A narrative approach to organization studies
presents a quantitative, parametric model for describing musical
tension. While the phenomenon of tension is evident to listeners, it is difficult
to formalize due to its subjective and multi-dimensional nature. The model is
therefore derived from empirical data.
Two experiments with contrasting approaches are described. The first experiment
is an online test with short musical excerpts and multiple choice answers.
The format of the test makes it possible to gather large amounts of data. The
second study requires fewer subjects and collects real-time responses to musical
stimuli. Both studies present test subjects with examples that take into account
a number of musical parameters including harmony, pitch height, melodic expectation,
dynamics, onset frequency, tempo, and rhythmic regularity.
The goal of the first experiment is to confirm that the individual musical parameters
contribute directly to the listener’s overall perception of tension. The goal
of the second experiment is to explore linear and nonlinear models for predicting
tension given descriptions of the musical parameters for each excerpt.
The resulting model is considered for potential incorporation into computer based
applications. Specifically, it could be used as part of a computer-assisted
composition environment. One such application, Hyper score, is described and
presented as a possible platform for integration.
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