Ithaca College

Computer Modeling: a Study of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier
4:00 pm Friday, March 22
Iger Lecture Hall

Why is fugue 15 in Book II of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier a statistical outlier in its incidence of single note attack points?  Is it significant that fugue 11 from Book II is the most similar to the other fugues in terms of sounding harmonic interval percentages (using Pearson Correlation as a metric)? 

Once the "data" in WTC is recast using computational modelling techniques, this corpus can be studied using techniques from machine learning and data mining.  Drawing from existing literature and the framework provided by Humdrum and Music 21, a broad palette can be developed for inquiry. This presentation will define a basis for analysis that, while using computational methods, maintains a close connection to the meaning and interpretation of musical processes.

Dave Headlam is a Professor of Music Theory at the Eastman School of Music, the University of Rochester, and Joint Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in The College at the University of Rochester.

Headlam has published widely on music post-1900, popular music, rhythm in music, and music and technology, and he is co-founder of the Music Research Lab, a collaborative venture with Professor Mark Bocko of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, for exploring the boundaries of music and science.

Headlam's book, "The Music of Alban Berg" (Yale University Press, 1996), received an ASCAP Deems Taylor award in 1997, and in his work with engineers, he has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, and the University of Rochester.