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Dr Russell Mason

Senior Lecturer (IoSR), Tonmeister Programme Director

Qualifications: BMus(Tonmeister), PhD (Surrey)

Email:
Phone: Work: 01483 68 6535
Room no: 08A BC 03

Further information

Biography

Dr Russell Mason is a Senior Lecturer in the Institute of Sound Recording (IoSR) at the University of Surrey. He is Programme Director for the Tonmeister programme, teaches Audio Engineering to students in all years of this programme, and conducts research into aspects of perception and measurement of audio.

Russell graduated from the Tonmeister Music and Sound Recording degree course at Surrey in 1998, and was offered the opportunity to continue his studies with a PhD jointly in the IoSR and the Department of Psychology, and sponsored by BBC Research and Development. This project, in collaboration with Bang & Olufsen, Genelec and Nokia among others, examined the perception of spatial impression detail, including creating new methods for synthesising spatial sound and a binaural hearing model capable of predicting the perceived effect. Following his PhD, Russell gained funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to continue the work, which resulted in an advanced binaural hearing model that can successfully predict the perceived width and location of sound sources in the horizontal plane, and the perceived width of acoustical environments.

In 2004, Russell gained a lectureship in the IoSR, and in 2009 was promoted to Senior Lecturer. During this time, Russell has taught a wide range of modules, including Electronics Practicals, Audio Laboratory, Audio Research Seminars, Computer Audio Systems, Technical Projects, and Audio Engineering 1, 2 & 3. He has also taught Master's level Speech and Audio Processing for the Department of Electronic Engineering.

Russell has also undertaken a number of critical administrative roles for the Tonmeister programme. This includes serving as Admissions Tutor for 7 years, during which he revised the admission procedure, including the creation of an online interview booking system and the creation of new entrance tests. He is currently Programme Director for the Tonmeister programme, which includes responsibility for the direction of the programme, managing changes and updates to the programme, managing the IoSR budgets, overseeing upgrades and management of facilities, and mentoring junior staff.

Russell has continued his research into psychoacoustic engineering; specifically the perception and measurement of audio. This research involved the development of novel subjective testing methods and stimulus synthesis techniques, as well as developing new computational algorithms to mimic human auditory perception and furthering understanding of the human auditory system. Recent projects have investigated the role of head movement in spatial perception, optimal design of microphone arrays for localisation around the horizontal plane, computational auditory scene analysis based on psychoacoustic cues, and perception and modelling of spectral magnitude distortions. He is currently working on further development of measurement techniques of spatial attributes of sound, such as integration of results across frequency and perception of elevation cues. He is also applying the techniques he has developed to the fields of auditory masking and modelling of quality in the presence of interfering signals.

So far, Russell has been involved in funding bids that have brought nearly £900,000 to Surrey (approximately half of this has been as principal investigator) from a range of sources including EPSRC and industry. This has included collaboration with a wide range of industrial partners such as Bang & Olufsen, Adrian James Acoustics, Harman-Becker Automotive, Wolfson Microelectronics, and BBC Research and Development.

Outside the University, Russell is an active member of the Audio Engineering Society. He was a member of the committee of the British section for many years including the creation of the section website. He has also contributed towards the organisation of a number of British section conferences, and many International conferences in the UK and abroad. He acted as papers co-chair for the Audio Metadata conference and has chaired many paper sessions and given invited presentations to conferences in Japan, Australia, France, Germany and the USA.

Russell also has a strong musical background, having performed music from the age of 4 and studying trumpet, piano and music theory for many years in both jazz and classical styles. In his spare time, Russell is an active musician, playing trumpet in the department Trad Band and in the department Big Band that he co-founded as a final year undergraduate. He also appreciates a good curry.

Research Collaborations

Current research projects:

  • Perceptually optimised sound zones
  • Perception of loudspeaker directivity
  • Perception and measurement of auditory elevation cues
  • Adaptation of spatial audio quality measures to the automotive environment

Past research projects:

  • The role of head movement in the analysis of spatial impression - Funded by EPSRC (EP/D049253/1)
  • Automated separation of sound sources in reverberant environments using spatial cues - Funded by EPSRC (EP/P503892/1)
  • Perceptual sound field reconstruction and coherent emulation - Funded by EPSRC (EP/E064507/1)
  • Perceptually motivated measurement of spatial sound attributes for audio-based information systems - Funded by EPSRC (GR/R55528/01)
  • Eureka 1653 Multichannel enhancement of domestic user stereo applications (MEDUSA) - in collaboration with Bang & Olufsen, Genelec, Nokia and the University of Lulea-Pitea

