The perception of melodic consonance: an acoustical and neurophysiological explanation based on the overtone series

The melodic consonance of a sequence of tones is explained using the overtone series: the overtones form "flow lines" that link the tones melodically; the strength of these flow lines determines the melodic consonance. This hypothesis admits of psychoacoustical and neurophysiological interpretations that fit well with the place theory of pitch perception. The hypothesis is used to create a model for how the auditory system judges melodic consonance, which is used to algorithmically construct melodic sequences of tones

Music as Evidence for a Creator

Throughout history, mankind has made music. While music is artistic, it is also scientific and informed by natural occurrences within the physical world. Mathematical relationships between frequencies, the harmonic series, the materials necessary to build musical instruments, and naturally measured time provide bases for the musical elements of pitch, timbre, and rhythm. Though scientific discovery can inform the practice of music, the origin of music cannot be explained through scientific or evolutionary means because music is not a necessity for survival. The fact that music does exist and has natural bases suggests that music is designed, and its elements were placed in the physical world by a Creator who is beyond that which is physical

Models and analysis of vocal emissions for biomedical applications

This book of Proceedings collects the papers presented at the 3rd International Workshop on Models and Analysis of Vocal Emissions for Biomedical Applications, MAVEBA 2003, held 10-12 December 2003, Firenze, Italy. The workshop is organised every two years, and aims to stimulate contacts between specialists active in research and industrial developments, in the area of voice analysis for biomedical applications. The scope of the Workshop includes all aspects of voice modelling and analysis, ranging from fundamental research to all kinds of biomedical applications and related established and advanced technologies

Music and patterns

This paper examines and compares three theorists' treatments of the overtone series and their influence on concepts of tonality such as scale construction and chord roots. Special attention is paid to Ernst Terhardt's assertions that listeners are aware of the overtone series as an auditory pattern and that their brains can recognize and complete partial instances of that pattern. This paper also examines the Terhardt and Parncutt models for calculating chord roots and explores the concepts underlying them. Both models are comparatively evaluated based on the results they return for three different chords. Finally, this paper offers some ideas on altering the curriculum of an undergraduate music theory classroom to more closely align with the psychoacoustical research discussed throughout, including examples of how to properly contextualize and diminish the prominence of misleading analytical tools and how to introduce overtone pattern recognition principles and the Parncutt model to undergraduate students

A Theory Defining the Relationship Between African Vocal Harmony and the Harmonic Properties of the Musical Bow

Papers. Alternative pagination: 22-31. See note in table of contents

FROM A HUMBLE CRY TO A HOLY CHACONNE: THE BACKGROUND, ANALYSIS, AND PERFORMANCE GUIDE TO CHACONNE FOR TOKKAE, OP. 96 BY M. W. JOHANN KIM

The cries of animals have been used as motivic material in classical music literature throughout history. This project considers the Cambodian tocay gecko’s cry as the motif which embodies the harmonic structure in Chaconne for Tokkae for Violin and Piano, Op. 96 by Dr. Myung Whan Johann Kim. It reveals how Dr. Kim adapts unique compositional style and technique such as the bell harmony of Dr. Kurt Anton Hueber, to develop the theme into 39 colorful variations. The essential elements of the chaconne and the composer’s intentions are examined through personal interviews and correspondence with the composer. These elements are discussed along the biography of Dr. Kim, and introduction to Dr. Hueber’s bell harmony, as well as Dr. Kim’s religious beliefs of Christianity, which the composer deeply integrate with this chaconne. By offering rigorous analysis and performance guidance of Chaconne for Tokkae for Violin and Piano, Op. 96 which world premiered by violinist JuRang Kim and pianist Dr. Sanghee Kim on May 16, 2022, this paper enables performers to interpret this piece with the composer’s intentions and inspiration in mind and deliver a performance more precisely aligned with Dr. Johann Kim’s vision

Genuine Tuvan : producing authenticity in the Republic of Tuva

textThis thesis provides analysis of the networks of power and authority, which interconnect commonly referenced sources of knowledge about Tuvan throat singing. These sources–books, websites, performances, a documentary film, CD liner notes, and the individuals involved in their production–comprise a substantial portion of contemporary public discourse that represents Tuva and its musical practices to the English speaking world and serve to produce “experts” and “expert knowledge” of throat singing. This work also shows how public discourse of Tuva forms an “authentic”, homogenous, romanticized and spiritualized pan-Asian identity centered on the practices of throat singing, shamanism, and nomadism. The conclusion offers an explanation as to why the public discourse focused on Tuvan throat singing locates the “authentic” in rural Tuva, why throat singing is so often aligned with the spiritual, the healing, and the eternal, and why such conceptions serve to benefit the careers of those involved with the production of such an image. This chapter also explores whether or not representing Tuva with an idealized and romanticized image places Tuvans and related ethnic groups at a disadvantage socially, politically, and economically.Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studie

Henry Cowell, The Great Experimenter: Uncovering the Catalysts that Generated a Composer’s Ultramodernist Piano Techniques

In the scholarship surrounding piano repertoire, Henry Cowell is seen as a kind of “one-hit-experimental-wonder,” being know mostly for his astonishingly progressive piece The Banshee. However, Cowell was an enigmatic composer, a diverse scholar, an influential proponent new music, as well as a music theorist and comparative musicologist. Therefore in order to gain a more complete understanding of Cowell and his deeply influential piano works, this project seeks to explore the philosophical, cultural, and non- Western musical influences that inspired Cowell’s novel experimentation at the piano

Classification of musical genres using hidden Markov models

The music content online is expanding fast, and music streaming services are in need for algorithms that sort new music. Sorting music by their characteristics often comes down to considering the genre of the music. Numerous studies have been made on automatic classification of audio files using spectral analysis and machine learning methods. However, many of the completed studies have been unrealistic in terms of usefulness in real settings, choosing genres that are very dissimilar. The aim of this master’s thesis is to try a more realistic scenario, with genres of which the border between them is uncertain, such as Pop and R&B. Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs) were extracted from audio files and used as a multidimensional Gaussian input to a hidden Markov model (HMM) to classify the four genres Pop, Jazz, Classical and R&B. An alternative method is tested, using a more theoretical approach of music characteristics to improve classification. The maximum total accuracy obtained when tested on an external test set was 0.742 for audio data, and 0.540 for theoretical data, implying that a combination of the two methods will not result in an increase of accuracy. Different methods of evaluation and possible alternative approaches are discussed