Perception of rhythmic structures
Ira J. Hirsh · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1983
The concern of auditory research with pitch and spectrum has led to an emphasis on individual phonemes in speech and on notes in music. Even the sequential properties of transitions in speech or of melody in music have emphasized changes in spectrum. While rhythmic structures often are aspects of such patterns, they may be studied in a “pure” form. The rhythmic grouping reported since the late 19th century was an interesting observation, but did not lead much further. Also, early studies on listeners' hearing of rhythmic patterns may have been much affected by an imitative, tapping response, accompanied by characteristics of a motor system. Seashore, in his test of musical aptitudes, studied rhythmic perception through a same-different procedure but did not exploit the technique toward notions of stimulus complexity, or good or easy structures. Whether such pattern properties will accord with Martin's syllabic structures, or Garner's groups of runs and gaps, remains to be worked out by studies on recognition and discrimination. Data from a study along these lines will be discussed. [Work supported by NINCDS.]