12 - The psychology of electronic music

Summary

Psychology provides an important base from which to understand music, and is very relevant for electronic music in particular, where psychological theories have even inspired new compositional explorations. Furthermore, in analysing and composing electronic music, traditional music theory is often not applicable. There is no conventional score available on which the analysis of the music could be based, for the music does not rest solely on certain standard notated pitch structures and rhythmic frameworks, but encompasses timbre, spatialisation and other general auditory parameters. An appreciation of the role of aural cognition is vital for a true engagement with this field, where any sounding object is fair game.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an introduction to perceptual and cognitive processes of music that are fundamental for understanding electronic music. The chapter begins with a discussion of the neuroscientific basis of the auditory system. This is followed by a discussion of low-level phenomena of audition, including the localisation of sound sources, masking, auditory stream segregation and the perception of timbre. Next, the perception of pitch is tackled, with a discussion on its relation to alternative tunings. Finally, basic notions of rhythm perception are introduced. For each of these parts, electronic music examples illustrating the perceptual principles will be given. Any and all principles expounded in this chapter might be taken up and profitably investigated by electronic musicians.