Chimeric Music
Exploring pitch-timing interaction on the neural encoding of music
Music is a complex interplay of various elements, with pitch and rhythm (or timing) being crucial dimensions for our perception and understanding. Studies have investigated how strong beats enhance neural processing and how the statistics of note sequences are encoded. However, the interaction between rhythmic and pitch structure requires further exploration. This led us to create what we call ‘chimeric music,’ where we fused pitch and rhythm elements from different musical pieces by combining note sequences from one piece with the rhythm structure from another.
Initial Key Findings
- Chimeric music provides a new way to study music processing by decoupling musical pitch and timing while keeping the marginal statistics intact.
- During music listening, there is an enhanced neural response when participants hear a note that aligns with the downbeat.
- In the context of chimeric music, the response to downbeats is notably amplified when the pitch sequence aligns correctly. This finding indicates a significant interaction between beat perception and the pitch structure of music, suggesting that our cognitive engagement with music is multidimensional.
The initial results were published in a poster presentation at ARO 2024 Conference.
Check out the poster here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/378520961_Chimeric_Music_Exploring_Pitch-Timing_Interaction_on_the_Neural_Encoding_of_Music_ARO_2024