The primary objective of this research is to develop conceptual and empirical tools that define form and material in the auditory realm. These phenomena are significant because they provide comprehensive descriptions of perceptual scenes. However, in auditory and musical contexts they are not clearly defined and remain open to interpretation. Terms like form, material, and texture, though commonly used in musicians’ discourse, do not refer to concrete perceptual phenomena but rather describe music in schematic and general terms. For instance, two distinctly different pieces can both be described as having a polyphonic texture, a ternary form, and consisting of similar musical material (scales, rhythms, etc.).
This thesis presents a theoretical framework that explains form and material in auditory perception, based on models and principles from the visual domain. This approach poses several challenges stemming from differences between the modalities. For example, in the visual domain, we perceive objects as being located in specific positions within space, and this spatial information is central to our understanding of the scene. In contrast, in the auditory domain, the precise location of sound sources is less critical. We tend to focus on the information conveyed by the sounds themselves—such as their timbre, pitch, and rhythm— rather than where they are coming from. Another challenge is that in the visual context, form and material are associated with structures in two- or three-dimensional space, while in the auditory realm, time and aspects of sound, such as pitch, volume, and duration, are one-dimensional. For these and additional reasons, defining auditory form and material cannot be achieved through a straightforward analogy to vision.
The starting point of my research is the study of visual form and material by the experimental psychologist Erich Goldmeier (1936/1972). Goldmeier developed an empirical model called “similarity with enlargement,” which explores perceptual features of visual form and material. I begin by reviewing Goldmeier’s work along with other relevant studies on visual perception. Next, I propose a methodology for drawing analogies between the visual and auditory domains, that takes into account the differences between these modalities. Using this methodology, I explore the properties of form and material in the auditory context and propose my definitions for these properties. Finally, I present an auditory analogy to the “similarity with enlargement” model, supported by an empirical study.
The appendix to this thesis features an artistic portfolio in which products of this research (especially the notion of musical texture) serve as the departure point of the composition process. This portfolio draws on my work as a composer as well as my experience teaching musical perception and musical texture at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.
image: designed by Hagar Cohen
