Empirical Musicology

Challenges facing musical engagement and taste in digitality

by Melissa Avdeeff

Resisting Schoenberg? The piano concerto in performance

by Richard Gartner

MA dissertation

The notion of 'resistibility', whereby a work is performed unsympathetically by those who are not in accord with its... more The notion of 'resistibility', whereby a work is performed unsympathetically by those who are not in accord with its overall aesthetic, was propounded by Taruskin as a critique of certain performances of Beethoven's Symphony no. 9. In this dissertation it is examined in relation to Schoenberg's Piano Concerto, Op. 42, which is shown to share several features,
including an evocation of the sublime, a requirement for hermeneutic interpretation and liminality, which Taruskin suggests cause Beethoven's work to be resisted.

To examine whether Schoenberg's work is resisted in a similar way, the dissertation examines ten recordings of the work, using Hulme's distinction between the vitalist and geometrical as an overarching taxonomic background. Employing a series of empirical techniques including tempo graphs and correlation plots, the performances are assessed for their stylistic approaches against a number of signifiers of vitalist or geometrical stances, including tempo variations within and between sections, the use of tempo to mark structural divisions, and the pianists' use of tempo and dynamic to shape phrases: separate chapters discuss the conductors' and soloists' contributions respectively. The conclusion highlights any broad trends found and reaches a conclusion on whether Schoenberg's work is resisted.

Conference Review: Empirical approaches to Performance: Empirical Musicology II conference (25-26 March 2010, School of Music, University of Leeds, UK)

by Anna Jordanous

2010. Excursions Vol. 1 No. 1

Synaesthetic Traces: Digital Acquisition of Musical Shapes

by Mats Küssner

Co-authored with Nicolas E. Gold, Dan Tidhar, Helen M. Prior, and Daniel Leech-Wilkinson

In this paper we describe two projects aiming to shed light on the notion of shape, a concept widely used by musicians... more In this paper we describe two projects aiming to shed light on the notion of shape, a concept widely used by musicians to refer to various musical characteristics but one that has so far been almost entirely neglected by the research community. Project 1 is a study examining how musicians and non-musicians represent sound visually, making use of an electronic graphics tablet and tailored capturing software to gain insight into visualised musical shapes and the processes that produce that visualization. Project 2 aims to measure people’s shaped responses to music as expressed through hand, arm and whole body movements using Microsoft’s® KinectTM technology and a WiiTM remote controller. The digitally acquired data and methodologically advanced analyses from both projects have already influenced and will continue to inform other, humanities- and social science-driven projects, to the same extent as the latter have enhanced the progress of the former. We are convinced that the overarching investigation of ‘Shaping music in performance’ can only benefit from such a collaboration.

Creating shapes: musicians' and non-musicians' visual representations of sound

by Mats Küssner

to be published in Proceedings of the 4th International Conference of Students of Systematic Musicology (SysMus11)

Visualising sound and music can give rise to valuable insights into music cognition. In this experiment, musicians and... more Visualising sound and music can give rise to valuable insights into music cognition. In this experiment, musicians and non-musicians were presented with pure tones, systematically varied in pitch, loudness and tempo, as well as two short musical excerpts. Visual responses were captured using an electronic graphics tablet, and continuously acquired data of the position and pressure applied to the pen were checked for correlation with characteristics of the sound stimuli. Based on participants’ verbal reports it was revealed that pitch was represented with height on the tablet, and loudness with the thickness of the line. Although both musicians and non-musicians rated themselves as fairly highly consistent in applying these strategies, and did not find the tasks too difficult, correlation analysis revealed that musicians were more accurate than non-musicians. Results are discussed in terms of perceptual and motor skills in musicians.

