Algorithmic automation of the complex music notation rules in MEI–XML through the example of the accidentals: The article demonstrates how music notation rules can be formalized into a computer algorithm. In particular, it handles the rule, whether the accidentals should be rendered or not when they repeat on the notes of the same pitch in the same measure. The decision process is described step-by-step while referring to the music notation rules. The algorithm was implemented in the XSLT-language for the needs of the Digital Interactive Mozart Edition and can be applied to MEI data. The tool can be downloaded from <https://github.com/ism-dme/DIME-tools>.

Neuere Forschungsergebnisse aus dem Bereich der Musikpsychologie zeigen, dass die subjektive Beurteilung, ob jemand spricht oder singt, nicht nur von Eigenschaften des empfangenen akustischen Signals abhängt. Obwohl die Tonhöhe beim Sprechen anders moduliert wird als beim Singen, kann der Tonhöhenverlauf einer gesprochenen Äußerung vom Rezipienten als eine musikalische Tonfolge wahrgenommen werden. Dieser Eindruck brachte Musikschaffende und Sprachwissenschaftler bereits seit Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts dazu, Sprechmelodien in Form musikalischer Notenschrift aufzuzeichnen. Im aktuellen Diskurs der Linguistik setzte sich diese Art von Notation nicht durch. Für die Beschreibung der grammatikalisch relevanten Eigenschaften der Sprechmelodie in Intonationssprachen wie Deutsch und Englisch werden schematische Darstellungen eingesetzt, in denen es im Wesentlichen auf die binäre Unterscheidung zwischen Hoch- und Tieftönen ankommt. Um die Sprechmelodie aus musiktheoretischer Sicht zu betrachten, kann sich jedoch die Transkription in musikalische Notenschrift als ein wertvolles Werkzeug erweisen. Durch die Notation wird die Vielfalt der intervallischen Strukturen von Sprechmelodien erfassbar und eine Grundlage für deren musikalische Analyse geschaffen. In diesem Artikel wird zunächst ein methodischer Ansatz zur gehörmäßigen Erfassung von Sprechmelodien erprobt. Der Vergleich zwischen der exemplarisch transkribierten Sprechmelodie und den Messwerten der Grundfrequenz des Sprachsignals deutet darauf hin, dass das Gehör die verfügbare Tonhöheninformation selektiert, um daraus die Vorstellung einer musikalischen Tonfolge zu konstruieren. Im Bereich von Tonhöhenakzenten orientiert sich die Wahrnehmung scheinbar nach dem lokalen Maximum der Grundfrequenzfunktion, während sich in den übrigen Silben deren Mittelwert als auschlaggebend herausstellt. Anhand der Transkription werden mögliche analytische Ansätze dargelegt, die strukturelle Gemeinsamkeiten zwischen sprachlichen und musikalischen Melodien veranschaulichen. / Recent research results from the field of music psychology show that the subjective assessment of whether someone speaks or sings does not only depend on the characteristics of the received acoustic signal. Although the pitch is modulated differently when speaking than when singing, the recipient can perceive the pitch of a spoken utterance as a musical tone sequence. This impression has since the end of the 18th century led musicians and linguists to record speech melodies in the form of musical notation. In the current discourse of linguistics, this kind of notation has not prevailed. For the description of the grammatically relevant characteristics of the speech melody in intonation languages such as German and English, schematic representations are used in which the main focus lies on the binary distinction between high and low tones. However, to approach speech melody from the perspective of music theory, the transcription in musical notation can be a useful tool. Notation allows to capture the variety of intervallic structures of speech melodies and provides a basis for their musical analysis. This paper introduces a methodical approach to the aural recording of speech melodies. The comparison between the transcribed speech melody and the measured values of the fundamental frequency of the speech signal suggests that the auditory system selects the available pitch information in order to construct the representation of a musical tone sequence. In the area of pitch accents, the perception seems to be driven by the local maximum of the fundamental frequency function, while in the remaining syllables, its mean value appears to be determinant. Based on the transcription, possible analytical approaches are presented, illustrating structural similarities between linguistic and musical melodies.

“Doing gives birth to ideas”. From ideas to composition: a study of composition processes in higher music education. Recent technological developments have challenged the historical methods of composing music for acoustical instruments using traditional scores. However, composers in the Western art music traditionstill continue to use them when they explore the realm of sounds intraditional instruments and possible ways to communicate their intentions. The aim of the present study is to describe the development process in the composition of score-based music intended to be performed by a mixed ensemble of wind, string and percussion instruments. Three composer students from an undergraduate program in Western art music composition each participated during two semesters in the data collection. The data consists of a series of composition sketches, qualitative interviews, voice logs, music recordings and observations of rehearsals and concerts. The analysis focused on shedding light on the participants’ ways of developing the content as the processes of composition unfold. The main methods of analysis were to compare different versions of the same composition and, on the basis of this comparison, to ask analytical questions of the participants. A result common to the three participants, is the conclusion that they start with rudimentary structures and gradually elaborate them so that they become more detailed and sophisticated, for example, more varied in instrumentation. This elaboration is supported by the use of written notes – scaffolds – that guide the development of the structure in different directions. Seven types of scaffolds, that represent different strategies to formulate and solve compositional problems, were found in the empirical data. The study contributes to wider understanding of the importance of making handwritten sketches throughout the process of developing musical ideas. Despite recent technological developments, there is evidence that hand-sketching still serves as an intuitive tool for meaningmaking, in combination with other tools such as acoustical instruments and new music technology.