Some Basic Aspects of an Informational Theory of Music
André Moles · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1956
In the revolution of musical doctrine under the impact of electroacoustical techniques, informational theory brings some concepts for building a new theoretical system which is now conspicuously lacking. Music is one of the messages of our environment, and the human channel, as a consequence of psychophysical uncertainty principles, determines basically the repertories of sound symbols. According to the point of view of the receiver, various repertories appear as “semantic” (intelligible) and “aesthetic” (for a large part sensorial) messages intricately involved in the sound sequences. It is possible to separate experimentally informational contents related to the various repertories, which can be distinguished according to the time scale of perception. The system of values thus obtained gives a metrical pattern of the musical signal. Taking into account the variations of informational rates which a particular individual can grasp, it is possible to reach some general rules governing the musical signal, especially in the simple cases of the work of arrangers of light music, which is more clearly defined after the capacity of the listener. These rules appear particularly useful in the new field of experimental music which makes a wide use of electronic and acoustical means.