Annotation for Parncutt, Richard
A Perceptual Model of Pulse Salience and Metrical Accent in Musical Rhythms
Annotation (by James Halliday):
- This article is divided into three sections. The first presents
a perceptual experiment concerning percieved tactus and downbeats in a
cyclical pattern. The second section uses this information to construct
a formal model of meter. The last section gathers and examines
additional evidence from other researchers and theorists. Parncutt's
experiment consists of a series of cyclically repeating simple rhythms
of percussion timbres. In the first part, listeners heard these rhythms
in a wide variety of tempi and were asked to tap along with the beat
(tactus) on a computer keyboard. The pulse responses were shown to
gravitate toward a moderate tempo, although there was a great deal of
ambiguity, especially as the rhythmic sequences became more and more
complex. The second part of the experiment used the same patterns, but
also used an inserted "target note," of a different timbre, placed on
one of the beats of the pattern. Listeners were asked to rate on a
four-point scale whether they thought this target note was on the beat
or off the beat (syncopated). The results of this portion of the
experiment conform largely to musical intuitions, although again there
is a certain amount of ambiguity present. A model of metric perception
based on the preceding experimental evidence is then discussed. This
model does not present a definitive "right answer" for any particular
musical rhythm; rather, it predicts the relative salience of a variety
of metric interpretations. The tempo at which perception appears to be
easiest lies between 600-700ms. Metric perception decreases as the tempo
increases and decreases beyond these norms. A definition of musical
rhythm is advanced as "an acoustic sequence evoking a sensation of
pulse" (p. 453).
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