Re: Rhythm perception

[Edward Large <large@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

John,

The start of a rhythmic pattern does not always coincide with the  
downbeat of a measure,
so the relationship of beat (or meter) perception to the percept of  
"pattern" is not so clear.

In music theoretic terms, the distinction is often made between  
grouping (delimiting phrases,
or "patterns") and meter. For an excellent example of this  
distinction, see
Lerdahl, F., & Jackendoff, R. (1983). A generative theory of tonal  
music. Cambridge: MIT Press.

It is also important to note that the beginning of a repeating  
rhythmic pattern is a  highly ambiguous percept. Garner & Gottwald  
demonstrated repeating patterns with 1, 2, 3, 4 and even 5  (if  
memory serves) possible starting points.

Garner, W. R., & Gottwald, R. L. (1968). The perception and learning  
of temporal patterns. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 20 
(2), 97-109.

Garner & Gottwald explained their results in Gestalt terms. More  
recently, Boker & Kubovy have
replicated the basic result and attempted to explain the phenomenon  
in information processing terms:

Boker, S. M., & Kubovy, M. (1998). The perception of segmentation in  
sequences: Local information provides the building blocks of global  
structure. In D. A. Rosenbaum & C. E. Collyer (Eds.), Timing of  
behavior: Neural, computational, and psychological perspectives. (pp.  
109-123). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Hope this helps,

Ed

Edward Large, Associate Professor
Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences
Florida Atlantic University

On Nov 15, 2005, at 8:21 AM, Henkjan Honing wrote:

> I guess the problem you refer to is "beat induction": how do  
> listeners arrive at a metrical interpretion when listening to a  
> rhythm. H.C. Longuet-Higgins was one of the first to address the  
> problem in a computational way (see H.C. Longuet-Higgings, Mental  
> Proceses. Studies in cognitive sciences, MIT press, 1987). The  
> literature since then is vast, approaching the problem with a wide  
> variety of computational paradigms (see, e.g., * for an overview,  
> or the papers in the "foot-tapping" session at ICMC 1992; **).
>
> Henkjan Honing
>
> *  http://www.hum.uva.nl/mmm/abstracts/dh-100.html
> ** http://www.hum.uva.nl/mmm/mmm-2003/fun/beat.html
>
>
> On 15 Nov 2005, at 13:40, John ffitch wrote:
>
> > We were discussing rhythm patterns the other day and the question  
> > came
> > up about how one determined the start of a pattern.  If there is a
> > heavy emphasis on one beat of the sequence then I can understand that
> > that is taken as the first beat.
> >   But if the sequence is unemphasised how does one decide?  Or do
> > people decide differently, or is it cultural?
> >
> > I am not sure where to start to look -- as ever this is outside my
> > general field of study -- but I though this list might be the place
> > to ask for clues.
> >
> > I hope I have explained the question sufficiently!
> >
> > ==John ffitch
>
>
>
> ************************************
>
> Henkjan Honing
> E honing@xxxxxx
> I http://www.hum.uva.nl/mmm/hh/
>
> Music Cognition Group
> I http://www.hum.uva.nl/mmm/
> F feed://www.hum.uva.nl/mmm/news.rss
>
> ************************************