Abstract:
This study deals with the strong relationship between emotions and music, investigating three main research questions: (RQ1) Are there differences in human music percepti...Show MoreMetadata
Abstract:
This study deals with the strong relationship between emotions and music, investigating three main research questions: (RQ1) Are there differences in human music perception (e.g., emotions, tempo, instrumentation, and complexity), according to musical education, experience, demographics, and personality traits?; (RQ2) Do certain perceived music characteristics correlate (e.g., tension and sadness), irrespective of a particular listener's background or personality?; (RQ3) Does human perception of music characteristics, such as emotions and tempo, correlate with descriptors extracted from music audio signals? To investigate our research questions, we conducted two user studies focusing on different groups of subjects. We used web-based surveys to collect information about demographics, listening habits, musical education, personality, and perceptual ratings with respect to perceived emotions, tempo, complexity, and instrumentation for 15 segments of Beethoven's 3rd symphony, “Eroica”. Our experiments showed that all three research questions can be affirmed, at least partly. We found strong support for RQ2 and RQ3, while RQ1 could be confirmed only for some perceptual aspects and user groups.
Published in: IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing ( Volume: 9, Issue: 4, 01 Oct.-Dec. 2018)
Funding Agency:
Department of Computational Perception, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz
Markus Schedl received the graduate degree in computer science from
Vienna University of Technology and the PhD degree from Johannes Kepler University Linz. He is an associate professor
at the Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria / Department of Computational Perception. He further studied
international business administration at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration as well as at
the Hand...Show More
Markus Schedl received the graduate degree in computer science from
Vienna University of Technology and the PhD degree from Johannes Kepler University Linz. He is an associate professor
at the Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria / Department of Computational Perception. He further studied
international business administration at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration as well as at
the Hand...View more
Music Technology Group, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
Emilia Gómez received the graduate degree in
telecommunication engineer from the Universidad de Sevilla, in 1999, and studied piano performance at Seville
Conservatoire of Music. She is an associate professor (Serra-Húnter and ICREA Fellow) in the Department of
Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, where she leads the Music Information
Research Lab, Music Technology Group. Sh...Show More
Emilia Gómez received the graduate degree in
telecommunication engineer from the Universidad de Sevilla, in 1999, and studied piano performance at Seville
Conservatoire of Music. She is an associate professor (Serra-Húnter and ICREA Fellow) in the Department of
Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, where she leads the Music Information
Research Lab, Music Technology Group. Sh...View more
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA
Erika S. Trent received the dual bachelor's degree in
brain and cognitive sciences and music from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in 2015. She is working toward
the graduate degree at Boston University, Massachusetts and the master's degree in mental health counseling,
while contributing to NIH-funded clinical psychology research at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at
Boston University. During t...Show More
Erika S. Trent received the dual bachelor's degree in
brain and cognitive sciences and music from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in 2015. She is working toward
the graduate degree at Boston University, Massachusetts and the master's degree in mental health counseling,
while contributing to NIH-funded clinical psychology research at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at
Boston University. During t...View more
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano, BZ, Italy
Marko Tkalčič received the PhD degree from the
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 2011. He is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Computer Science, Free
University of Bolzano, Italy. From 2013 to 2015, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Computational
Perception, Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria. His research interests lie in the exploitation of
psychological constructs (such as em...Show More
Marko Tkalčič received the PhD degree from the
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 2011. He is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Computer Science, Free
University of Bolzano, Italy. From 2013 to 2015, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Computational
Perception, Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria. His research interests lie in the exploitation of
psychological constructs (such as em...View more
Department of Computational Perception, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz
Hamid Eghbal-Zadeh received the master's degree in computer
engineering from Shiraz State University, Iran, in 2012. He is working toward the PhD degree with Johannes Kepler
University Linz, Austria. From 2012 to 2014, he worked as a researcher in the area of speech processing with
Özyegin University, Istanbul, Turkey. In 2014, he joined the Department of Computational Perception, Johannes
Kepler University. During th...Show More
Hamid Eghbal-Zadeh received the master's degree in computer
engineering from Shiraz State University, Iran, in 2012. He is working toward the PhD degree with Johannes Kepler
University Linz, Austria. From 2012 to 2014, he worked as a researcher in the area of speech processing with
Özyegin University, Istanbul, Turkey. In 2014, he joined the Department of Computational Perception, Johannes
Kepler University. During th...View more
