- Beat induction
Beat induction is the process in which a regular
isochronous pulse is activated while one listens to music (i.e. the beat to which one would tap one’s foot). Interestingly, thecognitive mechanism that allows us to infer a beat from a sound pattern, and tosynchronize ordance to it, might be uniquely human. No primate tested so far -- with exception of the human species -- can dance or collaboratively clap to the beat of the music. Humans know when to start, when to stop, when to speed up or to slow down, in synchronizing with their fellow dancers or musicians.Hence, beat induction can been seen as a fundamental cognitive skill that allows for music (e.g., Patel, 2008; Honing, 2007). We can hear a pulse in a rhythmic pattern while it might not even be explicitly in there: The pulse is being induced (hence the name) while listening -- like a perspective can be induced by looking at an arrangement of objects in a picture.
Neuroscientist Ani Patel proposes beat induction — referring to it as ‘beat-based rhythm processing’ — as a key area in music-language research, suggesting beat induction "a fundamental aspect of music cognition that is not a byproduct of cognitive mechanisms that also serve other, more clearly adaptive, domains (e.g. auditory scene analysis or language)." (Patel, 2008).
The hypothesis that beat induction is a cognitive and solely human phenomenon was recently challenged by a popular
YouTube video of acockatoo dancing to the beat of the music.ources
*Patel, A. (2008). “Music, Language and the Brain”. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
*Desain, P., & Honing, H. (1994). “Foot-Tapping: a brief introduction to beat induction”. In Proceedings of the 1994 International Computer Music Conference. 78-79. San Francisco: International Computer Music Association.External links
* [http://www.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780195123753/ Patel (2008).]
* [http://www.musiccognition.nl/blog/labels/entrainment%20beat%20induction.html Honing (2007); Blog, including the Cockatoo video.]
* [http://cf.hum.uva.nl/mmm/fun/bi.html Demo on beat induction.]
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