Publications

Journal articles

  • Hummersone C, Mason R, Brookes T. (2011) 'Ideal Binary Mask Ratio: a novel metric for assessing binary-mask-based sound source separation algorithms'. IEEE IEEE Transactions on Audio, Speech and Language Processing, 19 (7), pp. 2039-2045.
    doi: 10.1109/TASL.2011.2109380
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/7195/
  • Kim C, Mason RD, Brookes T. (2011) 'Head-movement-aware signal capture for evaluation of spatial acoustics'. Multi Science Publishing Building Acoustics, 18 (1), pp. 207-226.
    doi: 10.1260/1351-010X.18.1-2.207
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/7061/
  • Hummersone C, Mason R, Brookes T. (2010) 'Dynamic precedence effect modeling for source separation in reverberant environments'. IEEE Transactions on Audio, Speech and Language Processing, 18 (7), pp. 1867-1871.
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2935/
  • Neher T, Brookes T, Mason R. (2006) 'Musically Representative Signals for Use in Interaural Cross-Correlation Coefficient Measurements'. Acta Acustica United with Acustica, 92 (5), pp. 787-796.
  • Mason R, Brookes T, Rumsey F. (2005) 'Frequency dependency of the relationship between perceived auditory source width and the interaural cross-correlation coefficient for time-invariant stimuli.'. Acoustical Society of America Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, United States: 117 (3 Pt 1), pp. 1337-1350.
    doi: 10.1121/1.1853113
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2933/
  • Mason R, Brookes T, Rumsey F. (2005) 'The effect of various source signal properties on measurements of the interaural cross-correlation coefficient'. Acoustical Society of Japan Acoustical Science and Technology, 26 (2), pp. 102-113.
  • Mason R, Ford N, Rumsey F, de Bruyn B. (2001) 'Verbal and non-verbal elicitation techniques in the subjective assessment of spatial sound reproduction'. Audio Engineering Society Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, 49 (5), pp. 366-384.

