ANALYSIS OF VERBAL DESCRIPTIONS IN A COMP ARATIVE-STUDY OF MUSICAL TIMBERS

A study of timbre comparisons was carried out within an experimental p aradigm where subjects gave numerical evaluations of the dissimilarity between pairs of complex sounds along with a free verbal description of their similarities and differences. Both professional musicians and nonmusicians participated in the study. A method of verbal protocol a nalysis was developed in which verbalizations were analyzed from three general points of view: 1) the logical structure of comparison operat ions, 2) the object-relatedness of the comparison, and 3) the referent ial content. The protocol analysis method proves to be effective in re vealing individual differences and general tendencies in the compariso n of complex sounds.