A Perceptual Model of Pulse Salience and Metrical Accent in Musical Rhythms

Abstract

In Experiment 1, six cyclically repeating interonset interval patterns (1,2:1,2:1:1,3:2:1,3:1:2, and 2:1:1:2) were each presented at six different note rates (very slow to very fast). Each trial began at a random point in the rhythmic cycle. Listeners were asked to tap along with the underlying beat or pulse. The number of times a given pulse (period, phase) was selected was taken as a measure of its perceptual salience. Responses gravitated toward a moderate pulse period of about 700 ms. At faster tempi, taps coincided more often with events followed by longer interonset intervals. In Experiment 2, listeners heard the same set of rhythmic patterns, plus a single sound in a different timbre, and were asked whether the extra sound fell on or off the beat. The position of the downbeat was found to be quite ambiguous. A quantitative model was developed from the following assumptions. The phenomenal accent of an event depends on the interonset interval that follows it, saturating for interonset intervals greater than about 1 s. The salience of a pulse sensation depends on the number of events matching a hypothetical isochronous template, and on the period of the template—pulse sensations are most salient in the vicinity of roughly 100 events per minute (moderate tempo). The metrical accent of an event depends on the saliences of pulse sensations including that event. Calculated pulse saliences and metrical accents according to the model agree well with experimental results (r > 0.85). The model may be extended to cover perceived meter, perceptible subdivisions of a beat, categorical perception, expressive timing, temporal precision and discrimination, and primacy/recency effects. The sensation of pulse may be the essential factor distinguishing musical rhythm from nonrhythm.

The Formation of Rhythmic Categories and Metric Priming

“…Are these processes modular and conducted in sequential order, or are they better understood as one integrated process? Most metreinduction studies (Longuet-Higgins and Lee 1984;Povel and Essens 1985;Parncutt 1994) (17) have used readily categorised rhythmic time intervals as input, with the exception of Longuet-Higgins (1976) who presents an algorithm that induces metre while categorising the rhythm. Our finding that the rhythmic categories depend on metre can only demonstrate that the categorisation process is open to induce metre.…”

Speed on the dance floor: Auditory and visual cues for musical tempo

“…Once established, other periodicities, both faster and slower, are understood relative to the beat, either as subdivisions of it, or as cycles of beats that form higher-level measures and hyper-measures. Researchers in rhythm perception (Jones & Boltz 1989;Parncutt 1994;van Noorden & Moelants 1999;Quinn & Watt 2006) and rhythmic synchronization, especially in tapping studies (Clynes & Walker 1986;Drake, Penel & Bigand 2000;Snyder & Krumhansl 2001;Martens 2005) have also treated BPM measures as reasonably transparent measures of musical speed (see London 2011).…”

Evaluation and Recommendation of Pulse and Tempo Annotation in Ethnic Music

“…London (2011) speaks of hierarchically-nested periodicities that a rhythmic pattern embodies. The observation of subdivisions and periodicity brings Parncutt (1994) to the question what phase listeners tend to synchronise to when listening to music and what cues in the musical structure influence these decisions.…”