Auditory stream segregation and the control of dissonance in polyphonic music

Wright, James K.; Bregman, Albert S.

doi:10.1080/07494468708567054

Cited by 49 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 15 publications

(18 reference statements)

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“…The interactions of melodic and harmonic factors were also not addressed here. These interactions are important in the context of polyphonic music, where it has been claimed that auditory streaming processes influence the perception of roughness and tension (Wright & Bregman, 1987).…”

Section: Remarks On the Experimental Procedures And Analysis Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perception of musical tension for nontonal orchestral timbres and its relation to psychoacoustic roughness

Pressnitzer

McAdams

Winsberg

et al. 2000

Perception & Psychophysics

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Can tension in nontonal music be expressed without dynamic or rhythmic cues? Perceptual theories of tonal harmony predict that psychoacoustic roughness plays an important role in the perception of this tension. We chose a set of orchestrated chords from a nontonal piece and investigated listeners' judgments of musical tension and roughness. Paired comparisons yielded psychophysical scales oftension and roughness. Two experiments established distinct levels ofthese two attributes across chords. A model simulation reproduced the experimental roughness measures. The results indicate that nontonal tension could be perceived consistently on the basis of timbral differences and that it was correlated with roughness, the correlation being stronger as the perceptual salience of other attributes (such as high-pitched tones or tonal intervals) was reduced.An impression of successive tension and release is a common experience while listening to music. The study of this intuitive notion is actually fundamental to Western music theory and has been a matter ofdebate for both music analysts and cognitive psychologists. Whereas many studies have helped us to understand tension perception in the tonal framework, the compositional practices of contemporary composers raise new questions. The use of a musical material that does not draw on the implicitly shared tonal culture may disorient listeners and, hence, deprive them of the essential landmarks that schemas of tension and release provide for the appreciation of a musical work. In this study, we propose to investigate the perception of tension levels for nontonal orchestral timbres by musician and nonmusician listeners. We hypothesized that if tension could actually be perceived in such a context, a basic psychoacoustic dimension known as roughness would account for an important part ofthat perception. Roughness is an auditory attribute that has Part ofthis work was completed thanks to a Fyssen Foundation grant to the first author. The authors thank two anonymous reviewers for extremely useful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to either D. Pressnitzer or S. McAdams,

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Section: Remarks On the Experimental Procedures And Analysis Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perception of musical tension for nontonal orchestral timbres and its relation to psychoacoustic roughness

Pressnitzer

McAdams

Winsberg

et al. 2000

Perception & Psychophysics

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show abstract

“…Finally, and of most importance here, a number of theorists have considered the role of auditory scene analysis (ASA) in musical organization and musical aesthetics (e.g., McAdams & Bregman, 1979;Wright & Bregman, 1987;Huron, 2001;Bonin & Smilek, 2015;Trainor, 2015). The auditory system evolved to accurately determine the identity and location of important objects in their environment, such as predators, conspecifics, mates, food sources, and running water, which directly affect survival and reproduction (Bregman, 1990;Fay & Popper, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The source dilemma hypothesis: Perceptual uncertainty contributes to musical emotion

et al. 2016

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“…No attempt will be made here to account for the rules of harmonic progression. The goal is to explain voice-leading practice by using perceptual principles, predominantly principles associated with the theory of auditory stream segregation McAdams & Bregman, 1979;van Noorden, 1975;Wright, 1986;Wright & Bregman, 1987). As will be seen, this approach provides an especially strong account of Western voice-leading practice.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Tone and Voice: A Derivation of the Rules of Voice-Leading from Perceptual Principles

Huron¹

2001

Music Perception

223

225

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The traditional rules of voice-leading in Western music are explicated using experimentally established perceptual principles. Six core principles are shown to account for the majority of voice-leading rules given in historical and contemporary music theory tracts. These principles are treated in a manner akin to axioms in a formal system from which the traditional rules of voice-leading are derived. Nontraditional rules arising from the derivation are shown to predict formerly unnoticed aspects of voice-leading practice. In addition to the core perceptual principles, several auxiliary principles are described. These auxiliary principles are occasionally linked to voice-leading practice and may be regarded as compositional "options" that shape the music-making in perceptually unique ways. It is suggested that these auxiliary principles distinguish different types of part writing, such as polyphony, homophony, and close harmony. A theory is proposed to account for the aesthetic origin of voice-leading practices.

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Auditory stream segregation and the control of dissonance in polyphonic music

Cited by 49 publications

References 15 publications

Perception of musical tension for nontonal orchestral timbres and its relation to psychoacoustic roughness

Perception of musical tension for nontonal orchestral timbres and its relation to psychoacoustic roughness

The source dilemma hypothesis: Perceptual uncertainty contributes to musical emotion

Tone and Voice: A Derivation of the Rules of Voice-Leading from Perceptual Principles

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