Stephen McAdams, McGill University

Research

timbre analysis timbre perception orchestration analysis perceptual effects of orchestration orchestration theory Musical timbre Auditory perception Cognitive psychology

Latest papers

The function of timbre in the perception of affective intentions: Effect of enculturation in different musical traditions.
Musicae scientiae : the journal of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music · 2024 · senior author
A comparison of dimensional and discrete models for the representation of perceived and induced affect in response to short musical sounds.
Frontiers in psychology · 2023 · senior author
Timbral cues for learning to generalize musical instrument identity across pitch register.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2023 · first author

All 29 publications

Latest funding

Analyzing orchestration practice in ensemble music
SSHRC · 2021 · Principal investigator
$118,557
Analyzing orchestration practice in ensemble music
SSHRC · 2021 · Principal investigator
$126,503
Acoustics, perception and modelling of musical timbre
NSERC · 2020 · Principal investigator
$330,000

All 26 grants and awards

29 publications.

01

The function of timbre in the perception of affective intentions: Effect of enculturation in different musical traditions.

Heng L, McAdams S

Musicae scientiae : the journal of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music2024Senior author

DOI: 10.1177/10298649241237775 PMID: 39554697

02

A comparison of dimensional and discrete models for the representation of perceived and induced affect in response to short musical sounds.

Korsmit IR, Montrey M, Wong-Min AYT, McAdams S

Frontiers in psychology2023Senior author

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1287334 PMID: 38023037

03

Timbral cues for learning to generalize musical instrument identity across pitch register.

McAdams S, Thoret E, Wang G, Montrey M

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America2023First author

DOI: 10.1121/10.0017100 PMID: 36859162

04

Modeling Noise-Related Timbre Semantic Categories of Orchestral Instrument Sounds With Audio Features, Pitch Register, and Instrument Family.

Reymore L, Beauvais-Lacasse E, Smith BK, McAdams S

Frontiers in psychology2022Senior author

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.796422 PMID: 35432090

05

Interval and Ratio Scaling of Spectral Audio Descriptors.

Kazazis S, Depalle P, McAdams S

Frontiers in psychology2022Senior author

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.835401 PMID: 35432077

06

Ordinal scaling of temporal audio descriptors and perceptual significance of attack temporal centroid in timbre spaces.

Kazazis S, Depalle P, McAdams S

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America2021Senior author

DOI: 10.1121/10.0006788 PMID: 34852574

07

A Cross-Cultural Analysis of the Influence of Timbre on Affect Perception in Western Classical Music and Chinese Music Traditions.

Wang X, Wei Y, Heng L, McAdams S

Frontiers in psychology2021Senior author

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.732865 PMID: 34659045

08

Ordinal scaling of timbre-related spectral audio descriptors.

Kazazis S, Depalle P, McAdams S

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America2021Senior author

DOI: 10.1121/10.0005058 PMID: 34241417

09

Learning metrics on spectrotemporal modulations reveals the perception of musical instrument timbre.

Thoret E, Caramiaux B, Depalle P, McAdams S

Nature human behaviour2021Senior author

DOI: 10.1038/s41562-020-00987-5 PMID: 33257878

10

Expectations for tonal cadences: Sensory and cognitive priming effects.

Sears DR, Pearce MT, Spitzer J, Caplin WE, McAdams S

Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)2019Senior author

DOI: 10.1177/1747021818814472 PMID: 30404574

Analyzing orchestration practice in ensemble music

Principal investigatorSSHRC2021Insight Grants

Principal investigators: McAdams, Stephen E.

Keywords: timbre analysis; timbre perception; orchestration analysis; perceptual effects of orchestration; orchestration theory

$118,557

Analyzing orchestration practice in ensemble music

Principal investigatorSSHRC2021Insight Grants

Principal investigators: McAdams, Stephen E.

Keywords: timbre analysis; timbre perception; orchestration analysis; perceptual effects of orchestration; orchestration theory

$126,503

Acoustics, perception and modelling of musical timbre

Principal investigatorNSERC2020Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: McAdams, Stephen

Keywords: psychoacoustics; cognitive psychology; auditory perception; musical timbre; psychomechanics; sound source perception

$330,000

Composing timbre in contemporary music

Co-investigatorSSHRC2018Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Hasegawa, Robert

Keywords: musical timbre; contemporary music; spectral music; sonorist music; electroacoustic music; music theory; music analysis; music psychology; music perception and cognition; auditory scene analysis; orchestration

$95,000

ANR Multimodal analysis and knowledge inference for musical orchestration (MAKIMOno)

Principal investigatorNSERC2017Strategic Projects - Group

Principal investigators: Mcadams, Stephen

$551,773

Timbre 2018: timbre is a many-splendored thing

Principal investigatorSSHRC2017Connection Grants

Principal investigators: McAdams, Stephen E.

Keywords: musical timbre; orchestration; musical instruments; music perception; music theory; music analysis; ethnomusicology: popular music; classical music; contemporary music

$25,000

Music Perception and Cognition

Principal investigatorNSERC2017Canada Research Chairs

Principal investigators: McAdams, Stephen

Keywords: music psychology; music listening; cognitive dynamics; ; music-induced emotions; musical timbre; sound source ; perception; orchestration

$800,000

Music Perception and Cognition

Principal investigatorNSERC2017Canada Research Chairs

Principal investigators: Mcadams, Stephen

$200,000

Music Perception and Cognition

Principal investigatorNSERC2017Canada Research Chairs

Principal investigators: Mcadams, Stephen

$300,000

Perception and cognition of musical timbre

Principal investigatorNSERC2015Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Mcadams, Stephen

$355,000

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Music, Musicology
Music Research
Other

Co-authors at McGill University, colored by department. Thicker lines mean more shared papers; select anyone to open their profile and their own map.

Philippe Depalle

Music Research

6 shared papers, latest 2022

Armando Bertone

Faculty

1 shared papers, latest 2010

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their SSHRC grant from 2021

Subject: Prospective PhD student: timbre analysis Dear Professor McAdams, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "The function of timbre in the perception of affective intentions: Effect of enculturation in different musical traditions." (2024), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your SSHRC-funded project "Analyzing orchestration practice in ensemble music" (2021), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]