Song Structure Research Articles

Structure and organization of songs of south‐temperate Grass Wrens ( Cistothorus platensis )

Structure and organization of songs of south‐temperate Grass Wrens ( <i>Cistothorus platensis</i> )

Performance-Dependent Consolidation of Learned Vocal Changes in Adult Songbirds.

Motor skills learned through practice are consolidated at later time, which can include nighttime, but the time course of motor memory consolidation and its underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. We investigated neural substrates underlying motor memory consolidation of learned changes in birdsong, a tractable model system for studying neural basis of motor skill learning. Previous studies in male zebra finches and Bengalese finches have demonstrated that adaptive changes in adult song structure learned through a reinforcement paradigm are initially driven by a cortical-basal ganglia circuit, and subsequently consolidated into downstream cortical motor circuitry. However, the time course of the consolidation process, including whether it occurs offline during nighttime or online during daytime, remains unclear and even controversial. Here, we provide in both species experimental evidence of virtually no consolidation of learned vocal changes during nighttime. We demonstrate instead that the consolidation occurs during daytime and the amount of consolidation is strongly correlated with the amount of learning, suggesting online, performance-dependent mechanisms of consolidation of learned vocal changes. Moreover, by using computer simulations based on our experimental results, we demonstrate that such online, performance-dependent consolidation can account for the contradicting conclusions concerning the time course of consolidation process reached by previous studies. These results thus reconcile a controversy in the study of vocal motor consolidation in songbirds, and illustrate the neural substrates through which newly learned motor skills initially implemented by cortical-basal ganglia circuits become encoded in the cortical motor circuitry.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Motor skills learned through repetitive practice become stable and are consolidated into cortical motor circuits. We investigate neural substrates of this "motor memory consolidation" in adult songbirds, which produce songs that are complex motor skills learned and maintained through repetitive vocal practice. We demonstrate that learned changes in song acoustic structure are consolidated into the cortical motor circuits predominantly during daytime, but not during nighttime, depending on ongoing song performance. These consolidation mechanisms reconcile seemingly contradicting results of previous studies regarding the time course of vocal learning consolidation, and provide fundamental insights into the process through which learned performance of complex motor skills is consolidated and encoded in in motor circuits.

Analyzing the Technical Characteristics and Style Interpretation of Tchaikovsky's Dumka

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky is recognised worldwide as the greatest Russian composer in the history of modern music. Tchaikovsky is known for his realistic approach to composition, combining realistic themes with poetic music and combining folk music with romantic music, forming his own distinctive musical style. Among his many piano works, Dumka, which belongs to the later stages of composition, tends to be profoundly tragic and is a piano piece with a strong Russian national flavour, Tchaikovsky's contradictory psychological character being reflected in the slow and sad mood of the work and in the fast and passionate dance scenes. The composition of "Dumka" basically follows the musical structure of the classical Russian folk song in three parts. Tchaikovsky made it the title music while also using a large number of rhythmic patterns from Russian folk dance music, reflecting his love for his country and his people. This paper will discuss the work through an analysis of its technical features and stylistic interpretation.

Структура песенных репертуаров томской популяции мухоловки-пеструшки (Ficedula hypoleuca) и их возрастная изменчивость

Структура песенных репертуаров томской популяции мухоловки-пеструшки (Ficedula hypoleuca) и их возрастная изменчивость

Evidence for cumulative cultural evolution in bird song.

In studies of cumulative cultural evolution in non-human animals, the focus is most often on incremental changes that increase the efficacy of an existing form of socially learned behaviour, such as the refinement of migratory pathways. In this paper, we compare the songs of different species to describe patterns of evolution in the acoustic structure of bird songs, and explore the question of what building blocks might underlie cumulative cultural evolution of bird song using a comparative approach. We suggest that three steps occurred: first, imitation of independent sounds, or notes, via social learning; second, the formation of categories of note types; and third, assembling note types into sequences with defined structures. Simple sequences can then be repeated to form simple songs or concatenated with other sequences to form segmented songs, increasing complexity. Variant forms of both the notes and the sequencing rules may then arise due to copy errors and innovation. Some variants may become established in the population because of learning biases or selection, increasing signal efficiency, or because of cultural drift. Cumulative cultural evolution of bird songs thus arises from cognitive processes such as vocal imitation, categorization during memorization and learning biases applied to basic acoustic building blocks.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The emergence of collective knowledge and cumulative culture in animals, humans and machines’.

