Preference Evaluation of Reverberation Times for Traditional Inner Mongolian Musical Instruments in Performance Spaces

As unique forms of intangible cultural heritage of Inner Mongolia, traditional musical instruments from the region have undergone significant changes alongside socioeconomic development and evolving performance styles. The performance environment has transitioned from early outdoor and non-fixed venues to professional concert halls. Existing research has demonstrated a correlation between the acoustic quality of performance halls and their objective architectural acoustic parameters. However, no studies have been conducted in China on the acoustic parameters suitable for the performance environments of traditional Inner Mongolian musical instruments. This study determined the optimal acoustic environment for performances of traditional musical instruments, unique to Inner Mongolia, by employing computer simulations and subjective listening experiments in representative performance spaces. Participants were asked to select preferred audio samples of different reverberation times, generated by convolving the impulse responses of simulated spatial models with dry recordings of the instruments. Statistical analysis of the results revealed that the optimal reverberation times for traditional Inner Mongolian instruments are 1.2 s and 1.4 s in a theater space, and 0.9 s and 1.1 s in a rectangular space. Furthermore, under the influence of different factors, the four instruments exhibited distinct preferences for optimal reverberation values in the sampled spaces.