bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
"A Dismal Swamp": Darwin, Design, and Evolution in Our Mutual Friend
Authors: Fulweiler Howard W.
Published: September 2012

Our Mutual Friend, published just six years after Darwin's The Origin of Species, is structured on a Darwinian pattern. As its title hints, the novel is an account of the mutual-though hidden-relations of its characters, a fictional world of individuals seeking their own advantage, a "dismal swamp" of "crawling, creeping, fluttering, and buzzing creatures." The relationship between the two works is quite direct in light of the large number of reviews on science, evolution, and The Origin from 1859 through the early 1860s in Dicken's magazine, All the Year Round. Given the laissez-faire origin of the Origin, Dicken's use of it in a book directed against laissez-faire economics is ironic. Important Darwinian themes in the novel are predation, mutual relationships, chance, and, especially, inheritance, a central issue in both Victorian fiction and in The Origin of Species. The novel asks whether predatory self-seeking or generosity should be the desired inheritance for human beings. The victory of generosity is symbolized by a dying child's "willing" his inheritance of a toy Noah's Ark, "all the Creation," to another child. Our Mutual Friend is saturated with the motifs of Darwinian biology, therefore, to display their inadequacy. Although Dickens made use of the explanatory powers of natural selection and remained sympathetic to science, the novel transcends and opposes its Darwinian structure in order to project a teleological and designed evolution in the human world toward a moral community of responsible men and women.
"Cousin Holman's Dresser": Science, Social Change, and the Pathologized Female in Gaskell's "Cousin Phillis"
Authors: Pettitt Clare
Published: September 2012

This articles explores the ways in which Elizabeth Gaskell negotiates with issues of class and gender in her novella "Cousin Phillis." It first focuses on the representations of male scientists in the tale and the ways in which Gaskell disguises the class divisions between them and evades confronting the question of their social agency as scientists. The article then moves on to look at the ways in which Gaskell transfers the pain of social and scientific change onto the romantic plot and, in particular, onto the character of Phillis herself. A detailed account of Gaskell's description of Phillis's somatic symptoms throughout the narrative is then used to argue that by making Phillis the index of change, Gaskell both avoids confronting the complex class issues that her novella raises and simultaneously produces a radical critique of the ways in which the female subject is repressed and controlled by a masculine scientific culture. The article concludes that it is possible to read "Cousin Phillis" as indicative of Gaskell's own troubled response to rapid social change and to the iniquitous divisions between classes and sexes that, she seems to suggest, can be numbered among its results.
Reclaiming Walt: Marc Blitzstein's Whitman Settings
Authors: Metzer David
Published: September 2012

Between 1925 and 1928, Marc Blitzstein composed nine songs to texts by Walt Whitman. These settings highlight homoerotic and corporeal thematics, which dominant views of the poet had either obscured or denied. Challenging such interpretations, Blitzstein advanced a reclaiming of Whitman by homosexual readers. Subtitled "songs for a coon shouter," four of these settings introduce African American elements, either through "coon song" gestures or through incorporation of jazz idioms. These appropriations were intended to enhance Whitman's eroticism. They also create tensions between the "primitive" and the "civilized," high and low art, and white and black bodies.
Sexual Discourse in the Parisian Chanson: A Libidinous Aviary
Authors: van Orden Kate
Published: September 2012

Chanson texts featuring birds form a unique nexus of voices in the sexual discourse pervading the Parisian repertory of the late sixteenth century. The eroticism of these chansons is often expressed according to the older poetic conventions of unrequited courtly love and its carnivalesque abasement focusing on the lower body, or by a synthesis of the two characterized by the poetry of Pierre de Ronsard. Ronsard's sensual lyricism tended to employ avian imagery in support of a naturalized philosophy of love encouraging sexuality. Birds, considered to have a libido surpassing that of humans, became a favored theme, and composers set many of these Ronsardian texts. In the second part of this essay, I contextualize the reception of the erotic chanson among France's upper classes, relating it to the crisis of the French aristocracy and the noble aspirations of the bourgeoisie. The nouveaux nobles, or bourgeois that ennobled themselves with the purchase of seigneurial titles, had the fiscal power to acquire music and seem to have evinced the same sexual repression that Foucault saw as emblematic of bourgeois society itself-a repression that spawned a whole literature on sex. Around and in the chanson formed a rich locus of this contemporary discourse on sex, noble comportment, and the moral effects of music.
Helmholtz and His Continuing Influence
Authors: Warren Richard M.
Published: September 2012

Helmholtz's career is outlined, and his views on the relationship between science and art are summarized. He was fascinated by illusions, and his account of their use in both science and art is described. Helmholtz's empiricism is discussed, along with its application to hearing. He was responsible for developing an extremely influential "neural place" theory for the perception of tones, and the effects of this theory upon subsequent concepts are traced. Some limitations of recent place theories are outlined, and suggestions are made concerning the contributions of both neural place and neural periodicity information to the perception of acoustic repetition.
Tonal Structure versus Function: Studies of the Recognition of Harmonic Motion
Authors: Butler David , Brown Helen
Published: September 2012

