Rhythm and Transforms - Hardcover

Sethares, William Arthur

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1846286395 ISBN 13: 9781846286391

Publisher: Springer, 2007

Synopsis

People naturally identify the rhythm of music as they tap their feet and sway in time with the beat. Underlying such motions is an act of cognition that is not easily reproduced in a computer program or automated by machine. "Rhythm and Transforms" asks (and answers) the question: How can we build a device that can "tap its foot" along with the music? The result is a tool for detecting and measuring the temporal aspects of a musical performance: the periodicities, the regularities (and irregularities), the beat, the rhythm. The impact of such a "rhythm meter" on music theory and on the design of sound processing electronics is described. It allows discussion of the relationship between cognitive processing of temporal information and mathematical techniques used to describe and understand regularities in data.

This book will interest engineers and others interested in the design of audio devices such as musical synthesizers, special effects devices, drum machines, and electronic keyboards. It will be useful to musicians and composers who exploit computer-based tools; arrangers, musicologists, and others interested in musical analysis; and those interested in the way the ear works, and how this influences the types of sound patterns we like to listen to.

About this title

About the Author

William Sethares is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he teaches about electro-acoustics and signal processing. A focus of his research is the relationship between the rhythmic qualities of music – how they are perceived biologically and the qualities of the instruments or machine making the sounds.

From the Back Cover

People quite naturally identify the rhythmic structure of music as they tap their feet and sway in time with the beat. Underlying such mundane motions is an act of cognition that is not easily reproduced in a computer program or automated by machine. Rhythm and Transforms asks (and answers) the question: How can we build a device that can "tap its foot" along with the music? The result is a tool for detecting and measuring the temporal aspects of a musical performance: the periodicities, the regularities (and irregularities), the beat, the rhythm. The impact of such a "rhythm meter" on music theory and on the design of sound processing electronics such as musical synthesizers, drum machines, and special effects devices is described. The "rhythm meter" provides a concrete basis for a discussion of the relationship between the cognitive processing of temporal information and the mathematical techniques used to describe and understand regularities in data.
Rhythm and Transforms will be of interest to engineers and others interested in the design of audio devices such as musical synthesizers, special effects devices, drum machines, and electronic keyboards. It will be useful to musicians and composers who exploit computer-based tools in the creation and the recording process. It will be of use to arrangers, musicologists, and others interested in musical analysis. Rhythm and Transforms provides a unique approach to working with environmental sounds, and there are clear applications to the synchronization of audio with video (i.e., film scoring). Finally, the target audience also includes those interested in the way the ear works, and how this influences the types of sound patterns we like to listen to.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1846286395
• ISBN 13: 9781846286391
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 349