The Melodic beat: exploring asymmetry in polska performance; dataset

Supplementary data for article in Journal of Mathematics and music, Mathematics of Rhythm, in Memoriam Godfried Toussaint, 2020Abstract:Some triple-beat forms in Scandinavian Folk Music are characterized by non-isochronous beat durations: asymmetric beats. Theorists of folk music have suggested that the variability of rhythmic figures and asymmetric meter are fundamental to these forms. The aim of this study is to obtain a deeper understanding of the relationship between melodic structure and asymmetric meter by analyzing semi-automatically annotated performances. Our study considers archive and contemporary recordings of fiddlers’ different versions of the same musical pieces: polska tunes in a local Swedish tradition. Results show that asymmetric beat patterns are consistent between performances and that they correspond with structural features of rhythmic figures, such as the note density within beats. The present study goes beyond previous work by exploring the use of a state-of-the-art automatic music notation tool in a corpus study of Swedish traditional music, and by employing statistical methods for a comparative analysis of performances across different players.

2020年发表于《数学与音乐期刊》（Journal of Mathematics and Music）《节奏数学》专栏、纪念戈德弗里德·图森特（Godfried Toussaint）的论文配套补充数据

摘要：斯堪的纳维亚民间音乐中的部分三拍子乐曲形式，其节拍时长并非等时性，呈现出非对称节拍的特征。民间音乐理论家提出，节奏型的多样性与非对称节拍，是这类乐曲形式的核心特质。本研究旨在通过对半自动化标注的演奏作品进行分析，更深入地理解旋律结构与非对称节拍之间的关联。本研究选取了瑞典本土传统波尔斯卡曲调（polska tunes）的同一乐曲的不同演奏版本，涵盖存档录音与当代录音，演奏者均为民间小提琴手。研究结果表明，非对称节拍模式在不同演奏中保持一致，且与节奏型的结构特征（如节拍内的音符密度）相契合。相较于过往研究，本研究有所突破：将当前最先进的自动音乐记谱工具应用于瑞典传统音乐语料库研究，并采用统计方法对不同演奏者的演奏作品开展对比分析。