Sex role similarity and sexual selection predict male and female song elaboration and dimorphism in fairy-wrens.

Historically, bird song complexity was thought to evolve primarily through sexual selection on males; yet, in many species, both sexes sing and selection pressure on both sexes may be broader. Previous research suggests competition for mates and resources during short, synchronous breeding seasons leads to more elaborate male songs at high, temperate latitudes. Furthermore, we expect male–female song structure and elaboration to be more similar at lower, tropical latitudes, where longer breeding seasons and year‐round territoriality yield similar social selection pressures in both sexes. However, studies seldom take both types of selective pressures and sexes into account. We examined song in both sexes in 15 populations of nine‐fairy‐wren species (Maluridae), a Southern Hemisphere clade with female song. We compared song elaboration (in both sexes) and sexual song dimorphism to latitude and life‐history variables tied to sexual and social selection pressures and sex roles. Our results suggest that song elaboration evolved in part due to sexual competition in males: male songs were longer than female songs in populations with low male survival and less male provisioning. Also, female songs evolved independently of male songs: female songs were slower paced than male songs, although only in less synchronously breeding populations. We also found male and female songs were more similar when parental care was more equal and when male survival was high, which provides strong evidence that sex role similarity correlates with male–female song similarity. Contrary to Northern Hemisphere latitudinal patterns, male and female songs were more similar at higher, temperate latitudes. These results suggest that selection on song can be sex specific, with male song elaboration favored in contexts with stronger sexual selection. At the same time, selection pressures associated with sex role similarity appear to favor sex role similarity in song structure.

A Comparative Analysis of Contemporary Korean and Japanese Ballad Songs

A Comparative Analysis of Contemporary Korean and Japanese Ballad Songs

Spectrogram cross‐correlation can be used to measure the complexity of bird vocalizations

Abstract Birdsong is an important signal in mate attraction and territorial defence. Quantifying the complexity of these songs can shed light on individual fitness, sexual selection and behaviour. Several techniques have been used to quantify song complexity and be broadly categorized into measures of sequential variations and measures of diversity. However, these methods are unable to account for important acoustic features like the frequency bandwidth and the variety in the spectro‐temporal shape of notes which are an integral part of these vocal signals. This study proposes a new complexity method that considers intra‐song note variability and calculates a weighted index for birdsongs using spectral cross‐correlation. We first compared previously described methods to understand their advantages and limitations based on the factors that would affect the complexity of songs. We then developed a new method, Note Variability Index (NVI), which incorporates the spectral features of notes to quantify complexity. This method alleviates the need for manual classification of notes that can be error‐prone. We used spectrogram cross‐correlation to compare notes within a song and used the output values to quantify song complexity. To evaluate the efficacy of the new method, we generated synthetic songs to caricature extremes in song complexity and compared selected conventional complexity methods along with the NVI. We provide case‐specific limitations of these methods. Additionally, to examine the efficacy of this new method in real‐world scenarios, we used natural birdsongs from multiple species across the globe with varying song structures to compare conventional methods with NVI. To our knowledge, NVI is the only song complexity method that captures the variation of spectro‐temporal shapes of the notes in songs where the conventional methods fail to distinguish between similar song structures with different note types. Furthermore, as NVI does not need a manual classification of notes, it can be easily implemented for any type of birdsong with existing sound analysis software; it is quick, avoids the possible subjectivity in note classification and can be automated for large datasets.

Intra-individual variation in the songs of humpback whales suggests they are sonically searching for conspecifics.

