Topic by Glenn NK

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  • Glenn NK
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  • From: Victoria, BC
  • Registered: 09-10-2008
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Topic: Very Interesting Test of Expressiveness

Found this site through a newsletter from Harmony Central website).

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011...;tiid=8199

It's a real life test devised by some music researchers into what make music expressive.

Hint:  take your time (I was in a rush to see "how good" I was, and missed one.  Upon a more careful listening I found the right one, so generally am happy with my ability).

Being a Chopin afficionado, I've listened to many recordings and/or midi files of these selections - the midi versions may have influenced my choice on the one I missed (sounds like an excuse doesn't it).

Glenn

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Procrastination Week has been postponed.  Again.

Reply by etto

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  • etto
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  • From: Mahon
  • Registered: 21-07-2008
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Re: Very Interesting Test of Expressiveness

Interesting and funny in the meantime. Funny because I think is a waste of resources to found what scienist discovered here; I mean, it is the first thing you learn in studying music (or maybe I'm missing the point?)

I also missed one (the first one) but after close listening I continued to prefer the 50% one Probably because I think the timing interpretation of the pianist is exaggerated and the mixed one sounds better to my taste.

Anyway thank you Glenn for posting it.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC4289A53FE3A4807

etto's Website

Reply by doug

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Re: Very Interesting Test of Expressiveness

The article's author doesn't seem to get that Daniel Levitin and the other psychologists studying music perception are not studying music; they are studying human perception. The point of the exercise is not to tell composers how to compose better music but to better understand how humans work.

This study is one of hundreds in music perception and cognition. There's at least one scholarly journal devoted to this. It's called "Music Perception" and is published by the University of California Press: http://ucpressjournals.com/journal.asp?j=mp.

Last edited by doug (30-04-2011 00:16)