Why EQ a sound doesn't change timbre?

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ghettosynth wrote:We say "vacuously true." It's a meaningless statement and yet he's trying to assert this should somehow have meaning beyond mastering and implications for producers, even going so far as to suggest that, it should raise the question: since every listening experience is different, what's the point of making music? The words "participate" and "basis" are a vast overstatement.

From any sort of meaningful statistical basis, the statement is false. Eleanor Rigby is Eleanor Rigby whether you hear it on a pocket radio or in a concert. He's been asked several times to elaborate on why anyone should care about this but just keeps moving the goalposts and bringing up more nonsense.

It's like saying everyone who eats Gordon Ramsey's signature Beef Wellington experiences it differently so we can't say that it's meaningfully different from a TV dinner. Or that saying it depends on which plate you eat it from. Of course we can, the common experience of Gordon's Beef Wellington, or Eleanor Rigby completely swamps minor differences regarding how it's consumed and nobody would assert that, as a diner, that you are "participating" in the cooking of the meal. GTFOH!

Hypothesis my ass!
As you say the problem is that he won't stick to his stated hypothesis. As stated it merely says that Eleanor Rigby doesn't sound identical when you hear it on your phone speaker or on decent monitors or in concert. It's impossible to disagree with that. The "hypothesis" says nothing about whether it is recognisable as Eleanor Rigby which we all know it is unless the "system" you're listening on is seriously bad.

It's the equivalent of "Everyone who eats GR's Beef Wellington experiences it differently and so GR can't know know precisely what anyone tastes". That's true too. But it says nothing about confusing that experience with eating a TV dinner.

Still you can only get limited entertainment from talking to someone who appears to deliberately misunderstand anything that he doesn't like (and then blames it on his poor grasp of English). Not much point explaining things to someone who can't (won't?) understand your explanations. But this thread is a bit like a car crash. You know you shouldn't, but it's almost impossible to look away ;).

Steve

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slipstick wrote:
ghettosynth wrote:We say "vacuously true." It's a meaningless statement and yet he's trying to assert this should somehow have meaning beyond mastering and implications for producers, even going so far as to suggest that, it should raise the question: since every listening experience is different, what's the point of making music? The words "participate" and "basis" are a vast overstatement.

From any sort of meaningful statistical basis, the statement is false. Eleanor Rigby is Eleanor Rigby whether you hear it on a pocket radio or in a concert. He's been asked several times to elaborate on why anyone should care about this but just keeps moving the goalposts and bringing up more nonsense.

It's like saying everyone who eats Gordon Ramsey's signature Beef Wellington experiences it differently so we can't say that it's meaningfully different from a TV dinner. Or that saying it depends on which plate you eat it from. Of course we can, the common experience of Gordon's Beef Wellington, or Eleanor Rigby completely swamps minor differences regarding how it's consumed and nobody would assert that, as a diner, that you are "participating" in the cooking of the meal. GTFOH!

Hypothesis my ass!
As you say the problem is that he won't stick to his stated hypothesis. As stated it merely says that Eleanor Rigby doesn't sound identical when you hear it on your phone speaker or on decent monitors or in concert. It's impossible to disagree with that.
Of course, and that's been expressed numerous times. As has also been said, beyond mastering concerns, so what?
The "hypothesis" says nothing about whether it is recognisable as Eleanor Rigby which we all know it is unless the "system" you're listening on is seriously bad.
We weren't talking about "recognizable", that's not his standard. He actually hasn't expressed it clearly but it's about feeling and processing the "message." Again, it's vacuously true. It's a pointless statement unless you start talking about its meaning or relevance. His "hypothesis" is weakened now so that he can save face, he was saying earlier that this had implications for the producer, it does not, again, beyond mixing and mastering issues.

This was never a conversation about black and white, it cannot be. It has always been that he believes that this is meaningful and that assertion is missing from his "hypothesis." The listener does not "participate" in the creation of Eleanor Rigby in any meaningful way just by listening to it. In fact, in virtually all cases, they cannot in their minds create anything else. Other examples are less strict, e.g., minimal techno when DJ'd can definitely create aural images that appear very different depending on context, but that still has no existential implications for the producer and is largely a function of the context. It's fair to argue that the DJ is participating in the "creation" of the listening experience.
Still you can only get limited entertainment from talking to someone who appears to deliberately misunderstand anything that he doesn't like (and then blames it on his poor grasp of English). Not much point explaining things to someone who can't (won't?) understand your explanations. But this thread is a bit like a car crash. You know you shouldn't, but it's almost impossible to look away ;).
Pretty much.

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almost like he's f**king with y'all, this is what, page 17 and going around in circles for days

I'm not too with it, I guess, the whole thing is supposed to be about differences in perception mean you don't recognize what is obviosly the same piece of music in any case? really? I don't think I could care very much what the point is if there was one. Kinda idle chat session, I thought.

I don't get what all that analogy business was about, people present literature with different looks for a reason though. Obviously it doesn't change the piece.

ain't this some philosophy, though? Lol.

