MUSICAL RESEARCHES

WHY ?

Art and science have from ever appeal each other. By linking technology pragmatism and spiritual aspect of music, Arts Sciences Information can bring new developments to cybernetic and help to free musical creation from the shackles of bad controled unconscious mechanisms.
Using artificial intelligency imposes itself in a field where research of solutions involves what is generaly called "imagination". To reach is goal, our system must be provided with organs of perception, correlation analysis and associative memorization of results. Those correspond to a will of improving communication, symbolic or near linguistic, between computer and user. In the first place, the correlation analysis function will enable to translate human judgment, often expressed on a affective way, upon the degree of achievment of the goal in a set of effects registered in a objective way (physiological, psychological and economic observations). The control and the analysis of these sets of effects and the systematic study of their variations in accordance with starting parameters will bring an optimisation of use and of choice of factors, a better understanding of the system and the possibility of programming it.
This step should be follow from the intégration, in artificial intelligency programs, of a biolocal intelligency faculty : the intuitive knowledge of the goal to be reached. The exemple of a correlation analysis program applied to the study of musical composing will show us that from an bad defined target and from mostly arbitrary rules, a pertinent argument can be deduced that can be transposed by analogy to some others fields.
The interactive study of our sound perception mecanisms, and of the rules governing fondamental relations of sounds pitches in musical harmony can be achieved. From so a confrontation will certainly born the discovery of new musical horizons and a sharper knowledge of sound perception and communication fondamental mecanisms.

HOW ?

The musical work, sum of multiple processes, carry information on several levels. Our investigations bring us to a descriptive analysis leading to exhaustivity of unconscious mecanisms working in the human artistical creation enterprise wich is the musical creation. But music is a kind of dialogue; so we associate this analysis to a study of the human ability to receive esthetic messages and of the possible incidence of such messages.
The earing is a sensitive apprehension of the world and we can find constants in neurovegetatives reactions of listeners, due to the ear structure itself. The musical systems are mostly based upon observation of some material facts and the sounds pitch (privilegied as the main parameter of the Standard Average European Music) is a major part of our study (we study jointly rythm effects in the frame of our researches upon rythmical audio and visual stimulations). Although the sound pitches is subjected to conventions which change the perception of intervals in a cultural data, the phenomenon of natural resonating gives the possibility of hierarchical organisations of sounds based upon perception laws (recognizing the octave ratio is quasi universal because of the logarythmic functioning of ear). That is yet only the possibility of analysing perception laws which qui define this part of our researches. The interpretation of events is an internal and personal representation of real world aspects perceived as significant. The need of setting up social and cultural relations has however incited people to try to understand interpretations of the others and to etablish some contacts in order to make inner experience of somebody accessible to someone else.
The acoustical sets are arranged in unassumed individual suites from wich orientation and configuration pattern follows more or less conventional shapes. A settlement done by the composer between specific details and general concepts enable collective judgements upon the work. We consider at the same time the classical associative vision and the gestaltist vision implying a global perception of processus.
Data of classical estheticism cannot justify alone judgements of taste, but eminent musicologists(*) have established statistical statements showing that the esthetic judgement of our society has privileged the instance probability of some relations of sounds.
So we integrate these parameters in a musical composition software for using them at will thanks to the powerful calculation faculty of computer. Then we test pertinence of those parameters, and their possibly action on the listener, by checking relation between their appearance and results of tests done in situations opened to conjecture. An interpretation of known facts and an expectation of deeper facts must be provided by the synthesis of results achieved in these experimentations aiming to get two kinds of reactions :
- on one hand, we induce connotative responses, though important works have be done (cf. Francès Imberty report) upon verbal meanings induced by musical works, it remains to be find relations that exist between those analogical responses due to a listening refered to emotional reactions and evolution of parameters admittedly valid in the musical work structure. A semantic direction is suggested by the analysis of the symbolic content transported by the characteristic structures of music. We can yet have a presentiment that this communication is from a linguistic order through usual expressions as : "musical phrases", "musical discourse", and through unmotivated and conventional relations of observed symbols.
- on the other hand, we are on the lookout for physiological reactions; biology as shown that music can have particular psychic or physical effects upon listeners, effects that found expression on the organism by heart and breath rythms changes, variations of blood pressure and cutaneous circulation, temperature changes or particular brainwave emission.
Recent experiences by Paul Eckman show besides that a specific neurovegetative activation goes with various emotions. The connotative founction of music is made easier by importance of the ear in human body. Indeed, internal ear has a lot of nerves, part of it lead the body muscles, keeping his balance, verticality and body movments; pneumogastric nerve, placed close by tympanic membrane, take part in mastering regulation of neck and thorax organes, although cardiac and stomach organes.
The satisfaction of aesthetic or artistic needs would certainly bring biological emotions that can be observed and that will permit a qualification of perceptions for an expressive music.
(*)We follow now the works of A.Schoenberg for classical music, of E.Costère upon sounds affinities eachothers, and post-schenker theories of MM.Lerdhal, Jackendoff and C.Deliège.