Shaping music visually

by Mats Küssner

to be published in Proceedings of Annual Meeting of German Society for Music Psychology ("Kreativität - Struktur und Emotion" Würzburg, 2010)

Third International Conference of Students of Systematic Musicology (SysMus10): A Conference Report

by Mats Küssner

published in 'Empirical Musicology Review', 2010

SysMus10, the third International Conference of Students of Systematic Musicology, was held at the University of... more SysMus10, the third International Conference of Students of Systematic Musicology, was held at the University of Cambridge, UK, in September 2010. The conference was organised by PhD students at the Centre for Music and Science in the University’s Faculty of Music. SysMus10 brought together around 40 advanced students working in the field of systematic musicology representing 14 nationalities. The presentations primarily focused on the students’ ongoing research for their PhDs or Masters’ degrees. The conference included the presentation and publication of 25 peer- reviewed papers and posters, keynotes from top researchers in the field (Eric Clarke, Nicholas Cook, and Petri Toiviainen), a workshop and several social activities. Although the conference revealed that the concept of “systematic musicology” is still not known much outside the German-speaking research community, it served as an excellent exchange platform for students doing music research in various disciplines. SysMus10 successfully continued the strong work of the first two SysMus conferences (SysMus08, held in Graz, Austria, and SysMus09, held in Ghent, Belgium), and no doubt next year’s conference, SysMus11 (to be held in Cologne, Germany), will be just as enlightening and inspiring for young musicologists and students of other fields alike.

Aggressiveness of the Growl-Like Timbre: Acoustic Characteristics, Musical Implications, and Biomechanical Mechanisms

by Liching Wang

Tsai, C.G., Wang, L.C., Wang, S.F., Shau, Y.W., Hsiao, T.Y., and Auhagen, W. (2010). Aggressiveness of the growl-like timbre: acoustic characteristics, musical implications, and biomechanical mechanisms. Music Perception 27(3): 209–221.

THE TERM GROWL TYPICALLY REFERS TO LOW-PITCHED,
rough sounds uttered by animals. Humans occasionally
use... more THE TERM GROWL TYPICALLY REFERS TO LOW-PITCHED,
rough sounds uttered by animals. Humans occasionally
use growl-like voices to express excessive emotions.
Acoustically characterized by loud dynamics and low
values of the harmonic-to-noise ratio, growl-like
sounds usually express anger and excitement associated
with aggression. We propose a biomechanical model
relating the aggressive characteristic of the growl-like
timbre to the motor mechanisms underlying growl
production in humans, highlighting how an abdominal
muscle contraction enhances spine stability, which
plays a critical role in physical attacks. This model was
supported by the experimental data of activation of the
deepest abdominal muscle during resting, singing, and
growling. We found a significant positive correlation
between the abdominal muscle activity associated with
producing voice and the perceived aggressiveness intensity
of voice. The cognition of growl-like sounds is
discussed from the perspectives of biomechanics, evolutionary
biology, and cognitive science.

Third International Conference of Students of Systematic Musicology (SysMus10): A Conference Report

by Liching Wang

motor action in performance

by Ju-Lee Hong

digital music research network conference proceeding, 2006

investigating expressive timing and dynamics in recorded cello performances

by Ju-Lee Hong

Psychology of Music, Vol. 31, No. 3, 340-352 (2003)

Expression on Record: An Empirical Analysis of the Pedagogical Influence on Performing Brahms' Cello Sonatas

by Ju-Lee Hong

in preparation, (2010 Joint Aubery Hickman Award)

This paper aims to identify the pedagogical influence on the handling of musical expression in cello performance... more This paper aims to identify the pedagogical influence on the handling of musical expression in cello performance trends on record. A quantitative analysis of musical expression (in this case expressive timing) is investigated in the twelve selected recordings of the second movements of the two Brahms cello sonatas. The hypothesis on pedagogical influence is investigated through the correlation rates of musical expression by artists in the same pedagogical groups as well as by artists with no pedagogical links through the absolute level of inter-beat-interval (IBI) data sets, and also through the relative level of variants, which is further calculated through the algorithmic modelling equation of musical expression. The empirical findings have identified some pedagogical influences between the Rose line (i.e. Rose, Harrell, Ma) on the handling of musical expression in performing the Brahms F major sonata on record, whereas some other interesting outcomes have been detected in the case of the Brahms E minor sonata on record.

A Reaction to the Report on the Second STEIM Symposium

by Henkjan Honing