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jancivil wrote:almost like he's f**king with y'all, this is what, page 17 and going around in circles for days
Right !?!
ghettosynth wrote: You know, given the ridiculousness of your claims, it seems to me that this has all the earmarks of a classic troll-post.
I'm not too with it, I guess

...

ain't this some philosophy, though? Lol.
Right ?!?

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ghettosynth wrote:Formal CS relies heavily on mathematics for its research structure. Mathematics is not science, it's mathematics. If you did not encounter empirical fields in computer science then you are simply sheltered. I'm not surprised and that's not criticism, most undergraduates don't get a lot of exposure to research. However, you are absolutely and completely incorrect if you think that such research doesn't exist in CS. Moreover, we aren't talking about CS, or mathematics, are we?
As well as we weren't talking about invisible teapots floating in space on the dark side of the moon. But about the complex system which is the human perception. You become "constructive" on things that doesn't matter for this discussion. Anyway, we are going out of topic. Its already hard only stay within it.
ghettosynth wrote:I'm not interested in answering your questions in the same way that a parent tires of a child's annoying questions.
You will be a fantastic father dude ;)
ghettosynth wrote:Eleanor Rigby is Eleanor Rigby whether you hear it on a pocket radio or in a concert. He's been asked several times to elaborate on why anyone should care about this but just keeps moving the goalposts and bringing up more nonsense.
And again this proof that you don't have a clue of what I'm talking about.
I've already well-liked that I can catch "Eleanor Rigby" wherever I listen to it, using any kind of different environments. I'm not talking about this (my gosh....).

But during my life on producing music... I realize that I don't have an answer to "what is exactly Eleanor Rigby?" The one you perceive at time X in your life with heavy bass and dull higher? Or the one at time Y which drum that has morbid kick and harshing higher? Both of them?
You confirmed you will perceive those small variations, as well (and my first part of this thread was to understand if there are or there aren't differences in perception). So this happens, you all confirm this!
You can "catch" its A Eleanor Rigby, but what actually is it? Defining thing, that's what my thesis is about.
ghettosynth wrote: It's like saying everyone who eats Gordon Ramsey's signature Beef Wellington experiences it differently so we can't say that it's meaningfully different from a TV dinner. Or that saying it depends on which plate you eat it from. Of course we can, the common experience of Gordon's Beef Wellington, or Eleanor Rigby completely swamps minor differences regarding how it's consumed and nobody would assert that, as a diner, that you are "participating" in the cooking of the meal. GTFOH!

Hypothesis my ass!
I think that this example has not sense, again. Theresn't the concept of record ONE listen MORE.
A Beef is a Beef: when it goes, it goes. So the Beef you were eating is THAT Beef (for what you perceive that time), and stop.
slipstick wrote:Still you can only get limited entertainment from talking to someone who appears to deliberately misunderstand anything that he doesn't like (and then blames it on his poor grasp of English). Not much point explaining things to someone who can't (won't?) understand your explanations. But this thread is a bit like a car crash. You know you shouldn't, but it's almost impossible to look away ;).
jancivil wrote:almost like he's f**king with y'all, this is what, page 17 and going around in circles for days
I'm really sad your thinking I'm a obstinate person who ignore your wisdom helps. What a pity...
ghettosynth wrote:His "hypothesis" is weakened now so that he can save face
Face of... what exactly? "Reputation" within an online forum? Come on :D I repute myself ripe to raise hand if I'm totally wrong about what I'm trying to say. The fact is another... is that no one got my doubt. My fault? Probably, but I'm not trolling anybody, and I don't want to show us I've a long dick!

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ghettosynth wrote:... Gordon Ramsey's signature Beef Wellington ...
Image

Sorry, I'll get my coat...
We are the KVR collective. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. Image
My MusicCalc is served over https!!

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^^ Why EMOOOOO a sound doesn't change timbre?


ps, some folk round my neck of the woods might find that photo rather 'alluring'.

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Nowhk wrote: But during my life on producing music... I realize that I don't have an answer to "what is exactly Eleanor Rigby?" The one you perceive at time X in your life with heavy bass and dull higher? Or the one at time Y which drum that has morbid kick and harshing higher? Both of them?
You confirmed you will perceive those small variations, as well (and my first part of this thread was to understand if there are or there aren't differences in perception). So this happens, you all confirm this!
You can "catch" its A Eleanor Rigby, but what actually is it? Defining thing, that's what my thesis is about.
jancivil wrote:almost like he's f**king with y'all, this is what, page 17 and going around in circles for days
I'm really sad your thinking I'm a obstinate person who ignore your wisdom helps. What a pity...
I said 'it's almost like...', that doesn't mean I know what you're thinking. But what I quoted above is just where we were the last time I looked, which is days ago, so I really don't know what this thread is supposed to do. Don't mind me, it's no thing to me.
Last edited by jancivil on Mon Aug 28, 2017 11:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Last edited by yellowmix on Tue Oct 01, 2024 6:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

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yellowmix wrote:
Nowhk wrote:Timbre is the perceived character of a sound independent of pitch.
This is context dependent. If you're talking about timbre in a music class, sure. If you're talking about timbre in the context of music information retrieval, no.
I haven't been keeping up with this thread so apologies if this is already covered, but I've been reading with interest that MPEG-7 attempts to scientifically describe timbre independently of perception. There's a 'human readable' overview of the descriptors in Roads' latest book, but they're defined mathematically in MPEG-7. The linked preview is patchy and so possibly missing the caveat that the whole range of sound isn't covered, and that these descriptors are optimised for 'conventional' tonal sounds and percussion. Also possibly missing is that Content ID is likely using these or similar descriptors. It sheds a lot of light on why Content ID is so difficult to defeat, for sure.

