Globally, songs and instrumental melodies are slower and higher and use more stable pitches than speech: A Registered Report

Both music and language are found in all known human societies, yet no studies have compared similarities and differences between song, speech, and instrumental music on a global scale. In this Registered Report, we analyzed two global datasets: (i) 300 annotated audio recordings representing matched sets of traditional songs, recited lyrics, conversational speech, and instrumental melodies from our 75 coauthors speaking 55 languages; and (ii) 418 previously published adult-directed song and speech recordings from 209 individuals speaking 16 languages. Of our six preregistered predictions, five were strongly supported: Relative to speech, songs use (i) higher pitch, (ii) slower temporal rate, and (iii) more stable pitches, while both songs and speech used similar (iv) pitch interval size and (v) timbral brightness. Exploratory analyses suggest that features vary along a “musi-linguistic” continuum when including instrumental melodies and recited lyrics. Our study provides strong empirical evidence of cross-cultural regularities in music and speech

Nonlinear dynamics and instability as important design concerns for a guyed mast

This paper analyses the static and dynamic buckling behavior of a simplified 2-DOF model of a cable stayed tower with emphasis on the safety of the pre-buckling solutions whose stability must be preserved for a safe design. First, the influence of the inherent symmetries of the model on the buckling loads and the post-buckling paths emerging from the bifurcation point is investigated. Then, a global dynamic analysis is conducted to investigate the degree of safety of the static pre-buckling solution. To understand the behavior of the guyed mast in a dynamic environment, a base excitation is considered and the influence of its direction on the escape sta-bility boundary in the force control space is studied. Finally, the erosion and integrity of the basins of attraction of the stable solutions are investigated. The pa-per shows how the tools of nonlinear dynamics can help in the understanding of the global safety and integrity of the model, thus leading to a safe structural design