Rastafarianism is an Afro-centric cultural consciousness movement and religion with political vie... more Rastafarianism is an Afro-centric cultural consciousness movement and religion with political views that emerged in Jamaica in the 1920s, influenced by Judaism, Christianity, Ethiopianism, and Hinduism. It was popularized through Reggae music, especially that of Desmond Dekker (1941-2006) and Bob Marley (1945-1981) in the 1970s. Rastafarianism highly values the African heritage of black people, believes in repatriation to Ethiopia (“Zion”), which is the true home of black people, and envisions the eventual fall of “Babylon”, which is the corrupt and oppressive world of white people. Most Rastafarian symbols are either of Biblical nature or related to Ethiopia, e.g.: the Exodus story of Moses leading the Hebrews out of Egypt became a Rastafarian liberation symbol; the dreadlocks and beards relate to the law of the Nazarites that forbade cutting hair; etc. To reflect their beliefs and ways of life, Rastafarians changed some of the Jamaican-English language (Jamaican Creole), creating ...
In blues and jazz, a blue note is a note that is expressively lowered in pitch. Wikipedia points ... more In blues and jazz, a blue note is a note that is expressively lowered in pitch. Wikipedia points out that “typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical context”. This poster will present a case study on exactly measuring the frequencies of blue notes and their intervallic relationships to other notes in the scale. The freeware Sonic Visualiser and its “Peak Frequency Spectrogram” function was used to determine exact frequencies. Specifically the third scale degree in an the cappella blues recording “I Got Too Much Time for the Crime I Done” by J. B. Smith was analyzed, which was recorded while incarcerated at the Ramsey State Farm in Rosharon, Texas, in 1965 (serving 45 years there for the murder of his wife). The analysis shows both the unaltered third scale degree in the ascending melody as well as the third scale degree ‘blue’ note in the descending melody, which was lower than the half-step-lowered third scale degree....
At the conference > on May 26, 1966, Jan LaRue speculated > Having passed the year 2000, we... more At the conference > on May 26, 1966, Jan LaRue speculated > Having passed the year 2000, we have to realize that LaRue's prediction did not come true: neither for computer-assisted music analysis, nor for computer-applications in music research in general. This volume is intended to initiate a more critical discussion of computer-applications in music research and to present concepts, methods, and results of newest research in this area.
Music analysis is very often taught and practiced without reflecting on the method(s) used. Analy... more Music analysis is very often taught and practiced without reflecting on the method(s) used. Analysis is not possible without language and concepts. If 'pure' cognition of composition does not exist, then practicing analysis must include some reflection on its purposes. In this respect, analytical methods must be classified. This article reflects on methodological problems in music analysis. Traditional classifications of music analysis are re-visited and changes towards a more consistent system of classification are suggested with regards to the approaches taken. Finally, these methodological observations are applied to the use of computer technology in music analysis. Since methods of computer-assisted music analysis have not been classified yet, such a system is proposed here, based on detailed historical studies in this field. Each of the categories in this system of classification of computerassisted music analysis are briefly characterized.
U ovom radu opisuje se rekonstrukcija života i djela afroameričkog kompozitora Jacoba J. Sawyera ... more U ovom radu opisuje se rekonstrukcija života i djela afroameričkog kompozitora Jacoba J. Sawyera i ispravka jednog biografskog aspekta afroameričkog kompozitora Edmonda Dédéa uz pomoć komercijalnih genealoških i novinskih baza podataka kao i online zbirki muzičkih partitura.
Der vorliegende Band ist einer Personlichkeit gewidmet, die uber viele Jahrzehnte hinweg wichtige... more Der vorliegende Band ist einer Personlichkeit gewidmet, die uber viele Jahrzehnte hinweg wichtige Teile des musikkulturellen Lebens vor allem der ehemaligen DDR mitbestimmt hat. Der Lebensweg des Komponisten Kurt Schwaen, Jahrgang 1909, ist exemplarisch fur einen Teil jener Generation, fur die sich aus den Um- und Zusammenbruchen der ersten Jahrzehnte dieses Jahrhunderts die Notwendigkeit gesellschaftlicher, politischer, sozialer und damit auch kunstlerischer Alternativen zwingend ergab. Sein 85. Geburtstag wird hier zum Anlass genommen, mosaikartig Wichtiges zu benennen und dabei das Bild einer so streitbaren wie unstrittig provokant-produktiven Komponistenpersonlichkeit erstehen zu lassen."
