The cognitive power of music. Why does music have life-changing effects on some people, and commonly produces powerful experiences in most of us? This project will unpack the common notion of the power of music from a cognitive perspective and will explain the mechanisms behind our attraction to music through empirical examination of human behaviours.
Providing a theoretical and empirical foundation for the role of technical practice in the acquisition of musical mastery. Cecilia Bartoli, world-renowned mezzo-soprano, credits her phenomenal vocal technique to daily individual attention from her teacher. Such intensive individualised attention is financially impossible for most musicians so the value of teacher contact hours must be maximised through evidence-based, self-directed technical practice (TP). This multidisciplinary project will ap ....Providing a theoretical and empirical foundation for the role of technical practice in the acquisition of musical mastery. Cecilia Bartoli, world-renowned mezzo-soprano, credits her phenomenal vocal technique to daily individual attention from her teacher. Such intensive individualised attention is financially impossible for most musicians so the value of teacher contact hours must be maximised through evidence-based, self-directed technical practice (TP). This multidisciplinary project will apply world-leading technology to discover the principles of TP required for vocal mastery. By using these principles, teachers and performing arts institutions can maximise the effectiveness of musical instruction in a financially cost effective way, thereby consolidating our place as a world leader in musical performance and in performing arts research.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100961
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$456,000.00
Summary
The Musical Escape: Investigating Music and Imagination. Imagination plays a pivotal role in creativity as well as self-regulation. Yet, despite its important role throughout cognition, imagination is still ill-understood as it is notoriously difficult to systematically induce and measure. This project aims to deepen our understanding of imagination by using an innovative approach that combines quantitative, qualitative, and neuroscientific methodologies. It leverages the facts that music can re ....The Musical Escape: Investigating Music and Imagination. Imagination plays a pivotal role in creativity as well as self-regulation. Yet, despite its important role throughout cognition, imagination is still ill-understood as it is notoriously difficult to systematically induce and measure. This project aims to deepen our understanding of imagination by using an innovative approach that combines quantitative, qualitative, and neuroscientific methodologies. It leverages the facts that music can reliably induce imagination and that imagined orientation in time and space can be measured. Expected outcomes include free algorithmic tools capable of generating music that induce user-specified imagination to the benefit of informing the foundations of creativity and the phenomenology of imagination.Read moreRead less
Redefining conceptions of child and adolescent emotional responses to music using time-series analysis. The National Review of Music Education recognizes the need to understand more fully how musical experiences impact on children's emotional and general development. Australian researchers are leaders in the field of continuous response to emotion in music. Our international leadership on this critically important issue will result in new ways of understanding music and teaching music to childre ....Redefining conceptions of child and adolescent emotional responses to music using time-series analysis. The National Review of Music Education recognizes the need to understand more fully how musical experiences impact on children's emotional and general development. Australian researchers are leaders in the field of continuous response to emotion in music. Our international leadership on this critically important issue will result in new ways of understanding music and teaching music to children through to adults because our explanations of affective aspects of music will be framed within a scientific perspective which moves beyond learning the purely technical and subjective aspects of music appreciation.Read moreRead less
A Study of Acoustical, Psycho-acoustical and Musicological Factors in Tuned Percussion Ensemble Design. This research will generate the following nationally benefits: 1) The World's first new, widely available, acoustical musical instruments in almost a Century, and the creation of a uniquely Australian musical form, 2) The creation of a major new teaching resource for classroom music and a new export industry for Australia, 3) New knowledge and techniques for the application of psycho-acoustic ....A Study of Acoustical, Psycho-acoustical and Musicological Factors in Tuned Percussion Ensemble Design. This research will generate the following nationally benefits: 1) The World's first new, widely available, acoustical musical instruments in almost a Century, and the creation of a uniquely Australian musical form, 2) The creation of a major new teaching resource for classroom music and a new export industry for Australia, 3) New knowledge and techniques for the application of psycho-acoustic theory to industrial design processes, and their evaluation with respect to musical instrument acoustics and performance practices, and 4) New knowledge of the human auditory system; thereby contributing to Australia's international standing as a leader in auditory research and promoting Australia's cultural and scientific capabilities.Read moreRead less
Enhancing quality in western classical singing and pedagogy. Music and singing are important performing arts, essential components of Australian cultural life making major contributions to the Australian economy. This study will benefit professional musicians, students, music industry and cultural reputation of Australia by investigating technical, acoustic and perceptual features that define vocal quality. Our multidisciplinary team will apply sophisticated technologies and research methods to ....Enhancing quality in western classical singing and pedagogy. Music and singing are important performing arts, essential components of Australian cultural life making major contributions to the Australian economy. This study will benefit professional musicians, students, music industry and cultural reputation of Australia by investigating technical, acoustic and perceptual features that define vocal quality. Our multidisciplinary team will apply sophisticated technologies and research methods to improve vocal assessment and pedagogical practices in the musical arts, thereby enhancing the musical development and career prospects of the next generation of Australian performers and teachers. This research will place Australia at the forefront for excellence in research in the performing arts.
