Double-Blind Audio Brains

It’s an interesting philosophical/psychological question whether it’s even possible for the human brain to be objective about anything.  There is a disconnect between perception and reality—our brain is an imperfect interface to the world around us, doing its best to interpret the signals it receives, and occasionally totally falling down on the job.

I’m sure you’ve seen these great mind-bending optical illusions, like the spinning dancer above (which way is she really spinning?  I see her spinning counter-clockwise, but my wife and kids see her spinning clockwise), or the Ebbinghaus Illusion at left (yes, the orange balls are actually the same size).

But have you heard any good auditory illusions lately?  Try these:

• Shepard’s Illusion – the infinitely falling glissando
• Another example by Jean-Claude Risset of Shepard’s Illusion with discrete tones
• Jean-Claude Risset’s ever-accelerating break beats
• Another ever-quickening beat (but the tempo never really changes)
• Deutsch’s stereo scale merging illusion – right handers and lefties hear it differently
• Falling Bells where the ending pitch is much higher than the starting pitch
• Christian Sinding’s Frühlingsrauschen (“Rustle of Spring”),
  • you don’t really hear the melody when played slow
  • the phantom melody jumps out at you when played fast
• The audio equivalent of the spinning dancer- is it farewell or welfare?
• Richard M. Warren’s audio studies at the University of Milwaukee Michigan

For a thought-provoking study of the brain’s perception of sound and music, take a look at Oliver Sacks’ Musicophilia- Tales of Music and the Brain.  His descriptions of auditory hallucinations and other brain phenomenon are astounding.

Another great book is Daniel Levitin’s This Is Your Brain On Music.

So when you listen to my videos comparing caps, pickups, etc, please recognize that there is no “right” answer, or definitively “ultimate” sound.  Everyone’s brains and ears perceive (and preconceive) audio/quality differently.   And really, that’s just fine.

Fare/well wel/fare! 🙂  Be happy.   Happy New Year!