How does a performer's interpretation of timing and dynamics affect the emotions we perceive in music?
We explore this question and more in our latest article published in QJEP:
doi.org/10.1177/1747...
@maplelab.bsky.social @michaelschutz.bsky.social
#musicscience
screengrab of a portion of new yorker interview with former simpson's writer john swartzwelder: Mike Sacks: How much time and attention did you spend on these scripts? Another “Simpsons” writer once compared your scripts to finely tuned machines—if the wrong person mucked with them, the whole thing could blow up. Swartzwelder: All of my time and all of my attention. It’s the only way I know how to write, darn it. But I do have a trick that makes things easier for me. Since writing is very hard and rewriting is comparatively easy and rather fun, I always write my scripts all the way through as fast as I can, the first day, if possible, putting in crap jokes and pattern dialogue—“Homer, I don’t want you to do that.” “Then I won’t do it.” Then the next day, when I get up, the script’s been written. It’s lousy, but it’s a script. The hard part is done. It’s like a crappy little elf has snuck into my office and badly done all my work for me, and then left with a tip of his crappy hat. All I have to do from that point on is fix it. So I’ve taken a very hard job, writing, and turned it into an easy one, rewriting, overnight. I advise all writers to do their scripts and other writing this way. And be sure to send me a small royalty every time you do it.
hi this is my favorite writing advice, it's from former simpsons writer john swartzwelder (i think about the crappy little elf all the time) www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
🎵 How do our digital footprints reflect our musical minds?
Vinoo Alluri (Keynote) explores situated music cognition, linking what we say about music to what we actually listen to, feel, and need.
Take a deep dive with Muselt: github.com/Muse-it/MuseIt #musicscience #ICMPS18
Fascinating talk from @kirtsconnor.bsky.social at #ICMPC2025 highlighting the importance of using validated constructs in music emotion studies, with some instructive questions when starting a project. #musicscience
Thanks for your insightful question on the degree to which felt vs. perceived emotions were represented in the computational models. It's a really important factor for sure!
Our findings highlight the importance of musicological considerations in psychological investigations of musical emotion. Even within a single musical tradition, composers' unique choices can lead to distinct outcomes for perceived emotion! (4/4)
Compared to mode, pitch height accounts for far more variance in valence ratings of Shostakovich excerpts, consistent with musicological research on the changing use of tonality in the 20th century (3/4).
Our findings regarding valence (reflecting the negative-positive emotional quality) highlight this difference clearly. Major/minor mode explains most of the variance in participants' ratings in response to Bach and Chopin's music, but cue effects play out differently for Shostakovich. (2/4)
How do historic shifts in music composition affect the emotions we perceive? Comparing preludes by Bach, Chopin, and Shostakovich, we find prominent shifts in the effects of major/minor mode, pitch, and timing information on participants' emotion judgements. (1/4)
Music and Science book cover featuring a listener with headphones
I'm proud to announce a new textbook for #musicscience titled "Music and Science: A Guide to Empirical Research". It covers methods in music psychology, empirical research, #openresearch & music computation in 298 pages. For details, see doi.org/10.4324/9781.... Codes at tuomaseerola.github.io/emr/
🚨 New #openaccess article theorizing how music impacts our emotions
See, doi.org/10.1177/0305...
Next steps: following #psychometric methodology to build a new instrument for the #musicscience community :)
Have insight about the development process for #psychology #measurement? Let me know! #phd
Would you like to play an online game on Auditory Memory for Indian Rhythms?
I am looking for musicians unfamiliar with Indian music to participate in this fun study. You will get a score on completion. 🤓
#musicpsych
Click to participate: durhamuniversity.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
