METHODS AND PROCEDURES OF THE ANSTENDIG
INSTITUTE
1983 The
Anstendig Institute
Revised 1984
The
papers of The Anstendig Institute include some mention of its research
procedures. Not being the subjects of the papers, those descriptions are
necessarily limited. We therefore offer the following typical examples of our
procedures and reasons for using them in relation to photography, automobiles,
sound and hearing, and the role the body plays in the musical experience.
The
Anstendig Institute is making known the research on the effects of
absolutely-focal-point-exact focus. This research was the work of Mr. Anstendig
in collaboration with Joseph Dahl, inventor of the Messraster, the only
focusing device that can focus precisely. Most of the work was carried out in
The
existence of a practical means of precisely manipulating the exact plane of
focus poses new questions, the answers to which refute and redefine basic
beliefs upon which all photographic procedures depend. The institute's
materials on photography clearly and objectively demonstrate those answers. A
true understanding of this material would revolutionize the whole field of
photography, including the manufacturing of equipment. This information should
have been available to the public decades ago.
It
is a known fact that, physically, only one precise distance from the lens can
be in focus at a given time. The use of a device allowing absolutely exact
placement of the focal-plane quickly proved 1) that the plane of precise focus
has a different image quality than the rest of the picture, 2) that the whole
psychological effect of a picture is determined by the location of that plane,
and 3) that it should be precisely placed on an important point in the picture.
Clearly, the lack of any publicly available possibility of achieving focusing
precision has kept the photographic world from realizing that the most
important problem of focusing is to determine what part of a picture should be
focused on.
Together
with Mr. Dahl, Mr. Anstendig systematically worked out the correct placement of
the plane of focus. Tests were systematically carried out on a variety of
subjects with various camera-lens combinations. All obvious possibilities for
placing the plane of focus were tried and studied. The resultant photographs
demonstrate the findings. These photo-materials, as well as many pertinent
documents, have been placed at the disposal of The Anstendig Institute.
The
true effects of focusing follow rules that are totally different from
well-known photographic beliefs. They contradict and disprove universally
accepted concepts, especially those of depth-of-field, upon which fundamental
photographic procedures are based. Because there is no known means other than
Messraster of achieving absolutely precise focus in normal picture-taking circumstances,
Mr. Anstendig's photographs are the only existing
photographs that systematically and purposefully demonstrate with absolute
precision, and thus define, the possible psychological effects of any pictures
made with camera and lens.
The
effects of absolute focus were carefully tested on all types of photography
from micro/macro to super-tale photography and on all types of subjects. The
photographs demonstrate what part of the subject should be focused on under all
conditions. They achieve this with a subtlety never before achieved in
photography. They have been recognized by experts as the state of the art of
focusing optical lenses and, as such, were the featured exhibits at the 1962 Fotokina in
In
its own research, The Anstendig Institute uses controlled observation and
careful testing, both alone and with volunteer subjects over a long period of
time. It also contacts and avails itself of information provided by various
experts and manufacturers in the related fields.
The
Institute's automobile information, for example, is the result of long testing
and trials with test automobiles donated for that purpose. These have had
everything technically possible done to them that pertained to the particular
problems under investigation. This includes blueprinting a motor and
installation of various reputable types of suspension alteration such as
anti-sway bars, special performance tires, and different types of shock
absorbers, some of which could be adjusted in their characteristics. This was
done by some of the finest, most sensitive mechanics in highly reputable shops.
Representatives of some manufacturers, particularly Oldsmobile and the Ford
Motor Company, were consulted and have been helpful, as was a professor of
automotive engineering.
For
the materials concerning the inability of most cars to run evenly, particularly
at idle, representative models of every manufacturer's cars up to the
introduction of the 1982 models were test driven. Another test-drive series is
planned for the current models. Specific directions for having one's own car
adjusted to improve the way the motor runs and to improve the suspension--all
with the aim of improving the effect the car has on the rider--have been
determined through this research.
Our
observations of the effects that a badly running, rhythmically erratic car
motor has on our sensory perceptions and our feeling of well-being were carried
out over an even longer period of time, alone and with experimental subjects.
