Variations of the perception of mood and tension of music excerpts depending on the visual context

Abstract

We study the influence that image features may have on music tension and liveliness perception. 72 music excerpts from different genres and periods were selected, and 72 still shots were taken from different animation features little known to the subjects. 62 subjects rated the isolated images for tension and liveliness, 37 subjects rated the isolated music excerpts for tension and liveliness, and 153 subjects rated the music excerpts combined with the images for music tension and liveliness, and for music-image congruence. There is a significant variation of tension and liveliness of the music as a function of the tension and liveliness of the pairing image, showing a transfer of mood from image to music. The significance of ANOVA tests showed that 40% of music excerpts were image-sensitive for liveliness and 32% for tension. The transfer of mood was dependent on congruence: music excerpts with high congruence with the image had a higher correlation in tension and liveliness rating deviations with the image ratings. For low congruence, the liveliness correlation was not significant and the tension deviation was negatively correlated with the image tension. Feature transfer from image to music depends on the image-music congruence rated by each subject.