Observations of animals' vocal actions can provide important clues about how they communicate and about how they perceive and react to changing situations. Here, analyses of consecutive songs produced by singing humpback whales recorded off the coast of Hawaii revealed that singers constantly vary the acoustic qualities of their songs within prolonged song sessions. Unlike the progressive changes in song structure that singing humpback whales make across months and years, intra-individual acoustic variations within song sessions appear to be largely stochastic. Additionally, four sequentially produced song components (or "themes") were each found to vary in unique ways. The most extensively used theme was highly variable in overall duration within and across song sessions, but varied relatively little in frequency content. In contrast, the remaining themes varied greatly in frequency content, but showed less variation in duration. Analyses of variations in the amount of time singers spent producing the four themes suggest that the mechanisms that determine when singers transition between themes may be comparable to those that control when terrestrial animals move their eyes to fixate on different positions as they examine visual scenes. The dynamic changes that individual whales make to songs within song sessions are counterproductive if songs serve mainly to provide conspecifics with indications of a singer's fitness. Instead, within-session changes to the acoustic features of songs may serve to enhance a singer's capacity to echoically detect, localize, and track conspecifics from long distances.

The Arabic Maqam on Double Bass

After participating in a project, Remy awakened his interest in Arabic traditional music. Being trained as a jazz, pop and classical bassist, he found that this music left him clueless, but mesmerized. That was when he decided to learn more about this musical genre, and dedicated his Master’s degree to the subject. In his research, Remy aimed to find ways to incorporate elements from traditional Arabic music into his own musical practice as a Jazz double bass player. To reach this goal, Remy researched both rhythmic and melodic aspects of the Arabic music tradition. The first step was to understand the theory and the melodic and rhythmic information involved, encountering challenging topics like quartertones and complex rhythms and song structures. Secondly he searched to find ways to translate the melodic and rhythmic elements on to the double bass, creating several exercises to gain familiarity with the material. The third step of the research was about applying his findings into his artistic practice. By composing new tunes and arranging existing songs, both from the traditional Arabic world as from the jazz genre, Remy aimed to let the discoveries of his research sink in in his musical creativity. Remy’s presentation will take you through his journey discovering this music. He will guide you through the three steps of his discoveries, looking at the melodic elements of the Arabic musical tradition, and how he implemented these into his own musical practice. Master Research exposition by Remy Dielemans Jazz Double Bass, Royal Conservatoire the Hague Supervised by: Loes Rusch Master Circle Leader: Wim Vos

Methodological Aspects of Studying Uzbek Folk Songs in the Academic Singing Class

In the educational process of training a young vocalist, it is planned to study and master the most diverse repertoire, which includes Baroque arias, romantic music of the XIX century, and works by modern composers. Folk songs are also an integral part of the educational process. In the performance of folk songs, the best qualities of the singer's voice, his timbre, musicality, possession of national melismatics are revealed. In the work "Methodological aspects of studying Uzbek folk songs in the academic singing class", the features of the structure of Uzbek folk songs, such as "Barnolarning barnosi" (The beauty of beauties), "Intizor etding meni" (I yearned for you), “Gul yuz uzra” (Delicate and charming face), “Sayyora” (Planet), "Chaman Ichra" (In the garden), “Kaylarga boray?” (Where should I go?) are considered, a detailed performance-theoretical analysis of some of them is carried out, educational and methodological recommendations are given for young vocalists-performers.

Struktur dan Fungsi Sosial Nyanyian Rakyat (Lullaby) Laloklah Nak Kanduang Masyarakat di Nagari Paninggahan

This research was conducted with the aim of describing the structure and social function of the folk song (lullaby) of Laloklah Nak Kanduang community in Nagari Paninggahan, Junjung Sirih District, Solok Regency. This type of research is qualitative with descriptive methods. Data obtained from informants through recording, recording, observation, and direct interviews with informants. Then the data that has been collected is analyzed in the following stages: (1) the data identification stage, (2) the data analysis stage, (3) the discussion stage and the conclusion of the data classification results, (4) the reporting stage. Laloklah Nak Kanduang's song has a structure like that found in poetry, namely physical structure (lines, stanzas, and sounds) and inner structure (patterns of association, patterns of images and emotions as well as themes and messages). Then the social functions, namely three (1) creative functions, (2) enthusiasm, (3) hope and prayer. The oral tradition of humming needs to be preserved, considering that the values contained in chanting are priceless cultural assets.