While approaches that had already established historical precedents – computer-assisted analytica... more While approaches that had already established historical precedents – computer-assisted analytical approaches drawing on statistics and information theory – developed further, many research projects conducted during the 1980s aimed at the development of new methods of computer-assisted music analysis. Some projects discovered new possibilities related to using computers to simulate human cognition and perception, drawing on cognitive musicology and Artificial Intelligence, areas that were themselves spurred on by new technical developments and by developments in computer program design. The 1990s ushered in revolutionary methods of music analysis, especially those drawing on Artificial Intelligence research. Some of these approaches started to focus on musical sound, rather than scores. They allowed music analysis to focus on how music is actually perceived. In some approaches, the analysis of music and of music cognition merged. This article provides an overview of computer-assiste...
Music analysis is very often practiced and taught without any reference to, or reflection on, the... more Music analysis is very often practiced and taught without any reference to, or reflection on, the premises of the methods employed. This is especially true for the area of computer-assisted music analysis, which emerged almost 50 years ago. Computer-assisted music analysis provides analytical tools that help solve problems, some of which may be unsolvable without the assistance of the computer, as, for instance, creating comprehensive, statistically verifiable, characterizations of style, or as verifying the probability of authorship by matching a statistical profile of a specific composition with statistical profiles of composers' styles. Music analysis, carried out with the assistance of the computer, can also help to develop systematic approaches in music theory. In addition, computer-assisted music analysis plays various roles in research related to composition, acoustics and performance, including research on cognitive and formal aspects of music. Unfortunately, most resear...
Although all research makes use of specific research methods, much music scholarship is being pub... more Although all research makes use of specific research methods, much music scholarship is being published without any reference to, or reflection on, the premises of the methods employed. In other words, published articles and books are often lacking a discussion of the scope and limitations of the research methods. Furthermore, music theory, musicology, ethnomusicology, music psychology, etc., are not independent disciplines, nor is research in those areas an activity to be defined once and for all. These areas have strong methodological relationships to each other as well as to areas outside the field of music. This book discusses some of the methodological premises, on which music research in the areas of music theory, (ethno-) musicology, and music psychology is based, and focuses on selected interdisciplinary approaches. It also discusses teaching approaches to music theory.
We improve upon our simple approach for learning the “associational meaning” of chord sequences f... more We improve upon our simple approach for learning the “associational meaning” of chord sequences from lyrics based on contingency statistics induced over a set of lyrics with chord annotations. Specifically, we refine this process by using word alignment tools developed for statistical machine translation, and we also use a much larger set of chord annotations. In addition, objective evaluation measures are included. Thus, this work validates a novel application of lexicon induction techniques over parallel corpora to a domain outside of natural language learning. To confirm the associations commonly attributed to major versus minor chords (i.e., happy and sad, respectively), we compare the inferred word associations against synonyms reflecting this dichotomy. To evaluate meanings associated with chord sequences, we check how often tagged chords occur in songs labeled with the same overall meaning.
This article, the second in a series of articles on the history of computer-assisted music analys... more This article, the second in a series of articles on the history of computer-assisted music analysis, focuses on developments of computer-assisted music analysis during the 1960s. While the most trendsetting approaches and publications are being discussed, this article points out that at least up to the end of the 1960s, computer-assisted analysis of style was anything but comprehensive, interpersonal, and rich in musical insight. Nevertheless, the wealth of attempts to analyze music with the help of computers during the 1960s provided the foundation for the deeper approaches to computer-assisted music analysis of the following decades.
This paper describes the reconstruction of the life and work of African-American composer Jacob J... more This paper describes the reconstruction of the life and work of African-American composer Jacob J. Sawyer and the correction of one biographical aspect of African-American composer Edmond Dédé with the help of commercial genealogy and newspaper databases as well as online collections of music scores.
Contents: Kevin Korsyn: The Aging of the New Musicology - Marie-Agnes Dittrich: Reply to Kevin Ko... more Contents: Kevin Korsyn: The Aging of the New Musicology - Marie-Agnes Dittrich: Reply to Kevin Korsyn, Including Remarks on Musicology and "Musiktheorie" in Germany and Austria in Times of the Bologna Process and of Knowledge Evaluation - Christian Bielefeldt: A Reply to Kevin Korsyn's "The Aging of New Musicology" - Kordula Knaus: A Reply to Kevin Korsyn's "The Aging of New Musicology" - Leon Stefanija: Outside of Musicology - Nico Schuler: From Interdisciplinarity to 'Perspectivism' in Music Research - Matjaz Barbo: Music as a Metaphor? - Peter Wicke: From Schizophonia to Paraphonia: On the Epistemological and Cultural Matrix of Digitally Generated Pop Sounds - Lubomir Spurny: Semiology in Music and Art: Czech Music Semiology - Dalibor Davidovic: Interception - Katarina Habe: Current Issues and Trends in the Psychology of Music in Slovenia - Jasmina Talam/Tamara Karaca-Beljak: Ethnomusicological Research and Fieldwork Methodology: Expe...