Test situations demanding a high level of fine, delicate perception such as
those involving fine music were used. Subjects were allowed ample time to
observe their ability to perceive the fine detail in the music before and after
riding in an erratic car and were asked to perform tasks involving a high
degree of control and concentration. For example, comparison sketches by a
reputable artist demonstrate by the flow of the pen strokes that his body was influenced
by and continued vibrating in the harsh, erratic rhythmic patterns of an
erratic test automobile for a lengthy period of time after riding in it.
In
the field of sound, the institute's research is more subtle, but no less
controlled. Hearing is the most delicate and subtle of human capacities.
Because both the physical and mental aspects of hearing are dependent upon and
determined by the psycho-physiological state of the hearer, the problem of
researching sound and hearing is to duplicate real-life listening situations.
One must avoid clinical situations and test objects that do not occur in
real-life and therefore either provide no pertinent information as to how sound
is actually heard and experienced or simply provide wrong information.
The
complete process of hearing, from the production of the sounds through their
being registered by and processed in a person's consciousness, is quite
possibly the most complex of all processes, rivaled only by that of sight.
There is more to find out about hearing than how the ear functions mechanically
or how loudly the subject hears test tones in a clinical environment. Hard
scientific procedures aim at eliminating all human factors that could possibly
contaminate the perceived data. But hearing not only involves perceiving, it is
a human perception in which human experience plays an important role. Hard
scientific procedures ignore the experiential aspects of hearing which play at
least an equal role in the total hearing process. To study hearing under real-life
conditions, one must arrive at a workable balance between hard scientific
procedures and the needs of human perceptions so that the perceptions are not
affected by the procedures. Otherwise the procedures change the phenomena
before they can be studied.
The
undependability of memory is the major problem in achieving accurate comparison
and evaluation of sensory perceptions. Until recently, adequate means of
studying phenomena involving the higher senses of sight and hearing were only
available in the field of sight. Of all five senses, sight possesses the only
capability that can be considered dependable and precise: direct, simultaneous
comparison.
It
has always been possible to preserve and manipulate visual phenomena. Visually,
more than one object can be studied with extreme scientific accuracy by means
of direct comparison, i.e., by placing them directly next to each other. This
ability to simultaneously compare adjacent visual impressions eliminates the
need to remember sensory perceptions. In photography, the only focusing device
that can achieve absolute focal-point-exact accuracy, the Messraster,
eliminates the use of memory by utilizing only the direct comparison of visual
impressions. In color charts, color hues are visually determined with
remarkable accuracy by means of direct comparison. All of the other senses, but
hearing in particular, demand a high degree of familiarity with an object and
extremely carefully controlled, non-distracting circumstances if observation
and comparison of meaningful, real-life phenomena is to take place. Tea
tasting, wine tasting, the evaluation of perfume scents, and the evaluation of
the textures and quality of cloth are pertinent examples of well-known
procedures demanding such familiarity and precautions in methodology.
Meaningful
research on sound and hearing was impossible until the advent of electronics
and recordings because it was impossible to repeat the same sounds in exactly
the same way for research purposes. Recordings made possible the exact
repetition of sounds. But those sounds still are a distortion of the original.
Electronics can produce repeated sounds for research purposes, but those sounds
(test tones, pink noise, etc.) are strange, unfamiliar, and disconcerting to
the subject because they never occur in real life. They do not, in any way,
simulate real-life experience. They are therefore limited, if not totally
meaningless, in researching how sound is actually heard and experienced.
Also,
the fact that the test situations seldom have even the slightest resemblance to
normal, everyday life circumstances means that much of the findings do not
pertain to the way people usually hear. Physically and mentally, the subject is
in an abnormal, atypical state and is hearing in a correspondingly atypical
manner. Much scientific research and hearing testing is therefore invalid and
unscientific because it is not researching the
thing it wants to find out about. In audiology, the common problem of people with specially
prescribed hearing aids not being able to stand the sound of their hearing aids
after having used them in familiar, relaxed surroundings is one typical result
of such procedures.