Music Technology Group, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
Agustín Martorell received the degrees in electronics
engineering and musicology, and both MSc and PhD degrees in the field of computational musicology. He is an assistant
professor and postdoc researcher in the Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu
Fabra, Barcelona. As a practical musician he plays violin and performs regularly as a chamber choir singer. His main
interests inclu...Show More
Agustín Martorell received the degrees in electronics
engineering and musicology, and both MSc and PhD degrees in the field of computational musicology. He is an assistant
professor and postdoc researcher in the Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu
Fabra, Barcelona. As a practical musician he plays violin and performs regularly as a chamber choir singer. His main
interests inclu...View more
Contents Department of Computational Perception, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz
Markus Schedl received the graduate degree in computer science from
Vienna University of Technology and the PhD degree from Johannes Kepler University Linz. He is an associate professor
at the Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria / Department of Computational Perception. He further studied
international business administration at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration as well as at
the Handelshögskolan of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, which led to a master's degree. His main
research interests include web and social media mining, information retrieval, multimedia, and music information
research. He (co-)authored more than 120 refereed conference papers and journal articles, among others in the
ACM Multimedia, SIGIR, ECIR, the IEEE Visualization, the Journal of Machine Learning Research
, the ACM Transactions on Information Systems, the Springer Information Retrieval,
and the IEEE Multimedia. Furthermore, he is associate editor of the Springer International
Journal of Multimedia Information Retrieval.
Markus Schedl received the graduate degree in computer science from
Vienna University of Technology and the PhD degree from Johannes Kepler University Linz. He is an associate professor
at the Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria / Department of Computational Perception. He further studied
international business administration at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration as well as at
the Handelshögskolan of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, which led to a master's degree. His main
research interests include web and social media mining, information retrieval, multimedia, and music information
research. He (co-)authored more than 120 refereed conference papers and journal articles, among others in the
ACM Multimedia, SIGIR, ECIR, the IEEE Visualization, the Journal of Machine Learning Research
, the ACM Transactions on Information Systems, the Springer Information Retrieval,
and the IEEE Multimedia. Furthermore, he is associate editor of the Springer International
Journal of Multimedia Information Retrieval.View more
Music Technology Group, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
Emilia Gómez received the graduate degree in
telecommunication engineer from the Universidad de Sevilla, in 1999, and studied piano performance at Seville
Conservatoire of Music. She is an associate professor (Serra-Húnter and ICREA Fellow) in the Department of
Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, where she leads the Music Information
Research Lab, Music Technology Group. She then received a DEA in acoustics, signal processing and computer science
applied to music with IRCAM, Paris (2000) and the PhD degree in computer science at the UPF (2006, awarded by EPSON
foundation). She has been lecturer at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya and visiting researcher in the
Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm (Marie Curie Fellow), McGill University, Montreal, and Queen Mary University
of London. She has co-authored more than a 100 peer-reviewed publications and software libraries, and contributed to
more than 15 projects, mostly funded by the European Commission. She is currently president-elect of the International
Society for Music Information Retrieval.
Emilia Gómez received the graduate degree in
telecommunication engineer from the Universidad de Sevilla, in 1999, and studied piano performance at Seville
Conservatoire of Music. She is an associate professor (Serra-Húnter and ICREA Fellow) in the Department of
Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, where she leads the Music Information
Research Lab, Music Technology Group. She then received a DEA in acoustics, signal processing and computer science
applied to music with IRCAM, Paris (2000) and the PhD degree in computer science at the UPF (2006, awarded by EPSON
foundation). She has been lecturer at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya and visiting researcher in the
Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm (Marie Curie Fellow), McGill University, Montreal, and Queen Mary University
of London. She has co-authored more than a 100 peer-reviewed publications and software libraries, and contributed to
more than 15 projects, mostly funded by the European Commission. She is currently president-elect of the International
Society for Music Information Retrieval.View more
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA
Erika S. Trent received the dual bachelor's degree in
brain and cognitive sciences and music from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in 2015. She is working toward
the graduate degree at Boston University, Massachusetts and the master's degree in mental health counseling,
while contributing to NIH-funded clinical psychology research at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at
Boston University. During the summer of 2014, she was funded by the MIT International Science and Technology
Initiatives to conduct research on the emotional characterization of classical music with Dr. Gómez in the
Music Technology Group, Barcelona, which was presented at the 9th Triennial Conference of the European Society for the
Cognitive Sciences of Music.