Rastafarianism is an Afro-centric cultural consciousness movement and religion with political vie... more Rastafarianism is an Afro-centric cultural consciousness movement and religion with political views that emerged in Jamaica in the 1920s, influenced by Judaism, Christianity, Ethiopianism, and Hinduism. It was popularized through Reggae music, especially that of Desmond Dekker (1941-2006) and Bob Marley (1945-1981) in the 1970s. Rastafarianism highly values the African heritage of black people, believes in repatriation to Ethiopia (“Zion”), which is the true home of black people, and envisions the eventual fall of “Babylon”, which is the corrupt and oppressive world of white people. Most Rastafarian symbols are either of Biblical nature or related to Ethiopia, e.g.: the Exodus story of Moses leading the Hebrews out of Egypt became a Rastafarian liberation symbol; the dreadlocks and beards relate to the law of the Nazarites that forbade cutting hair; etc. To reflect their beliefs and ways of life, Rastafarians changed some of the Jamaican-English language (Jamaican Creole), creating ...
In blues and jazz, a blue note is a note that is expressively lowered in pitch. Wikipedia points ... more In blues and jazz, a blue note is a note that is expressively lowered in pitch. Wikipedia points out that “typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical context”. This poster will present a case study on exactly measuring the frequencies of blue notes and their intervallic relationships to other notes in the scale. The freeware Sonic Visualiser and its “Peak Frequency Spectrogram” function was used to determine exact frequencies. Specifically the third scale degree in an the cappella blues recording “I Got Too Much Time for the Crime I Done” by J. B. Smith was analyzed, which was recorded while incarcerated at the Ramsey State Farm in Rosharon, Texas, in 1965 (serving 45 years there for the murder of his wife). The analysis shows both the unaltered third scale degree in the ascending melody as well as the third scale degree ‘blue’ note in the descending melody, which was lower than the half-step-lowered third scale degree....
At the conference > on May 26, 1966, Jan LaRue speculated > Having passed the year 2000, we... more At the conference > on May 26, 1966, Jan LaRue speculated > Having passed the year 2000, we have to realize that LaRue's prediction did not come true: neither for computer-assisted music analysis, nor for computer-applications in music research in general. This volume is intended to initiate a more critical discussion of computer-applications in music research and to present concepts, methods, and results of newest research in this area.
Music analysis is very often taught and practiced without reflecting on the method(s) used. Analy... more Music analysis is very often taught and practiced without reflecting on the method(s) used. Analysis is not possible without language and concepts. If 'pure' cognition of composition does not exist, then practicing analysis must include some reflection on its purposes. In this respect, analytical methods must be classified. This article reflects on methodological problems in music analysis. Traditional classifications of music analysis are re-visited and changes towards a more consistent system of classification are suggested with regards to the approaches taken. Finally, these methodological observations are applied to the use of computer technology in music analysis. Since methods of computer-assisted music analysis have not been classified yet, such a system is proposed here, based on detailed historical studies in this field. Each of the categories in this system of classification of computerassisted music analysis are briefly characterized.
U ovom radu opisuje se rekonstrukcija života i djela afroameričkog kompozitora Jacoba J. Sawyera ... more U ovom radu opisuje se rekonstrukcija života i djela afroameričkog kompozitora Jacoba J. Sawyera i ispravka jednog biografskog aspekta afroameričkog kompozitora Edmonda Dédéa uz pomoć komercijalnih genealoških i novinskih baza podataka kao i online zbirki muzičkih partitura.
Der vorliegende Band ist einer Personlichkeit gewidmet, die uber viele Jahrzehnte hinweg wichtige... more Der vorliegende Band ist einer Personlichkeit gewidmet, die uber viele Jahrzehnte hinweg wichtige Teile des musikkulturellen Lebens vor allem der ehemaligen DDR mitbestimmt hat. Der Lebensweg des Komponisten Kurt Schwaen, Jahrgang 1909, ist exemplarisch fur einen Teil jener Generation, fur die sich aus den Um- und Zusammenbruchen der ersten Jahrzehnte dieses Jahrhunderts die Notwendigkeit gesellschaftlicher, politischer, sozialer und damit auch kunstlerischer Alternativen zwingend ergab. Sein 85. Geburtstag wird hier zum Anlass genommen, mosaikartig Wichtiges zu benennen und dabei das Bild einer so streitbaren wie unstrittig provokant-produktiven Komponistenpersonlichkeit erstehen zu lassen."
