Resumen de Sound Intensity and Loudness of Musical Tones
Psychoacoustics, as an integral part of neuroscience, is the science that studies the correlation between acoustic stimuli and perceived sensation. In neuroscience, importance is given to the higher functions that occur in the brain, namely in the cerebral cortex. Among the subjective qualities that allow us to describe musical sound, we find pitch, loudness and timbre. Loudness variations are important in musical performance, making it more exciting. Musical dynamics is prescribed in the score through dynamic markings (from pp to ff). The present chapter aims to analyse the relationship between loudness and certain physical parameters, as well as other factors, which can influence loudness perception. Loudness depends mainly on sound intensity (in dB SPL) and corresponds to the perceptual correlate of this physical parameter. However, it also depends on other variables such as frequency, spectrum/spectral bandwidth, duration, context (e.g., room acoustics), and personal factors (e.g., hearing loss). Transformation of the physical sound intensity sensation into loudness perception will only be completed in the auditory cortex.
