CACTUS Music Lab @ ASU
Cognition, Analysis, Computation, and Theory Under the Sun
Music Research with CACTUS
The CACTUS Lab in the School of Music, Dance and Theater at Arizona State University is a community for interdisciplinary, collaborative music research. The lab provides opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to develop skills and learn about the research process through applied practice. We cultivate curiosity about music in all its forms and believe in making research accessible and fun.
Theme & Methods
Timbre & Orchestration
The qualities and characteristics of different sounds—from a sweet , plaintive oboe to an edgy, distorted guitar—are what give musical voices distinct tone colors, or timbres. Human psychology and individual experiences inform how people process and understand the complex networks of timbre’s meaning in music. The goal of projects within this research theme, broadly speaking, is to understand the roles of timbre and orchestration in musical experience…and to make discoveries both about music and the brain on the way!
Behavioral Studies
Our work in music cognition, which aims to better understand how people interact with and experience music, often borrows methods from psychology and related disciplines, including experimental studies, surveys, and interviews & content analysis.
Methods
Corpus Studies
Studying musical corpora, or large datasets of music, can give us insight into patterns and trends in order to deepen our knowledge about musical practices. Corpus research often involves developing skills such as coding, statistics, and data visualization.
Music Analysis
We also learn how music works through careful study of individual musical pieces and performances. Such close readings are grounded in music theoretical techniques and acoustical analysis. Such highly-focused engagement with music can inform both theory and performance.