Systematic musicology meets historical musicology: Quantitative indices of non-linear changes in durational variability of European art music

Background. Research has used the normalised Pairwise Variability Index (nPVI) to examine relationships between musical rhythm and durational variability in composers’ native languages (Patel & Daniele, 2003a, 2003b; Huron & Ollen, 2003). Syllable-timed languages like Italian and French have low nPVI while stress-timed languages like German have higher nPVI. Recent analyses of historical developments have ascribed linearly increasing nPVI in Austro-German, but not Italian music to waning Italian and increasing German influence on Austro-German music after the Baroque (Daniele & Patel, 2013). This is, however, a post-hoc hypothesis (VanHandel, 2005), and since we cannot perform controlled experiments on historical data, replication with more sensitive methods and new repertoires is required. Turning to French music, we hypothesise both an initial increase and a subsequent decrease in nPVI, based on documented increasing German influence on French music after the Baroque and reported decreasing nPVI in French vocal music composed in 1840-1900 (VanHandel, 2005). This prediction necessitates polynomial modelling.Aims. We aim to replicate, refine and extend previous findings by including French composers and investigating the advantage of more sophisticated analytical strategies to detect non-linear historical developments.Methods. Mean nPVIs were computed for 34 French composers (midpoint years: 1700-1941); previous data (Daniele & Patel, 2013) were available for 21 Austro-German (1672-1929) and 15 Italian composers (1613-1928). Polynomial modelling was used to predict mean nPVI from midpoint years.Results. A 2nd-order polynomial outperformed a linear function for French composers, Adj. R2 = .284, F(2, 31) = 7.559, p < .002; adding another parameter did not improve this fit significantly, F(1, 30) = 2.012, p = .17. Linear analyses showed non-significantly decreasing nPVI specifically for composers born after 1820, r(21) = -.34, p = .11; a preceding increase in nPVI was revealed, r(9) =.73, p = .01, which was identical in terms of effect size to that previously found for Austro-German composers. Previous findings for Austro-German (linear increase, Adj. R2 = .489, F(1, 19) = 20.138, p < .001) and Italian composers (no change) were replicated.Conclusions. Using musical nPVI analysis, we provide quantitative support for music-historical accounts of an Italian-dominated Baroque (composer birth years 1600-1750), a Classical Era (1750- 1820) with Austro-German centres of gravity (e.g. Mannheim, Vienna), and a Romantic Era (1820- 1900) with greater national and stylistic independence

The Japanese translation of the Gold-MSI: Adaptation and validation of the self-report questionnaire of musical sophistication

This study presents a Japanese translation of the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI). The index consists of 38 self-report questions and provides a general sophistication score as well as subscale scores for Active Engagement, Perceptual Abilities, Musical Training, Singing Abilities, and Emotions. The validation of the translation with 689 native Japanese speakers indicated excellent internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the bifactor model structure formulated by the original study of Gold-MSI is maintained reasonably in our data. The strengths of the Gold-MSI self-report inventory are (1) it offers a multifaceted view of musical sophistication, (2) a subset of five subscales can be used to measure different aspects of musical sophistication independently, and (3) the ease of administration as it is a self-report questionnaire. In view of the fact that this inventory and its translations increasingly contribute to research on musical expertise, skills, and abilities, having a Japanese translation may enhance future research in these areas even further

Locus of emotion influences psychophysiological reactions to music

It is now widely accepted that the perception of emotional expression in music can be vastly different from the feelings evoked by it. However, less understood is how the locus of emotion affects the experience of music, that is how the act of perceiving the emotion in music compares with the act of assessing the emotion induced in the listener by the music. In the current study, we compared these two emotion loci based on the psychophysiological response of 40 participants listening to 32 musical excerpts taken from movie soundtracks. Facial electromyography, skin conductance, respiration and heart rate were continuously measured while participants were required to assess either the emotion expressed by, or the emotion they felt in response to the music. Using linear mixed effects models, we found a higher mean response in psychophysiological measures for the “perceived” than the “felt” task. This result suggested that the focus on one’s self distracts from the music, leading to weaker bodily reactions during the “felt” task. In contrast, paying attention to the expression of the music and consequently to changes in timbre, loudness and harmonic progression enhances bodily reactions. This study has methodological implications for emotion induction research using psychophysiology and the conceptualization of emotion loci. Firstly, different tasks can elicit different psychophysiological responses to the same stimulus and secondly, both tasks elicit bodily responses to music. The latter finding questions the possibility of a listener taking on a purely cognitive mode when evaluating emotion expression

sj-docx-3-msx-10.1177_10298649231224786 – Supplemental material for Sentences used in the speech-to-song illusion: Comparisons of acoustic vowel space

Supplemental material, sj-docx-3-msx-10.1177_10298649231224786 for Sentences used in the speech-to-song illusion: Comparisons of acoustic vowel space by Anna Hiemstra and Makiko Sadakata in Musicae Scientiae</p

sj-docx-2-msx-10.1177_10298649231224786 – Supplemental material for Sentences used in the speech-to-song illusion: Comparisons of acoustic vowel space

Supplemental material, sj-docx-2-msx-10.1177_10298649231224786 for Sentences used in the speech-to-song illusion: Comparisons of acoustic vowel space by Anna Hiemstra and Makiko Sadakata in Musicae Scientiae</p

sj-docx-1-msx-10.1177_10298649231224786 – Supplemental material for Sentences used in the speech-to-song illusion: Comparisons of acoustic vowel space

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-msx-10.1177_10298649231224786 for Sentences used in the speech-to-song illusion: Comparisons of acoustic vowel space by Anna Hiemstra and Makiko Sadakata in Musicae Scientiae</p