Two empirical studies identified and tested strengths of dynamic cues that assist listeners in identifying tonal centers. The hypothesis that it is rare intervals, rather than physical properties of tones or static representations such as scales and triads, that play a significant role in a musician's perceptual process of key identification led to the first experimental study of context sufficiency in perception of tonality. Musicians extrapolated tonal centers upon aural presentation of subsets of a major diatonic set with an accuracy mean of 87%. Univalent trichords gave 100% clearer indication of tonal center than did multivalent trichords. The strength of the tonality percept was further explored by examining effects of temporal ordering and by evaluating relationships between formal training and test scores. In a second experiment, listeners judged appropriateness of tonal centers after hearing paired dyads consisting of the rarest intervals in the major set: the tritone and the two minor seconds. Listeners indicated strongest impressions of tonal center when the tritone was heard as a simultaneity. Test performance showed a stronger correlation with listeners' abilities to identify tonal centers in actual music than with listeners' status as musicians or nonmusicians. These results are interpreted as evidence of a widespread cognitive skill that interprets tonality as a system of tonal relations rather than just an abstracted collection of tones or a system governed by the psychophysical attributes of tones.
Musical Perception and Cerebral Function: A Critical Review
Authors: Zatorre Robert J.
Published: September 2012

A critical review is provided of the literature on musical performance following intracarotid sodium Amytal injection and on studies of musical perception in groups of unilaterally brain-damaged persons. The sodium Amytal data suggest that both hemispheres are active in singing familiar songs, since injection into either hemisphere produces disruption of singing. Studies with brain-damaged populations generally find deficits after right-sided damage in tasks demanding processing of patterns of pitches (e. g., unfamiliar melodic sequences) as well as with differences in timbre. Damage to the right temporal lobe causes the most consistent deficits in these tasks. Damage to the left side does not impair performance on such tasks, but does cause problems when familiar tunes are involved, especially if naming or identification is required, regardless of the presence or absence of aphasia. Damage to the right hemisphere also affects performance in such cases, but not usually to the extent that left-hemisphere lesions do.
Some Aspects of Rhythm and Expression in Performances of Erik Satie's "Gnossienne No. 5"
Authors: Clarke Eric F.
Published: September 2012

Timing data from piano performances of Gnossienne no. 5 are analyzed to examine the way in which a performer structures different subdivisions of a constant beat. The piece contains a wide variety of different beat divisions, and the timing data demonstrate that these rhythmic distinctions are accurately preserved by the performer. These data also provide the basis for a model of expressive rhythmic performance in which an underlying structural representation, consisting of rhythmic figures organized around a framework of beats, is transformed by an expressive system constrained by certain parameters. This accounts for the complex yet stable characteristics of musical performances by skilled exponents.
Recognition of Novel Melodies after Brief Delays
Authors: Dewitt Lucinda A. , Crowder Robert G.
Published: September 2012

Three experiments on the recognition of short melodies investigated the influence of contour and interval information (respectively, the pattern of changes in pitch direction and the ordered sequence of pitch distances in a melody). Subjects rated pairs of melodies as "same" or "different" on a five-point scale. Six conditions were defined by two delays (short, 1 sec; and long, 30 sec) and three item types (target, related, and lure). In Target pairs, the second melody retained the contour and interval information of the first melody, being an exact transposition to another key. In Related pairs, only the contour information was retained, while in the Lure pairs neither contour nor interval information was retained. In conformity with the reports of Dowling and Bartlett (1981), the results indicated that contour information had a larger influence on recognition at short delays, whereas interval information had a relatively larger influence at long delays. The results are also consistent with an alternative interpretation stressing the importance of tonality/modality information in melody recognition at long delays.
The Perceptual Roles of Melodic Process, Contour, and Form
Authors: Rosner Burton S. , Meyer Leonard B.
Published: September 2012

A melodic process traces a melody's principal motions from its main beginning to its closure. Western tonal music seems built around a handful of different melodic processes. In each of three experiments, we took melodically complete excerpts from fully instrumented recordings of music of the Classical and Romantic periods. The stimuli instantiated either of two different melodic processes. The processes varied across experiments. Subjects judged the dissimilarity of pairs of stimuli. Multidimensional scaling and hierarchical clustering showed that melodic processes and overall properties of contour were important in determining the subjects' perceptions. In a fourth experiment, two-part forms proved perceptually distinguishable from three-part forms. A final experiment which systematically varied both process and form indicated that process and contour can completely mask any perceptual effects of form. On balance, melodic process, contour, and form influence the perception of music in descending order of importance.
Messiaen's Synaesthesia: The Correspondence between Color and Sound Structure in His Music
Authors: Bernard Jonathan W.
Published: September 2012

