Article by Isabel Pires (CM) in the journal Behavioural Sciences

Researcher Isabel Pires (Research Group on Contemporary Music) has published an article in the journal Behavioral Sciences, exploring the relationship between auditory perception and the descriptive language used for abstract sounds.

Using synthesized sounds with no identifiable sources or musical structures, the study named ‘Listening Beyond the Source: Exploring the Descriptive Language of Musical Sounds’ reveals significant associations between subjective descriptors (e.g., “rough”, “bright”) and physical sound properties.

An international survey shows that listeners frequently rely on other sensory domains to describe sounds, indicating a robust cross-modal basis in auditory perception. The findings have applications in artistic, educational, and analytical contexts, and propose new approaches to sound analysis and manipulation.