAQI factors performed rather poor. In most cases, the sound source had a greater impact on RAQI scores. All analyses are published in an online tool, where users can upload omnidirectional and binaural impulse responses, and instantly obtain and visualize several physical descriptors, as well as predicted RAQI scores for three different sound sources. So far, acceptable prediction accuracy is achieved for Reverberance, Strength, Irregular Decay, Clarity and Intimacy. Larger data sets of evaluated impulse responses are required to improve the model performance and enable reliable predictions of room acoustical quality. Therefore, the administration of RAQI evaluations within the website is currently being developed.}, language = {en} } @misc{VersuemerSteffensRosenthal2023, author = {Vers{\"u}mer, Siegbert and Steffens, Jochen and Rosenthal, Fabian}, title = {Extensive crowdsourced dataset of in-situ evaluated binaural soundscapes of private dwellings containing subjective sound-related and situational ratings along with person factors to study time-varying influences on sound perception - research data}, edition = {V.01.1}, address = {Zenodo}, doi = {10.5281/zenodo.7193937}, year = {2023}, abstract = {The soundscape approach highlights the role of situational factors in sound evaluations; however, only a few studies have applied a multi-domain approach including sound-related, person-related, and time-varying situational variables. Therefore, we conducted a study based on the Experience Sampling Method to measure the relative contribution of a broad range of potentially relevant acoustic and non-auditory variables in predicting indoor soundscape evaluations. Here we present the comprehensive dataset for which 105 participants reported temporally (rather) stable trait variables such as noise sensitivity, trait affect, and quality of life. They rated 6.594 situations regarding the soundscape standard dimensions, perceived loudness, and the saliency of its sound components and evaluated situational variables such as state affect, perceived control, activity, and location. To complement these subject-centered data, we additionally crowdsourced object-centered data by having participants make binaural measurements of each indoor soundscape at their homes using a low-(self-)noise recorder. These recordings were used to compute (psycho-)acoustical indices such as the energetically averaged loudness level, the A-weighted energetically averaged equivalent continuous sound pressure level, and the A-weighted five-percent exceedance level. This complex hierarchical data can be used to investigate time-varying non-auditory influences on sound perception and to develop soundscape indicators based on the binaural recordings to predict soundscape evaluations.}, subject = {soundscape}, language = {en} } @masterthesis{Rosenthal2022, type = {Bachelor Thesis}, author = {Rosenthal, Fabian}, title = {Einsatz und Anpassung von Methoden der Audio-Feature-Extraktion am Beispiel von Indoor Soundscapes}, address = {D{\"u}sseldorf}, organization = {Hochschule D{\"u}sseldorf}, doi = {10.20385/opus4-4399}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:due62-opus-43991}, school = {Hochschule D{\"u}sseldorf}, pages = {77}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Im h{\"a}uslichen Umfeld erleben Menschen abh{\"a}ngig von ihrer Wohnsituation unterschiedlichste Ger{\"a}uschumgebungen (Indoor Soundscapes), die einen hohen Einfluss auf das Wohlbefinden haben. Im Rahmen einer Feldstudie wurde daher die theoretisch und praktisch relevante Frage untersucht, welche Merkmale der wahrgenommenen Ger{\"a}uschumgebungen als besonders ereignisreich oder angenehm bewertet werden. Einhundertf{\"u}nf Teilnehmer*innen berichteten nach der Experience-Sampling-Methode zeitgesteuert {\"u}ber auftretende Ger{\"a}uschumgebungen des h{\"a}uslichen Alltags. Sie bewerteten deren subjektive Wirkung gem{\"a}ß Soundscape-Standard. Zudem fertigten sie in-situ Audioaufnahmen der Ger{\"a}uschszenarien an. Die 6594 Tonaufnahmen wurden einer Audioinhaltsanalyse unterzogen und im Zuge