Abstract
We explore the use of the Spiral Array spatial visualization of tonal evolution through time for the visual analysis of P.D.Q. Bach’s The Short-Tempered Clavier. In particular, we analyze situations in which we can see some of the humour devices abstracted in an earlier study by David Huron. We conclude that although we can see a good number of Schickele’s humour devices — such as incongruent styles, musically improbable tonality and harmony shifts, and excessive repetition — we do not yet have sufficient information to form a robust computer-based method for detecting musical humour.
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Chew, E., François, A. (2009). Visible Humour — Seeing P.D.Q. Bach’s Musical Humour Devices in The Short-Tempered Clavier on the Spiral Array Space. In: Klouche, T., Noll, T. (eds) Mathematics and Computation in Music. MCM 2007. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 37. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04579-0_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04579-0_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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