Conference papers

  • Simon LSR, Mason R. (2011) 'Spaciousness rating of 8-channel stereophony-based microphone arrays'. London, UK : Audio Engineering Society Preprint, London, UK: 130th Audio Engineering Society Convention 8340
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2929/
  • Ashby T, Mason R, Brookes T. (2011) 'Prediction of perceived elevation using multiple psuedo-binaural microphones'. London, UK : Audio Engineering Society Preprint, London, UK: 130th Audio Engineering Society Convention 8389
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2930/
  • Kim C, Mason R, Brookes TS. (2010) 'Validation of a simple spherical head model as a signal capture device for head-movement-aware prediction of perceived spatial impression'. Proceedings of the 40th International AES Conference, Tokyo, Japan: AES 40th International Conference (Spatial Audio: Sense the Sound of Space)
  • Simon LSR, Mason R. (2010) 'Verification of microphone techniques for a novel surround sound system'. Marseille, France : Marseille, France: Laboratory of Mechanics and Acoustics, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
  • Kim C, Mason R, Brookes TS. (2010) 'A quasi-binaural approach to head-movement-aware evaluation of spatial acoustics'. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Room Acoustics, Melbourne, Australia: International Symposium on Room Acoustics
  • Kim C, Mason R, Brookes TS. (2010) 'Development of a head-movement-aware signal capture system for the prediction of acoustical spatial impression'. Proceedings of the 20th International Congress on Acoustics, Sydney, Australia: 20th International Congress on Acoustics
  • Simon LSR, Mason R. (2010) 'Development of a novel surround sound format and associated microphone techniques'. King’s College, London :
  • Hummersone C, Mason R, Brookes TS. (2010) 'A comparison of computational precedence models for source separation in reverberant environments'. Audio Engineering Society Audio Engineering Society Preprint, London, UK: 128th Audio Engineering Society Convention 7981
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2936/
  • Simon LSR, Mason R. (2010) 'Time and level localisation curves for a regularly-spaced octagon loudspeaker array'. London, UK : Audio Engineering Society Audio Engineering Society Preprint, London, UK: 128th Audio Engineering Society Convention 8079
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2937/
  • Kim C, Mason R, Brookes T. (2010) 'Investigation into and modelling of head movement for objective evaluation of the spatial impression of audio'. Boston, USA : Acoustical Society of America Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Baltimore, USA: 159th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America 127, pp. 1886-1886.
  • Simon LSR, Mason R, Rumsey F. (2009) 'Localisation curves for a regularly-spaced octagon loudspeaker array'. New York, USA : Audio Engineering Society Audio Engineering Society Preprint, New York, USA: 127th Audio Engineering Society Convention 7915
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2938/
  • Mason RD, Kim C, Brookes T. (2009) 'The role of head movement in the analysis of spatial impression'. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council London, UK: EPSRC People in Systems Theme Day
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2952/
  • Kim C, Mason R, Brookes TS. (2009) 'The role of head movement in the analysis of spatial impression'. Institute of Hearing Research: European Career Workshop for PhD Students in Hearing Research
  • Mason R, Kim C, Brookes T. (2009) 'Perception of head-position-dependent variations in interaural cross-correlation coefficient'. Munich, Germany : Audio Engineering Society Audio Engineering Society Preprint, Munich, Germany: 126th Audio Engineering Society Convention 7729
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2939/
  • Mason RD, Kim C, Brookes T. (2008) 'Taking head movements into account in measurement of spatial attributes'. Institute of Acoustics Proceedings of the Institute of Acoustics Reproduced Sound Conference, Brighton, UK: Institute of Acoustics 24th Reproduced Sound Conference 30 (6)
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2950/
  • Kim C, Mason R, Brookes T. (2008) 'Improvements to a Spherical Binaural Capture Model for Objective Measurement of Spatial Impression with Consideration of Head Movements'. San Francisco, USA : Audio Engineering Society Audio Engineering Society Preprint, San Francisco, USA: 125th Audio Engineering Society Convention 7579
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2940/
  • Kim C, Mason R, Brookes TS. (2008) 'Initial investigation of signal capture techniques for objective measurement of spatial impression considering head movement'. Audio Engineering Society Preprint, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: 124th Audio Engineering Society Convention 7331
  • Lee H-K, Mason R, Rumsey F. (2007) 'Perceptually modelled effects of interchannel crosstalk in multichannel microphone technique'. New York, USA : Audio Engineering Society Audio Engineering Society Convention 123, New York, USA: 123rd Audio Engineering Society Conference 7200
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2941/
  • Kim C, Mason R, Brookes T. (2007) 'An investigation into head movements made when evaluating various attributes of sound'. Vienna, Austria : Audio Engineering Society Audio Engineering Society Preprint, Vienna, Austria: 122nd Audio Engineering Society Convention 7031
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2942/
  • Mason R, Harrington S. (2007) 'Perception and detection of auditory offsets with single simple musical stimuli in a reverberant environment'. Proceedings of the AES International Conference,
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/7051/
  • Mason R. (2006) 'Implementation and application of a binaural hearing model to the objective evaluation of spatial impression'. Pitea, Sweden : Sound: 28th Audio Engineering Society Internation Conference, pp. 331-342.
  • Mason R, Rumsey F, Zielinski S. (2005) 'PCA-based down-mixing, Workshop on 5.1 Downmix in Practice'. New York, USA : Audio Engineering Society New York, USA: 119th Audio Engineering Society Convention
  • Mason R. (2005) 'Preference-based testing and reference-based testing, Workshop on Automotive Sound Systems Part II: Considerations in Methodology and Sound Quality Attributes for Subjective Evaluations'. New York, USA : Audio Engineering Society New York, USA: 119th Audio Engineering Society Convention
  • Mason R, Rumsey F, Zielinski SK. (2005) 'PCA-based down-mixing'. New York: Workshop on 5.1 Downmix in Practice, 119th Audio Engineering Society Convention
  • Mason R. (2005) 'Preference-based testing and reference-based testing'. New York: Workshop on Automotive Sound Systems Part II: Considerations in Methodology and Sound Quality Attributes for Subjective Evaluations, 119th Audio Engineering Society Convention
