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TIME AS THE INK THAT MUSIC IS WRITTEN WITH

Exploring Internal Clocks and Temporal Perception

How does music manipulate our sense of time? Why does a fast song make minutes feel longer, while slow music compresses our temporal experience? This research explores two competing models of how humans perceive and process time—particularly through the complex, dynamic medium of music.

Presentation (6:40) Theory

The Two Clock Models

Intrinsic Clock

State-Dependent Network

How it works:

Time emerges from neural activity itself—no dedicated "clock" needed. Timing is embedded within each sensory network, responding to specific stimuli.

Best for:

  • Subsecond intervals (milliseconds to ~1 second)
  • Automatic processing
  • Modality-specific timing

Key principle:

Activity-elicited changes in neural networks directly reflect inherent temporal structures. The process is a "temporal-to-spatial transformation."

Analogy:

A ripple spreading through water—the pattern is the measure.

Central Clock

Dedicated System

How it works:

A specialized cognitive module accumulates temporal "pulses" from a pacemaker, transferring them to working memory for comparison with stored references.

Best for:

  • Suprasecond intervals (seconds to minutes)
  • Conscious timing
  • Cross-modal integration

Two theories:

  • Dynamic Attending Theory (DAT): Non-linear pulse emission that synchronizes with external rhythms
  • Scalar Expectancy Theory (SET): Linear accumulation following Weber's law

Analogy:

A metronome counting beats, influenced by attention and emotion.

Neither Model Explains Music Entirely

The intrinsic model dominates subsecond processing; the central model better accounts for suprasecond range. A critical threshold appears around 1.2-3 seconds where mechanisms shift.

20s
01/20 ♪

Time as the Ink
That Music is
Written With

A Review of Internal Clock Models

02/20 Fast tempo feels longer?

Ravel's Paradox

Ravel complained that his Boléro, when played too fast, would feel "unjustifiably long."

How can faster tempo make music feel longer?

03/20 ?

The Fundamental Question

How do we measure what we cannot see?

Time perception is not passive recording but active construction.

04/20

Intrinsic Clock

State-Dependent Network

  • Timing embedded in neural networks
  • No dedicated "clock" needed
  • Time emerges from activity itself
05/20 1s

Subsecond Territory

The intrinsic model operates in milliseconds to ~1 second

MODALITY-SPECIFIC • AUTOMATIC • IMPLICIT

"A temporal-to-spatial transformation"

06/20

Central Clock

Dedicated Cognitive Module

  • Specialized timing system
  • Accumulates temporal pulses
  • Global neural network
07/20 3s seconds

Suprasecond Territory

The central clock operates from seconds to minutes

CROSS-MODAL • CONSCIOUS • EXPLICIT

Involves working memory and attention

08/20

Dynamic Attending Theory

Attentional pulses synchronize with external events

Your attention entrains to musical beats

09/20

The Oscillator Model

Non-linear accumulation of temporal units

  • Attentional pulses adapt to tempo
  • Coupling with external periodicity
  • Gate opens wider with more attention
10/20

Temporal Entrainment

Neural oscillations lock to musical beats

Steady-state event potentials (SS-EP) reveal this synchronization

Your brain becomes the rhythm

11/20 Fast = Longer Slow = Shorter

The Tempo Effect

Fast music → Duration overestimation

Slow music → Duration underestimation

Ravel was right.

12/20

Scalar Expectancy Theory

The pacemaker-counter model

Linear pulse accumulation from an internal metronome

13/20

Weber's Law

Variance increases proportionally with duration

The longer the interval, the larger the error

But this breaks down around 1.2-3 seconds

14/20

Neurobiological Mechanism

Striatal Beat Frequency Theory

  • Oscillations of striatal neurons
  • Coincidental detection of patterns
  • Dopaminergic cortical input
15/20 AUDIO > VISION

Auditory Dominance

Hearing shows superior temporal precision compared to vision

Sound rhythms can "drive" visual perception

What you hear changes what you see

16/20 Input Attention Gate Output

The Attention Gate

Working memory + attention control the gate through which pulses pass

More attention → More pulses → Longer duration

Less attention → Fewer pulses → Shorter duration

17/20 Low High

Emotion Accelerates The Clock

Higher arousal increases pulse emission rate

"Time flies when you're having fun"

Emotional valence matters less than arousal level

18/20 Intrinsic < 1s GAP Central > 1s

The Gap

Neither model explains musical time entirely

  • Intrinsic: subsecond range
  • Central (DAT): seconds to minutes
  • Central (SET): ~1-3 seconds

We need both

19/20 Automatic 3s THRESHOLD Conscious 1s 5s

The 3-Second Window

Pöppel's "window of temporal integration"

This may constitute the psychological present

Where automatic processing transitions to conscious timing

20/20

The Political Question

If time is constructed through attention, entrainment, and sensory input—

If the "clock" can be accelerated or slowed by external rhythms—

Whose time are we experiencing?

Key Findings

Music's Temporal Power

  • Fast tempo → duration overestimation ("time dilation")
  • Slow tempo → duration underestimation ("time contraction")
  • Musical beats entrain neural oscillations
  • Complex rhythms alter attention allocation

The Auditory Advantage

  • Superior temporal precision vs. vision
  • Auditory signals "drive" visual perception
  • Cross-modal integration enhances timing
  • Training effects transfer across modalities

Attention & Memory

  • Prospective vs. retrospective timing engage different mechanisms
  • Working memory capacity impacts timing accuracy
  • The "attentional gate" modulates pulse accumulation
  • Concurrent tasks reduce timing precision

Emotional Effects

  • Arousal accelerates the internal clock
  • Emotional content increases engagement
  • Valence effects depend on attention allocation
  • Music induces "timelessness" through absorption

The Metrical Level Effect

  • Lower metrical level (8th notes) → longer perceived duration
  • Higher metrical level (half notes) → shorter perceived duration
  • Event density affects memory registration
  • Attention flexibility enables multiple tracking

Musician Advantages

  • Enhanced temporal sensitivity across modalities
  • Better duration discrimination
  • Stronger entrainment effects
  • Intrinsic rhythm stability predicts performance

Implications for Temporal Politics

If our experience of time is constructed through attention, entrainment, and sensory input—if the "clock" can be accelerated or slowed by external rhythms—what are the political implications of controlling temporal experience?

When Wiener's cybernetic uniformity enforces synchronized temporal regimes, it's not just coordinating actions but potentially manipulating the subjective experience of duration itself. The pacemaker-counter model reveals how standardized tempos discipline bodies and consciousness.

The PechaKucha format itself embodies temporal discipline: auto-advancing slides impose external rhythm, 20-second intervals standardize temporal units, entrainment synchronizes attention across viewers. Yet within this constraint, what temporal resistance remains possible?

Critical Questions

  • Does cybernetic uniformity manipulate not just coordination but subjective duration?
  • How do standardized tempos discipline bodies and consciousness?
  • What forms of temporal resistance emerge when communities generate alternative rhythms?
  • How does 4D audio technology create new temporal-spatial experiences that escape uniform clock time?
  • Can we develop technologies of temporal multiplicity rather than uniformity?
  • What is the relationship between temporal control and colonial erasure?
  • How do different cultures construct time through music and ritual?

The question isn't just what time is it, but whose time are we experiencing—and whose clock sets the tempo?

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