The analytical works carried out in the Bell laboratories, at the instigation of Max Mathews, have revealed that certain remarkable properties of audition could be used in order to produce extremely confusing sound effects. 5 The creation of computer-assisted sound synthesis marks a turning point in the history of auditory illusions. 4 Throughout his entire career, Warren focus remained on phenomena of an illusory nature, especially the continuity and completion effects. In the 1960s, Richard Warren highlights the verbal transformation phenomena: when syllables or words are quickly repeated in a loop, listeners perceive semantic changes, effects that are related to the variability of perception under conditions of invariable sensory stimulation. 3 Authors do not describe this phenomenon in terms of illusion, but as the “ PicketFence” effect, which will later be given new labels: barrier, tunnel, continuity effect. In the early 1950s, based on a speech that had been sectioned a dozen times per second, George Miller and Joseph Licklider realized that the speech is once again intelligible and seems continuous when loud noises are added into the gaps. It is only in the 20th century, and especially in its second half, with the emergence of magnetic tape recording, that auditory illusions began to be scientifically studied by several psychologists. They later thrived upon Max Mathews’ 1957 development of computer sound synthesis. Their elaboration can originally be connected to the development of sound reproduction techniques, beginning with Thomas Edison’s invention of the phonograph in 1877. Wessel and Jean-Claude Risset, “Les illusions auditives,” in Claude Malric (ed.), Musique (.)ĥ As compared to optical illusions, which have been studied for centuries, auditory illusions have emerged more recently. 9 To learn more on Albert Bregman’s researches and listen to sound samples, see: Albert S.8 Diana Deutsch, Musical Illusions and Paradoxes, Philomel Records, 001, 1995.6 Jean-Claude Risset, “Composer le son : expériences avec l’ordinateur, 1964-1989,” Contrechamps, no.5 To learn more on Warren’s researches and listen to sound samples, please refer to: Richard M.Warren, “Auditory Illusions and Confusions,” Scientific American, v (.) Licklider, “The intelligibility of interrupted speech,” Journal o (.) This is the reason why we are interested in reflecting on the development of a typology that would cover all unusual sound phenomena, to ultimately better define what would really fall within illusion (among others), but also paradox. About Rhys Chatham’s Narcissus Descending, Johnson refers to auditory illusion, because this music “plays tricks” and invites listeners to be “pleasantly fooled.” Can we really talk about auditory illusion in this precise case? This expression has several meanings and is often used to refer to a whole range of sound phenomena that are more or less enigmatic and mystifying, though not necessarily illusory in the strict sense of the word. Nowadays, they still suffer from a certain form of ignorance, although they have been scientifically studied since the 1950s and increasingly examined from a musical perspective. 1Ģ As noted by Johnson, auditory illusions are not as widespread and well-known as optical ones. Tom Johnson, 17 August 1972, about Rhys Chatham’s Narcissus Descending. In the meantime, we can just listen and be pleasantly mystified. Maybe someday there will be a musical equivalent of Josef Albers, who will work out a theory to explain how they happen. We know quite a bit about optical illusions, but I have never heard the term “aural illusions.” For some reason no one seems very interested in these phenomena, but they certainly exist, at least in electronic pieces like this one. But I have the feeling that illusions of this nature will always be created when pure electronic tones are sustained in a context of this nature. Of course, it could be that as my ears become more accustomed to hearing music like this they will stop playing these weird tricks on me. And often I could tell that something was changing, but would not be able to hear exactly what it was. Sometimes one of the overtones would change its color and it would sound like everything else was changing too. Sometimes it was hard to tell if one thing was getting softer or if another thing was getting louder. Sometimes I found it hard to focus on some aspect of the sound which I knew, simply by the logic of what was going on, was acoustically present. 1 Tom Johnson, The Voice of new music (New York City 1972-1982, A collection of articles originally p (.)ġ Perhaps the most fascinating thing about this kind of one-note music is not the little changes which the composer causes in the sound, but the additional ones which somehow seem to happen in one’s ear.
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