While approaches that had already established historical precedents – computer-assisted analytica... more While approaches that had already established historical precedents – computer-assisted analytical approaches drawing on statistics and information theory – developed further, many research projects conducted during the 1980s aimed at the development of new methods of computer-assisted music analysis. Some projects discovered new possibilities related to using computers to simulate human cognition and perception, drawing on cognitive musicology and Artificial Intelligence, areas that were themselves spurred on by new technical developments and by developments in computer program design. The 1990s ushered in revolutionary methods of music analysis, especially those drawing on Artificial Intelligence research. Some of these approaches started to focus on musical sound, rather than scores. They allowed music analysis to focus on how music is actually perceived. In some approaches, the analysis of music and of music cognition merged. This article provides an overview of computer-assiste...
Music analysis is very often practiced and taught without any reference to, or reflection on, the... more Music analysis is very often practiced and taught without any reference to, or reflection on, the premises of the methods employed. This is especially true for the area of computer-assisted music analysis, which emerged almost 50 years ago. Computer-assisted music analysis provides analytical tools that help solve problems, some of which may be unsolvable without the assistance of the computer, as, for instance, creating comprehensive, statistically verifiable, characterizations of style, or as verifying the probability of authorship by matching a statistical profile of a specific composition with statistical profiles of composers' styles. Music analysis, carried out with the assistance of the computer, can also help to develop systematic approaches in music theory. In addition, computer-assisted music analysis plays various roles in research related to composition, acoustics and performance, including research on cognitive and formal aspects of music. Unfortunately, most resear...
Although all research makes use of specific research methods, much music scholarship is being pub... more Although all research makes use of specific research methods, much music scholarship is being published without any reference to, or reflection on, the premises of the methods employed. In other words, published articles and books are often lacking a discussion of the scope and limitations of the research methods. Furthermore, music theory, musicology, ethnomusicology, music psychology, etc., are not independent disciplines, nor is research in those areas an activity to be defined once and for all. These areas have strong methodological relationships to each other as well as to areas outside the field of music. This book discusses some of the methodological premises, on which music research in the areas of music theory, (ethno-) musicology, and music psychology is based, and focuses on selected interdisciplinary approaches. It also discusses teaching approaches to music theory.
We improve upon our simple approach for learning the “associational meaning” of chord sequences f... more We improve upon our simple approach for learning the “associational meaning” of chord sequences from lyrics based on contingency statistics induced over a set of lyrics with chord annotations. Specifically, we refine this process by using word alignment tools developed for statistical machine translation, and we also use a much larger set of chord annotations. In addition, objective evaluation measures are included. Thus, this work validates a novel application of lexicon induction techniques over parallel corpora to a domain outside of natural language learning. To confirm the associations commonly attributed to major versus minor chords (i.e., happy and sad, respectively), we compare the inferred word associations against synonyms reflecting this dichotomy. To evaluate meanings associated with chord sequences, we check how often tagged chords occur in songs labeled with the same overall meaning.
This article, the second in a series of articles on the history of computer-assisted music analys... more This article, the second in a series of articles on the history of computer-assisted music analysis, focuses on developments of computer-assisted music analysis during the 1960s. While the most trendsetting approaches and publications are being discussed, this article points out that at least up to the end of the 1960s, computer-assisted analysis of style was anything but comprehensive, interpersonal, and rich in musical insight. Nevertheless, the wealth of attempts to analyze music with the help of computers during the 1960s provided the foundation for the deeper approaches to computer-assisted music analysis of the following decades.
This paper describes the reconstruction of the life and work of African-American composer Jacob J... more This paper describes the reconstruction of the life and work of African-American composer Jacob J. Sawyer and the correction of one biographical aspect of African-American composer Edmond Dédé with the help of commercial genealogy and newspaper databases as well as online collections of music scores.
Contents: Kevin Korsyn: The Aging of the New Musicology - Marie-Agnes Dittrich: Reply to Kevin Ko... more Contents: Kevin Korsyn: The Aging of the New Musicology - Marie-Agnes Dittrich: Reply to Kevin Korsyn, Including Remarks on Musicology and "Musiktheorie" in Germany and Austria in Times of the Bologna Process and of Knowledge Evaluation - Christian Bielefeldt: A Reply to Kevin Korsyn's "The Aging of New Musicology" - Kordula Knaus: A Reply to Kevin Korsyn's "The Aging of New Musicology" - Leon Stefanija: Outside of Musicology - Nico Schuler: From Interdisciplinarity to 'Perspectivism' in Music Research - Matjaz Barbo: Music as a Metaphor? - Peter Wicke: From Schizophonia to Paraphonia: On the Epistemological and Cultural Matrix of Digitally Generated Pop Sounds - Lubomir Spurny: Semiology in Music and Art: Czech Music Semiology - Dalibor Davidovic: Interception - Katarina Habe: Current Issues and Trends in the Psychology of Music in Slovenia - Jasmina Talam/Tamara Karaca-Beljak: Ethnomusicological Research and Fieldwork Methodology: Expe...
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