Percussionists inadvertently use visual information to strategically manipulate audience perception of note duration. Videos of long (L) and short (S) notes performed by a world-renowned percussionist were separated into visual (Lv, Sv) and auditory (La, Sa) components. Visual components contained only the gesture used to perform the note, auditory components the acoustic note itself. Audio and visual components were then crossed to create realistic musical stimuli. Participants were informed of the mismatch, and asked to rate note duration of these audio-visual pairs based on sound alone. Ratings varied based on visual (Lv versus Sv), but not auditory (La versus Sa) components. Therefore while longer gestures do not make longer notes, longer gestures make longer sounding notes through the integration of sensory information. This finding contradicts previous research showing that audition dominates temporal tasks such as duration judgment.

In this study, the authors investigate the relationship between the musical soundtrack and visual images in the motion picture experience. Five scenes were selected from a commercial motion picture along with their composer-intended musical scores. Each soundtrack was paired with every visual excerpt, resulting in a total of 25 audiovisual composites. In Experiment 1, the 16 subjects selected the composite in which the pairing was considered the "best fit." Results indicated that the composer-intended musical score was identified as the best fit by the majority of subjects for all conditions. In Experiment 2, the 15 subjects rated all 25 composites on semantic differential scales. A significant interaction (p < .00005) between audiovisual combination and the various semantic differential scales was found. Analysis of this interaction revealed that the composer-intended combination yielded higher mean scores in response to the 4 adjective pairs of the Evaluative dimension. Clustering the subject responses into 2 factor scores (Evaluative vs. a hybrid of Activity and Potency), confirmed these high Evaluative mean scores. In addition, the response contours of the Activity/Potency dimension remained relatively consistent, suggesting that music exercises a strong and consistent influence over the subject responses to an audiovisual composite, regardless of visual stimulus. The results corroborate previous research, indicating that a musical soundtrack can change the "meaning" of a film presentation. Comparison of the various soundtracks in music theoretical terms assisted in identifying musical elements that appeared to be relevant to specific subject ratings. These comparisons were utilized in the formulation of a model for music communication in the context of the motion picture experience. Music has played an integral part in the motion picture experience almost since its inception. 1 Even so-called "silent films" were usually accompanied by musical performers. Considering the popularity of this artform and the fact that it has developed into a multi-billion dollar industry, it is quite surprising that there has been little empirical investigation into the role of film music. In the present study, the authors investigate the relationship between visual activity on-screen and the musical soundtrack. Two specific questions are of particular interest. First, can listeners reliably select the composer's intended soundtrack for a given visual scene from among several musical selections? Second, does a significant amount of variation occur in the perceptual response to a given scene when the visual stimulus remains constant and only the music is changed? 60 Psychomusicology • Spring/Fall 1994Related Literature There has been much speculation about the interaction of music and the visual element in motion pictures (

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Absolute pitch (AP)—an ability to identify an isolated pitch without musical context—is commonly believed to be a valuable ability for musicians. However, relative pitch (RP)—an ability to perceive pitch relations—is more important in most musical contexts. In this study, music students in East Asian and Western countries (Japan, China, Poland, Germany, and USA) were tested on AP and RP abilities. In the AP test, 60 single tones were presented in a quasirandom order over a five-octave range. In the RP test, ascending musical intervals from 1 to 11 semitones were presented in four different keys. Participants wrote down note names in the AP test and scale-degree names or musical interval names in the RP test. The conservatory-level Japanese students showed the highest AP performance and more than half of them were classified as accurate AP possessors, but only 10% were classified as accurate RP possessors. In contrast, only a small percentage of participants from Poland, Germany, and the USA were identified as accurate AP possessors, whereas many more were accurate RP possessors. Participants from China were typically intermediate on both measures. These noticeable contrasts between AP and RP performance in different countries suggest influences of the underlying socio-cultural conditions, presumably relating to music education. Given the importance of RP in music, the results suggest that more emphasis should be place on RP training, particularly in East Asian countries.