Summary: A recent study found that the” sight-over-sound” phenomenon, in which visual indicators outweigh audio when determining music, is heavily dependent on the user’s musical context. General players relied more on photos in experiments with Chinese brass band performances, whereas brass band specialists relied more on sound alone.
No obvious discrimination was displayed by non-musicians. The findings show how skills influences how visual information is incorporated, which could improve music schooling and competition judging.
Important Information:
- Varieties in physical biases: Brass musicians did not exhibit a sight-over-sound partiality, but non-brass musicians did.
- Expertise Matters: Music expertise in a particular type affects the evaluations ‘ sensory assessments.
- Methodological Rigor: Filming and performance quality controlled nevertheless visual dominance effects.
KEIO as the cause
We are naturally conditioned to believe that our ears are the main assessors of value when we listen to a music, a dance performance, or a roll music.
Many people assume that music is generally an aural experience, and they are conditioned to believe that factors like proper intonation and rhythmic precision determine a musical performance’s true essence.
However, research has revealed an interesting phenomenon that challenges this conceit.
This phenomenon, which is referred to as the” sight-over-sound effect,” suggests that unconsciously influencing our judgments can be the performance of a performer, from their stage presence to subtle body language cues.
Despite its amazing implications, the reproducibility of the sight-over-sound impact has remained controversial in all music genres and efficiency settings.
Previous research had trouble identifying physical influences precisely, and it had trouble identifying evaluators ‘ subjective interpretations of musicality due to inconsistent filming angles, musical compositions, and definitions of musical experience. In consequence, neither the scope nor the definition of the sight-over-sight influence are clear.
A detailed study was conducted in this context by Associate Professor Shinya Fujii, Director of the Neurosciences and Music Laboratory at Keio University and the Japanese study centre for audio technology, to examine the validity of this impact.
The research was co-authored by Mr. Tomohiro Samma of Keio University’s Graduate School of Media and Governance, and it was also published online on April 29, 2025 in the PLOS One blog.
The group put a particular emphasis on the role of the assessments ‘ unique musical background in their meticulous investigation of the replicability of the sight-over-sound impact.
The researchers used audio from Chinese high school brass band competitions to create an experiment in response to the limitations of earlier studies. This gave the researcher substantial control over the empirical stimulation. Considering the minimal disparities in skill levels, all selected rings had received platinum awards.
Most important, all assessment sets included the exact musical work that was shot with the same camera angles. In the study, 301 adults were enrolled in the program, and they were classified into the following categories: brass band musicians ( BMs) with direct musical experience, non-brass band musicians ( NBMs) with general musical knowledge but no background in brass bands, and non-musicians ( NMs) with no formal musical training.
These organizations compared iron band performances in audio-only, visual-only, or audio-visual conditions, and decided on the group who they thought would produce the best competitors outcomes.
The study’s findings revealed a strikingly nuanced image of the sight-over-sight influence. The researchers found no conclusive evidence of the impact when analysing the sample of participants nevertheless, which suggests that having a close eye on visual elements and musical compositions might actually reduce visual supremacy. But, thorough analysis of the subgroups suggested that the evaluator’s musical background was influenced.
NBMs, who demonstrated substantially higher accuracy in identifying victors from visual-only data, especially, showed the sight-over-sound effect. In contrast, BMs, who demonstrated exceptional reliability in the audio-only condition, underlined their ability to make accurate judgments based solely on audio. The NM party also did not exhibit the sight-over-sound phenomenon.
These findings have substantial impact on how we understand multisensory integration and how it works in practice in songs and music competitions. First, the absence of the entire sample’s sight-over-sound effect highlights the significance of scientific precision in future studies.
More importantly, the disparate outcomes between the three groups demonstrate how professional music training can influence how people interpret and prioritize visual information.
According to Mr. Samma,” Our study found that the sight-over-sound impact was just observed in NBMs, which suggests its dependence on the evaluator’s particular music experience, while BMs’ audio training may help mitigate aesthetic influence.”
Moreover, the findings are important for social psychology and mental science in general because they suggest that one’s level of expertise in a given field can affect their perception of sensory sources.
For instance, the NBM group’s physical dominance suggests that despite having musical skills, they may also rely on visual cues when evaluating their level of experience in a particular genre.
This study has important implications for several real-world aspects, including audio training, achievement, and competition judging, because it illuminates an underexplored element of how evaluators ‘ music experience influences the evaluation process in multisensory integration, concludes Dr. Fujii.  ,
Further research on this interesting subject will hopefully improve music education and create competitions fairer.
About this information about music, auditory, and physical neuroscience research
Tomohiro Samma, the artist
Source: KEIO University
Contact: Tomohiro Samma – KEIO University
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Open access to original analysis
Tomohiro Samma et al.,” Sight-over-sound effect depends on interaction between evaluators ‘ musical experience and auditory-visual integration: An examination using Japanese brass band competition recordings.” PLOS One
Abstract
An analysis of Chinese brass band opposition recordings reveals that the auditory-visual integration and the subjective experience of the assessors affect the sight-over-sound effect.
The sight-over-sound phenomenon, which uses visual information as the key input for music evaluations, challenges the accepted notion that sound is the main driver of music evaluation.
However, the sight-over-sound effect’s reproducibility remains questionable in various music genres and circumstances.
We used recordings from Japanese brass band competitions to investigate the sight-over-sound effect, which was uncovered below. The pieces were carefully selected music and camera angles and were used to create the music.
Based on their brass group performance and artistic background, the child participants ( time: 34.81- 11.71 years]mean- regular deviation] ) were divided into three groups.
Of the 301 participants, 171 were brass band musicians ( age: 33.08 ± 11.57 years ), 78 were non-brass band musicians ( age: 35.39 ± 13.03 years ), and 52 were non-musicians ( age: 39.15 ± 8.73 years ).
The sight-over-sound effect was observed in non-brass band musicians ( Kruskal–Wallis test:  , p , <, 0.001 ) but not in brass band musicians ( p , = 0.48 ) and non-musicians ( p , = 0.37 ).
These findings show that the sight-over-sound effect is dependent on music background, and that brass band musicians’ audio training may help to lessen the visual impact.
Additionally, non-musicians who lack the sight-over-sound effect don’t necessarily prioritize sensory information, which suggests that without distinct musical training.
The current findings address a significant space in our understanding of multisensory integration, particularly in light of how artistic expertise affects evaluative processes across visual modalities.
Our findings highlight the need for education and evaluation practices to actively balance the influences of visual and auditory cues, especially when physical supremacy may overwhelm audio quality.
