Music and Audition at NIPS (1st day at Vail)

[E. large]

Resonance and the Perception of Musical Meter

Edward W. Large and John F. Kolen

The perception of musical rhythm is traditionally described as
involving, among other things, the assignment of metrical structure to
rhythmic patterns. In our view, the perception of metrical structure
is best described as a dynamic process in which the temporal
organization of musical events entrains the listener in much the same
way that two pendulum clocks hanging on the same wall synchronize
their motions so that they tick in lock step. In this talk, we
re-assess the notion of musical meter, and show how the perception of
this sort of temporal organization can be modeled as a system of
non-linearly coupled oscillators responding to musical rhythms.
Individual oscillators phase- and frequency- lock to components of
rhythmic patterns, embodying the notion of musical pulse, or beat. The
collective behavior of a system of oscillators represents a
self-organized response to rhythmic patterns, embodying a "perception"
of metrical structure. When exposed to performed musical rhythms the
system shows the ability to simultaneously perform quantization
(categorization of temporal intervals), and assignment of metrical
structure in real time. We discuss implications for psychological
theories of temporal expectancy, "categorical" perception of temporal
intervals, and the perception of metrical structure.