First
insights into the peculiarities of hearing were gained before 1935 in the
famous Bell Telephone Laboratory experiments by Fletcher and Munson. Among
other things, the Fletcher-Munson Equal Loudness Curves show that the way the
equalization of reproduced sound (the frequency balance) is perceived changes
whenever the volume level is changed. Others have performed similar experiments
and, as would be expected in dehumanized, clinical testing, the measured values
differed. But all results do show that the apparent equalization changes when
the overall volume level of the sounds is changed. Those findings
unequivocally prove that all sound-reproduction must
be equalized, otherwise it will be heard
in a distorted manner.
Comparing
unequalized reproduced sounds is almost like visually comparing something that
is grotesquely disfigured to another such thing that is equally, but
differently disfigured. Such a comparison is useless because one cannot even
judge which is more or less distorted unless one knows what the normal
condition of that thing is. But with sound-reproduction the situation is worse.
Not only are two distorted sounds compared without a frame of reference to the
original sound, but also two distorted recordings cannot be simultaneously
compared, as is possible visually. The two sounds have to be alternately played
and remembered. Furthermore, the distortions in the equalization of the sound
create disturbing irritations that interfere with the resolution of detail
within the hearing mechanism. Thus, one is not even hearing all the contents of
the distorted sound.
The
problem of creating meaningful research on the way sound is experienced is to
create test situations that duplicate real-life listening. The
resolution by the ear and the conscious perception of fine details (whether of
pitch, nuance, or volume) determines the quality of hearing. The
stimulus must, therefore, contain details that are of a fineness that lies at
the limits of hearing capacity. The only object with such fine details that fulfills
the requirement for real-life experience is the finest, most exquisite
performances of fine music. The perception of such music is the epitome of all
human capacities to resolve detail.
A
distinctive aspect of The Anstendig Institute's research in hearing is that it
makes use of Mr. Anstendig's rare, extensive musical
training as an orchestra conductor in choosing performances of the finest
musicianship as the sound-objects used in its research.
To
avoid distracting interruptions and to ensure enough time for the body to calm
down and settle into the flow of the listening material, long tapes are
prepared of musical selections with the same equalization and vibrational
characteristics. This is usually accomplished by using long selections such as
operas or by using recordings of the same artist or the same orchestra and
conductor, which were made by the same company within a narrow period of time.
These tapes are worked over until all selections match in relative volume
levels and in equalization characteristics (record companies often arbitrarily
change the volume level between selections on the same record).
Such
precautions are necessary because even the finest performers have differing
characteristics in the periodicity of their performance, i.e., in the
idiosyncrasies in the manner in which the sounds and nuances flow in time. For
example, one can usually follow one Otto Klemperer recording with another
without the hearing having to re-adapt to the new performance. But when a
Klemperer recording is followed by a Toscanini recording, for example, the ear
and body of the listener has to re-adapt to the characteristic flow of the
latter. The result is a sizeable break in the continuity of the listening
session. Besides disturbing the continuity, the fine nuances cannot be heard
during the adjustment.
The
tapes are first studied by Mr. Anstendig to determine their equalization
characteristics and the necessary EQ compensation at different volume levels,
using all currently available types of equalizers and different types of
spectrum-analyzers (full-frequency "swept" and 1/3 octave real-time
analyzers). The ear is also relied upon in determining the suitable
equalization. Although this may seem subjective, it is really quite objective
because one is reducing irritations to the point where they are no longer
apparent and because of the threshold characteristics of hearing. For example,
the annoying, edgy sound of a typical 2500 Hz peak would be reduced only until
it is no longer heard. With an increase of as little as 1 dB, it will again be
heard. If, while listening to a corrected program of unchanging equalization
characteristics, that peak again becomes apparent, the listener's hearing has
changed, not the playback. The value of the change can be found, if desired, by
measuring the amount of cut necessary for the peak to again not be apparent.
Human sensitivity to irritating factors in equalization can be extremely high.
It demands only observation and does not place any demands on the memory.
