Lecture
Friday, Jan 30, 2015, 10 AM

Thomas Görne

Vom Schall zum Klang

Questions such as “What is pitch?” or “What do we perceive as harmonious?” are deceptively simple. Do timpani have a tone? How do we hear space? Some of what we hear can be explained by the physical properties of acoustic signals, others by the physiology of the acoustic organ, still others by cognitive processes. We are still far from really understanding how hearing works.
This talk aims to build a bridge between the physical world and perception. It will address topics such as pitch and tone color, cross-model metaphors, primary and secondary noise, space perception, the objectivity of sound, and acoustic illusion.

Thomas Görne is a professor of audio design and audio systems and the director of the Sound Lab at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. He has a degree in electrical engineering and acoustics from the TU Berlin and has worked as a sound engineer in the film and music industries. He is the author of Mikrofone in Theorie und Praxis (1994), Tontechnik (2006), and Sounddesign (forthcoming).