dessen wurden vier Featuresets verschiedener Berechnungsans{\"a}tze extrahiert. Mithilfe der Perzentilen LASSO-Regularisierung wurden lineare gemischte Modelle f{\"u}r Angenehmheit und Ereignisreichtum sowie drei Multilevel-Modelle f{\"u}r Angenehmheit aufgestellt. Die besten Modelle erkl{\"a}ren 9 \% der Varianz von Angenehmheit und 27 \% der Varianz von Ereignisreichtum durch feste Effekte selektierter Pr{\"a}diktoren aller getesteten Featuresets. Angenehmheit sinkt vor allem, wenn lautheitsbasierte Features hohe Werte zeigen. Ereignisreichtum ist am st{\"a}rksten abh{\"a}ngig von kurzen Spitzen des C-bewerteten Schalldruckpegels und wird im Vergleich zu Angenehmheit st{\"a}rker von Zeitschwankungen der Features bestimmt. Durch den Vergleich der Featuresets wird deutlich, dass die Modelleffekte bekannter psychoakustischer Gr{\"o}ßen durch Hinzuf{\"u}gen von MFCC-Features verbessert werden. Dar{\"u}ber hinaus wird anhand von Multilevel-Modellen gezeigt, dass die Angenehmheit des lautesten Viertels der Tonaufnahmen deutlich besser durch feste Effekte erkl{\"a}rbar ist als der leisere Rest des Datensatzes. Kongruent mit aktuellen Befragungsstudien kann durch Audiofeatures eine Kategorienabh{\"a}ngigkeit der Soundscape-Bewertungen belegt werden: Musik und Sprache werden als angenehmer bewertet, technische Ger{\"a}usche und Anlagenrauschen hingegen als unangenehmer. Hoher Ereignisreichtum h{\"a}ngt mit menschgemachten Ger{\"a}uschen (z. B. Poltern, Stuhlr{\"u}cken) zusammen. Diese Ergebnisse stellen eine wichtige Komponente in der umfassenden Beschreibung komplexer Ger{\"a}uschumgebungen dar und ihnen kommt in Zeiten der SARS-CoV-2-Pandemie, in denen Wohnraum vermehrt heterogen genutzt werden muss, eine erh{\"o}hte Bedeutung zu.}, language = {de} } @misc{vonBergSchwoererPrinzetal.2023, author = {von Berg, Markus and Schw{\"o}rer, Paul and Prinz, Lukas and Steffens, Jochen}, title = {OPRA: Akustische Analyse musikalischer Auff{\"u}hrungsr{\"a}ume im Browser}, series = {Akustik Journal}, journal = {Akustik Journal}, number = {3}, issn = {2569-1600}, pages = {41 -- 52}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Der Auff{\"u}hrungsraum leistet einen substantiellen Beitrag zum Erleben von Musikdarbietungen. Zur Beschreibung der Akustik von Auff{\"u}hrungsr{\"a}umen haben sich dabei zahlreiche Messgr{\"o}ßen etabliert, welche bestimmte Wahrnehmungsqualit{\"a}ten, wie z. B. die Halligkeit, abbilden sollen. Dem stellt j{\"u}ngere Forschung rein perzeptive Messinventare gegen{\"u}ber, die den Wahrnehmungseindruck als solchen, losgel{\"o}st vom physikalischen Ursprung, beschreiben. Dieser Artikel beschreibt einen Versuch, diese beiden Forschungsrichtungen zusammenzuf{\"u}hren, indem Bewertungen von Auff{\"u}hrungsr{\"a}umen nach dem perzeptiven Room Acoustical Quality Index (RAQI) durch physikalische Messgr{\"o}ßen modelliert wurden, welche aus einfachen Impulsantwortmessungen ermittelt werden. Dazu wurde eine Auswahl raumakustischer Messgr{\"o}ßen auf f{\"u}nf Dimensionen reduziert und diese als Pr{\"a}diktoren f{\"u}r die einzelnen Wahrnehmungsgr{\"o}ßen des RAQI getestet. Die Berechnung dieser Pr{\"a}diktionsmodelle wird vorgestellt und deren Pr{\"a}zision diskutiert. Anschließend wird die OPRA-Webanwendung vorgestellt, die sowohl die Berechnung der raumakustischen Messgr{\"o}ßen als auch die Pr{\"a}diktion von RAQI-Wahrnehmungsgr{\"o}ßen f{\"u}r die drei Quellsignale Sprache, Orchester und Solotrompete im Browser erm{\"o}glicht. Auch wenn die Pr{\"a}zision der Pr{\"a}diktionsmodelle noch nicht f{\"u}r alle RAQI-Faktoren zuverl{\"a}ssige Ergebnisse liefert, erlaubt OPRA eine umfangreiche akustische Analyse und eine erste Einsch{\"a}tzung der perzeptiven Wirkung von Auff{\"u}hrungsr{\"a}umen.}, language = {de} } @inproceedings{KleinvonBergBirweetal.2024, author = {Klein, Paula and von Berg, Markus and Birwe, Dagmar and Steffens, Jochen}, title = {Can the Perceived Spatial Impression of Classical Recordings Be Predicted by Audio Descriptors? [Vortrag]}, series = {Fortschritte der Akustik - DAGA 2024}, booktitle = {Fortschritte der Akustik - DAGA 2024}, publisher = {Deutsche Gesellschaft f{\"u}r Akustik e.V.