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Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0668448
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$150,000.00
Summary
See Hear! Multimodal Recording and Analysis Facility. High resolution recording and analysis will exploit the full potential of motion capture with progress towards automatic recognition of gesture and, eventually, real-time systems. Automatic tracking and recognition systems are in high demand and the interlacing of data from multiple modes is now computationally achievable. SeeHear! will be coded using techniques in multimodal fusion - tracking of bodies will be enhanced by locating and recogn ....See Hear! Multimodal Recording and Analysis Facility. High resolution recording and analysis will exploit the full potential of motion capture with progress towards automatic recognition of gesture and, eventually, real-time systems. Automatic tracking and recognition systems are in high demand and the interlacing of data from multiple modes is now computationally achievable. SeeHear! will be coded using techniques in multimodal fusion - tracking of bodies will be enhanced by locating and recognizing facial features, and a learning algorithm used to classify gesture from patterns of force and physiological response. In the future, full interactivity will be achieved by interconnecting visual and auditory data with a flow on to applications in the performing arts, rehabilitation and security.Read moreRead less
Thinking brains and bodies: distributed cognition and dynamic memory in Australian Dance Theatre. Creative thinking, learning and memory - key features of human cognition - will be investigated in the context of dance in this project. Complementary quantitative and qualitative methods will shed light on process and communication in the Australian Dance Theatre and the arts more broadly, and inform new accounts of thinking as embodied and distributed.
Music, Arousal, and Mood: The Role of Loudness and Loudness Change in Cross-Cultural Music Perception. Despite decades of research into perception of Western music there are no studies applying experimental methods to perception of traditional Australian music. This project investigates a parameter present in all auditory events, from animal songs and alarms to music and speech: loudness. Results concerning the universality of loudness change and effects on mood and arousal will be reported to a ....Music, Arousal, and Mood: The Role of Loudness and Loudness Change in Cross-Cultural Music Perception. Despite decades of research into perception of Western music there are no studies applying experimental methods to perception of traditional Australian music. This project investigates a parameter present in all auditory events, from animal songs and alarms to music and speech: loudness. Results concerning the universality of loudness change and effects on mood and arousal will be reported to academic and local communities. Understanding how people experience loudness has implications for non-musical uses of sound, eg. more effective uses of loudness in non-verbal auditory warnings. Identifying effects of loudness on arousal and mood is also relevant to research on therapeutic or harmful effects of music and other sounds. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100353
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$369,000.00
Summary
Universal mechanisms for the communication of musical emotion. This project aims to understand the universal perceptual and cognitive mechanisms underlying musical communication. Music is a language of the emotions with a remarkable capacity to communicate across personal and cultural boundaries. This project will develop and refine a computational toolbox of perceptual models in light of behavioural experiments using musical and non-musical sonic stimuli. These models will also be used to devel ....Universal mechanisms for the communication of musical emotion. This project aims to understand the universal perceptual and cognitive mechanisms underlying musical communication. Music is a language of the emotions with a remarkable capacity to communicate across personal and cultural boundaries. This project will develop and refine a computational toolbox of perceptual models in light of behavioural experiments using musical and non-musical sonic stimuli. These models will also be used to develop software to compose perceptually grounded music. The intended outcomes are increased knowledge of perception, composition and computational modelling of music, which will stimulate investigations into music's societal benefits and therapeutic applications.Read moreRead less