There are lots of elements involved in the design of a car. This study, which is inspired by the brief of BMW group, explores the seating unit of cars with regard to prototypical activities, such as, listening to music, working, looking outside etc. The current study proposes that these external stimuli have an effect on comfort experience and felt emotions. So, this study explores the relationship between types of music and activities typically performed by car passengers and emotion and comfort perception, through performing a within subject design empirical study. A car seat provided by BMW group was used to test the above mentioned relationships. Data was collected through a self-report questionnaire, heart rate equipment, a pressure mat and analyzed separately for each condition. Results of the study show that there is a successful emotion induction by task and music individually, and partly on task*music interaction. A comparison of congruent and non-congruent situations, i.e. high arousal music and high arousal task or low arousal music and low arousal task, showed that differences occur in subjects&rsquo / reported level of arousal. Furthermore, the results of the study indicated that comfort is related to valance factors, independent of arousal levels. Lastly, physiological measurements showed that only task has a significant effect on heart rate, implicating for the complexity of linking physiological data to emotion and comfort.

O presente trabalho investigou a comunicação de emoção nos Ponteios nos 6, 9 e 48 de Camargo Guarnieri, tendo por perspectiva emocional básica o amor, em seus diferentes tipos. A pesquisa contou com a participação de 100 ouvintes, sendo 50 Músicos e 50 Não músicos. As estratégias metodológicas envolveram: duas versões (áudio) de uma mesma performance (genuína e manipulada) e questionário de escolha-forçada (seleção de emoção atribuída e parâmetro expressivo/estrutural relevante). Como fundamentos para construção dos produtos de performances, além do texto musical com as indicações expressivas de Guarnieri, o próprio intérprete sugeriu também outra opção de emoção para cada ponteio. O modelo protótipo de emoções básicas foi escolhido como referencial para seleção dos termos que melhor traduzissem as intenções do intérprete. O Ponteio nº 6 foi aquele cujas emoções pretendidas foram mais perceptíveis ao ouvinte. O Ponteio nº 48 foi o menos comunicado, e aquele que mais sofreu diferenciações nas escolhas dos aspectos musicais entre os dois grupos de ouvintes. Em geral, a melodia, o andamento e a dinâmica foram os aspectos musicais mais perceptíveis e relevantes às escolhas dos dois grupos nos três ponteios. / The present work investigated the communication of emotions in Camargo Guarnieri´s Ponteios no. 6, 9 and 48, bearing as basic emotional perspective the love, in its different types. The research had the participation of 100 listeners, being 50 Musicians and 50 Non musicians. The methodological strategies involved: two versions (audio) of the same performance (genuine and manipulated) and a forced-choice questionnaire (attributed emotion selection and relevant expressive/structural parameters). For the construction of the performance products, besides the expressive indications of Guarnieri on the score, the interpreter himself also suggested another option of emotion for each ponteio. The prototype model of basic emotions was chosen as reference for selecting the terms that best translated the interpreter's intentions. Ponteio no. 6 was the best communicated, whose intended emotions were most noticeable to the listener. Ponteio no. 48 was the least communicated, and the one that most exhibited differentiations in the choices of the musical aspects between the two groups. In general, melody, tempo and dynamics were the most noticeable and relevant musical aspects for the choices of the two groups in the three ponteios.

O presente trabalho investigou a comunicação de emoção nos Ponteios nos 6, 9 e 48 de Camargo Guarnieri, tendo por perspectiva emocional básica o amor, em seus diferentes tipos. A pesquisa contou com a participação de 100 ouvintes, sendo 50 Músicos e 50 Não músicos. As estratégias metodológicas envolveram: duas versões (áudio) de uma mesma performance (genuína e manipulada) e questionário de escolha-forçada (seleção de emoção atribuída e parâmetro expressivo/estrutural relevante). Como fundamentos para construção dos produtos de performances, além do texto musical com as indicações expressivas de Guarnieri, o próprio intérprete sugeriu também outra opção de emoção para cada ponteio. O modelo protótipo de emoções básicas foi escolhido como referencial para seleção dos termos que melhor traduzissem as intenções do intérprete. O Ponteio nº 6 foi aquele cujas emoções pretendidas foram mais perceptíveis ao ouvinte. O Ponteio nº 48 foi o menos comunicado, e aquele que mais sofreu diferenciações nas escolhas dos aspectos musicais entre os dois grupos de ouvintes. Em geral, a melodia, o andamento e a dinâmica foram os aspectos musicais mais perceptíveis e relevantes às escolhas dos dois grupos nos três ponteios. / The present work investigated the communication of emotions in Camargo Guarnieri´s Ponteios no. 6, 9 and 48, bearing as basic emotional perspective the love, in its different types. The research had the participation of 100 listeners, being 50 Musicians and 50 Non musicians. The methodological strategies involved: two versions (audio) of the same performance (genuine and manipulated) and a forced-choice questionnaire (attributed emotion selection and relevant expressive/structural parameters). For the construction of the performance products, besides the expressive indications of Guarnieri on the score, the interpreter himself also suggested another option of emotion for each ponteio. The prototype model of basic emotions was chosen as reference for selecting the terms that best translated the interpreter's intentions. Ponteio no. 6 was the best communicated, whose intended emotions were most noticeable to the listener. Ponteio no. 48 was the least communicated, and the one that most exhibited differentiations in the choices of the musical aspects between the two groups. In general, melody, tempo and dynamics were the most noticeable and relevant musical aspects for the choices of the two groups in the three ponteios.