Analysis on Code-Switching in Pinoy Songs

Code-switching in songs is one of the recent techniques used by songwriters in bilingual and multilingual countries which has been proven to achieve commercial success within the market of popular music. The study which examined the types, functions, and pedagogical implications of code-switching in songs, utilized mixed methods in research and homogeneous purposive sampling in generating 15 select Filipino popular songs for content analysis. This study revealed the types of code-switching in songs which are classified into three groups which are the word structure, sentence structure, and song structure. The type of code-switching according to word structure is intra-word switching. According to sentence structure, the types of code-switching are inter-sentential switching, intra-sentential switching, and tag-switching. Moreover, according to song structure, the types of code-switching are intra-sectional switching and inter-sectional switching. Evidently, the seven functions of code-switching identified by Bloom and Gumperz are revealed in the study. It is, therefore, recommended that using code-switching in crafting songs may be taught to students. Furthermore, future research may be done for a more in-depth investigation of code-switching in songs. Language research teachers and linguistic scholars may use this study as a reference in studying the code-witching phenomenon in the languages and songs in their respective countries. A monograph on code-switching in songs may also be constructed.

Evolution of song and color in island birds

Island birds are often less colorful and sing different songs than their mainland counterparts. Given that trade-offs can occur in the expression of costly sexually selected traits, it is not clear whether island species with less colorful plumage than their mainland counterparts have compensated with increased complexity of song structure. To examine potential trade-offs in sexually selected traits in island birds, we examined concurrent patterns of coloration and song structure in island and mainland (sub)species across 3 widespread and speciose songbird families: Fringillidae, Meliphagidae, and Monarchidae. Phylogenetically controlled analyses revealed a shift away from white plumage and toward melanin-based plumage in island (sub)species but only in the Meliphagidae. Contrary to our predictions, we found no evidence that song structure in island birds differed from their mainland counterparts. Although a number of inverse correlations were identified between song structure and plumage coloration when all birds were considered, this pattern became weaker when only island populations were examined. Instead, we found island size affected song structure leading to a lower number of syllables and lower minimum frequency on smaller islands. Birds on smaller islands also had reduced carotenoid plumage but this pattern was only significant in the Fringillidae. These results indicate that island environments can influence the evolution of both song and color in some taxa, but that selection is tempered by island size, rather than through correlated evolution across signaling modalities.

Intra-individual variations within humpback whale song sessions: More signs of sonar

Analyses of consecutive songs produced by singing humpback whales recorded off the coast of Hawaii revealed that singers constantly vary the acoustic qualities of their songs across “repetitions." Unlike the progressive changes in song structure that singing humpback whales make across years, intra-individual acoustic variations within song sessions appear to be largely stochastic. Four sequentially produced song components (themes) were each found to vary in unique ways. The most extensively used theme was highly variable in overall duration within and across song sessions, but varied relatively little in frequency content. In contrast, the remaining themes varied greatly in frequency content, but showed less variation in duration. Analyses of variations in the amount of time singers spent producing different themes suggest that the mechanisms that determine when singers transition between themes may be comparable to those that control how long terrestrial animals fixate while scanning visual scenes. The dynamic changes that individual singers make to songs within song sessions are counterproductive if songs serve mainly to provide conspecifics with indications of a singer’s fitness. Instead, within-session changes to acoustic features of songs may serve to enhance a singer’s capacity to echoically detect, localize, and track conspecifics from long distances.

Frequency changes in humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song units in response to small boat noise Astarte Brown Advised by Kerri D. Seger

Anthropogenic noise compromises the effectiveness of communication in marine animals. This can interfere with natural auditory signal processing (for example, “masking”). Some animals have been shown to change the frequencies of their vocalizations to avoid masking. Humpback whales produce songs with low fundamental frequencies which often overlap with the low frequency content of vessel noise. In the Gulf of Tribugá, a part of the breeding grounds for humpback whale Stock G, a marine port construction project has been proposed. If constructed, underwater noise would significantly increase and potentially cause acoustic behavioral changes, negatively impacting communication efforts among the whales. This study was supported by SURIEA, and tested whether humpback whales in the Gulf of Tribugá changed the frequency content of their songs during and after boat noise as compared to before it was present. Out of 38 comparisons, song frequencies significantly changed 9 times. Additionally, out of 20 comparisons, bandwidth narrowed 11 times, broadened 9 times, shifted higher 6 times, and shifted lower 2 times. These results give greater insight into how humpback whales are able to adjust their song structure in response to small boat noise and indicate that adaptations to some anthropogenic noise sources are possible.

