COMMAND

melac — calculate melodic accent values for successive pitches in a Humdrum input

SYNOPSIS

` melac [inputfile.sem …] [> outputfile.tac]`

DESCRIPTION

The melac command accepts as input Humdrum ` **semits data and outputs a series of values representing the degree of melodic accent associated with each note. Melodic accent values vary between 0 (no accent) and 1 (maximum accent). Input is limited to only a single **semits` data spine.

The melac command implements a model of melodic accent developed by Joseph Thomassen (see REFERENCES). Thomassen’s model is sensitive to pitch contour only — distinguishing just three types of melodic motion: ascending, descending, and unison. The model calculates tonal accent values according to a moving 3-pitch window.

It is recommended that output files produced using the melac command should be given names with the distinguishing `.mac' extension.

OPTIONS

The melac command provides only a help option:

h displays a help screen summarizing the command syntax ——– ——————————————————-

Options are specified in the command line.

EXAMPLES

The following example illustrates the output of the melac command. The semits spine is the input, and the melac spine is the corresponding output. (A kern equivalent to semits has been added to increase the readability.) ``

**kern **semits **melac 16ee 16 1 16cc 12 0.5 16b 11 0.355 16cc 12 0.2407 16g 7 0.1207 16cc 12 0.2407 16b 11 0.1207 16cc 12 0.0957 16ff 17 0.5561 16cc 12 0.085 16b 11 0.355 16cc 12 0.2407 16a 9 0.1207 16cc 12 0.2407 16b 11 0.1207 16cc 12 0.29 *- *- *- ———- ———— ———–

PORTABILITY

DOS 2.0 and up, with the MKS Toolkit. OS/2 with the MKS Toolkit. UNIX systems supporting the Korn shell or Bourne shell command interpreters, and revised awk (1985).

LIMITS

This command is currently able to handle only a single (monophonic) input stream.

[]{#REFERENCES}

REFERENCES

Thomassen, J. "Melodic accent: Experiments and a tentative model," Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 71, No. 6 (1982) pp.1598-1605; see also, Erratum, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 73, No. 1 (1983) p.373.

Huron, D. & Royal, M. "What is melodic accent? Converging evidence from musical practice." Music Perception, Vol. 13, No. 4 (1996) pp. 489-516.