  • Brookes T, Mason R. (2004) 'Perceptually Motivated Measurement and Control of Digital Music'. York : Sound: The Future of Audio: Digital Music in 2010 (DMRN Conference)
  • Mason R, Brookes T, Rumsey F. (2004) 'Spatial impression: measurement and perception of concert hall acoustics and reproduced sound'. Hyogo, Japan : Proceedings of the International Symposium on Room Acoustics, Hyogo, Japan: International Symposium on Room Acoustics: Design and Science
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/7050/
  • Mason R, Brookes T. (2004) 'Perception, measurement and synthesis of spatial impression'. London : Sound: Audio Engineering Society British Section Lecture
  • Mason R, Brookes T, Rumsey F. (2004) 'Integration of measurements of interaural cross-correlation coefficient and interaural time difference within a single model of perceived source width'. San Francisco, USA : Audio Engineering Society Preprint, San Francisco: 117th Audio Engineering Society Convention 6137
  • Mason R, Brookes T, Rumsey F. (2004) 'Development of the interaural cross-correlation coefficient into a more complete auditory width prediction model'. Kyoto, Japan : International Congress on Acoustics Proceedings of the 18th International Congress on Acoustics, Kyoto, Japan: 18th International Congress on Acoustics IV, pp. 2453-2456.
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2944/
  • Mason R, Brookes T, Rumsey F. (2004) 'Evaluation of an auditory source width prediction model based on the interaural cross-correlation coefficient'. San Diego, California : Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Sound: 148th meeting of the Acoustical Society of America 116
  • Mason R, Brookes T, Rumsey F. (2003) 'Creation and verification of a controlled experimental stimulus for investigating selected perceived spatial attributes'. Amsterdam : Audio Engineering Society Preprint, Amsterdam: 114th Audio Engineering Society Convention 5771
  • Mason R, Brookes T, Rumsey F. (2002) 'The perceptual relevance of extant techniques for the objective measurement of spatial impression'. London : Proceedings of the Institute of Acoustics, London: Auditorium Acoustics 2002 Conference 24
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/7055/
  • Mason R, Rumsey F. (2002) 'A comparison of objective measurements for predicting selected subjective spatial attributes'. Audio Engineering Society Audio Engineering Society Preprint, Munich, Germany: 112th Audio Engineering Society Convention 5591
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2954/
  • Mason R. (2001) 'Physical measures related to spatial attributes, Workshop on Evaluation of Spatial Sound Reproduction'. Amsterdam, The Netherlands : Audio Engineering Society Amsterdam, Netherlands: 110th Audio Engineering Society Convention
  • Mason R, Rumsey F, de Bruyn B. (2001) 'An investigation of interaural time difference fluctuations, part 4: the subjective effect of fluctuations in decaying stimuli delivered over loudspeakers'. Audio Engineering Society Preprint, New York: 111th Audio Engineering Society Convention 5458
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/7058/
  • Mason R, Rumsey F, de Bruyn B. (2001) 'An investigation of interaural time difference fluctuations, part 3: the subjective effect of fluctuations in continuous stimuli delivered over loudspeakers'. Audio Engineering Society Preprint, New York, USA: 111th Audio Engineering Society Convention 5457
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/7059/
  • Mason R, Rumsey F, de Bruyn B. (2001) 'An investigation of interaural time difference fluctuations, part 1: the subjective spatial effect of fluctuations delivered over headphones.'. Audio Engineering Society Audio Engineering Society Preprint, Amsterdam, Netherlands: 110th Audio Engineering Society Convention 5383
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2956/
  • Mason R, Rumsey F. (2001) 'Interaural time difference fluctuations: their measurement, subjective perceptual effect and application in sound reproduction.'. Schloss Elmau Germany : Proceedings of the 19th International Audio Engineering Society Conference, Elmau, Germany: 19th International Audio Engineering Society Conference, pp. 252-271.
  • Mason R, Rumsey F, de Bruyn B. (2001) 'An investigation of interaural time difference fluctuations, part 2: dependence of the subjective effect on audio frequency.'. Amsterdam : Audio Engineering Society Preprint, Amsterdam: 110th Audio Engineering Society Convention 5389
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/7057/
  • Mason R, Ford N, Rumsey F, de Bruyn B. (2000) 'Verbal and non-verbal elicitation techniques in the subjective assessment of spatial sound reproduction'. Audio Engineering Society Preprint, Los Angeles, USA: 109th Audio Engineering Society Convention 5225
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/7060/
  • Mason R, Rumsey F. (2000) 'An assessment of spatial performance of virtual home theatre algorithms by subjective and objective methods'. Audio Engineering Society Audio Engineering Society Preprint, Paris, France: 108th Audio Engineering Society Convention 5137
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2955/
  • Mason R, Rumsey F. (1999) 'An investigation of microphone techniques for ambient sound in surround sound systems'. Munich, Germany : Audio Engineering Society Audio Engineering Society Preprint, Munich, Germany: 106th Audio Engineering Society Convention 4912
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2946/
  • Mason R. (1999) 'Microphone techniques for multichannel surround sound'. London, UK : Audio Engineering Society Proceedings of the 1999 AES UK conference, Audio: the second century, London, UK: Audio Engineering Society UK Conference, Audio: the second century, pp. 15-24.
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2947/

Posters

  • Simon LSR, Mason R. (2010) Development of a novel surround sound format and associated microphone techniques. University of Surrey Postgraduate Research Conference
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2931/
  • Hummersone C, Mason R, Brookes T. (2010) A perceptually–inspired approach to machine sound source separation in real rooms. University of Surrey Postgraduate Research Conference
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/7250/
  • Evans W, Mason R, Brookes T. (2010) A system for the auralisation of synthetic sound scenes using headphones and head-tracking. University of Surrey Postgraduate Research Conference
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2932/

Theses and dissertations

  • Mason R. (2002) Elicitation and measurement of auditory spatial attributes in reproduced sound.
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/7056/

PhD Thesis

Mason, R. 2002: 'Elicitation and measurement of auditory spatial attributes in reproduced sound', PhD thesis, University of Surrey.

Teaching

Current teaching responsibilities:

  • Audio Engineering 1
  • Audio Engineering 2
  • Audio Engineering 3
  • Technical Projects

 

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