Communication Acoustics: An Introduction to Speech, Audio and Psychoacoustics

Preface

The book Kommunikaatioakustiikka by Matti Karjalainen (1946–2010) has always been around during my research career in audio and psychoacoustics, starting from my PhD studies (1996–2001), through the periods when I was a postdoc (2001–2005), a senior researcher (2005–2012), and now during my tenure track professorship (2012–). I first used the book as a reference, as it summarized many relevant topics and provided good pointers on where to find more information. I have also been teaching the corresponding course at Aalto University (the university formerly called Helsinki University of Technology), first during Matti's sabbatical years, then sick leaves, and regularly after his passing away. It was my and many other people's opinion that the book was great, but it did not have a counterpart written in English. Matti himself knew this, and he worked on a translation, a of which he completed about 30% in 2002, including the preface that follows.

For a long time I thought that I should finish Matti's work, as it would benefit people in the fields of audio and speech. However, I also understood that it would be quite a hard job. The final motivation came from my university, which stated that all MSc-level teaching should have course material in English as well, starting from autumn 2015. So, in autumn 2013, I decided to complete the book. To ensure that I would really do it, I proposed the book to Wiley, since I understood that I needed a deadline. I also thought that international ...