Analysis Tools

 

Once the Densmore Project database has been fully assembled, this web page will allow visitors to access several research tools based on the Humdrum Toolkit. These tools will allow users to pose and answer innumerable questions of which the following are only a suggestive sample:
  • Are northwest native cultures more likely to use iambic rhythms?
  • Do dancers in Pueblo music turn more frequently than other dancers?
  • Are Na-Dene language groups more likely to employ rhyme schemes in their poetic texts?
  • Do bi-labial plosives coincide with strong metric positions in warrior songs?
  • What features distinguish melodies sung by Nootka women compared with those sung by Nootka men?
Examples of the use of Humdrum in research projects are available for for classical European music. Such examples can be found on the web at: http://dactyl.som.ohio-state.edu/Humdrum/projects.html. Sample problems using the analytic software can be found at: http://dactyl.som.ohio-state.edu/Humdrum/sample.problems.html. An inventory of existing database repertories is given at: http://dactyl.som.ohio-state.edu/Music824/databases.index.html. A prototype of the search engine can be found at: http://themefinder.org (for classical and folk musics).

One feature of the analytic tools will be the ability to create special-purpose maps of North America displaying the geographical distribution of musical features. A sample map-creating demonstration for European folksongs can be found at http://dactyl.som.ohio-state.edu/cgi-bin/Mapping/map.pl. Refer to coming soon for detailed instructions on how to use this mapping interface.

Densmore Project
Frances Densmore
Native Music Themefinder
Maps
Scholarly Notes
Analysis Tools
Coming Soon
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