Re: [MUSIC-IR] Re: musical complexity

[Justin London <jlondon@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here are a few more references that may prove helpful, looking at complexity in a variety of musical areas.

Eerola, T., T. Himberg, et al. (2006). "Perceived complexity of western and African folk melodies by western and African listeners." Psychology of Music 34(3): 337-371.

Klein, J. M. and M. R. Jones (1996). "Effects of attentional set and rhythmic complexity on attending." Perception & Psychophysics 58(1): 34-46.

Narmour, E. (1992). The Analysis and Cognition of Melodic Complexity: The Implication-Realization Model. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press.

Pressing, J. (1999). Cognitive Complexity and the Structure of Musical Patterns. 4th Conference of the Australasian Cognitive Science Society, Newcastle.

Shmulevich, I. and D.-J. Povel (2000). Complexity Measures of Musical Rhythms. Rhythm Perception and Production. P. Desain and W. L. Windsor. Lisse, Swets & Zeitlinger: 239-244.

I'd also add that accounting for the number, variety, and distribution of elements in a sequence may not capture all of its complexities, for some aspects of musical complexity are not in the acoustic signal.  These can range from interpolating beats in the case of rests and syncopations to hearing missing fundamentals and other parts in more complex musical textures.  

Determination of complexity in music is, well, complex.

Best,
Justin London

On Aug 11, 2011, at 11:15 AM, Eric Nichols wrote:

> This might have some of what you're looking for:
> 
> Hidden Structure: Music Analysis Using Computers
> by Dave Cope, 2009
> 
> https://www.areditions.com/cmdas/DAS23/cmdas023.html
> 
> 
> cheers,
> Eric
> 
> 
>> On Thu, 2011-08-11 at 15:29 +0100, Tom Cochrane wrote:
>>> (apologies for cross postings)
>>> 
>>> Dear listmembers
>>> 
>>> Does anyone know of any important articles or books which discuss the
>>> issue of musical complexity? I am particularly interested to find papers
>>> that debate how musical complexity should be understood at a high
>>> theoretical level. For instance, should musical complexity be understood
>>> in purely information theoretic terms or in terms of our psychological
>>> capacity to predict and remember (e.g. analogous to the way that
>>> amplitude differs from perceived loudness)?
>>> 
>>> cheers
>>> 
>>> Tom
>>> 

*************************************************
Justin London
Affiliated Researcher, Centre for Music and Science, University of Cambridge
Professor of Music (and other stuff), Carleton College
Department of Music
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