Name:Kaarunya Kandeephan

School/Affiliation:University of Toronto

Co-Authors:Dr. Mark Schmuckler

Virtual or In-person:In-person

Short Bio:

Kaarunya is a fourth-year student at the University of Toronto, double-majoring in Neuroscience and Mental Health Studies. She has been working under the mentorship of Dr. Mark Schmuckler and aspires to pursue a career in Psychiatry.

Abstract:

Three experiments investigated the effect of timbre variation on trained and untrained listeners’ melodic perception. All studies employed a standard – comparison melody recognition paradigm, with listeners hearing a standard nine-note melody followed by either a same or different comparison melodies. Employing three different timbres for melody notes – guitar (G), saxophone (S), trumpet (T) – Experiment 1 investigated the impact of modifying the timbre of the melody notes on melodic recognition. Melodies were of either constant timbre (e.g., G:G:G:G:G:G:G:G:G), or randomly varying timbre (e.g., G:S:T:T:S:G:T:G:S), with standard and comparison melodies mismatching in their timbres (e.g., G:G:G:G:G:G:G:G:G – S:S:S:S:S:S:S:S:S; G:S:T:T:S:G:T:G:S – S:T:S:T:T:G:G:S:G). Recognition was severely impaired when melody tones varied randomly in timbre, relative to having a constant timbre. Experiment 2 examined the impact on recognition of imposed structure of timbre variation across the melody. In this study, all melodies contained three note groupings of different timbres across the nine notes, with the standard and comparison having either a matching (e.g., G:G:G:S:S:S:T:T:T – G:G:G:S:S:S:T:T:T) or mismatching (e.g., G:G:G:S:S:S:T:T:T – S:S:S:T:T:T:G:G:G) timbral order. Melody recognition was now enhanced by matching, versus mismatching structure, despite the timbral variation within the melody. Experiment 3 employed structured cyclic note-by-note variation in melodies (e.g., G:S:T:G:S:T:G:S:T), again with either a matching (e.g., G:S:T:G:S:T:G:S:T – G:S:T:G:S:T:G:S:T) or mismatching (e.g., G:S:T:G:S:T:G:S:T – T:S:G:T:S:G:T:S:G) timbral order across standard and comparison. In this study melody recognition was now impaired irrespective of whether or not timbral order matched or mismatched. These findings demonstrate a complex interaction between melodic and timbral structure, with note-by-note variation consistently hindering melodic recognition.