The term ‘post-tonal’ embodies a broad distinction between musical explorations of new combinations of tones (‘post-tonality’) and explorations of sonic resources other than tones (‘post-tone’). A significant turning-point in post-tone thinking occurred when some composers replaced notes with masses of notes, or sound masses, as musical units. Existing definitions of sound mass are reviewed and a new definition drawing on empirical evidence is offered. The perceptual principles that are involved in the perception of polyphonic music are demonstrated to also ground sound mass perception, with opposite aesthetic goals achieved through radically different musical organisation.

中文翻译：

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声音质量、听觉感知和“后音”音乐

“后音调”一词体现了对新音调组合的音乐探索（“后音调”）与对音调以外的声音资源的探索（“后音调”）之间的广泛区别。当一些作曲家用大量音符或声音质量代替音符作为音乐单位时，发生了后调思维的一个重要转折点。回顾了声质量的现有定义，并提供了基于经验证据的新定义。复调音乐感知中涉及的感知原则也被证明可以为声音质量感知奠定基础，通过完全不同的音乐组织实现相反的审美目标。