Perception and Performance of Music Studied with Time Series Analysis and Information Theory: Loudness and Affect

• Activity Number: 222
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, July 30, 2012 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: IMS
• Author(s): Roger Dean*+
• Companies: MARCS Institute
• Keywords: musical affect ; acoustic intensity ; timbre ; electroacoustic music ; time series analysis ; information theory

Abstract

We apply in depth time series analysis (TSA) techniques to show that the continuous profiles of acoustic intensity and spectral flatness are predictors of the perceived affective qualities of several musical works. We followed this up by a causal perturbation study, which confirmed the predicted impact of intensity on perceived affect (notably arousal) when the intensity time-series of a Dvorak Slavonic Dance was inverted, and in relaton to three other stylistically heterogeneous pieces. Our studies of Trevor Wishart's classic electroacoustic work RedBird show an important impact of specific timbral categories of animistic sounds as musical agents in the perception of affect. A collaboration using information theory together with TSA to study perception and performance of harpsichord music by Couperin is also described. The power of the combined information theoretic and TSA approach to reveal empirically assessable potential causal relationships is demonstrated.