By now, I’ve written in the blog rather often about the Sound-Energy Aggregate, or SEA theory. The basic premise is that many musical factors, or parameters, are involved in creating the acoustical information that our brains process. The theory holds that any musical factor can create energy that changes over time, and that all musical parameters interact with each other in a constant flux, creating a composite, or aggregate energy that we process as music. What are these musical elements that I call parameters, and how might they communicate energy to a listener? I’ll present a few important ones here, in a series of more frequent posts that provide musical examples to convert sensory input into abstract thinking.
Before commencing, though, I want to be sure that it is understood that I am completely aware of the complexities within human consciousness that influence what we know as affect, and predicting the impact of changes in acoustical factors on our processing of music is just one factor. It is a very important one, in my opinion, and needs greater attention. Even though I refer alternately to energy and affect as roughly equivalent, I think there is in fact a distinction of great importance between the two. Affect is the impact of music in the human mind/body, while energy is the acoustical stimulus. The subtle distinction between the energy I perceive to be in the music and how it makes me feel is incredibly important. My research focus is on the former, while my intellectual focus extends deep into the latter. As with the psychophysics of music, the further one follows the processing of music by the human mind/body, the more the processing involves past experience. My concern here, then: what is it in the sound itself that sets the mind off on its processing journey?
The first factor must be the realm of pitch, the notes. Studied and discussed at great length, the world of notes (melody and harmony) gets its due in musical analysis. I can provide experience of how energy works with harmony very quickly by way of a Soundpost. Follow the link at the end of this essay for a few sound samples that demonstrate harmonic energy assessment.
My work in attempting to establish the energy contributions of musical parameters has clearly shown the persistence of pitch energy in determining affect, about which I’ll write one day. Beyond the historic emphasis on pitch, I want to understand the influence of all energies more fully, and this means exploring the many acoustical factors employed in making music: rhythm, dynamic, articulation, register, density, timbre and more. A series of posts will examine the energy potential of various parameters in the near future.
For now, follow this link to a Soundpost that provides a quick experience in gauging harmonic energy.