A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION INTO EMOTIONAL RESPONSES TO EMULATED VIOLINS USING ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY

A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION INTO EMOTIONAL
RESPONSES TO EMULATED VIOLINS USING
ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY
M Abdulaal School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. University of Manchester, UK T Lloyd School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester, UK P Gaydecki School -of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester, UK
1 INTRODUCTION
There have been signicant investigations into what separates "good" and ☜bad☝ violins with an . extensive amount of literature attempting to distinguish between them. Psychoacoustic listening tests are typically used in the eld of violin research to gauge a participant's preference to different violin sounds. The aim of this paper is to explore and document the use of electroencephalographic (EEG) analysis as an alternative method for gauging a listener☂s preference to a particular
instrument. In Fritz☂s 2012 publication on old versus new violins there is speculation as to whether supercial attributes (such as price or age) may contribute to a violinist☁s preference [1]. This double-blind study employed measures (for example welders goggles to obscure the ne details) to ensure that the participants could not let these 'supercial' qualities inuence their judgement [1]. One of the aims of this study is to show that by using EEG analysis, a participant's "true" preference can be determined irrespective of supercial qualitie