Fuzzy Family Ties: New Methods for Measuring Familial Similarity between Contours of Variable Cardinality. Wallentinsen, K. Journal of Music Theory, 66(1):93–128, April, 2022.
Fuzzy Family Ties: New Methods for Measuring Familial Similarity between Contours of Variable Cardinality [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
Melodic contour is one of a melody's defining characteristics. Music theorists such as Michael Friedmann, Robert Morris, Elizabeth West Marvin and Paul Laprade, and Ian Quinn have developed mod els for evaluating similarities between contours, but only a few comp are similarities between pairs of contours with different lengths, and fewer still can measure shared characteristics among an entire family of contours. This article introduces a new method for evaluating familial similarities between related con tours, even if the contours have different cardinalities. The model extends theories of contour transforma tion by using fuzzy set theory and probability, measuring a contour's degree of familial membership by examining the contour's transformational pathway and calculating the probability that each move in the pathway is shared by other family members. Through the potential of differing alignments along these pathways, the model allows for the possibility that pathways may be omitted or inserted within a contour that exhibits familial resemblance, despite its different cardinality. The analytical utility of the model is then demonstrated through an analysis of melodic possibility in phased portions of Steve Reich's The Desert Music. Integrating variable cardinality into contour similarity relations in this way more adequately accounts for familial relationships between contours and can provide new and valuable insights into one of music's most fundamental elements.
@Article{          wallentinsen2022-fuzzy,
    author       = {Wallentinsen, Kristen},
    year         = {2022},
    title        = {Fuzzy {Family} {Ties}: {New} {Methods} for {Measuring}
                   {Familial} {Similarity} between {Contours} of {Variable}
                   {Cardinality}},
    volume       = {66},
    issn         = {0022-2909, 1941-7497},
    url          = {https://read.dukeupress.edu/journal-of-music-theory/article/66/1/93/313635/Fuzzy-Family-TiesNew-Methods-for-Measuring},
    doi          = {10.1215/00222909-9534151},
    abstract     = {Melodic contour is one of a melody's defining
                   characteristics. Music theorists such as Michael
                   Friedmann, Robert Morris, Elizabeth West Marvin and Paul
                   Laprade, and Ian Quinn have developed mod els for
                   evaluating similarities between contours, but only a few
                   comp are similarities between pairs of contours with
                   different lengths, and fewer still can measure shared
                   characteristics among an entire family of contours. This
                   article introduces a new method for evaluating familial
                   similarities between related con tours, even if the
                   contours have different cardinalities. The model extends
                   theories of contour transforma tion by using fuzzy set
                   theory and probability, measuring a contour's degree of
                   familial membership by examining the contour's
                   transformational pathway and calculating the probability
                   that each move in the pathway is shared by other family
                   members. Through the potential of differing alignments
                   along these pathways, the model allows for the possibility
                   that pathways may be omitted or inserted within a contour
                   that exhibits familial resemblance, despite its different
                   cardinality. The analytical utility of the model is then
                   demonstrated through an analysis of melodic possibility in
                   phased portions of Steve Reich's The Desert Music.
                   Integrating variable cardinality into contour similarity
                   relations in this way more adequately accounts for
                   familial relationships between contours and can provide
                   new and valuable insights into one of music's most
                   fundamental elements.},
    language     = {en},
    number       = {1},
    urldate      = {2022-08-21},
    journal      = {Journal of Music Theory},
    month        = apr,
    tags         = {music contour},
    pages        = {93--128}
}

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