Cognitive and Systematic Musicology Laboratory

David Huron

Arts and Humanities Distinguished Professor
School of Music & Center for Cognitive Science
Ohio State University

Text for a methodology article on
Empiricism and Postmodernism

Website for Sweet Anticipation.

Research Areas:

• Music Cognition
• Computational Musicology
• Systematic Musicology

Current Research Program:

I teach and do research in the field of music cognition at the Ohio State University. I head the Cognitive and Systematic Musicology Laboratory and hold joint appointments in the School of Music and the Center for Cognitive Science.

I would like to understand why music is so enjoyable. Why precisely do people fall in love with music? What makes sounds appealing (and unappealing)? Why do people have different musical tastes? How does culture shape our musical experience?

My early research centered on the perceptual foundations of melody and voice-leading. This work culminated in Tone and Voice which received the Outstanding Publication Award from the Society for Music Theory. My work on expectation is chronicled in the book Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation MIT Press which received the Wallace Berry Book Award. Supplementary material related to the book (including sound examples) are also available online. My current research focuses on music and emotion. In particular, our lab has done work on what the 18th-century philosopher Edmund Burke called the "sublime" emotions: music-induced weeping, frisson (shivers), awe, and laughter.

My approach to research combines behavioral, physiological, computational, and anthropological methods.

A component of my work has involved developing computer software for music scholarship. I designed and programmed the original Humdrum Toolkit which is the most widely used software explicitly for music research. (I hasten to add that I am no longer involved in software development; the Humdrum Toolkit is now maintained by an international group of enthusiasts known as **HUG -- the Humdrum Users Group.)

Whenever possible, I emphasize cross-cultural comparisons in pursuing my research. I have carried out fieldwork throughout Micronesia, where I have been collecting empirical data related to globalization. My research has involved the analysis of Native American, Chinese, Japanese, Hasidic, Balinese, Korean, and sub-Saharan African musics. I also study Western music, with a special emphasis on the music of J.S. Bach.

I am regularly involved in commercial consulting, principally in the areas of music and marketing, and in Internet-based music distribution. More recently, my consulting work has centered on "earcon" design and sonic user interfaces for telephone applications.

In 1999, I presented a series of six public lectures entitled Music and Mind: Foundations of Cognitive Musicology at the University of California, Berkeley.

My Curriculum Vitae is available online, and provides links to publications, conference presentations, public lectures, and other web-accessible information. The OSU College of the Arts maintains an independent promotional web page giving further descriptions of my work.

Our lab emphasizes a collaborative multidisciplinary approach to research. Over the years I have had the pleasure of working with a wonderful roster of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and visiting scholars. We continue to maintain a talented, productive, and friendly community of music scholars -- dedicated to understanding the mysteries of music.

Publications:

Teaching:

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