Parameters of Composition

• Rhythm:
  • Rate of change of events
  • Regularity / irregularity of events
  • Continuous vs. discrete
  • Ahead of / behind / on the beat
• Texture
  • Temporal Density
  • Density in Frequency
  • Number of independent voices
• Pitch:
  • Key / scale
  • Interval / harmony
  • Traditional consonance / dissonance
  • Pitch vibrato
• Timbral:
  • Vocal Inflection
  • Brightness / darkness
  • Pitchiness vs. Noisiness (broadband vs. narrow-band)
  • Harmonicity vs. Inharmonicity
  • Spectral Flux
• Spatial:
  • Panning
  • Spatial width
  • Proximity / distance
  • Filtering, resonance
• Dynamic:
  • Dynamic range; foreground / background
  • Envelopes, at various levels of structure
  • Dynamic Vibrato
• Articulation:
  • Staccato / legato
  • Accents of various types

Note: parameters express themselves very differently at different time scales.