Olivier Messiaen's published descriptions of his works and the color labels that appear in certain of his scores show that he is affected by colored-hearing synaesthesia. Because Messiaen's color responses, like those of other synaesthetes, exhibit a high degree of internal consistency, the analyst may tabulate the available correlations between sound and color and use them to explore the various factors, objectively considered, that govern Messiaen's color associations. The importance of absolute pitch and of the modes of limited transposition is studied, as are the conditions under which vertical spacing and pitch-class-set identity may assume primary significance in color delineation. The conclusions reached offer a key to more general matters of structure in Messiaen's music. Examples are drawn from several of Messiaen's works, dating from 1929 to 1974.
II. A Perceptual Evaluation
Authors: Houtsma Adrianus J. M. , Tholen Henricus J. G. M.
Published: September 2012

This article reports a study of the musical appreciation of carillons consisting of computer-synthesized major-third bells, minor-third bells, and "neutral-third" bells. Paired comparison judgments of melodies played on these instruments were obtained from a group of carillon majors, a group of other music students from a local conservatory, and a group of nonmusicians. The results provide evidence that each group of subjects can hear the difference between the three computerized instruments, but each group evaluates these perceptual differences in a different way.
Grouping Conditions in Listening to Music: An Approach to Lerdahl & Jackendoff's Grouping Preference Rules
Authors: Deliege Irene
Published: September 2012

Lerdahl and Jackendoff propose a grouping theory that can apply to both the global and the local structures of the process of listening to music. It is a set of rules expressing the intuitive organization of groups in music perception. The "proximity rules" describe the length differences and the "change rules" describe the modifications in the acoustic or temporal state of sound structures, in relation to Gestalt Theory. As such, they propose a testable hypothesis on certain aspects of music perception. Two experiments are reported, which do not go beyond segmentation into two levels of grouping. They compare the grouping behavior of two categories of subjects, nonmusicians and musicians. Four questions are raised: (1) Do the segmentations reported by subjects answer in all respects the predictions of the rules? (2) Are they available to both categories of subjects? (3) Do they cover all grouping situations in music? (4) Are they of equal perceptual salience? The first experiment used material taken from compositions in the Western art music repertoire (Bach to Stravinsky). The second one put the rules in conflict in simple melodic sequences, where a combination of all possible conflicts between pairs of rules was designed. The results show the validity of the rules. Nonmusicians had poorer performances with repertoire music sequences. Yet the two categories of subjects do not show a radically different grouping behavior. New rules are suggested by the segmentations that were not in accordance with the theory. They also show some difficulties for the length rules deriving from the Gestalt Similarity law.
An Ethnomusicological Approach to the Analysis of Musical Cognition
Authors: Kippen James
Published: September 2012

A genre of North Indian drumming has become the focus of experimental research in which an "expert system" is programmed to simulate the musical knowledge of the drummers themselves. Experiments involve the interaction of musicians with a computerized linguistic model contained within the expert system that formalizes their intuitive ideas regarding musical structure in a generative grammar. The accuracy of the model is determined by the musicians themselves, who assess its ability to generate correct pieces of music. The main aims of the research are the identification of the cognitive patterns involved in the creation and interpretation of a particular musical system, and the establishment of new techniques that make this approach to cognitive analysis applicable to other musical systems. This article attempts to demonstrate the advantages an ethnomusicological approach can bring to the analysis of musical perception and cognition. Such an approach links the analysis of musical sound to an understanding of the sociocultural context in which that music is created and interpreted.
Tonal Pitch Space
Authors: Lerdahl Fred
Published: September 2012

Models of pitch space have been developed in music psychology to account for perceived proximity among pitches, chords, or regions. This article introduces a different model that (1) treats pitches, chords, and regions within one framework, (2) correlates with the experimental data, and (3) connects in interesting ways with a variety of music theories.
Revision of Terhardt's Psychoacoustical Model of the Root(s) of a Musical Chord
Authors: Parncutt Richard
Published: September 2012

The predictions of Terhardt's octave-generalized model of the root of a musical chord occasionally disagree with music theory (notably, in the case of the minor triad). The model is improved by assigning appropriate weights to the intervals used in the model's "subharmonic matching" routine. These intervals, called "root-supports," include the P8 (unison), P5, M3, m7, M9 (M2), and m3. The new model calculates the salience of each pitch class (C, C#/Db..B) as an absolute value. The most likely candidate for the root of a chord corresponds to the most salient pitch class in all cases where the root is unambiguously defined in music theory. The model also calculates a "root ambiguity" value for each chord, a measure of its dissonance. Effects of voicing (inversion, spacing, and doubling) and context on the root are considered.
The EEG: An Adequate Method to Concretize Brain Processes Elicited by Music
Authors: Petsche H. , Linder K. , Rappelsberger P. , Gruber G.
Published: September 2012

Whether or not processing of music by the brain can be reflected in an ongoing EEG was studied in a group of 75 healthy students. The parameters considered were location, power, frequency, and coherence. By means of the Fisher permutation test, significant changes of these parameters with respect to control EEG periods were computed and represented as probability maps of brain electrical activity. In spite of the great individual differences in musical ability, education, and interest of the subjects, a number of specific group differences of the EEG parameters could be elucidated for different musical tasks. Significant differences were also seen between the groups of musically trained and untrained subjects, both during listening and even in their EEGs at rest. In addition, considerable sex differences were observed. Part of these differences, particularly those of the parameter power, are most likely caused by the different degrees of attention elicited by these tasks. The greater part of the observed changes, however, concerns coherence and thus conceivably reflects different degrees of the functional cooperation of two adjacent brain regions or the two hemispheres in several musical perception tasks.
The Cognitive Reality of Hierarchic Structure in Music
Authors: Serafine Mary Louise , Glassman Noah , Overbeeke Cornell
Published: September 2012

Six experiments examined the cognitive reality of hierarchic structure in music. The first experiment showed that subjects were only moderately able to match a performed rendition of a hierarchic structure to the piece of music from which it was derived, with performance slightly better than chance. Metric accent emerged as a significant predictor of the tones perceived by subjects as structurally important. The second experiment showed that subjects' correct matchings were unlikely to be based on aesthetic preference, because performed renditions of (rule-governed) structures were not regarded as aesthetically preferable to nonstructures. The third experiment attempted to increase subjects' matching of structures and their original pieces through various task modifications, but these modifications did not increase performance over the success rate achieved in Experiment 1. Three additional experiments determined whether evidence of the distinction between structureand surface could be obtained in various similarity judgment tasks. Pairs of musical fragments were composed so that the members of each pair embodied (1) the same structure and same surface harmony, or (2) the same structure but different surface harmony, or (3) a different structure but same surface harmony. The rating task used in Experiments 4 and 5 showed that the members of Type-2 pairs of fragments were perceived to be just as similar as the members of Type-1 pairs, but Type-3 pairs were rated significantly lower in similarity. Thus, similarity judgments were based on underlying hierarchic structure, even in the face of radical harmony differences on the surface. This effect increased in strength with repeated hearing. The results support the cognitive reality of hierarchic structure, but are influenced by the type of perception used in a particular similarity judgment task and by the experience of repeated hearings.
Absolute Pitch Identification: Effects of Timbre and Pitch Region
Authors: Miyazaki Ken'ichi
Published: September 2012

Pitch identification by absolute-pitch (AP) possessors was tested with three different timbres. Twelve notes per octave in the equally tempered chromatic scale were presented randomly over a seven-octave range. AP subjects identified the note quite accurately but showed a considerable number of octave errors, indicating that they indeed responded primarily to pitch classes. By contrast, subjects lacking AP gave widely scattered responses, indicating that they could not perceive pitch classes at all but responded solely on the basis of the approximate pitch region (pitch height). The performance of AP subjects was best for piano tones and worst for pure tones, and responses were most accurate in the middle region of the musical pitch range. Of 12 pitch classes, white-key notes on a musical keyboard (diatonic tones in the C major scale) tended to be identified more correctly and rapidly than were black-key notes (nondiatonic tones in the C major scale). All of the AP subjects had received training on the piano since a young age. It is suggested that AP can be acquired through such early musical experience.
Composer-Specific Aspects of Musical Performance: An Evaluation of Clynes's Theory of Pulse for Performances of Mozart and Beethoven
Authors: Thompson William Forde
Published: September 2012

This report examines Clynes's theory of "pulse" for performances of music by Mozart and Beethoven (e. g., Clynes, 1983,1987). In three experiments that used a total of seven different compositions, an analysis-bysynthesis approach was used to examine the repetitive patterns of timing and loudness thought to be associated with performances of Mozart and Beethoven. Across performances, judgments by trained musicians provided support for some of the basic claims made by Clynes. However, judgments of individual performances were not always consistent with predictions. In Experiment 1, melodies were judged to be more musical if they were played with the pulse than if they were played with an altered version of the pulse or if they were played without expression. In Experiment 2, listeners were asked to judge whether performances of Mozart were "Mozartian" and whether performances of Beethoven were " Beethovenian." Ratings were highest if the pulse of the composer was implemented, and significantly lower if the pulse of another composer was implemented (e. g., the Mozart pulse in the Beethoven piece) in all or part of each piece. In Experiment 3, a Beethoven piece was played with each of three pulses: Beethoven, Haydn, and Schubert. Listeners judged the version with the Beethoven pulse as most Beethovenian, but the version with the Haydn pulse as most "musical." Although the overall results were encouraging, it is suggested that there are significant difficulties in evaluating Clynes's theory and that much more research is needed before his ideas can be assessed adequately. The need for clarification of some theoretical issues surrounding the concept of pulse is emphasized.
The Avoidance of Inner-Voice Entries: Perceptual Evidence and Musical Practice
Authors: Huron David , Fantini Deborah A.
Published: September 2012

Experimental evidence has shown that entries of inner voices are more difficult to perceive than entries of outer voices in multivoiced music. A study of voice entries in 75 fugues by J. S. Bach shows no significant avoidance of inner-voice entries in three- and four-voice textures. However, in the case of five-voice textures, Bach does demonstrate a significant reluctance to have a voice enter in an inner-voice position. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that Bach endeavors to minimize perceptual confusion in his polyphonic works as the textural density increases.
Perceptual, Acoustical, and Musical Aspects of the Tambūrā Drone
Authors: Carterette Edward C. , Vaughn Kathryn , Jairazbhoy Nazir A.
Published: September 2012

The basso continuo principle, as embodied in Rameau's theory of functional harmony, was paralleled by the introduction of drone instruments in the classical music of India. In order to understand how these two systems are tied together in human music perception, we studied the role of tambūrā interactions with North Indian rags played on the sitār. Raman (1914-1922) had applied his theory of discontinuous wave motion to mechanical and musical properties of the strings of the violin. He noted the remarkable, powerful harmonic series that arose from the nonlinear interaction of the tambürã string and grazing contact with its curved bridge. We analyzed the waveforms of the most common drone tunings. Each of the four strings was played with and without juari ("life-giving" threads). The upward transfer and spread of energy into higher partials imparts richness to tambūrā tones and underlies the use of different drone tunings for different rags. Specific notes of rāg scales are selectively and dynamically enhanced by different drone tunings. Based on coincident features of spectral and musical scale degrees, we computed an index of spectral complexity of the interactions of tambūrā tunings with rãg scales. We speculate that the use of juari contributes to stable pitch centers, implied scale modulation, and an improvisational flexibility.
Ratings of Suitability of Probe Tones as Tonics after Random Orderings of Notes of the Diatonic Scale
Authors: West Robert J. , Fryer Roz
Published: September 2012

Playing an ascending or descending diatonic scale establishes a "tonal hierarchy" in which the major-mode tonic is judged by listeners as being in a tonal sense more stable than other notes (Krumhansl, 1983). This article describes a study in which listeners were asked to rate probe tones for suitability as tonics after presentation of a variety of "random" orderings of all seven notes of a given scale. The results indicate that even musically trained listeners do not differentiate the major-mode tonic as uniquely suitable as the tonal center. In fact the major-mode tonic, the mediant, the dominant, and the subdominant were considered equally suitable as tonics and together were given higher ratings than other notes from the scale, including what would be the tonic for the natural minor mode. Nonmusicians showed the same profile of responses as musicians. The results indicate that the time-order of notes is important to the perception of tonal hierarchy.
Increment/Decrement Asymmetries in Polyphonic Sonorities
Authors: Huron David
Published: September 2012

Existing research has shown that single-voice entries in polyphonic music are more easily perceived than single- voice exits. A study of 195 assorted musical works reveals a marked asymmetry between voice entries and exits. Specifically, voices tend to be added one at a time, while voice exits tend to occur several at a time. This practice is consistent with the hypothesis that voice entries and exits are perceptually important points in musical works and that composers avoid single- voice exits because they are less likely to be perceived.
Some Guidelines for the Synthesis and Testing of Pulse Microstructure in Relation to Musical Meaning
Authors: Clynes Manfred
Published: September 2012

Guidelines are suggested for synthesizing and testing musical microstructure, especially as applied to the composer's pulse. It is proposed that research in music microstructure use research equipment and acoustic methods not less stringent than those used for speech research. Musical considerations are discussed for how to test different parts of musical pieces appropriately.
Composers' Pulses: Science or Art?
Authors: Repp Bruno H.
Published: September 2012

In this reply, I respond to Clynes's (1990) criticisms of my earlier work and raise a few questions about composers' pulses not addressed in his "guidelines." Although most of his criticisms are justified, they also reveal many unresolved methodological problems and a prominent role of subjective musical judgment in devising perceptual tests of composers' pulses. This makes the theory very difficult to test.
Assessment of Musical Performance by Using the Method of Continuous Judgment by Selected Description
Authors: Namba Seiichiro , Kuwano Sonoko , Hatoh Tadasu , Kato Mariko
Published: September 2012

Newly developed methods for evaluating subjective impressions of musical performances are introduced. Performances of the Promenades in "Pictures at an Exhibition," played by three musicians, were used as stimuli. In Experiment 1, the impressions of each performance were judged by the method of selected description. Three major factors concerning adjectives used to describe the subjective impression of musical performances became apparent. These were "dynamics," "tranquility," and "sadness." In Experiment 2, instantaneous impressions were judged by the method of continuous judgment by selected description, and its relation to the overall impression was examined.
Vietnamese Modal Scales of the Dan Tranh
Authors: Keefe Douglas H. , Burns Edward M. , Nguyen Phong
Published: September 2012

The dan tranh is a Vietnamese 17-string zither tuned to pentatonic modal scales. Each modal scale, or dieu, encompasses a given tuning and a specific sentiment or modal nuance, and ornamentation using pitch bends is an important embellishment. The dan tranh was tuned entirely by ear, and the repetition rate of the lowest-pitched string varied from G₀ to E₃ in data obtained during a 6-month period from a single highly skilled Vietnamese musician. The modal scales lie in two major systems, bac and nam, and the frequency ratios of the tonal materials comprising the scales were measured. Using a standard categorization experimental paradigm, the musician was unable to categorize intervals in the absence of musical context. In a probe-tone rating experiment, the musician was asked to contemplate the sentiment associated with a particular modal scale, and evidence was found that was suggestive of an internalized hierarchy that differed between the two modal scales used as stimuli. Vietnamese modal scales make extensive use of a 166-cent scale step, which corresponds to $\frac{5}{3}$semitones.
Constructing a Representation of a Melody: Transforming Melodic Segments into Reduced Pitch Patterns Operated on by Modifiers
Authors: Oura Yoko
Published: September 2012

A reduced-pitch-pattern model for melodic processing is proposed. The model assumes that experienced listeners divide a melody into segments, derive a reduced pitch pattern from each segment, and then try to match each pattern to one of the prototypes stored in long-term memory. As a result, the melody is memorized accurately and quickly. This model and two competing models (the contour model and the harmonic progression model) make different predictions concerning what aspects of a melody would be preserved and what types of error in recall would appear. Recall data of a tonal melody of 12 measures in length were used to examine these predictions. The data were gathered from eight college music majors. Analysis of erroneous reproductions showed that reduced pitch patterns and harmonic progressions were preserved well and that errors predicted by the reduced-pitch-pattern model occurred more often than those predicted by the two competing models. It is concluded that the reduced-pitch-pattern model is the most tenable of the three.
Electromyography and Muscle Activities in Double Bass Playing
Authors: Guettler Knut
Published: September 2012

Two electromyography (EMG) experiments related to double bass playing are described. By means of surface electrodes and synchronous recordings of finger movements on the string, it is shown in the first experiment that the production of vibrato is associated with pulsating contractions of two back muscles, the teres minor and the teres major. A failure in the coordination of the activity of these muscles was observed in a student having problems in producing a proper vibrato. The second experiment demonstrates clear effects of a small change in the holding of the instrument on muscular stress in the left and right trapezius muscles. These changes were revealed by the occurrence of different degrees of muscular force developed during playing. The pedagogical implications of these findings are discussed.
Perception of Musical Intervals by Absolute Pitch Possessors
Authors: Miyazaki Ken'ichi
Published: September 2012

Previous studies have demonstrated that absolute pitch (AP) possessors can directly perceive the musical pitch quality (pitch class) of a tone presented in isolation. However, an isolated tone without musical context has no relevance to music, and AP ability should be examined in musically meaningful situations. In this study, AP possessors tried to identify the musical intervals between pairs of successive tones. The first tone (a reference) was either in-tune C according to the conventional pitch standard or out-of-tune C (a quarter-tone higher than standard C). The identification performance was less accurate and slower in the out-of-tune reference condition than in the in-tune condition. In contrast, AP nonpossessors showed no significant difference in performance in the two conditions, as predicted by the principle of equality under transposition. These results suggest that AP subjects tend to adhere to AP in relative pitch tasks, and that at least some AP listeners may have developed a strong dependence on AP at the sacrifice of relative pitch. AP may not have any advantage in music, in which relative pitch, not AP, is essential. Rather, AP may conflict with relative pitch and, in some cases, harm musical pitch processing.
Spectral Analysis of the EEG as a Tool for Evaluating Expectancy Violations of Musical Contexts
Authors: Janata Petr , Petsche Hellmuth
Published: September 2012

The generation and updating of expectancies is a crucial process for our understanding and appreciation of music. We present evidence that the dynamic process of musical expectancy can be studied by using several electroencephalographic (EEG) parameters such as amplitude or coherence in various frequency bands between 1.5 and 31.5 Hz. At specific electrodes (amplitude parameter) or electrode pairs (coherence parameter), values of these parameters depend on how an established musical context is completed, that is, if the expectancy generated by the context is violated, the pattern of the brain's electrical activity differs significantly from when the expectancy is fulfilled. The various parameters are also sensitive to the ease with which subjects classify a musical resolution. In our study, musically trained subjects heard repeated trials consisting of cadence primes in various major keys and inversions. Each cadence resolved either to the tonic, the relative minor, or a chord based on the tonic of the most distantly related major key. The three resolutions represented the "best," an "ambiguous," and "worst" possible fulfillments of the expectancy (resolution to the tonic) generated by the priming cadence. In a "response" condition, subjects expressed a yes/no judgment of how well the resolution matched their expectancy of the best possible resolution; in a "no response" condition, subjects were asked to make the same judgment but no overt response was required. Analyses of variance snowed that reaction times, response accuracies, and some EEG parameters differed between the various resolutions. In addition to confirming that a form of expectancy operates in musical contexts, the results point towards the brain structures responsible for the processing of complex musical stimuli. In particular, EEG parameters changed not only at recording sites located above the auditory cortices, but also at sites above right frontal and parietal regions.
A Model of the Process of Listening to Simple Rhythms
Authors: Rosenthal David
Published: September 2012

This article discusses a computer model of the process of listening to simple rhythms. The model consists of (1) a way of dividing the rhythm into appropriate chunks, (2) a means of constructing recognizers for the chunks, and (3) an organization of the recognizers into a hierarchical structure. Each node in the structure is a recognizer for the nodes immediately below it in the hierarchy. The model explains certain aesthetic qualities of music as necessary for the model's efficient function. In particular, the model provides a procedural explanation for what Leonard Meyer (1956) has called the "law of return," which states that an important organizational principle in music is the return to previously heard material after an intervening time during which the material is absent. The model uses points where this occurs to determine the overall structure of the rhythm and to construct a hierarchical description.
The Influence of Duration on Verbal-Attribute Ratings of Complex Protomusical Sounds
Authors: Nielzén Sören , Olsson Olle
Published: September 2012

Based on natural spectra, 7 different complex sounds were synthesized digitally, each in a long version (3 s in duration) and in a short version (0.5 s in duration) for a total of 14 sounds. These stimuli were presented to 34 subjects who rated each sound on each of 12 seven-point verbal scales. A rating was defined as an emotional response. Based on previous work, mutually exclusive subsets of the emotional responses to four scales were assigned to each of three verbal dimensions or factors, the Factors were: I, Tension–Relaxation; II, Lightheartedness–Gloom; and III, Attraction–Repulsion. By means of analysis-of-variance methods it was found that the sounds evoked divergent emotional responses with respect to all three factors and that the emotional responses to shortduration sounds were similar to those to long-duration sounds. Only for Factor II was there a significant interaction, in that two of the short sounds were rated more lighthearted than the two corresponding long sounds. Otherwise it appears that emotional responses to the short sounds did not differ from those to their corresponding long sounds, as measured by mean ratings. Because the responses to given short versions or long versions of the complex sounds were essentially the same, it may be concluded that the short versions contain considerable information, and the two versions are therefore substitutable for each other as experimental stimuli. Another implication is that even very brief complex sounds can elicit emotional ratings of the kind defined here.
Perceptual Invariances in the Comparative Psychology of Music
Authors: Hulse Stewart H. , Takeuchi Annie H. , Braaten Richard F.
Published: September 2012

If one stimulus pattern is transposed to another, and if the two are recognizably the same, then they are said to be perceptually invariant. Usually, transpositions that lead to perceptual invariance involve changes on a ratio scale between the stimuli comprising the two patterns. In this paper, we survey the literature with a view to the conditions of pitch structure (melody and harmony), spectral structure (timbre), intensity structure (loudness), and temporal structure (rhythm, meter, and tempo) that produce perceptual invariance. The review compares perceptual invariance for human infants, young children, and adults and nonhuman animals. For the most part, perceptual invariance holds at all levels of development and for all species throughout the acoustic dimensions surveyed. However, for melody perception, there is evidence that humans go through a stage in early childhood in which absolute (as distinguished from relative) pitch perception plays a role. Without doubt, absolute pitch is important in perception of serial acoustic (melodic) structures by animals. For both humans and nonhumans, melody perception appears to be governed by a hierarchy of perceptual strategies that includes both absolute and relative pitch. The survey suggests the value of a comparative perspective in understanding the perceptual principles underlying music perception in humans and the principles by which human infants and nonhuman animals process acoustic information.
Detection of Implied Harmony Changes in Triadic Melodies
Authors: Platt John R. , Racine Ronald J.
Published: September 2012

Three experiments investigated the cues used by musicians and nonmusicians asked to rate their confidence that an implied harmony change had or had not occurred at a specified point in pseudo- randomly generated, isochronous, triadic melodies that conformed to the rules of elementary classical harmony. In the first experiment, a single melody note followed the putative point of harmony change, and subjects' responses were predictable on the basis of whether this note was contained in the previous triad and the size of the melodic interval between this note and the one preceding it. Musicians were relatively more influenced by the former factor, and nonmusicians, by the latter one. In the second experiment, five to seven melody notes followed the putative point of harmony change, which greatly reduced control by the harmonic relationship of the first of these to the previous triad, but the effect of melodic interval size persisted. The third experiment verified the findings of the first two by using the cues that had been identified in them as design variables and evaluating their effect with conventional analytic statistics. This experiment also parametrically manipulated the number of notes after the putative point of harmony change and showed that maximum confidence concerning the occurrence of an implied harmony change was reached with the first note that did not belong to the previous triad. Possible mechanisms for use of these cues to implied harmony changes are discussed, and directions for future research are indicated.
The Pitch of Speech as a Function of Linguistic Community
Authors: Dolson Mark
Published: September 2012

A recent series of experiments by Deutsch and co-workers has investigated the perception of musical patterns in which the tones are well defined in terms of pitch class, but poorly defined in terms of pitch height. One of these patterns is known as the "tritone paradox." It has been found that listeners' differing perceptions are significantly correlated both with the linguistic community in which the listener grew up and with the pitch range of the listener's spontaneous speaking voice. To explain these findings, Deutsch has hypothesized that listeners acquire an internal representation of pitch classes based on the prevailing pitch range of speech in their linguistic community and that this representation influences both their perception of the tritone paradox and their speech production. The present paper examines this hypothesis in the light of available data about the pitch of speech as a function of linguistic community. It is concluded that these data are surprisingly consistent with Deutsch's hypothesis.
Apparent Motion in Music?
Authors: Gjerdingen Robert O.
Published: September 2012

A great deal of the motion perceived in music is apparent rather than real. On the piano, for example, no continuous movement in frequency occurs between two sequentially sounded tones. Though a listener may perceive a movement from the first tone to the second, each tone merely begins and ends at its stationary position on the frequency continuum. Recent advances in the modeling of apparent- motion effects in vision provide a starting point for the modeling of the strong apparent- motion effects in music. An adaptation of the Grossberg- Rudd model of apparent motion in vision, when given input representing the strengths of pitch sensations positioned along a one- dimensional frequency continuum, can simulate important musical phenomena of auditory stream segregation, van Noorden's melodic- fission/ temporal- coherence boundaries, various Gestalt effects, aspects of dynamic attending, and Narmour's predicted categorical distinction between musical intervals implying a continuation and those implying a reversal of direction.
Tonal Hierarchies in Jazz Improvisation
Authors: Jarvinen Topi
Published: September 2012

Statistical methods were used to investigate 18 bebop-styled jazz improvisations based on the so- called Rhythm Changes chord progression. The data were compared with results obtained by C. L. Krumhansl and her colleagues in empirical tests investigating the perceived stability of the tones in the chromatic scale in various contexts. Comparisons were also made with data on the statistical distribution of the 12 chromatic tones in actual European art music. It was found that the chorus- level hierarchies (measured over a whole chorus) are remarkably similar to the rating profiles obtained in empirical tests and to the relative frequencies of the tones in European art music. The chord- level hierarchies (measured over single chords) suggest that in the chord progression the improvisers have certain cognitive reference points that are outlined more carefully than the rest of the chords (strong local hierarchy vs. weak local hierarchy). Furthermore, in both analyses, it was found that the metrical structure was used to emphasize or de- emphasize tones, depending on their tonal function.
Quantitative Effects of Global Tempo on Expressive Timing in Music Performance: Some Perceptual Evidence
Authors: Repp Bruno H.
Published: September 2012

This study examines whether global tempo and expressive timing microstructure are independent in the aesthetic judgment of music performance. Measurements of tone interonset intervals in pianists' performances of pieces by Schumann ("Traumerei") and Debussy ("La fille aux cheveux de lin") at three different tempi show a tendency toward reduced relative variation in expressive timing at both faster and slower tempi, relative to the pianist's original tempo. However, this could reflect merely the pianists' discomfort when playing at an unfamiliar tempo. Therefore, a perceptual approach was taken here. Experimental stimuli were created artificially by independently manipulating global tempo (three levels) and "relative modulation depth" of expressive timing (RMD, five levels) in MIDI-recorded complete performances of the Schumann and Debussy pieces. Skilled pianists rated the quality of the resulting two sets of 15 performances on a 10-point scale. The question was whether the same RMD would receive the highest rating at all three tempi, or whether an interaction would emerge, such that different RMDs are preferred at different tempi. A small but significant interaction was obtained for both pieces, indicating that the listeners preferred a reduced RMD when the tempo was increased, but the same or a larger RMD when the tempo was decreased. Thus, they associated an increase in tempo with a decrease in (relative) expressive timing variation, which, in general agreement with the performance data, suggests that the two temporal dimensions are not independent.