Related papers: Modeling Consonance and its Relationships with Tem…
We report an approach to obtaining complex networks with diverse topology, here called syntonets, taking into account the consonances and dissonances between notes as defined by scale temperaments. Though the fundamental frequency is…
Consonance is related to the perception of pleasantness arising from a combination of sounds and has been approached quantitatively using mathematical relations, physics, information theory, and psychoacoustics. Tonal consonance is present…
We develop aspects of music theory related to harmony, such as scales, chord formation and improvisation from a combinatorial perspective. The goal is to provide a foundation for this subject by deriving the basic structure from a few…
The mathematics of musical intervals and scales has been extensively studied. Vastly simplified, our ears seem to prefer intervals whose frequency ratios have small numerator and denominator, such as 2:1 (octave), 3:2 (perfect fifth), 4:3…
Following the ideas of von Helmholtz and Plomp-Levelt, an algorithm for calculating the total dissonance of complex sounds, free from logical inconsistencies and useful for comparing different chords, is proposed. The method is tested by…
The perception of consonance/dissonance of musical harmonies is strongly correlated with their periodicity. This is shown in this article by consistently applying recent results from psychophysics and neuroacoustics, namely that the just…
The relationship between sensory consonance and Western harmony is an important topic in music theory and psychology. We introduce new methods for analysing this relationship, and apply them to large corpora representing three prominent…
Most music theory books are like medieval medical textbooks: they contain unjustified superstition, non-reasoning, and funny symbols glorified by Latin phrases. How does music, in particular harmony, actually work, presented as a real,…
The origins of consonance in human music has long been contested, and today there are three primary hypotheses: aversion to roughness, preference for harmonicity, and learned preferences from cultural exposure. While the evidence is…
Understanding the structural characteristics of harmony is essential for an effective use of music as a communication medium. Of the three expressive axes of music (melody, rhythm, harmony), harmony is the foundation on which the emotional…
A combination of three or more tones played together is called a chord. In the chromatic scale, chords which are consonant are of particular interest and can be divided into several groups, two main ones being the major and minor chords.…
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…
The buildup and release of a sense of tension is one of the most essential aspects of the process of listening to music. A veridical computational model of perceived musical tension would be an important ingredient for many music…
Despite recent advances in audio content-based music emotion recognition, a question that remains to be explored is whether an algorithm can reliably discern emotional or expressive qualities between different performances of the same…
This paper describes a computational model of loudness variations in expressive ensemble performance. The model predicts and explains the continuous variation of loudness as a function of information extracted automatically from the written…
The Pythagorean school attributed consonance in music to simplicity of frequency ratios between musical tones. In the last two centuries, the consonance curves developed by Helmholtz, Plompt and Levelt shifted focus to psycho-acoustic…
Acoustic wave propagation in a one-dimensional waveguide connected with Helmholtz resonators is studied numerically. Finite amplitude waves and viscous boundary layers are considered. The model consists of two coupled evolution equations: a…
How do different musical traditions achieve tonal coherence? Most computational measures to date have analysed tonal coherence in terms of a single dimension, whereas a multi-dimensional analyses have not been sufficiently explored. We…
In this paper I want to suggest a new solution to the problem of musical tuning. On one hand, I see it as a generalization of Just Intonation (JI) to inharmonic timbers, on another, as a unification of spectral interference and harmonicity…
In the production of modern music, the musical characteristics of the guitar or keyboard amplifier play an integral role in the creative process. This article explores the physics of music with an emphasis on the role of distortion in the…