An Application of Calculated Consonance in Computer-Assisted Microtonal Music

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atmire.migration.oldid1706
dc.contributor.advisorJacob, Christian J.
dc.contributor.advisorEagle, David Malcolm
dc.contributor.authorBurleigh, Ian George
dc.date.accessioned2013-12-23T19:04:20Z
dc.date.available2014-03-15T07:00:17Z
dc.date.issued2013-12-23
dc.date.submitted2013en
dc.description.abstractHarmony (the audible result of varied combinations of simultaneously sounding tones) ought to, for the most part, sound pleasing to the ear. The result depends, among other factors, on a proper choice of the pitches for the tones that form harmonious chords, and on their correct intonation during musical performance. This thesis proposes a computational method for calculation of relative consonance among groups of tones, and its possible practical applications in machine-assisted arrangement of tones, namely the choice of tone pitches and their microtonal adjustment. The consonance of tone groups is calculated using a model that is based on the physiological theory of tone consonance that was published by Hermann Helmholtz in the middle of the 19th century. Given a group of tones that have fixed pitches, changes in the aggregate dissonance caused by adding another “probe” tone of a variable pitch can be represented as a “dissonance landscape”. Local minima in the “height” of the landscape correspond to local minima of the aggregate dissonance as a function of the pitch of the probe tone. Finding a local dissonance minimum simulates the actions of a musician who is “tuning by ear”. The set of all local minima within a given pitch range is a collection of potentially good pitch choices from which a composer (a human, or an algorithmic process) can fashion melodies that sound in harmony with the fixed tones. Several practical examples, realized in an experimental software, demonstrate applications of the method for: 1) computer-assisted microtonal tone arrangement (music composition), 2) algorithmic (machine-generated) music, and 3) musical interplay between a human and a machine. The just intonation aspect of the tuning method naturally leads to more than twelve, potentially to many, pitches in an octave. Without some restrictions that limit the complexity of the process, handling of so many possibilities by a human composer and their precise rendition as sound by a performing musician would be very difficult. Restricting the continuum of possible pitches to the discrete 53-division of the octave, and employing machine-assistance in their arrangement and in sound synthesis make applications of the method feasible.en_US
dc.identifier.citationBurleigh, I. G. (2013). An Application of Calculated Consonance in Computer-Assisted Microtonal Music (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/24833en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/24833
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11023/1225
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.facultyGraduate Studies
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.publisher.placeCalgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subjectMusic
dc.subjectAcoustics
dc.subjectComputer Science
dc.subject.classificationmicrotonal musicen_US
dc.subject.classificationcomputer-assisted musicen_US
dc.subject.classificationconsonanceen_US
dc.subject.classificationtuning systemen_US
dc.subject.classificationtonalityen_US
dc.subject.classificationtone sensationsen_US
dc.subject.classificationmicrotonal music notationen_US
dc.subject.classificationharmonic seriesen_US
dc.subject.classificationdissonanceen_US
dc.titleAn Application of Calculated Consonance in Computer-Assisted Microtonal Music
dc.typedoctoral thesis
thesis.degree.disciplineInterdisciplinary Graduate Program
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
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