Originally Posted by dcuny
But research indicates that that simple concept of "concept" and "dissonance" can be explained via critical bands within the ear, rather than a higher-level neural processing.
Here is one research paper that address the consonance/dissonance question we are discussing.

https://www.jneurosci.org/content/29/42/13165?utm_source=copilot.com

They conclude with this:
“By examining the subcortical response to musical intervals we found that consonance, dissonance, and the hierarchical ordering of musical pitch are automatically encoded by preattentive, sensory-level processing. Brainstem responses are well correlated with the ordering of consonance obtained behaviorally suggesting that a listener's judgment of pleasant- or unpleasant-sounding music may be rooted in low-level sensory processing. Though music training is known to tune cortical and subcortical circuitry, the fundamental attributes of musical pitch we examined here are encoded even in nonmusicians. It is possible that the choice of intervals used in compositional practice may have originated based on the fundamental processing and constraints of the auditory system.”


And if I skip ahead of where I am in the subject book, we have:
“. . . it was found that infants do show a preference for consonance over dissonance. Appreciating dissonance comes later in life, and people differ in how much dissonance they can tolerate. There probably is a neural basis for this. Consonant intervals and dissonant intervals are processed via separate mechanisms in the auditory cortex.”

Two terms we have not used yet are "discernment" and "judgement". These are more psychologically related as opposed to neurobiologically related and can explain why some can tolerate dissonance more than others. Those that tolerate lots of dissonance could be called "musically liberal" while those that can't could be called "musically conservative" . . . yet another spectrum.

So we have tonal vs.atonal, traditional vs. experimental, or mainstream vs. avant‑garde.

https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677
BiaB 2025 Windows
For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.