Interaction of auditory perceptual dimensions: A review

Classically, the perceptual auditory dimensions have been studied independently. Signal characteristics of intensity, fundamental frequency and spectral distribution have been attributed to loudness, pitch and timbre in perception. The interaction amongst these component dimensions has been studied to some extent and certain perceptual studies bring out the nature and measures of interactions amongst these dimensions. In this paper, we review the early works on auditory dimensional interactions among pitch, loudness and timbre. Timbre, being multi-dimensional, it has more inter-dimensional interactions. These sound source attributes also interact with spatial properties of sound such as ambiance, giving rise to further multi-dimensional percepts. We are currently exploring the spatial dimensional interactions with timbre.