Further tests of “composers' pulses” in computer performances of piano music from the classical period
Bruno H. Repp · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1989
Composers' pulses are patterns of expressive microstructure (i.e., timing and amplitude modulations) said to convey individual composers' personalities when implemented in computer performances of their music [see M. Clynes, in Studies of Music Performance, edited by J. Sundberg (1983), pp. 76–181]. The present research continued the perceptual evaluation of such pulses, which so far has yielded inconclusive results [B. H. Repp, Music Perception (in press)]. The initial bars of five piano pieces by each of four composers (Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, and Schubert) were played on a computer-controlled electronic piano with each of the four composers' pulses (following Clynes' specifications as closely as possible) and also in a deadpan version. Listeners judged to what extent each computer performance conveyed the composer's characteristic expression, relative to the deadpan version. Pilot results provide occasional positive support for the Beethoven and Haydn pulses, but none at all for the Mozart and Schubert pulses. Additional data will be reported from musically trained subjects who also listened to computer performances in which the timing and amplitude components of the pulses were applied separately. [Work supported by NIH-BRSG.]