Expert Answers » Music Cognition
Music Cognition Glossary Definition (English)
Tracking Error Defined
The following is in context to Music Cognition, because it's common for a single word to have multiple meanings you will find additional research links near the bottom of the page.
"In music, it is common to have multiple concurrent lines, parts or voices. Listeners are limited in their abilities to track multiple concurrent lines simultaneously. For textures consisting of identical timbres, even expert listeners have difficulty hearing more than three concurrent lines at the same time. Beyond three-voice textures, tracking confusions are commonplace.
The above graph shows tracking errors for three expert musicians listening to Baroque polyphony. Solid columns: average error when judging how many polyphonic voices are present. Shaded columns: average error when identifying the entries of new voices added to an existing texture. After Huron (1989). See also stream and polyphony."
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Expert Dictionary: Tracking Error
