A singular situation occurs during the acousmatic listening experience that rarely occurs in everyday acoustic spaces: Listeners often describe having the feeling that the sound went through their bodies (label “e'” at the top left of Figure 1). In this case, they identify the sound as being external and continuing its trajectory after going through their bodies, which is different from situations in which we hear sounds emerging from our bodies and going out into the acoustic space. In Table 1, we show a systematization of the two schemata, with their categories and variables.

Table 1.

Systematization of Sound Trajectories

SchemaCategoryVariable
Orientation Up–Down [a] Near–Far 
 Front–Back [b] Near–Far 
 Left–Right [c] Near–Far 
Container Through [e][e'] Inside–Outside 
  Near–Far [e'] 
 Surrounded Near–Far 
SchemaCategoryVariable
Orientation Up–Down [a] Near–Far 
 Front–Back [b] Near–Far 
 Left–Right [c] Near–Far 
Container Through [e][e'] Inside–Outside 
  Near–Far [e'] 
 Surrounded Near–Far 
View Large

Close Modal
This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

or Create an Account

Close Modal
Close Modal
This site uses cookies. By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our privacy policy. No content on this site may be used to train artificial intelligence systems without permission in writing from the MIT Press.
Accept