Emotional Communication in Speech and Music: The Role of Melodic and Rhythmic Contrasts

Abstract

Many acoustic features convey emotion similarly in speech and music. Researchers have established that acoustic features such as pitch height, tempo, and intensity carry important emotional information in both domains. In this investigation, we examined the emotional significance of melodic and rhythmic contrasts between successive syllables or tones in speech and music, referred to as Melodic Interval Variability (MIV) and the normalized Pairwise Variability Index (nPVI). The spoken stimuli were 96 tokens expressing the emotions of irritation, fear, happiness, sadness, tenderness, or no emotion. The music stimuli were 96 phrases, played with or without performance expression and composed with the intention of communicating the same emotions. Results showed that nPVI, but not MIV, operates similarly in music and speech. Spoken stimuli, but not musical stimuli, were characterized by changes in MIV as a function of intended emotion. The results suggest that these measures may signal emotional intentions differently in speech and music.

Human emotions track changes in the acoustic environment

“…The musical protolanguage hypothesis is supported by recent evidence that speech and music share underlying cognitive and neural resources (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22), and draw on a common code of acoustic attributes when used to communicate emotional states (23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31). In their review of emotional expression in speech and music, Juslin and Laukka found that higher pitch, increased intensity, and faster rate were associated with more excited and positive emotions in both speech and music (23).…”

Making sense of sound: Visceral sonic mapping as a research tool

“…Probyn's (2000) understanding of the visceral is that 'gut reactions' provide clues to how cultural systems categorise different types of bodies, rendering some comfortable, and others disgusting. We take Probyn's gut reactions to refer to a process that draws attention to the embodied ways -moods, emotions and bodily sensations -that a person inhabits the world.…”

“…In short, it has deadening effect' (Simpson, 2008: 821). 1 Studies in psychology and neuroscience have determined that most of the brain is involved in the processing of music and carries information about emotion (Quinto et al, 2013). In addition, the release of hormones such as oxytocin while engaged in music making activities induces strong psychological effects that increase the creation of social bonds (Chanda and Levitin, 2013; Tarr et al, 2014).…”

“…Having identified the strengths and limitation of the literature, the second section draws on Hayes-Conroy and Hayes-Conroy (2008) and Probyn's (2000) work to outline how a feminist perspective of the visceral brings to the fore the corporeal and tackles sound as a material (rhythm, timbre, biological) and expressive (desire, affect, emotions and ideas) force. Our focus on the visceral means that we are examining how we respond, react and interact with the movement of sound across our body's (albeit permeable) boundaries.…”

Music of Speech and Emotion

“…Melodik aralık değişkenliğini ve ardışık seslerin ikili zamansal değişkenliğini temel alarak, ardışık heceler veya sesler arasındaki melodik ve ritmik zıtlıkların emosyonel anlamını inceleyen çok yeni bir araştırmada, konuşma ve müzik iş-lemleri arasında daha önce bilinmeyen bazı yeni farklılıklar ortaya konulmuştur. 19 Bu yeni verilere göre, müzikte ve konuşmada emosyon ileten akustik ipuçları farklıdır. Formal müzik; harmoni (uyum) ve ses perdelerinin belli kurallara göre dizilimini sağlayan tonal hiyerarşi gibi kendi yapısına özgü boyutlar içermektedir.…”