Introduction to the Second Special Issue of Music Perception on BKN25: Milestones in Music Cognition

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-273
Author(s):  
Lola L. Cuddy
Keyword(s):  
Music Perception ◽  
Music Cognition ◽  
Special Issue

Performers and an active audience: Movement in music production and perception

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Bishop ◽  
Werner Goebl
Keyword(s):  
Music Perception ◽  
Sound Production ◽  
Music Cognition ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Human Movement ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Optical Motion ◽  
Crossmodal Associations ◽  
Musical Communication

Musical communication involves performance and perception processes, both of which engage the sensorimotor system. In much of the performance science literature, however, musical communication is conceptualized as a one-way trajectory from active performer to passive listener, minimizing the contribution of the listener and the collaborative nature of communication. In this paper, we discuss how movement contributes to 1) music performance, through sound production, interperformer coordination, and visual expressivity, and 2) music perception, through the simulation of observed gestures, activation of crossmodal associations, and induction of overt synchronized responses. Embodied music cognition, which treats musical communication as a process of dynamic interaction between individuals, and emphasizes the role of the physical body in mediating between environmental stimuli and subjective experiences, provides a background for our discussion. We conclude the paper with a discussion of how ongoing technological developments are simultaneously enhancing our ability to study musical communication (e.g., via integration of optical motion capture and mobile eye tracking) and, by introducing means of performing music that do not rely on human movement, challenging our understanding of how music and movement relate.

scholarly journals Listening as a Creative Act

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan B. L. Smith ◽  
Isaac Schankler ◽  
Elaine Chew
Keyword(s):  
Structural Unit ◽  
Music Perception ◽  
Music Cognition ◽  
Multimodal Interaction ◽  
Software System ◽  
Musical Structure ◽  
Tonal Music ◽  
Generative Theory ◽  
Machine Improvisation

Some important theories of music cognition, such as Lerdahl and Jackendoff’s (1983)A Generative Theory of Tonal Music, posit an archetypal listener with an ideal interpretation of musical structure, and many studies of the perception of structure focus on what different listeners have in common. However, previous experiments have revealed that listeners perceive musical structure differently, depending upon their music background and their familiarity with the piece. It is not known what other factors contribute to differences among listeners’ formal analyses, but understanding these factors may be essential to advancing our understanding of music perception.We present a case study of two listeners, with the goal of identifying the differences between their analyses, and explaining why these differences arose. These two listeners analyzed the structure of three performances, a set of improvised duets. The duets were performed by one of the listeners and Mimi (Multimodal Interaction for Musical Improvisation), a software system for human-machine improvisation. The ambiguous structure of the human-machine improvisations as well as the distinct perspectives of the listeners ensured a rich set of differences for the basis of our study.We compare the structural analyses and argue that most of the disagreements between them are attributable to the fact that the listeners paid attention to different musical features. Following the chain of causation backwards, we identify three more ultimate sources of disagreement: differences in the commitments made at the outset of a piece regarding what constitutes a fundamental structural unit, differences in the information each listener had about the performances, and differences in the analytical expectations of the listeners.

scholarly journals Action, Enaction, Inter(en)action

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Schiavio
Keyword(s):  
Embodied Cognition ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Electronic Music ◽  
Music Perception ◽  
Music Cognition ◽  
Final Part ◽  
Sense Making ◽  
Comprehensive Review ◽  
The Third ◽  
Insight Into

<p>Leman and Maes offer a comprehensive review of the main theoretical and empirical themes covered by the research on <em>music</em> and <em>embodied cognition</em>. Their article provides an insight into the work being carried at the Institute for Psychoacoustic and Electronic Music (IPEM) of Ghent University, Belgium - in which they work - and presents a theory of the main implications of embodiment for music perception. The present paper is divided into three parts. In the first one, I will explore the conceptual topography of embodied music cognition as maintained by the authors, to see whether the empirical research proposed fits the aims of this standpoint. In the second I will argue that while Leman and Maes are right to move towards a more dynamically implemented stance, the arguments used to justify this shift seem to be inconsistent with the framework they account for. In the third and final part of this commentary I will claim that if the authors wish to dedicate their work to develop a truly embodied, sensorimotor, and dynamic account to music cognition, they would need to abandon some of the assumptions defended in their work, searching for further empirical corroboration in the concrete dynamics of interactive, or <em>participatory</em>, musical sense-making.</p>

scholarly journals The Role of Embodiment in the Perception of Music

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Leman ◽  
Pieter-Jan Maes
Keyword(s):  
Research Laboratory ◽  
Music Perception ◽  
Music Cognition ◽  
External Environment ◽  
Cognitive Systems ◽  
Interconnected Network ◽  
Central Importance ◽  
Systematic Musicology ◽  
Embodiment Theory

In this paper, we present recent and on-going research in the field of embodied music cognition, with a focus on studies conducted at IPEM, the research laboratory in systematic musicology at Ghent University, Belgium. Attention is devoted to encoding/decoding principles underlying musical expressiveness, synchronization and entrainment, and action-based effects on music perception. The discussed empirical findings demonstrate that embodiment is only one component in an interconnected network of sensory, motor, affective, and cognitive systems involved in music perception. Currently, these findings drive embodiment theory towards a more dynamical approach in which the interaction between various internal processes and the external environment are of central importance. <br />

scholarly journals Toward Extended Music Cognition: Commentary on Music and Cognitive Extension