}, address = {Berlin}, isbn = {978-3-939296-22-5}, pages = {1034 -- 1037}, year = {2024}, abstract = {The perceived spatial impression is an important factor in the aesthetic appreciation of classical music recordings. Crucial aspects of spatial perception can be described by the attributes ensemble width, depth, envelopment, and reverberation duration. In a listening experiment, a sample of 30 experts rated 24 orchestra recordings by these attributes. To compare these ratings to signalrelated measures of spatial impression, an audio descriptor for the interaural cross-correlation coefficient in music recordings was chosen as a measure of perceived ensemble width. A second algorithm estimated the reverberation time from decay segments in the recorded music. Linear mixed-effects models were then used to test whether these two descriptors, combined with other audio features related to timbre, are suitable for predicting participants' ratings of the perceptual attributes. Overall, results confirmed that the signal-related measures used can indeed predict perceptual attributes, with 41\% of rating variance explained in the case of reverberation duration. In contrast, these objective measures turned out to be less accurate predictors of the perceived ensemble width, with a variance explanation of 21\%. This study can thus be regarded as a starting point for further studies aiming to predict the perceived spatial impression in music recordings.}, subject = {Raumakustik}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{vonBergWolfSteffens2024, author = {von Berg, Markus and Wolf, Anna-Christina and Steffens, Jochen}, title = {Preferences patterns in music requests on a radio show for children [Abstract]}, series = {ESCOM12 (York, La Plata \& Melbourne) - The 12th Triennial Conference of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music: Book of Abstracts}, booktitle = {ESCOM12 (York, La Plata \& Melbourne) - The 12th Triennial Conference of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music: Book of Abstracts}, editor = {Schiavio, Andrea and Daffern, Helena and Glasser, Solange and Osborne, Margaret and Martinez, Isabel C. and Marchiano, Maria and Blas P{\´e}rez, Joaquin and Kempf, Adrian and Norton, Naomi and Gibbs, Hannah J. and Owen, Caroline and Kirts, Connor G. and O'Neill, Katherine and Jackson, Rebecca}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}t Graz}, address = {Graz}, pages = {257 -- 258}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Background Previous research has observed vast changes in musical preference during childhood and adolescence due to developmental processes such as the experience of aesthetic responses to music (Nieminen et al., 2012) and the formation and expression of social identity through distinct musical preferences (Hargreaves et al., 2016). Most of this research, however, is either based on the evaluation of musical pieces that have been previously selected by adult experimenters, or self-reports on preferences for different musical styles. Aim(s) This study presents another methodological approach by collecting and analysing music that was freely requested on a children's radio show. The aim was to test to what extent findings from self-reports and ratings of pre-selected music apply to this kind of data. Methods A sample of 1412 freely and publicly expressed music requests of children between 4 and 11 years was taken from a German radio program and analysed with regard to age- and sex-specific differences. The music was categorized into genres as listed on Spotify and examined by methods of Music Information Retrieval provided by the Spotify Developer API. Additionally, the music was genre-independently classified as children's music. Results Results showed that, at younger ages, the requests were generally more evenly distributed across different genres. Regarding single genres, logistic regression models revealed small positive relationships between age and the likelihood of requesting the genres Pop and Electro