Graphical expression of the mood of music

We propose a graphical method to express what a music performance is intended to create in the minds of the audience. Our graphical approach overcomes the problems associated with verbal labeling. Besides playing a melody and harmony, a music player tries to produce certain feelings in the audience by manipulating tempo, rhythm, articulation and dynamic changes. Despite the linear nature of music, the produced mood does not necessarily preserve the temporal sequence, and is mentally representable in different forms. As a first approximation to such a representation, we have developed a method involving a plane on which the musical expression elements are projected. First, expression elements for all notes in a musical section are derived. They are then arranged according to the importance of notes in consideration of the musical structure.