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakub Ryszard Matyja
Keyword(s):  
Music Perception ◽  
Music Cognition ◽  
Computational System

In his paper, Luke Kersten (2014) argues that since music cognition is part of a locationally wide computational system, it can be considered as an extended process. Overall I sympathize with Kersten&rsquo;s (2014) view. However, in the present paper I underline those issues that need to be, in my opinion, developed in a more detailed and cautious way. Extended music perception is the idea that &ldquo;it ain&rsquo;t all in the head&rdquo;, but rather involves the exploitation of non-neural body and musical environment. In order to push the debate further, I suggest situating Kersten&rsquo;s views within a broader context of recent research, thus strengthening the theoretical importance of his proposal.

scholarly journals Motor Constraints Shaping Musical Experience

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolfe Inge Godøy
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Music ◽  
Music Perception ◽  
Music Cognition ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Body Motion ◽  
Musical Experience ◽  
Musical Sound ◽  
Perceptual Features ◽  
Motor Constraints

In recent decades, we have seen a surge in published work on embodied music cognition, and it is now broadly accepted that musical experience is intimately linked with experiences of body motion. It is also clear that music performance is not something abstract and without restrictions, but something traditionally (i.e., before the advent of electronic music) constrained by our possibilities for body motion. The focus of this paper is on these various constraints of sound-producing body motion that shape the emergent perceptual features of musical sound, as well as on how these constraints may enhance our understanding of agency in music perception.

Sound and Meaning in Recordings of Schubert's “Die junge Nonne”

2007 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Leech-Wilkinson
Keyword(s):  
Music Perception ◽  
Music Cognition ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Performance History ◽  
Performance Style ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Musical Sounds ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Recorded Performance

Musicology's growing interest in performance brings it closer to musical science through a shared interest in the relationship between musical sounds and emotional states. However, the fact that musical performance styles change over time implies that understandings of musical compositions change too. And this has implications for studies of music cognition. While the mechanisms by which musical sounds suggest meaning are likely to be biologically grounded, what musical sounds signify in specific performance contexts today may not always be what they signified in the past, nor what they will signify in the future. Studies of music cognition need to take account of performance style change and its potential to inflect conclusions with cultural assumptions. The recorded performance history of Schubert's “Die junge Nonne” offers examples of significant change in style, as well as a range of radically contrasting views of what the song's text may mean. By examining details of performances, and interpreting them in the light of work on music perception and cognition, it is possible to gain a clearer understanding of how signs of emotional state are deployed in performance by singers. At the same time, in the absence of strong evidence as to how individual performances were understood in the past, we have to recognise that we can only speak with any confidence for our own time.

The Tonal-Metric Hierarchy

2012 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 254-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon B. Prince ◽  
Mark A. Schmuckler
Keyword(s):  
Music Perception ◽  
Music Cognition ◽  
Time Integration ◽  
Joint Probability ◽  
Hierarchical Structures ◽  
Basic Question ◽  
Pitch Class ◽  
Fundamental Properties ◽  
Tonal Hierarchy

Despite the plethora of research on the role of tonality and meter in music perception, there is little work on how these fundamental properties function together. The most basic question is whether the two hierarchical structures are correlated – that is, do metrically stable positions in the measure preferentially feature tonally stable pitches, and do tonally stable pitches occur more often than not at metrically stable locations? To answer this question, we analyzed a corpus of compositions by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin, tabulating the frequency of occurrence of each of the 12 pitch classes at all possible temporal positions in the bar. There was a reliable relation between the tonal and metric hierarchies, such that tonally stable pitch classes and metrically stable temporal positions co-occurred beyond their simple joint probability. Further, the pitch class distribution at stable metric temporal positions agreed more with the tonal hierarchy than at less metrically stable locations. This tonal-metric hierarchy was largely consistent across composers, time signatures, and modes. The existence, profile, and constancy of the tonal-metric hierarchy is relevant to several areas of music cognition research, including pitch-time integration, statistical learning, and global effects of tonality.

scholarly journals A Discussion of the Effect of Musical Context on Perception of Succession of Musical Events, and its Relevance for Philosophical Models of Temporal Experience

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 230
Author(s):  
Michelle Elizabeth Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Mental Imagery ◽  
Music Perception ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Music Cognition ◽  
Temporal Experience ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Musical Context ◽  
The Way

The article reviewed in this commentary takes philosophical models of temporal experience as its starting point, in an exploration of how an "experience of succession" may be distinguished from a mere "succession of experience". It is proposed that context is the important factor in differentiating the two experiences, rather than duration. Context is accounted for in broad terms, with specific discussion of gesture, performance environment, and mental imagery. The discussion may usefully pave the way for future collaboration between philosophers and psychologists. However, there are multiple fundamental findings in music cognition research, vital to any consideration of the context in which musical experiences occur (e.g. meter, tonality, expectation, familiarity), that could be factored into this discussion. The ideas discussed could be developed with greater consideration of recent empirical studies in music perception. Perhaps then a theoretical model of the experience of succession of musical events could give rise to experimental hypotheses, which may then be tested in order to further refine such models.

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