Abstract: Provided is an acoustic signal encoding method capable of encoding an acoustic signal having a large number of channels at a sufficient bit rate. In this acoustic signal encoding method, the acoustic signal of a plurality of channels are encoded by executing encoding device. Firstly, the masking threshold corresponding to the spatial masking effect of hearing is calculated. Then, the amount of information for allocating the acoustic signal of the plurality of channels to each channel is determined by the calculated masking threshold. Then, the acoustic signal of the plurality of channels are encoded with the amount of information allocated to each. This makes it possible to encode the acoustic signal of the plurality of channels at a sufficient bit rate.

Abstract: An acoustic material is provided which includes a plurality of wood veneers laminated via an adhesive, in which the veneer is impregnated with the adhesive, and the adjacent veneers are substantially in contact with one another. The adjacent veneers are impregnated with the adhesive in an amount of preferably no less than 1 g/m2 and no greater than 50 g/m2 per unit area in and around a boundary region of the adjacent veneers. The adhesive may be a water-soluble adhesive or a water-based emulsion adhesive. The veneer may be a rotary veneer, a sawn veneer or a sliced veneer. A musical instrument is further provided which includes a sound board, in which the acoustic material is used as the sound board.

Abstract: An acoustic material is provided which includes a plurality of wood veneers laminated via an adhesive, in which the veneer is impregnated with the adhesive, and the adjacent veneers are substantially in contact with one another. The adjacent veneers are impregnated with the adhesive in an amount of preferably no less than 1 g/m2 and no greater than 50 g/m2 per unit area in and around a boundary region of the adjacent veneers. The adhesive may be a water-soluble adhesive or a water-based emulsion adhesive. The veneer may be a rotary veneer, a sawn veneer or a sliced veneer. A musical instrument is further provided which includes a sound board, in which the acoustic material is used as the sound board.

Abstract: A method of perforating a membrane and an apparatus therefor is presented. The method includes bringing a membrane-denaturing substance into contact with or close proximity to at least a site of the membrane, the substance inducing a membrane-denaturing reaction by a stimulus; providing the stimulus to the substance so as to denature the membrane; and perforating the membrane with a membrane-destroying member. The stimulus is carried through the membrane-destroying member. The present invention eliminates the influence of the membrane-denaturing agent on the substance to be injected into the cell. The present invention also enables applying the stimulus locally, with a simple construction.