Erika S. Trent received the dual bachelor's degree in
brain and cognitive sciences and music from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in 2015. She is working toward
the graduate degree at Boston University, Massachusetts and the master's degree in mental health counseling,
while contributing to NIH-funded clinical psychology research at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at
Boston University. During the summer of 2014, she was funded by the MIT International Science and Technology
Initiatives to conduct research on the emotional characterization of classical music with Dr. Gómez in the
Music Technology Group, Barcelona, which was presented at the 9th Triennial Conference of the European Society for the
Cognitive Sciences of Music.View more
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano, BZ, Italy
Marko Tkalčič received the PhD degree from the
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 2011. He is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Computer Science, Free
University of Bolzano, Italy. From 2013 to 2015, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Computational
Perception, Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria. His research interests lie in the exploitation of
psychological constructs (such as emotions and personality) in user modeling and personalized systems, such as
recommender systems. He has published in leading journals, such as the User Modeling and User-adapted
Interaction, the Elsevier Information Sciences, the IEEE Transactions on Multimedia
, the Springer Multimedia Tools and Applications and Interacting with Computers
. He has been the lead organizer of the EMPIRE workshop series with editions in 2013 (UMAP), 2014 (UMAP) and
2015 (RecSys) as well as the lead editor of the upcoming edited volume the Springer Emotions and Personality
in Personalized Systems.
Marko Tkalčič received the PhD degree from the
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 2011. He is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Computer Science, Free
University of Bolzano, Italy. From 2013 to 2015, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Computational
Perception, Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria. His research interests lie in the exploitation of
psychological constructs (such as emotions and personality) in user modeling and personalized systems, such as
recommender systems. He has published in leading journals, such as the User Modeling and User-adapted
Interaction, the Elsevier Information Sciences, the IEEE Transactions on Multimedia
, the Springer Multimedia Tools and Applications and Interacting with Computers
. He has been the lead organizer of the EMPIRE workshop series with editions in 2013 (UMAP), 2014 (UMAP) and
2015 (RecSys) as well as the lead editor of the upcoming edited volume the Springer Emotions and Personality
in Personalized Systems.View more
Department of Computational Perception, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz
Hamid Eghbal-Zadeh received the master's degree in computer
engineering from Shiraz State University, Iran, in 2012. He is working toward the PhD degree with Johannes Kepler
University Linz, Austria. From 2012 to 2014, he worked as a researcher in the area of speech processing with
Özyegin University, Istanbul, Turkey. In 2014, he joined the Department of Computational Perception, Johannes
Kepler University. During the following years, he worked as a researcher on content-based music information retrieval
(MIR). He is currently pursuing his PhD and his focus of research is on factor analysis for multiple tasks in MIR.
Hamid Eghbal-Zadeh received the master's degree in computer
engineering from Shiraz State University, Iran, in 2012. He is working toward the PhD degree with Johannes Kepler
University Linz, Austria. From 2012 to 2014, he worked as a researcher in the area of speech processing with
Özyegin University, Istanbul, Turkey. In 2014, he joined the Department of Computational Perception, Johannes
Kepler University. During the following years, he worked as a researcher on content-based music information retrieval
(MIR). He is currently pursuing his PhD and his focus of research is on factor analysis for multiple tasks in MIR.View more
Music Technology Group, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
Agustín Martorell received the degrees in electronics
engineering and musicology, and both MSc and PhD degrees in the field of computational musicology. He is an assistant
professor and postdoc researcher in the Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu
Fabra, Barcelona. As a practical musician he plays violin and performs regularly as a chamber choir singer. His main
interests include related with music theory and analysis, combining theoretical, psychological and computational
methods, with particular interest in interactive and educational tools for music understanding.
Agustín Martorell received the degrees in electronics
engineering and musicology, and both MSc and PhD degrees in the field of computational musicology. He is an assistant
professor and postdoc researcher in the Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu
Fabra, Barcelona. As a practical musician he plays violin and performs regularly as a chamber choir singer. His main
interests include related with music theory and analysis, combining theoretical, psychological and computational
methods, with particular interest in interactive and educational tools for music understanding.View more
