This area is involved with the analysis of the acoustics of music and with human perception thereof.
In close cooperation with em.o.Univ.Prof. Dr. Franz Födermayr (Inst. of Musicology, Univ.Vienna) historic recordings of Georgian multipart songs are analyzed and transcribed.
Comparative and systematic musicology and psychoacoustics
The Acoustics Research Institute has been cooperating with the musicology faculty of Vienna University (Univ.Prof. Dr. Franz Födermayr, Univ.Prof.Dr. Gernot Gruber) in utilizing psychoacoustic models for musical analysis. The spectrograms below show the different interpretations of the closing phrase of the Duca aria from Verdi's Rigoletto ("Parmi veder le lagrime") as sung by F. Tagliaini (1954) and L. Pavarotti (1988). F.T. uses a quiet falcetto, whilst L.P. uses a strong chest voice. The acoustic differences lie in the temporal structure, the number and amplitude of the partials as well as the breadth of the vibrato. See the paper "Theoretische Interpretation musikalischer Werke: Berühmte Tenöre" for details.
Visualization of Multi-Part Music
Werner A. Deutsch (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Acoustics Research Institute) Franz Födermayr (Institute of Musicology, University of Vienna).