Public Lecture: Prof. Dr. Stefan Weinzierl (TU Berlin): "Rooms as transformers of sound. From classrooms to cathedrals",  in English

The talk first introduces the Room Acoustical Quality Inventory (RAQI), a psychological measurement tool for evaluating the acoustic perception of venues for music and speech. For this purpose, a focus group of room acoustics experts first compiled a comprehensive list of items relevant to the perception of room acoustics. Subsequently, 190 test subjects evaluated their acoustic impression of 35 binaurally simulated rooms from two listening positions with different audio content. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the questionnaire data yielded three possible solutions for the dimensions of acoustic room impression with four, six, and nine factors. These solutions and the associated RAQI items were tested for reliability, validity, and various types of measurement invariance. This psychometrically evaluated measurement instrument can be used to evaluate rooms, for room acoustic design, and for the further development of room acoustic parameters that predict the primary acoustic properties of venues for music and speech. Finally, a theory of aesthetic appreciation of spaces for music is presented, which is the subject of ongoing research.

keynote lecture for summer school: Lullaybte. Unravelling the Effects of Music on Sleep through Musicology, Neuroscience, Psychology and Computer Science. Doctoral Network funded by Horizon Europe (HORIZON) Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions