bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Young children confronting the Continuator, an interactive reflective musical system
Authors: Addessi Anna Rita , Pachet François
Published: March 2011

Background in music education

The present study deals with various the interaction between children and musical machines. One of the principal aims is to understand how the use of interactive musical systems can affect the learning and the musical creativity of children and more especially of younger children (3 to 5 years old).

Background in artificial intelligence

An innovative system was conceived at the Sony CSL in Paris which is able to produce music in the same style as the person playing the keyboard. The name chosen for this machine is the Continuator. Its basic design is that of Interactive Reflective systems where the core concept is to teach musical processes indirectly by putting the user in a situation where learning takes place through the actual interaction between the user and the system.

Aims

The aim of the study is to understand in what way the children relate to this particular interactive musical system, what kinds of musical and relational behaviours are developed, and how interactive reflective systems can be used in the educational field to stimulate creativity and the pleasure of playing.

Method

The study involved 27 children aged 3 to 5 years, in a kindergarten in Bologna (Italy). Three sessions were held once a day for 3 consecutive days. In every session, the children were asked to play on the keyboard in 4 different situations: with the keyboard alone, with the keyboard connected to the Continuator, with another child, and with another child and the Continuator.

Results

The present paper reports the observation of three particular aspects: the emergence of a life cycle of interaction, moving from initial surprise, to phases featuring excitement, analytical behaviour and invention; the fact that the two tasks involving the system gave rise to the longest attention span characterized by strong intrinsic motivation and joint attention; the varied nature of the listening behaviours.

Conclusion

The results show how an interactive reflective system such as the Continuator can develop interesting child/computer interaction and promote creative musical behaviours in young children. This outcome points to the considerable potential offered by the association between the disciplines of music education and artificial intelligence.
Can experts identify “open throat” technique as a perceptual phenomenon?
Authors: Mitchell Helen F. , Kenny Dianna T.
Published: March 2011

Singing pedagogues have identified “open throat” as a widely used pedagogical tool in the singing studio and a critical technique to achieve good classical vocal quality. This study is the first to assess the perceptual validity of open throat. Fifteen expert singing pedagogues assessed 48 messa di voce and 24 song samples with six repeats of six advanced singing students under two conditions: “optimal” (O), representing use of maximal open throat technique and “sub-optimal” (SO), representing reduced open throat. Correctly identified responses were counted by condition (O/SO), by judge and by singer. Data were analyzed using Cohen's Kappa. Hypotheses that correct identification would be greater than chance were confirmed for both messa di voce and the song samples, with thirteen of the fifteen judges correctly identifying 82.7% of song samples as O or SO. Singers' self-ratings attributed their best singing to maximal use of open throat technique. These results indicate that listeners are consistent in making a dichotomous choice in identifying use of a singing technique through auditory-perceptual evaluation. The findings from this study suggest that there is a sound quality associated with the use of open throat technique, which is a perceptual reality to singing pedagogues and singers and that the specific vocal quality in classical singing that it produces can be reliably identified by expert listeners. If singers and expert listeners' of singing accord, focussing future research on specific singing techniques could enhance singing pedagogy.
Constructions of jazz: How Jazz musicians present their collaborative musical practice
Authors: Macdonald Raymond A. R. , Wilson Graeme B.
Published: March 2011

The collaborative processes of jazz improvising are of considerable academic interest as a unique form of creativity. While recent work highlights the utility of interviewing practitioners with the aim of gaining an authoritative view, there is still a need for research to apprehend the gamut of what can be constituted as “jazz”. A previous study has shown how understandings of the music arising in focus group interviews with jazz improvisers are shaped by the need to establish identities (MacDonald and Wilson, 2005; Wilson and MacDonald, 2005). This paper reports on a further series of semi-structured individual interviews with 10 (6 male and 4 female) professional UK jazz musicians on the theme of jazz and musical identity. Specifically, the interviews investigated the social and psychological implications of the collaborative nature of this music. Discursive analysis of the interview transcripts shows how understandings of the music were constructed in relation to identity positions for the speaker. Identity as a jazz musician was negotiated with other individual identities; the relationship between gendered identities and identity as a jazz musician is examined as an instance of how conflict between these identities may allow hegemonic influences to operate. These findings are discussed in relation to current debates in identity theory, and implications for music education.
Patterns of modernization in Turkish music as indicators of a changing society
Authors: Ergur Ali , Aydin Yiğit
Published: March 2011

Background in sociology

Turkish society has experienced a profound transformation since the late eighteenth century, that has stimulated an extensive social change in which traditional modes of cultural expression have been restructured throughout capitalistic standardizations. This simplification is also observable in the structural transformation of traditional Turkish music. In fact, musical rationalization encodes the logic of an entire phase of modernization.

Background in ethnomusicology

The sound system of traditional Turkish music differs substantially from the Western one which became universally valid. Traditional Turkish music theory necessitates a sufficiently refined and non-Western musical perception. However, during the last two centuries this perceptual affinity has been slowly abolished through the standardizing process of modernity, which realizes in effect a hidden temperament within the traditional sound system.

Aims

We aim to analyze the main features of rationalization in Turkish music, through the change of its expressive specificities, as representation of a sociological transformation.

Main contribution

Music is one of the most symbolic domains, in which symptoms of a rationalization process can be observed. Our study tries to demonstrate the progressive proliferation of a process of rationalization. Traditional and Westernized sound systems and performances have always been conceptualized as deeply separated spheres, even as antagonistically polarized hermetical spheres which possess their specific audience, expressive instruments, discourse, etc. Conversely, we also deduce that the actual phase of musical rationalization in Turkey has attained such a degree that the artificially fragmented nature of musical genres are being melted in a technical and stylistic fusion.

Implications

In nearly all of the sociological studies on Turkish music, the ontological specificities of music are underestimated, while developing deductions from music itself. In the case of ethnomusicological researches on the same subject, musical phenomena are usually isolated from their sociological context. Opposing such prevailing considerations both in sociology and ethnomusicology, the present study may help to inaugurate, in a totally unexplored domain, an alternate path through which the artificially divided musical spheres of the Turkish cultural context can be reevaluated as different aspects of an identical comprehensive modernization process.
Plane isometries in the music and art of Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis
Authors: Holm-Hudson Kevin J. , Kucinskas Darius
Published: March 2011

Background in art history

In the early twentieth century, numerous composers and artists — including Scriabin, Schoenberg, and Kandinsky — explored connections between music and visual art. Even so, Lithuanian artist-composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis (1875–1911) stands apart in the extent of his formal training in both areas, and the degree to which he believed the two media interpenetrated. Initially trained as a musician, Ciurlionis studied painting at the Warsaw School of Fine Arts from 1904 through 1906. Between 1907 and 1909 he aimed at synthesis of the arts with paintings often analogous to musical forms (for example, the four-painting Sonata of the Sun). Some scholars have linked Ciurlionis to symbolism; others have linked him to abstraction. Still others have examined musical metaphor in Ciurlionis's painting.

Background in music theory

As Ciurlionis's involvement in painting deepened, his music changed to emphasize intersecting lines and a preoccupation with isometry, suggesting increasingly literal translation of visual principles into musical notation. Each of the four visual plane isometries (rotational symmetry, reflection, translation, and glide reflection) has its musical counterpart, giving rise to various theories of musical isometry (cf. David Lewin and Ernö Lendvai).

Aims

The authors show how Ciurlionis's creative process in his music was influenced by visual principles.

Main contribution

Ciurlionis's posthumous fame was as an artist until publication of his music began in 1957. Since then, although several Lithuanian scholars have analysed his music, scholars outside Lithuania have focused on his paintings. The extent to which Ciurlionis's newly discovered “visual thought” of 1904–1906 permeated his music during those years and thereafter has scarcely been examined.

Implications

By examining the structural similarity of Ciurlionis's different artistic media, one is able to uncover the deeper unity of his artistic expression. Examination of some of the distinctive tendencies of Ciurlionis's art manifested in his music yields a deeper understanding of his unique creative process.
Stellar acoustics as input for music composition
Authors: Kolláth Zoltán , Keuler Jen O.
Published: March 2011

Background in acoustics

Variable stars show light variations due to internal acoustic waves. There are strong physical mathematical parallels between stellar behaviour and musical instruments: the basic principles underlying their “overtone” frequencies are identical. However, “stellar instruments” have many characteristics that make their sounds different from ordinary musical instruments.

Background in theory/composition

Many composers have incorporated inharmonic spectra into their music. Computer technology now enables us to control inharmonic sound processes and deal with associated theoretical implications. Drawing stellar acoustics into the orbit of music fits in well with this trend in compositional practice.

Aims

Our main aim is to demonstrate that sounds designed according to the principles of stellar physics and the nature of the processes inside stars can be used as a new basis for music composition, theoretical reasoning, and aesthetic evaluation.

Main contribution

Both cosmic and musical events are determined by the temporal and hierarchical order of events, states and processes. Acoustic models of variable stars predict unusual patterns of “overtones” and variations in these patterns as the stars evolve. Due to the enormous size of stars, their oscillatory frequencies are orders of magnitudes lower than the audible range; therefore we should transpose those oscillations to the range of human hearing. However, the frequency range of possible stellar oscillations is much wider than the musical range, indicating a need for nesting points. These questions provide an interesting starting point for a cosmically inspired music theory. We developed a C-sound based computer application, to make the compositional experiments manageable.

Implications

In our research, we combine scientific and artistic approaches and ways of thinking. Astrophysicists can investigate the special modes of vibration in stars of diverse size and inner structure, present possible sound sets that “celestial instruments” might offer, and provide information on their acoustic spectra. Composers can then scrutinize the audible features of these sonances, their behavior in diverse musical contexts, their aptness for creating tonal tensions, and their suitability for creating expressive musical structures. These points are illustrated with reference to the authors’ Stellar Music No. 1.
Emotion perceived and emotion felt: Same and different
Authors: Kallinen Kari , Ravaja Niklas
Published: March 2011

The goal of the present study was to examine the relationships and differences between emotion perceived ( i.e., the emotional quality expressed by music) and emotion felt ( i.e., the individual's emotional response to music). Thirty-two participants listened to 12 music pieces differing in terms of a priori basic emotional quality, and rated the music from two points of view ( i.e., emotion felt and emotion perceived) using 16 adjectives from dimensional models of emotion. As expected, in general, music seemed to arouse emotions similar to the emotional quality perceived in music. However, the affect ratings were significantly moderated by the point of view from which the emotions were assessed. Felt emotions were stronger than perceived emotions in connection with pleasure, but weaker in connection with arousal, positive activation, and negative activation. As also expected, negative perceived quality in music elicited less or an opposite felt emotion. That is, fearful music was perceived as negative but felt as positive.
Melodic improvisation at the age of 6–11 years: Development of pitch and rhythm
Authors: Paananen Pirkko A.
Published: March 2011

The keyboard melodic improvisations of 6–11-year-old children (N = 36) were explored for age-related development and representational types of production. The hypotheses were founded on a model of musical development by the present author. The participants heard a 24-bar ABA-formed piano-bass-percussion- accompaniment. Section A was tonal and section B was modal, lacking the tonic. Age was a significant factor in the development of the tonal hierarchy. The 6–7-year-old children's general emphasis was on the first five tones of the diatonic scale. The 8–9-year-old children preferred tones present in both sections (event hierarchical orientation). In the 10–11-year-old children's products, the tonic triad was prominent throughout the piece. The profiles of all age groups correlated positively and significantly with Krumhansl & Kessler's (1982) tonal profile, cultural models and the distribution of tones of the accompaniment. The number of rhythm motives and variations was positively correlated with age. Metre affected the selection of tones in all age groups. Age was positively correlated with the strongest beat of the measure. Several representational types were found. As the model predicted, the hierarchical structures of tonal music developed sequentially: In the first substage, children focused on either melodic-rhythmic surface or deep structures (tonality, metre); in the next substage, surface and deep structures began to coordinate, and in the final substage, they were fully integrated.
Einflüsse von Modalität und Tempo auf die Wahrnehmung musikalischer Affekte bei Kindern und Erwachsenen: Eine Replikationsstudie
Authors: Kreutz Gunter , Schonk Christina , Upano Leonardo
Published: March 2011

Zusammenfassung

Dalla Bella, Peretz, Rousseau & Gosselin (2001) berichteten, dass Kinder im Alter von fünf Jahren hauptsächlich das Tempo eines Musikstückes (schnell/langsam) nutzen, um den „fröhlichen” oder „traurigen” Affekt eines Musikstückes zu beurteilen, während bei älteren Kindern auch die Modalität (Dur/Moll) das Affekturteil beeinflusst. Zwei Experimente wurden unternommen, um diese Beobachtungen zu überprüfen. Gruppen von fünfjährigen und sechs- bis achtjährigen Kindern mit wenigstens einjähriger Erfahrung in musikalischer Früherziehung sowie erwachsenen Kontrollpersonen mit musikalischer Vorbildung (Musikstudenten) beurteilten jeweils den „fröhlichen” oder „traurigen” Affekt in klassischen Melodien (Experiment 1) sowie eigens komponierten musikalischen Materialien (Experiment 2). Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass sich musikalisches Training auf die Wahrnehmung von Modalität und Tempo im Affekturteil schon bei fünfjährigen Kindern auswirkt. Implikationen für das Design longitudinaler Studien und die Notwendigkeit eingehender Untersuchungen individueller Unterschiede werden diskutiert.
Themes as prototypes: Similarity judgments and categorization tasks in musical contexts
Authors: Ziv Naomi , Eitan Zohar
Published: March 2011

Similarity judgments and corresponding categorizations often differ, as the former does not predict the latter (Keil, 1989). Prototype-based models suggest that categorization emphasizes features which distinguish contrasting prototypes from each other, features which may have a lesser role in free similarity ratings (Medin, Goldstone & Gentner, 1993; Rosch, 1988). We studied this effect in musical contexts, examining how specifying contrasting musical themes as frames of reference affects listeners’ categorizations of other extracts in the same composition, and comparing categorizations with corresponding similarity judgments. Musical materials employed in Lamont & Dibben's similarity rating experiment (2001), extracted from piano pieces by Beethoven and Schoenberg, were used. Participants independently marked, for each piece, to what degree extracts “belong” to each of its two main themes. These categorizations were compared with similarity ratings in the above study and with published thematic analyses of the 2 pieces, and were correlated with combinations of diverse musical features of the themes.

Categorizations concurred with similarity ratings for Beethoven, and differed for Schoenberg. However, despite participants’ independent ratings of affiliations with the two themes, in both pieces categorizations, unlike similarity ratings, were negatively correlated: the stronger an extract's affiliation with a theme, the weaker its affiliation with a contrasting theme. This effect resulted in some dramatic disparities between similarity ratings and corresponding categorizations. In addition, correlating listeners’ categorizations with musical features generated a graded category structure, where an extract's affiliation with a theme correlated with the number of distinctive surface features it shared with this theme. We suggest that musical themes serve as concrete prototypes for other events in the piece. Presenting contrasting themes emphasizes their distinctive features, thus creating an intraopus field of similarities and differences which characterizes the piece. Within that field, rival prototypes, represented by the main themes, compete to add incoming events to their sphere.
On comparing edit distance and geometric frameworks in content-based retrieval of symbolically encoded polyphonic music
Authors: Lemström Kjell , Pienimäki Anna
Published: March 2011

This paper deals with content-based music retrieval (CBMR) of symbolically encoded polyphonic music. It is one of the key issues in the field of music information retrieval. Due to extensive research, there are already satisfactory methods for monophonic CBMR. Unfortunately, this is not the case with the polyphonic task. The problem has been approached in various ways; the majority of the methods suggested fall into two frameworks. The first framework models music as linear strings and the similarity is based on the well-known edit-distance concept. The second one models music as sets of two-dimensional geometric objects (consider the piano-roll representation), but the definition of similarity varies considerably within the framework. We scrutinise these frameworks trying to find common, relevant properties that either inhibit or boost the effectiveness of the methods. Although the edit-distance framework offers more efficient solutions, we conclude that the geometric framework is the choice for the CBMR task because of the very natural way of modelling music still preserving the features intrinsic to the task.
Melodic similarity as a determinant of melody structure
Authors: Ahlbäck Sven
Published: March 2011

This paper presents an approach to the analysis of melodic similarity as a determinant of melody structure, which has been applied successfully as a computational system of analysis for the prediction of segmental structure in a large sample of monophonic melodies of diverse cultural origin. (Ahlbäck 2004) Although the impact of similarity in the determination of segmental structure in music is generally acknowledged, methods based on similarity have been criticized with regards to the difficulty of formalizing criteria and threshold values for structurally significant similarity (e.g. Cook 1987). It is herein maintained that, since similarity is a fundamentally relative concept and categorization of similarity and difference relates to a given context, segmentation based on similarity requires a context-sensitive parametric measure of similarity.

The proposed method of analysis is based on common psychological principles such as gestalt psychological principles, human perceptual and cognitive limitations regarding temporal frames of attention, simultaneous category handling and cognition of temporal proportions.

The core hypothesis of the model is that melodic segmentation at a structural level is primarily established by similarity, in particular repetition of melodic content, and dissimilarity, in particular discontinuity of melodic processes. It is discussed how the influence of melodic similarity on segment structure is dependent upon general features of musical structure, such as metrical structure. This notion is supported by the results of an experiment, which indicates that listeners do not make use of repetitions of pitch sequences for melodic segmentation when these are in conflict with the perceived general beat structure.

The influence of metrical context is handled within the method, as well as the means of allowing for different levels of similarity through a categorization of different types and degree of similarity. This is illustrated by an example analysis of a melody in which the segmental structure is determined by melodic similarity of different types, the result of which is evaluated by a listener test. The result supports the notion that structurally significant similarity is relative and contextual and indicates that this is possible to model formally within a rule-based, style-independent method of analysis.
Temporal attention in the processing of short melodies: Evidence from event-related potentials
Authors: Lange Kathrin , Heil Martin
Published: March 2011

It has been speculated that temporal attention is involved in the perception of melodies within a complex tone pattern. However, it is not known so far, which processing steps are influenced. Goal of the present study was, therefore, to analyze the influence of temporal attention on the processing of single tones within a melody with behavioural and ERP measures. Participants heard a reference and a comparison melody, which could be either isochronous or non-isochronous, and had to indicate whether the pitch of a target tone was identical in the two melodies or not. When the temporal structure of the two melodies was identical, the allocation of temporal attention should improve the processing of the target tone of the comparison melody. For isochronous melodies, participants responded faster when the target tone was presented at an attended rather than at an unattended point in time. ERPs to attended target tones were associated with relatively more negative amplitudes between 140 and 220 ms. It may thus be suggested that regular temporal expectancies can be used to improve the processing of melody tones by acting upon early, perceptual processing steps. For non-isochronous melodies, responding was not influenced by temporal attention and ERPs were more negative to unattended target tones. This effect may be related to the violation of a regular temporal expectancy.
If music is the food of love, what about survival and reproductive success?
Authors: Dissanayake Ellen
Published: March 2011

This article departs from many discussions of the origin, evolution, and adaptive function(s) of music by treating music not as perceptual qualities (pitch, timbre, meter), formal elements (prosody, melody, harmony, rhythm), performed activity (singing, drumming), or genre (lullaby, song, dance). Rather, music is conceptualized as a behavioral and motivational capacity: what is done to sounds and pulses when they are “musified” — made into music — and why. For this new view, I employ the ethological notion of ritualization, wherein ordinary communicative behaviors (e.g., sounds, movements) are altered through formalization, repetition, exaggeration, and elaboration, thereby attracting attention and arousing and shaping emotion. The universal sensitivity of infants as young as 8 weeks to such alterations of (or operations on) voice, facial expression, and body movements, when these are presented to them by adults in intimate dyadic interactions within a shared temporal framework, suggests an evolved, adaptive capacity that enabled and reinforced emotional bonding. Such proto-aesthetic (proto-musical) operations existed as a reservoir from which individual cultures could draw when inventing art-saturated ritual ceremonies that united groups temporally and emotionally as they did mother-infant pairs. Music in its origins and evolution is assumed to be multimodal (visual and kinesic, as well as aural) and a social — not solitary — activity. An appendix describes important structural and functional resemblances between music, mother-infant interaction, ceremonial ritual, and adult courtship and lovemaking (as differentiated from copulation). These resemblances suggest not only an evolutionary relationship among these behaviors but argue for the existence of an evolved amodal neural propensity in the human species to respond — cognitively and emotionally — to dynamic temporal patterns produced by other humans in contexts of affiliation.
Using the same to make different. Analysis of a traditional musical repertoire based on centonisation
Authors: Tourny Olivier
Published: March 2011

This paper deals with music based on Centonisation, a compositional technique broadly used during the Middle Age, still at work in many musical traditions around the world. Based on a limited stock of melodic patterns, it consists of using them in as much as many different ways as possible. The multiple possible combinations of ABCD musical patterns (ABCD, ABDC, etc.) can create as much as possible different musical pieces. As a result, understanding a musical corpus built on centonisation is quite a challenge for the listener: most of pieces sound the same although they are always different. In other words, the centonisation technique does not simply deals with the same and the other in music: it only works on these principles.

As a very simple theoretical music technique, it possesses a very high potential for complex development in practice. In that sense, such a technique could be of great value as a basis for computational analysis that deals with automated pattern identification and extraction. Similarly, centonisation as an implicit/explicit system seems well adapted for experimental studies that analyze the cognitive processes involved in listening, such as identification, memorization and recognition of mobile melodic patterns in a closed system that is purely experimental or effective, like in the presented Ethiopian case.
Court decisions on music plagiarism and the predictive value of similarity algorithms
Authors: Müllensiefen Daniel , Pendzich Marc
Published: March 2011

Tune plagiarism in pop music is a common and often feverishly debated phenomenon which surely has to do with the vast amounts of money that individual melodies are able to generate in today's pop music business. The similarity between melodies is assumed to be a very important factor in a court's decision about whether a new tune is an illegitimate version of a pre-existing melody. Despite the wide-spread belief that there is a fixed and simple limit to the number of corresponding notes between two melodies, actual court decisions are based on far more complex considerations regarding the musical material.

This paper first sketches the legal framework and principal features of the legal processing of cases of alleged melodic plagiarism with a focus on US copyright law and discusses selected cases to highlight the corresponding legal practices. In the empirical part of this paper, we model court decisions for cases of alleged melodic plagiarism employing a number of similarity algorithms. As a ground truth dataset we use a collection of 20 publicly available cases from the last 30 years of US jurisdiction. We compare the performance of standard similarity algorithms (edit distance and n-gram similarity measures) to several new similarity algorithms that make use of statistical information about the prevalence of chains of pitch intervals in a large pop music database. Results indicate that these statistically informed algorithms generally outperform the comparison algorithms. In particular, algorithms based on Tversky's (1977) concept of similarity show a high performance of up to 90% of court decisions correctly predicted. We discuss the performance and structure of the algorithms in relation to a few interesting example cases and give an outlook on the potential and intricacies of our approach.
Aesthetic responses to music: A questionnaire study
Authors: Istók Eva , Brattico Elvira , Jacobsen Thomas , Krohn Kaisu , Müller Mira , Tervaniemi Mari
Published: March 2011

We explored the content and structure of the cognitive, knowledge-based concept underlying aesthetic responses to music. To this aim, we asked 290 Finnish students to verbally associate the aesthetic value of music and to write down a list of appropriate adjectives within a given time limit. No music was presented during the task. In addition, information about participants’ musical background was collected. A variety of analysis techniques was used to determine the key results of our study. The adjective “beautiful” proved to be the core item of the concept under question. Interestingly, the adjective “touching” was often listed together with “beautiful”. In addition, we found music-specific vocabulary as well as adjectives related to emotions and mood states indicating that affective processes are an essential part of aethetic responses to music. Differences between music experts and laymen as well as between female and male participants were found for a number of adjectives. These findings suggest the existence of a common conceptual space underlying aesthetic responses to music, which partly can be modified by the level of musical expertise and gender.
The perception of structural boundaries in melody lines of Western popular music
Authors: Bruderer Michael J. , McKinney Martin F. , Kohlrausch Armin
Published: March 2011

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the perception of structural boundaries in six popular music songs. In the segmentation experiment, participants were asked to indicate perceived segment boundaries in monophonic representations of the songs, synthesized from the MIDI score. In the salience rating experiment, participants were asked to rate the salience of a number of boundaries selected from the outcome of the segmentation experiment, and to describe the perceptual cues for each boundary. The segmentation experiment showed that there is a wide variety in the number and temporal positions of perceived boundaries across participants. However, certain boundaries in the music are indicated by nearly all participants. The salience rating experiment showed a moderate correlation between participants’ boundary salience ratings. Comparing the outcome of the two experiments, we found a significant correlation between the frequency of boundary indications and the corresponding salience rating of that boundary. These findings suggest that both methods can be used equally well for evaluating the perceptual boundaries. The perceptual boundaries were also compared to boundaries predicted by three musicological models. The comparison of the perceptual boundaries with the predicted boundaries showed a moderate correlation between the perceptual and predicted boundaries.
The influence of melodic and rhythmic redundancies on recognition memory for unknown musical themes
Authors: Nardo Davide , Brunetti Riccardo , Cupellini Enrico , Belardinelli Marta Olivetti
Published: March 2011

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of melodic and rhythmic redundancies, and their interaction with tonality, on recognition memory for music. Forty-four non-musicians performed a recognition task with unknown musical material. Stimuli created for experimental purposes were made up of 48 short melodies (half tonal and half non-tonal) and were characterized by the presence of three kinds of musical redundancy: melodic only, rhythmic only, or both melodicrhythmic. In a first phase, subjects listened to a study list of 24 stimuli. After 20 minutes, a test list containing 48 stimuli (24 previously heard and 24 novel ones) was administered, and subjects were asked to indicate for each item whether the melody: was recognized from the study list (R response); evoked a sense of familiarity (K response); or was not recognized at all (X response). Major results showed that tonality influences semantic, but not episodic memory, and that the two systems are differentially affected by the type of redundancy (especially melodic-rhythmic, which has a large effect on episodic memory but is ineffective for semantic memory). Moreover, tonality and the type of redundancy systematically interact only in the episodic memory system. Thus, evidence supports disassociation of the two memory systems. Furthermore, R and X responses showed a symmetry in their trend, suggesting a role for X responses as counterparts of the R responses within the episodic memory system. Melodic-rhythmic redundancy demonstrated the most prominent effects on the episodic system, whereas the assessment comparing melodic versus rhythmic only as the pre-eminent type of redundancy was more ambiguous. Finally, non-tonal stimuli were found to be more sensitive than tonal stimuli, whereby they showed differential effectiveness regarding redundancy type, a result which suggests that they could prove serviceable in future studies concerning recognition memory for music.
Prenatal and infant conditioning, the mother schema, and the origins of music and religion
Authors: Parncutt Richard
Published: March 2011

Existing theories of the origins of music and religion fail to account directly and convincingly for their universal emotional power and behavioural costliness. The theory of prenatal origins is based on empirically observable phenomena and involves prenatal classical conditioning, postnatal operant conditioning and the adaptive value of mother-infant bonding. The human fetus can perceive sound and acceleration from gestational week 20. The most salient sounds for the fetus are internal to the mother's body and associated with vocalisation, blood circulation, impacts (footfalls), and digestion. The protomusical sensitivity of infants may be based on prenatal associations between the mother's changing physical and emotional state and concomitant changes in both hormone levels in the placental blood and prenatally audible sound/movement patterns. Protomusical aspects of motherese, play and ritual may have emerged during a multigenerational process of operational conditioning on the basis of prenatally established associations among sound, movement and emotion. The infant's multimodal cognitive representation of its mother (mother schema) begins to develop before birth and may underlie music's personal qualities, religion's supernatural agents, and the link between the two. Prenatal theory can contribute to an explanation of musical universal such as specific features of rhythm and melody and associations between music and body movement, as well as universal commonalities of musical and religious behaviour and experience such as meaning, fulfilment, and altered states of consciousness.
Musical elements in human infants’ cries: In the beginning is the melody
Authors: Wermke Kathleen , Mende Werner
Published: March 2011

Crying is the earliest sound production of human infants on their long way toward language. Here, we argue that infants’ early crying contains melodic constituents for both musical and prosodic structures. This view is based on our findings that cry melodies become increasingly complex during the first months of life and, that complex cry melodies are composed of shape-specific melody arcs. We found that cry melodies contain frequency ratios that show a certain preference of musical intervals. We also observed that young infants are capable of uttering shape-similar melody arcs at different frequency levels, that means they have an aptitude for frequency transposition from birth on. Moreover, we observed that the production of phonatory breaks within single expiratory sounds generates rhythmical elements and points to a flexible time organization. Our data support the view that in crying elementary constituents of both musicality and language faculty are unfolding. The results may elucidate the relation between emotionally charged sounds and music respectively language and suggest direction for further research.
Evolution of rhythm as an indicator of mate quality
Authors: Van Den Broek Eva M.F. , Todd Peter M.
Published: March 2011

Regular rhythmic repetition is a basic element of music in all human cultures and appears in numerous animal courtship signals. We propose that rhythm can function in courtship displays as an indicator of underlying mate quality. We constructed a model to explore whether regularly repeating patterns can serve as amplifiers of the performer's underlying neural quality. Our co-evolutionary simulation comprises male “songs” and female preferences, represented by bit strings. Males produce songs by copying their inborn template with some noise, depending on their quality. The females in turn assess male quality by comparing the male song to their own template. Our model shows that rhythmic songs enable greater discrimination with regard to quality than non-rhythmic songs under a variety of circumstances, thereby implying that rhythmic signals may evolve as useful mate quality indicators.
Memesatz contra Ursatz: Memetic perspectives on the aetiology and evolution of musical structure
Authors: Jan Steven
Published: March 2011

This article discusses the aetiology and evolution of musical structure, specifically the sonata-form exposition, from a memetic perspective. It regards established musical forms as replicated schemata arising from the conglomeration of foreground-level memes, the resultant archetypes ( structural memes or Memesätze) being replicated (reinstantiated) by different collections of functionally analogous (allelic) memes. After a discussion of the theoretical background — including the top-down/bottom-up generative dichotomy as it applies to form, and some attributes of memes affecting conglomeration — three sonata expositions, by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, are discussed as specific evidence in support of the general hypotheses advanced.
Perceived improvement in vocal performance following tertiary-level classical vocal training: Do listeners hear systematic progress?
Authors: Mitchell Helen F. , Kenny Dianna T. , Ryan Maree
Published: March 2011

This study assessed expert listeners' perceptual evaluations of the vocal performances of tertiary level classical singing students over two complete years of training. Fifteen singers sang Caccini's Amarilli, mia bella each year at the start of each academic year of vocal training (Y1, Y2, Y3). Ten expert singing pedagogues assessed a set of each singer's three performances, with performance years presented in randomized order. Listeners first ranked singers' performances from best to worst and then rated each performance for overall vocal quality on a ten point scale to indicate the amount of difference between the performances. The number of Y3 performances that were awarded the top rank was significantly greater than the number of Y1 performances awarded the top rank, but not significantly more than Y2 performances. Mean rating scores for singers' performances were significantly higher for Y3 performances than Y2 and Y1, but Y2 scores were not significantly different from Y1 scores. There was considerable individual variability in singers' systematic stages of improvement during three years of professional training but results indicated that most singers demonstrated a perceptible improvement by Y3.
A preliminary investigation into the association between body movement patterns and dynamic variation in western contemporary popular singing
Authors: Turner Gemma , Kenny Dianna T.
Published: March 2011

This study assessed the presence of body movements that may be common to all western contemporary popular (WCP) singers that may be integral to both the physical production of the sung sound and to acoustic output, in this case sound pressure level variation. Since torso movement appears to be closely linked with dynamic variation in this style of singing, the study focused on the activity of the torso. 3-D video footage of the body movements of six professional WCP singers singing the same R & B song was collected. Antero-posterior (AP) torso movement direction frequency and characteristics at the point of maximum sustained SPL and fO (peak note) on the vowel /ε/ were analysed. The most common movement of the torso was in a posterior direction, reaching its point of maximum displacement from the starting position on the peak note. Strong anterior torso movement on the peak note, which took the torso forward of its anatomical position was associated with the head forward position and vocal distortion, indicating that this movement at a point of high SPL may present a vocal health risk. These results indicate that the AP torso movement of WCP singers has a function in voice production and that not only body posture but the manner of movement from one body position to another is significant to vocal health and sound production, especially in styles where high sound levels must be achieved and where a high level of body movement is required in performance.
An integrative dual-route model of rhythm perception and production
Authors: Fischinger Timo
Published: March 2011

An integrative dual-route model of rhythm perception and production is proposed here. Furthermore, an empirical study illustrated in the second part of this paper provides evidence of the existence of two different cognitive pathways. The development of the model is based on fundamental psychological principles of perception, action control, and on relevant neurobiological findings in rhythm processing and sensorimotor synchronization. Experiments with a dual-task paradigm were used during synchronization tapping to verify the fundamental assumptions of the model. The aim was to examine whether professional drummers show a change in tapping performance when their attention is drawn to another task. In contrast to other experiments on sensorimotor synchronization with nonmusicians, the results show a considerable effect on the tapping performance of timing experts for the concurrent condition with tempi between 100 and 120 bpm. Overall, these results provide further evidence of the existence of both an automatic and a cognitively-controlled timing procedure, which is also in line with the integrative dual-route model of rhythm perception and production mentioned above.
The role of music producers and sound engineers in the current recording context, as perceived by young professionals
Authors: Pras Amandine , Guastavino Catherine
Published: March 2011

As a result of recent technological advances, musicians tend to produce their music themselves in home studios, without necessarily collaborating with a professional producer or a sound engineer. To understand how this new paradigm affects musical recordings, we need to study the context of recording sessions involving a producer and a sound engineer. In this article we investigate the role of producers and sound engineers, as perceived by young professionals actively involved in recording sessions. We collected verbal data from 16 musicians and 6 sound engineers, from different countries and backgrounds. Participants were asked to freely define in their own words the role of an ideal producer and an ideal sound engineer. Then, we invited them to describe positive or negative experiences they had previously encountered in the studio. We classified their spontaneous descriptions into emerging themes using the constant comparison method. The three main categories referred to mission, skills, and interaction. A consensus emerged regarding the respective missions of producers and sound engineers. While the producer is responsible for the artistic direction of the project, the sound engineer has to make appropriate sound choices by taking into consideration the musicians’ requests. The primary skills reported for the ideal producer were communication and interpersonal skills. The ideal sound engineer, paradoxically, was described as minimally interacting with musicians during sessions. To conclude, we discuss future directions to clarify the relationships between the missions and skills producers and sound engineers are expected to exhibit, and to further investigate the level of the producer’s artistic involvement.
Rationale behind investigating positive aging among symphony orchestra musicians
Authors: Brodsky Warren
Published: March 2011

Musicianship is seen as a life-long process, requiring specific adjustments to changes in age and environment, based on developmental stages each unique in structure of musical activity, motivations, and achievements. Nonetheless, studies relating to music development have focused exclusively on precocious musical beginnings and early childhood, prodigious adolescents, or academy trainees. As yet, there has been no great interest in musicians above age 50, and needless to say while very little is known about older musicians, a small number of studies published highlight underperformance and loss in support of age-linked deficits to music performance. Without a doubt, there is a serious need for attention to be placed on those who still can perform music – not only on those who can no longer perform music. Collective efforts should begin to focus on performing musicians who have maintained a professional career well into the fifth decade of their lifespan, especially as performing musicians live to an older age, extending their phase of active music-making well beyond what was once considered time to withdraw from effective professional activity. The current paper puts forth a call for music science to embrace a new arena of empirical study – positive aging among symphony orchestra musicians.