Jonathan De Souza
Biographic Data
| ID | 3861469 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jonathan De Souza |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jonathan |
| FAMILY NAME | De Souza |
| SIGNATURE | DE SOUZA J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Western University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9505-7234 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
Improvising with Technology
In this article, I approach improvisation and technology via a network of concepts instead of binary oppositions, emphasizing reciprocity instead of hierarchy. This line of thinking is inspired by phenomenological approaches to technology, which I review in Part 1. Part 2 examines case studies related to performance, while Part 3 turns to pedagogical uses of improvisation. Across these contexts, I argue that improvisation has no single origin but…
Analysis from multiple perspectives (AMP)
Music analysis is a complex and subjective task requiring a considerable degree of judgment on questions often lacking verifiable answers. In many cases, this subjectivity leads to seemingly intractable disagreements. Although disagreements can offer useful insight, whether they represent genuine differences in perspective is not always clear. To contribute to this challenging aspect of music analysis, here we introduce a procedure inspired by re…
Touching Music
Texture and Sonata Form in Classical String Quartets
How does musical texture relate to large-scale form in classical string quartets? Are certain textural strategies associated with sections or formal functions in a sonata movement? Some music theorists have argued that contrapuntal textures are more common in developments and transitions. In their view, these medial sections would use polyphony to foster a sense of looseness, instability, and momentum. Our study tested these claims by examining a…
Modeling and Perception of Melodic Contour Families
Pitch contour is a defining feature of individual melodies and also melodic families, which are important for motivic development. Previous studies show that listeners are sensitive to melodic contour, and music theorists have created mathematical models of contour similarity. However, this research has compared only melodies with the same number of notes, even though melodic families often include longer and shorter members. A recent music-theor…
The Sonic Gaze
Guitar Thinking
Playing the guitar develops physical skills but also ways of listening and thinking about music. For example, guitarists often conceptualize chords as two-dimensional shapes—an approach that is foreign to pianists. What does it mean, then, to think like a guitarist? This article approaches “guitar thinking” through music theory and cognitive science. Psychological experiments help to reveal auditory, visual, and tactile aspects of guitar playing …
Analyzing Heterophony
Heterophony—where multiple parts independently develop the same material—can challenge theories of texture. Psychological research on auditory streaming supports a theoretical model of texture created by David Huron. His texture space has two dimensions: onset synchrony and semblant motion. Heterophony would theoretically combine low onset synchrony with high semblant motion. However, I argue that some analytical methods cannot detect this combin…
Texture
This chapter considers musical texture as an emergent property. The first section shows how the interplay of rhythm and pitch—specifically, degrees of synchrony and similar motion—produces basic textural categories (monophony, homophony, polyphony, and heterophony). These textural types may be transformed or hierarchically combined. The second section further argues that such textural structures are supplemented by textural materials, involving t…
Hypermetrical Irregularity in Sonata Form
In sonata form, development sections are characterized by tonal, textural, and phrase-structural instability. But are these instabilities counterbalanced by regularity in other musical domains? Are any syntactic layers more consistent in developments, relative to expositions or recapitulations? This corpus study examined hypermeter in expositions and developments from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century symphonic sonata movements. It analyzed both…
Classical Rondos and Sonatas as Stylistic Categories
Sonata and rondo movements are often defined in terms of large-scale form, yet in the classical era, rondos were also identified according to their lively, cheerful character. We hypothesized that sonatas and rondos could be categorized based on stylistic features, and that rondos would involve more acoustic cues for happiness (e.g., higher average pitch height and higher average attack rate). In a corpus analysis, we examined paired movement ope…
Instrumental Transformations in Heinrich Biber's Mystery Sonatas
Each of Heinrich Biber's Mystery Sonatas features a distinct violin tuning. How do these scordatura relate to standard tuning? How might they affect the sonatas' musical organization and players' experience? Transformational voice-leading theory helps to reveal overlapping categories here. Quintal scordatura include adjacent-string fifths, creating zones where notated and sounding intervals match. Chordal scordatura, in which the strings realize …
