Origins of 1/f noise in human music performance from short-range autocorrelations related to rhythmic structures

Ian D Colley and Roger T Dean

PLOS ONE, 2019, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-15

Abstract: 1/f fluctuations have been described in numerous physical and biological processes. This noise structure describes an inverse relationship between the intensity and frequency of events in a time series (for example reflected in power spectra), and is believed to indicate long-range dependence, whereby events at one time point influence events many observations later. 1/f has been identified in rhythmic behaviors, such as music, and is typically attributed to long-range correlations. However short-range dependence in musical performance is a well-established finding and past research has suggested that 1/f can arise from multiple continuing short-range processes. We tested this possibility using simulations and time-series modeling, complemented by traditional analyses using power spectra and detrended fluctuation analysis (as often adopted more recently). Our results show that 1/f-type fluctuations in musical contexts may be explained by short-range models involving multiple time lags, and the temporal ranges in which rhythmic hierarchies are expressed are apt to create these fluctuations through such short-range autocorrelations. We also analyzed gait, heartbeat, and resting-state EEG data, demonstrating the coexistence of multiple short-range processes and 1/f fluctuation in a variety of phenomena. This suggests that 1/f fluctuation might not indicate long-range correlations, and points to its likely origins in musical rhythm and related structures.

Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0216088

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216088

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