Experiments
are undertaken only after Mr. Anstendig is familiar with the characteristics of
the tape. Separately and together, the subjects are asked to listen either to
corroborate or to help determine the EQ settings (in comparison to other
settings), which are then tried at differing volume levels. When the
equalization is recognized as correct and everyone is comfortable with the
sound quality, the tapes are listened to under controlled, relaxed
circumstances for long periods of time during which any necessary changes in
equalization are made to compensate for changes in hearing as the tensions of
the body relax.
One
of The Anstendig Institute's first findings was that perception of volume and
equalization is not a constant, but changes over the relatively short period of
a single listening session in relation to the states of tension and relaxation
of the body. Compensation for this phenomenon has been carefully worked into
the institute's research procedures, as it should be in all scientific procedures
involving hearing. It is well known in autogenic training, yoga,
stress-reduction techniques, and other related techniques that when the body
remains quiet for periods of time, physical tensions relax and sensitivity is
heightened. The Anstendig Institute tries to use people with the necessary
discipline and understanding of relaxation techniques, although it does not use
such subjects exclusively. Attention is paid to the importance of physical
discipline in any perceptive listening. Simple, well-known means of relaxing
are suggested to all volunteers...means such as relaxing the forehead,
supporting oneself correctly in one's chair, etc.
After
those present have relaxed into the flow of the music to the point that the
finer nuances can be heard and experienced, the listening continues long enough
for them to be familiar enough with the music's expressive quality to be able
to remember it. The listening is then interrupted. A complete change is created
by going out or having refreshments, for example. The aim is to break the
concentration and change the physical state achieved while listening. After a
suitable time-interval, the listening is resumed and it is immediately observed
whether the last-arrived-at equalization still holds true, which is seldom the
case, if ever. By re-equalizing the music, the differences in
hearing become clearly evident. The former equalizer settings are
retained, and the new correction is made using other equalizers. The amount of
EQ necessary to correct the sound can be interpolated from the settings of the
newly added equalizer at each stage in the progress of the listening and, for
purposes of comparison, the final result at the end of the listening period can
be plotted on the spectrum analyzer both with and without the added EQ. It is
not possible to plot interim settings on the analyzer because the interruption
would disturb the continuity, change the way the music was heard, and
essentially end that part of the session. A related procedure for analyzing
sensitivity to nuance is contained in the paper "Our Bodies Are Affected By the Vibrational Quality of Our Surroundings”.
The
Anstendig Institute's research on the role that the body plays in the musical
experience has been pursued by isolating the listeners' torsos from the sound
waves for extended periods after they had been given ample listening time to
familiarize themselves with the emotional content of the music. This was
achieved 1) by surrounding the listener with an opaque, reflective structure,
usually mirrors, 2) by having the listener wear a garment either made of or
lined with reflective, silver-coated material, or 3) a combination of both.
Subjects were given ample time to observe and ascertain whether the listening
experience suffered when the body was isolated from the sound vibrations and
what the differences were. Listening periods were of an extended nature and
were carefully repeated on different days to double-check the conclusions.
Because
The Anstendig Institute, with the help of new technology, has been able to
conduct its research under circumstances that are essentially the same as
real-life listening, the results highlight many faults in current thinking in
the fields of sound-reproduction, acoustics, and audiology.
The
Anstendig Institute wholly concurs with The Lincoln Center Institute that
"the capacity through which people create and perceive beauty is one which
people need to explore...and that understanding and valuing this capacity--in
themselves and in others--is a critical part of learning and, in fact, of life
itself.” We perceive beauty through the senses, particularly sight and hearing.
Our Institute's work in these fields is meant to help improve the quality of aesthetic
experience.
The
Anstendig Institute is a non-profit, tax-exempt, research institute that was
founded to investigate stress-producing vibrational influences in our lives and
to pursue research in the fields of sight and sound; to provide material
designed to help the public become aware of and understand stressful
vibrational influences; to instruct the public in how to improve the quality of
those influences in their lives; and to provide research and explanations for a
practical understanding of the psychology of seeing and hearing.