Click "preview this book" and check out pages 60 and 61: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_Zs_CQAAQBAJ

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yellowmix wrote:That's what I said, which I later clarified as science, music, and social contexts. OP is conflating all of them to determine what constitutes the "same timbre" when EQ is applied.
Yes, I was conflating all of them at the beginning of the thread.
But some pages ago some people confirm that when EQ is applied (or when its play back on different environments), timbre change in both physical and perceptional way (as I suspected). Random post: viewtopic.php?f=99&t=485328&start=165#p6854357

There's also a fancy book I've read (and already cited): Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale
It start with the (all well-know) premise: timbre is human perception of spectrum and envelope, which are objectively measured physical quantities. Than it analyze things concluding (more or less) that if spectrum/envelope stay the same, its still possible to human perceive a difference (although under controlled conditions), and we could/should/might also perceive the same timbre. If the spectrum/envelope change, all bets are off.

I think that we almost all agreed with this. Except that all says "ok, and so what? it doesn't matter".
Probably "it doesn't matter" neither for me, in terms of enjoying music.

But as expressed, I'm not talking about this.
Nowhk wrote:When you says (for n times) "it doesn't matter" when speaking about variances introduced by setups/environment, do you mean (talking about a human kind's long time and singolar period listening) "it doesn't because he won't really perceive the differences" or "it doesn't because the differences will be so small so that he will ignore them"?
Nowhk wrote:But during my life on producing music... I realize that I don't have an answer to "what is exactly Eleanor Rigby?" The one you perceive at time X in your life with heavy bass and dull higher? Or the one at time Y which drum that has morbid kick and harshing higher? Both of them?
You confirmed you will perceive those small variations, as well (and my first part of this thread was to understand if there are or there aren't differences in perception). So this happens, you all confirm this!
You can "catch" its A Eleanor Rigby, but what actually is it? Defining thing, that's what my thesis is about.
I don't feel like somethings who talk about "nothing". I find this question legitimate. If you don't care about these "silly" questions, that's another matter.

This question can be applied to almost everything in your life I guess, I used "music" as example within a forum of enthusiastics, hoping to have some kind of success. It seems I was totally wrong...

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At some point there you got quite close to a fairly interesting question.

Given that everyone recognises Eleanor Rigby as Eleanor Rigby whether they're listening to a Beatles recording or a symphony orchestra or me on an acoustic guitar singing out of tune or a synth cover and maybe it's even sung in a different language, all of which sound very different....what exactly is it that makes it still Eleanor Rigby? Is it just the basic melody or is there more to it than that? It's certainly not the timbre or anything near to it.

Steve

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To throw in some more controversy, the first five years I had this song in my CD collection I did NOT recognise it (since I usually don't pay any attention to the lyrics) ... until I went through the collection to rip it to MP3 and was forced to read the song title...

We are the KVR collective. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. Image
My MusicCalc is served over https!!

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BertKoor wrote:To throw in some more controversy, the first five years I had this song in my CD collection I did NOT recognise it (since I usually don't pay any attention to the lyrics) ... until I went through the collection to rip it to MP3 and was forced to read the song title...

There is some research that addresses this and I apologize but I can't remember the detail of where it was done. I saw a presentation in SF a few years back about this. First, recognition is a subject unto itself and really isn't what we're talking about here, but, with respect to that, it's rhythm, and not melody, or harmony, that is dominant in recognition. IIRC, lyrics weren't studied because I suspect that engages different parts of the brain, however, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that they are not processed in the same way in song as they are in speech. At any rate, try it with friends, tap the rhythm of jingle bells on the coffee table and see if they don't recognize the tune. Rhythm is the key thing that's very different in that cover of the song.

This also helps to explain why certain styles of DJing can render tracks unrecognizable. Mixing two records in the style of many techno DJs can introduce not so subtle rhythmic differences. You've probably experienced something similar when you all of a sudden start listening to a song in the middle such that your rhythmic reference isn't correctly aligned and it takes you a second to realize what you're listening to. Of course, anything with a strong downbeat is going to counter this effect, but I know that I've experienced this effect before.

I have more to say about this and especially cron's comment, but I'm busy at the moment so I'll come back to it later. However, consider this. Given that we could come up with a timbral distance metric between two songs. That is, the metric must compare the timbre across the entire song, perhaps as the sum of windowed distance metrics, and we assume that the metric yields zero for two identical recordings. Then, what could possibly be closer to ANY song, than that same song processed with the transfer function of almost any EQ, any speaker, or really, almost any room?

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Last edited by yellowmix on Tue Oct 01, 2024 6:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

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