and small negative relationships between age and the likelihood of requesting Acapella, German songwriter, Indie, theme songs, and children's music. Furthermore, contingency table analyses showed that boys requested significantly more Rock and Hip Hop, whereas girls had a higher tendency to ask for Pop. Finally, age was negatively correlated with the Spotify features valence and liveness of the requested music, which was related to the higher preference for children's music at younger ages. Discussion and Conclusion The results suggest that previous findings regarding musically expressed gender roles and increasing formation of distinct genre preferences during infancy also apply to single song requests made on a radio show. References Hargreaves, D. J., North, A. C., \& Tarrant, M. (2016). How and why do musical preferences change in childhood adolescence. In G. McPherson (Ed.), The child as musician: A handbook of musical development (Second edition). Oxford University Press. Nieminen, S., Ist{\´o}k, E., Brattico, E., \& Tervaniemi, M. (2012). The development of the aesthetic experience of music: Preference, emotions, and beauty. Musicae Scientiae, 16(3), 372-391. https://doi.org/10.1177/1029864912450454}, subject = {Musikwahrnehmung}, language = {de} } @article{HerzogLepaEgermannetal.2020, author = {Herzog, Martin and Lepa, Steffen and Egermann, Hauke and Schoenrock, Andreas and Steffens, Jochen}, title = {Towards a common terminology for music branding campaigns}, series = {Journal of Marketing Management}, volume = {36}, journal = {Journal of Marketing Management}, number = {1-2}, publisher = {Taylor \& Francis}, doi = {10.1080/0267257X.2020.1713856}, pages = {176 -- 209}, year = {2020}, language = {en} } @article{IrrgangSteffensEgermann2020, author = {Irrgang, Melanie and Steffens, Jochen and Egermann, Hauke}, title = {From acceleration to rhythmicity: Smartphone-assessed movement predicts properties of music}, series = {Journal of New Music Research}, volume = {4}, journal = {Journal of New Music Research}, number = {7}, publisher = {Taylor \& Francis}, doi = {10.1080/09298215.2020.1715447}, pages = {1 -- 14}, year = {2020}, language = {en} } @misc{RosenthalVersuemerBlaettermann2024, author = {Rosenthal, Fabian and Vers{\"u}mer, Siegbert and Bl{\"a}ttermann, Patrick}, title = {flexcv: Easy and flexible nested cross validation for tabular data in python}, edition = {Version v24.0-beta}, publisher = {Zenodo}, address = {Genf}, doi = {10.5281/zenodo.10160846}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Python package customizing nested cross validation for tabular data.}, subject = {Software}, language = {en} } @article{HunkeHuberSteffens2025, author = {Hunke, Til and Huber, Florian and Steffens, Jochen}, title = {The Evolution of Song Lyrics: An NLP-Based Analysis of Popular Music in Germany from 1954 to 2022}, series = {Music \& Science}, volume = {8}, journal = {Music \& Science}, publisher = {Sage Publications}, issn = {2059-2043}, doi = {10.1177/20592043251331155}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:due62-opus-52618}, pages = {20}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Music is an indispensable cultural product, reflecting changes in social, psychological, and cultural contexts. This study analyzes the historical evolution of topics and conveyed affect in popular music lyrics in Germany from 1954 to 2022, using LDA-based topic modeling and transformer-based sentiment analysis. These results show that Love \& Relationships is the most referenced topic, with Dreams \& Longings prominent until the mid-1960s and Society \& Status rising from 2017. The sentiment analysis reveals a significant decline in positive sentiment since the mid-1960s, accompanied by increases in negative, ambiguous, and neutral sentiments. These trends may reflect broader societal changes, including shifts in cultural values, rising individualism, and increasing mental health issues. The study highlights the evolving nature of popular music and its reflection of social dynamics.}, subject = {Popmusik}, language = {en} }