Sound files

The sound files accompanying my cand. philol. thesis How Do We Recognize a Song in One Second? : The Importance of Salience and Sound in Music Perception. Submitted to the Department of Music and Theatre, University of Oslo, November 2002.

Front page thesis — The front page of my cand. philol. thesis.

Preliminary Examples

A lot of musical information can be recognized from short excerpts.

1a: Beethoven: 5. symphony (1999ms)

1b: Schubert: Credo from Mass in Bb (2124ms)

1c: Aqua: Barbie Girl (1500ms)

1d: The Beatles: Let it Be (2380ms)

1e: Otis Redding: Sitting at the Dock of the Bay (1994ms)

1f: Eric Clapton: Layla

1g: Louis Armstrong: Summertime

1h: Wagner: Tristan

1i: Weber: Oberon, Overture

Timbre Changes

The timbre of an instrument changes across the registers. Notice how "unnatural" the processed tones (2b, 2c) sounds. The original (2a) is a Sony Rollins Saxophone Tone.

2a: Original tone

2b: Transposed one octave up

2c: Transposed one octave down

Short Term Recognition

How long time do you actually need to recognize the music? Durations are given in milliseconds (ms) or seconds (s).

Eric Clapton: Tears in Heaven

3a: 134ms

3b: 380ms

3c: 960ms

3d: 3668ms

3e: 25s

Sarah McLahlan: When She Loved Me

4a: 1021ms

4b: 3297ms

4c: 9s

4d: 17s

4e: 32s

Salience

Modulation is one of the most powerful examples of musical salience.

5a: Various Artists: We are the World

Salient Musical Parameters

Each of the musical parameters can be salient.

Melody

6a: Beethoven: 9. symphony, 4. mov.

6b: Dvorak: 9. symphony, 2. mov.

Harmony

7: Stevie Wonder: You are the Sunshine of my Life

Rhythm

8a: Beethoven: 5. symphony, 1.mov.

8b: Beethoven: 5. symphony, 3. mov.

Dynamics

9a: Grieg: A-minor Concerto

9b: Reversed piano tone

Salient Voices

Voices can have some very salient features, making them easily recognizable.

10a: Various Artists: We are the World

10b: John Lennon: Yesterday

10c: Bob Dylan: Blowing in the Wind

10d: Ella Fitzgerald: Dream a Little Dream of Me

10e: Louis Armstrong: Summertime

Salient Piano Sound

Even though a piano is a ballistic instrument, piano sound can be very unique and distinct for a style, composer or performer.

11a: Mozart: Piano Concerto K488, 1

11b: Stockhausen: Klavierstücke I

11c: Debussy: Pour remercier la pluie au matin

11d: Keith Jarrett: K?ln Concert, III

11e: Thelonious Monk

11f: John Lennon: Imagine

"Music Trailer" of Bolero

The original duration of Ravel's Bolero is approximately 15 minutes. Each "trailer" lasts only 15 seconds.

12: Compression

Short excerpts:

13a: 5 points, each 3 seconds

13b: 3 points, each 5 seconds

Salient short excerpts:

14a: Version1

14b: Version2

Timbre Analysis and Synthesis

A saxophone tone played by Sony Rollins. Notice the timbre change and slight increase in pitch. Also interesting is the fact that about 60 partials are needed to adequately reproduce the sound.

Sony Rollins Saxophone Tone:

A saxophone tone played by Sony Rollins. Notice the timbre change and slight increase in pitch. Also interesting is the fact that about 60 partials are needed to adequately reproduce the sound.