O presente trabalho investigou a comunicação de emoção nos Ponteios nos 6, 9 e 48 de Camargo Guarnieri, tendo por perspectiva emocional básica o amor, em seus diferentes tipos. A pesquisa contou com a participação de 100 ouvintes, sendo 50 Músicos e 50 Não músicos. As estratégias metodológicas envolveram: duas versões (áudio) de uma mesma performance (genuína e manipulada) e questionário de escolha-forçada (seleção de emoção atribuída e parâmetro expressivo/estrutural relevante). Como fundamentos para construção dos produtos de performances, além do texto musical com as indicações expressivas de Guarnieri, o próprio intérprete sugeriu também outra opção de emoção para cada ponteio. O modelo protótipo de emoções básicas foi escolhido como referencial para seleção dos termos que melhor traduzissem as intenções do intérprete. O Ponteio nº 6 foi aquele cujas emoções pretendidas foram mais perceptíveis ao ouvinte. O Ponteio nº 48 foi o menos comunicado, e aquele que mais sofreu diferenciações nas escolhas dos aspectos musicais entre os dois grupos de ouvintes. Em geral, a melodia, o andamento e a dinâmica foram os aspectos musicais mais perceptíveis e relevantes às escolhas dos dois grupos nos três ponteios. / The present work investigated the communication of emotions in Camargo Guarnieri´s Ponteios no. 6, 9 and 48, bearing as basic emotional perspective the love, in its different types. The research had the participation of 100 listeners, being 50 Musicians and 50 Non musicians. The methodological strategies involved: two versions (audio) of the same performance (genuine and manipulated) and a forced-choice questionnaire (attributed emotion selection and relevant expressive/structural parameters). For the construction of the performance products, besides the expressive indications of Guarnieri on the score, the interpreter himself also suggested another option of emotion for each ponteio. The prototype model of basic emotions was chosen as reference for selecting the terms that best translated the interpreter's intentions. Ponteio no. 6 was the best communicated, whose intended emotions were most noticeable to the listener. Ponteio no. 48 was the least communicated, and the one that most exhibited differentiations in the choices of the musical aspects between the two groups. In general, melody, tempo and dynamics were the most noticeable and relevant musical aspects for the choices of the two groups in the three ponteios.

Alexithymia is a clinically relevant personality trait characterized by deficits in recognizing and verbalizing one’s emotions. It has been shown that alexithymia is related to an impaired perception of external emotional stimuli, but previous research focused on emotion perception from faces and voices. Since sensory modalities represent rather distinct input channels it is important to know whether alexithymia also affects emotion perception in other modalities and expressive domains. The objective of our review was to summarize and systematically assess the literature on the impact of alexithymia on the perception of emotional (or hedonic) stimuli in music, odor, taste, and touch. Eleven relevant studies were identified. On the basis of the reviewed research, it can be preliminary concluded that alexithymia might be associated with deficits in the perception of primarily negative but also positive emotions in music and a reduced perception of aversive taste. The data available on olfaction and touch are inconsistent or ambiguous and do not allow to draw conclusions. Future investigations would benefit from a multimethod assessment of alexithymia and control of negative affect. Multimodal research seems necessary to advance our understanding of emotion perception deficits in alexithymia and clarify the contribution of modality-specific and supramodal processing impairments.

This thesis tries to answer the question what Christians should be singing in worship and why. The situation in many congregations is one of conflict around music and worship styles. The question is how these can be bridged and how worship leaders can be guided to make responsible choices about what is sung in Sunday worship. It is argued that what is sung, strongly influences the theology and faith of congregants. The thesis locates the discipline of hymnology within a hermeneutical approach to practical theology and tries to develop a theory to answer the question how to determine quality in Christian songs. The current discussions in practical theology and hermeneutics are examined for their relevance to hymnology, particularly some of the insights of Habermas, Gadamer and Ricoeur. Here particularly the idea of “dialogue” and “fusion of horizons” becomes relevant for bridging the divides in the conflicts around worship music. The dissertation examines biblical and church historical answers to the question of whether and what Christians should be singing. It becomes clear that the answers have varied widely during the course of church history, sometimes swinging between extremes. The next chapter looks at songs in the context of the worship service, their function within various parts of the service, and particularly looks at the dialectical poles of worship which should be kept in balance. Musical perspectives are discussed looking at ways to help people not formally trained in music to evaluate tunes. This theoretical section leads to a catalogue of criteria for “Good songs”: These are criteria for quality, for “Good Text”, such as biblical and theological value, how easily it is understood, whether it takes human experience seriously and its poetic value. Criteria for “Good Tune” include its level of difficulty, how heavily it depends on accompaniment, and its balance between the familiar and the interesting and new. The third category of criteria evaluate the match between text and tune in mood, rhythm and climax. The last category looks at the balance in the song between different polarities, such as, amongst others, the balance of past and present, cognitive and emotive elements, between challenge and affirmation, and between universal and particular emphases. This list of criteria is then tested on three songs each of four different songwriters: two traditional and two contemporary: Paul Gerhardt, Charles Wesley, Graham Kendrick and Noel Richards. In each case a background is given, an overview of their work as a whole and a detailed analysis of each song. In the end the criteria themselves are evaluated as to their usefulness and user-friendliness. Suggestions are then made how these criteria can guide worship leaders in their choices of songs for the Sunday service. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Practical Theology / unrestricted

In this short paper we present work in progress that tries to leverage crowdsourced music metadata and crowdsourced affective word norms to create a comprehensive dataset of music emotions, which can be used for sentiment analyses in the music domain. We combine a mixture of different data sources to create a new dataset of 90,408 songs with their associated embeddings in Russell’s model of affect, with the dimensions valence, dominance and arousal. In addition, we provide a Spotify ID for the songs, which can be used to add more metadata to the dataset via the Spotify API.