Dalarna University's logo and link to the university's website

A typical experiment design within the field of music psychology is playing music to a test subject who listens and reacts - most often by verbal means. One limitation of this kind of test is the inherent difficulty of measuring an emotional reaction in a laboratory setting. This paper describes the design, functions and possible uses of the software tool REMUPP (Relations between musical parameters and perceived properties), designed for investigating various aspects of musical experience. REMUPP allows for non-verbal examination of selected musical parameters (such as tonality, tempo, timbre, articulation, volume, register etc.) in a musical context. The musical control is put into the hands of the subject, introducing an element of creativity and enhancing the sense of immersion. Information acquired with REMUPP can be output as numerical data for statistical analysis, but the tool is also suited for the use with more qualitatively oriented methods.

This study investigates usage and knowledge of musical narrative functions in contemporary multimedia. A group of young adolescents were given the task of adapting musical expression, using the non-verbal research tool REMUPP, to fit different visual scenes shown on a computer screen. This was accomplished by manipulating seven musical parameters: instrumentation, tempo, harmonic complexity, rhythmic complexity, register, articulation and reverb. They also answered a questionnaire giving information about their musical training and media habits. Numerical data from the manipulation of the musical parameters were analysed to search for tendencies within the group with regard to the musical expression in relation to the different visual scenes shown. The results showed a large degree of in-group consensus regarding narrative functions of music, indicating knowledge about musical narrative codes and conventions. Also, the results were clearly influenced by factors such as the participants' musical training, gender and habits of music listening, playing computer games and watching movies — highlighting the complexity of learning and pointing to the impact of the increasing availability of narrative media on our attitudes and knowledge.