The principal objective of this paper is to lift basic concepts of the classical automata theory from discrete to continuous (real) time. It is argued that the set of nite memory retrospective functions is the set of functions realized by /nite state devices. We show that the /nite memory retrospective functions are speed-independent, i.e., they are invariant under ‘stretchings’ of the time axi...

Clayton’s paper provides a clear and accessible summary of the significance of entrainment for music making, and for human behaviour in general. He notes the central role of metrical structure in musical entrainment, the possible role of oscillatory neural activity, and the core notion of phase alignment. Here I show how these same factors are central to speech processing by the human brain. I ...

We address the problem of simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) by combining visual loop-closure detection with metrical information given by a robot odometry. The proposed algorithm extends a purely appearance-based loopclosure detection method based on bags of visual words [1] which is able to detect when the robot has returned back to a previously visited place. An efficient optimizat...

Several computational linguistics techniques are applied to analyze a large corpus of Spanish sonnets from the 16th and 17th centuries. The analysis is focused on metrical and semantic aspects. First, we are developing a hybrid scansion system in order to extract and analyze rhythmical or metrical patterns. The possible metrical patterns of each verse are extracted with language-based rules. Th...

Many connectionist approaches to musical expectancy and music composition let the question of “What next?” overshadow the equally important question of “When next?”. One cannot escape the latter question, one of temporal structure, when considering the perception of musical meter. We view the perception of metrical structure as a dynamic process where the temporal organization of external music...

This paper investigates a stress phenomenon which I refer to as “contextual metrical invisibility” in several languages, the primary examples being from Mohawk and Passamaquoddy. In each of these languages, there is a class of vowels which are, in certain contexts but not in others, invisible to syllable-sensitive processes. The proposal I make is that such vowels, which I refer to as “weak vow...

This article provides insights into aspects of tempo and rhythmic elaboration in Hindustani music, based on a study of a large corpus of recorded performances. Typical tempo developments and stress patterns within a metrical cycle are computed, which we refer to as tempo and rhythm patterns, respectively. Rhythm patterns are obtained by aggregating spectral features over metrical cycles. They r...

Intrinsic perceptual biases for simple duration ratios are thought to constrain the organization of rhythmic patterns in music. We tested that hypothesis by exposing listeners to folk melodies differing in metrical structure (simple or complex duration ratios), then testing them on alterations that preserved or violated the original metrical structure. Simple meters predominate in North America...