The Musical Language of Rock

The Musical Language of Rock

Individual acoustic differences in female black-capped chickadee (poecile atricapillus) fee-bee songs.

In songbirds, song has traditionally been considered a vocalization mainly produced by males. However, recent research suggests that both sexes produce song. While the function and structure of male black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) fee-bee song have been well-studied, research on female song is comparatively limited. Past discrimination and playback studies have shown that male black-capped chickadees can discriminate between individual males via their fee-bee songs. Recently, we have shown that male and female black-capped chickadees can identify individual females via their fee-bee song even when presented with only the bee position of the song. Our results using discriminant function analyses (DFA) support that female songs are individually distinctive. We found that songs could be correctly classified to the individual (81%) and season (97%) based on several acoustic features including but not limited to bee-note duration and fee-note peak frequency. In addition, an artificial neural network was trained to identify individuals based on the selected DFA acoustic features and was able to achieve 90% accuracy by individual and 93% by season. While this study provides a quantitative description of the acoustic structure of female song, the perception and function of female song in this species requires further investigation.

Analisis Bentuk Dan Struktur Lagu Cinta Sejati Ciptaan Melly Goeslaw

This research discusses the Analysis of The Form and Structure of Melly Goeslaw's True Love Song which deals with motif processing, phrase processing, and period processing. This research includes qualitative research with content analysis approach that is systematic, objectivity, and generalization. This research data is collected from library study activities, observations, and labor work. Data analysis is done by means of data reduction, analysis and conclusion. Based on the analysis of the song True Love created by Melly Goeslaw found The Shape of The Song is 4 parts with the sentences A A' B C and D in detail with the arrangement of sentences A (a, a1), A' (a2, b), B (c, c1), B (c, c1), C (d, d1), and D (c2, c4). Judging from the structure of the song is formed from 20 motifs. The processing of motifs from one basic or initial motif is developed by processing in a ha-rafiah, sequen up and down sequen, interval magnification and in-terval downsizing. The motives are m, m1, m2, m3, m4, n, o, p, q, q1, r, r1, r2, r3, s, s1, h, i, i1, and j. From the motive formed antecedent phrases, consequent phrases and connecting phrases as many as 15 phrases namely a, a1, a2, b, c (rep 1x), c1 (repetition 1x), c2, c3, d, d1 and phrase p / liaison (rep 2x). The end of period A has half kadens, the end of period A' has half kadens, the end of period B and D has perfect authentic cadence and the end of periodC has deceptive cadence. The D-shape is the part that modulates from the base tone of F Major to G Major.

Analisis Struktur Lagu My Heart Ciptaan Melly Goeslaw

This study is about Melly Goeslaw's My Heart Song Structure Analysis related to motives, phrases, periods, and forms. This research includes qualitative research with content analysis that is symmetrical, objectivity, and generalization. This research data was collected from the activities of Library Study, Observation, and Transcription / Labor Work. The result of the study is that the song My Heart created by Melly Goeslaw formed by motifs, phrases, periods to produce form. Rhythmic and melodic basic motifs coupled with development techniques. Overall found as many as 23 motifs namely m, m1, m2, n, n1, n2, o, o1, o2, p, p1, p2, k, k1, k2, l, l1, q, q1, r, r1, r2, r3 with 16 phrases consisting of antecedents and consequents i.e. a, a1, a2, b, b1, b2, c (2x reps), c1, c2, d (1x reps) , d1, d2 and d. The song also consists of 4 forms namely A, B, C, D through the processing of motifs and phrases, in the phrase created the form of the song into A, A', B, B', C, B, D, D' with the period arrangement A (a, b), A' (a1, b1), B (c, d), B' (c, d1), C (a2, b2), B (c, d), D (c1, d2) and D' (c2 , d3). The song also has kadens namely half cadence, the picardie third, the imperfect authentic cadence and the perfect authentic cadence.