Music mixing preferences of cochlear implant recipients: A pilot study

Abstract

Objective: Music perception and appraisal are generally poor in cochlear implant recipients. Simple musical structures, lyrics that are easy to follow, and clear rhythm/beat have been reported among the top factors to enhance music enjoyment. The present study investigated the preference for modified relative instrument levels in music with normal-hearing and cochlear implant subjects. Design: In experiment 1, test subjects were given a mixing console and multi-track recordings to determine their most enjoyable audio mix. In experiment 2, a preference rating experiment based on the preferred relative level settings in experiment 1 was performed. Study sample: Experiment 1 was performed with four postlingually deafened cochlear implant subjects, experiment 2 with ten normal-hearing and ten cochlear implant subjects. Results: A significant difference in preference rating was found between normal-hearing and cochlear implant subjects. The latter preferred an audio mix with larger vocals-to-instruments ratio. In addition, given an audio mix with clear vocals and attenuated instruments, cochlear implant subjects preferred the bass/drum track to be louder than the other instrument tracks. Conclusions: The original audio mix in real-world music might not be suitable for cochlear implant recipients. Modifying the relative instrument level settings potentially improves music enjoyment.

Key Words::

• Cochlear implant
• music perception
• multi-track
• mixing

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all CI and NH subjects for participating in this music experiment, and Astrid Van Wieringen from ExpORL - KULeuven for scheduling the CI subjects. Also thanks to all people involved in collecting and recording the multi-track recordings (in alphabetic order): Anthony Claeys, Bart Delacourt, Bart Dirckx, Ellen Peeters, Gunter Peeters, and Michel Verkempinck.

Declaration of interest: This work was supported by a Baekeland PhD grant of the Institute for the Promotion of Innovation through Science and Technology in Flanders (IWT090274) and the Cochlear Technology Centre Belgium. Authors Wim Buyens and Bas van Dijk are employees of Cochlear Technology Centre Belgium, which is part of Cochlear Ltd.