6533b7d7fe1ef96bd1268da4

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Taxonomic categorisation of motivic patterns

subject

description

The issue of pattern description in computational models for motivic analysis is closely related to the cognitive debate on categorisation, in which are traditionally opposed “well-defined” and “ill-defined” categorisations. The ill-defined conceptualisation has been considered as a suitable framework for the formalisation of musical categorisation as it takes into account motivic variations. It seems that computational models rely rather on well-defined categorisation, due to its better controllability. The computational model we previously presented (Lartillot & Toiviainen, 2007) strikes a balance by developing a new flexible framework allowing the taking into account of unrestricted variability, but in the same time ensuring a precise description of whole categories, including their underlying variations. For that purpose, categories are not described by one single prototype, but on the contrary by a taxonomy of subcategories forming a multi-levelled hierarchy. The proposed computational model forms a complex system of interdependencies: its behaviour cannot be predicted but can only be observed through a computational running on actual musical examples. The behaviour emerging from the model offers hence a possible explanation of listeners’ cognitive capabilities and might indicate necessary conditions for cognitively relevant modelling.