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Texture
This chapter considers musical texture as an emergent property. The first section shows how the interplay of rhythm and pitch—specifically, degrees of synchrony and similar motion—produces basic textural categories (monophony, homophony, polyphony, and heterophony). These textural types may be transformed or hierarchically combined. The second section further argues that such textural structures are supplemented by textural materials, involving t…
Hypermetrical Irregularity in Sonata Form
In sonata form, development sections are characterized by tonal, textural, and phrase-structural instability. But are these instabilities counterbalanced by regularity in other musical domains? Are any syntactic layers more consistent in developments, relative to expositions or recapitulations? This corpus study examined hypermeter in expositions and developments from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century symphonic sonata movements. It analyzed both…
Classical Rondos and Sonatas as Stylistic Categories
Sonata and rondo movements are often defined in terms of large-scale form, yet in the classical era, rondos were also identified according to their lively, cheerful character. We hypothesized that sonatas and rondos could be categorized based on stylistic features, and that rondos would involve more acoustic cues for happiness (e.g., higher average pitch height and higher average attack rate). In a corpus analysis, we examined paired movement ope…
Instrumental Transformations in Heinrich Biber's Mystery Sonatas
Each of Heinrich Biber's Mystery Sonatas features a distinct violin tuning. How do these scordatura relate to standard tuning? How might they affect the sonatas' musical organization and players' experience? Transformational voice-leading theory helps to reveal overlapping categories here. Quintal scordatura include adjacent-string fifths, creating zones where notated and sounding intervals match. Chordal scordatura, in which the strings realize …
Guitar Thinking
Playing the guitar develops physical skills but also ways of listening and thinking about music. For example, guitarists often conceptualize chords as two-dimensional shapes—an approach that is foreign to pianists. What does it mean, then, to think like a guitarist? This article approaches “guitar thinking” through music theory and cognitive science. Psychological experiments help to reveal auditory, visual, and tactile aspects of guitar playing …
Analyzing Heterophony
Heterophony—where multiple parts independently develop the same material—can challenge theories of texture. Psychological research on auditory streaming supports a theoretical model of texture created by David Huron. His texture space has two dimensions: onset synchrony and semblant motion. Heterophony would theoretically combine low onset synchrony with high semblant motion. However, I argue that some analytical methods cannot detect this combin…
Texture and Sonata Form in Classical String Quartets
How does musical texture relate to large-scale form in classical string quartets? Are certain textural strategies associated with sections or formal functions in a sonata movement? Some music theorists have argued that contrapuntal textures are more common in developments and transitions. In their view, these medial sections would use polyphony to foster a sense of looseness, instability, and momentum. Our study tested these claims by examining a…
Modeling and Perception of Melodic Contour Families
Pitch contour is a defining feature of individual melodies and also melodic families, which are important for motivic development. Previous studies show that listeners are sensitive to melodic contour, and music theorists have created mathematical models of contour similarity. However, this research has compared only melodies with the same number of notes, even though melodic families often include longer and shorter members. A recent music-theor…
The Sonic Gaze
Improvising with Technology
In this article, I approach improvisation and technology via a network of concepts instead of binary oppositions, emphasizing reciprocity instead of hierarchy. This line of thinking is inspired by phenomenological approaches to technology, which I review in Part 1. Part 2 examines case studies related to performance, while Part 3 turns to pedagogical uses of improvisation. Across these contexts, I argue that improvisation has no single origin but…
Analysis from multiple perspectives (AMP)
Music analysis is a complex and subjective task requiring a considerable degree of judgment on questions often lacking verifiable answers. In many cases, this subjectivity leads to seemingly intractable disagreements. Although disagreements can offer useful insight, whether they represent genuine differences in perspective is not always clear. To contribute to this challenging aspect of music analysis, here we introduce a procedure inspired by re…
Touching Music
Art (7 works) · Computer Science (7 works) · Music Technology and Sound Studies (6 works) · Neuroscience and Music Perception (6 works) · Music and Audio Processing (5 works) · Musical (5 works) · Musicology and Musical Analysis (5 works) · Psychology (5 works) · Linguistics (4 works) · Philosophy (4 works)