Our new model for analysing song uses a range of innovative digital markup techniques via Excel, Sonic Visualiser, and Audacity. When a set of songs have been analysed, we release the data tables in Excel format. We welcome comments, and invite others to test the data model against the same songs (to see if results are confirmed or change) and against other groups of songs that we have not yet had the chance to analyse. Please contact us for more information about how to apply the data model.

For data tables released as Excel spreadsheets, note that the first tab is our proforma template that all analysts and researchers are welcome to download, adapt, and apply to their own dataset. The second tab is a summary table of each of the songs by a specific composer, including averages and key trends. The subsequent tabs each analyse a specific song by that composer, according to 5 core criteria: (1) metre/prosody; (2) form/structure; (3) sound properties/repetition; (4) semantics/word-painting; (5) live performance options.

*NEW* summer 2018

Data tables for settings of Baudelaire by:

Claude Debussy

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The first set of data tables were released in summer 2017, for settings of Baudelaire by:

Maurice Rollinat
Gustave Charpentier
Alexander Gretchaninov
Louis Vierne
Alban Berg

These settings relate to Prof. Abbott’s Baudelaire in Song book published by Oxford University Press, 1 November 2017.

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Schematic analysis tables released autumn 2017 for settings of ‘Litanies of Satan’ in French/English by four extreme / death / black / thrash metal bands:

Theatre des Vampires (‘Litanies de Satan’)
Rotting Christ (‘Litanies de Satan’)
Ancient Rites (‘Exile’ / ‘Litanies de Satan’ in English)
Necromantia (‘Litanies de Satan’ in English)

+ summary analysis of settings of ‘Litanies de Satan’ in other languages by three black metal bands:

Gogoroth (in Norwegian)
Black Obelisk (in Russian)
Transmetal (in Spanish)

These settings relate to an article co-authored by Prof. Abbott and Dr Ardrey for a special issue of L’Esprit Créateur marking 150 years since Baudelaire’s death.

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