scholarly journals The Interpretive Shaping of Embodied Musical Structure in Piano Performance

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryony Buck ◽  
Jennifer MacRitchie ◽  
Nicholas J. Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Music Performance ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Musical Structure ◽  
Piano Performance ◽  
Body Movements ◽  
Motion Patterns ◽  
Structural Interpretation ◽  
Highly Skilled ◽  
A Performance

Research has indicated that the magnitude of physical expressive movements during a performance helps to communicate a musician's affective intent. However, the underlying function of these performance gestures remains unclear. Nine highly skilled solo pianists are examined here to investigate the effect of structural interpretation on performance motion patterns. Following previous findings that these performers generate repeated patterns of motion through overall upper-body movements corresponding to phrasing structure, this study now investigates the particular shapes traced by these movements. Through this we identify universal and idiosyncratic features within the shapes of motion patterns generated by these performers. Gestural shapes are examined for performances of Chopin’s explicitly structured A major Prelude (Op. 28, No. 7) and are related to individual interpretations of the more complex phrasing structure of Chopin’s B minor Prelude (Op. 28, No. 6). Findings reveal a universal general embodiment of phrasing structure and other higher-level structural features of the music. The physical makeup of this embodiment, however, is particular to both the performer and the piece being performed. Examining the link between performers' movements and interpreted structure strengthens understanding of the connection between body and instrument, furthering awareness of the relations between cognitive interpretation and physical expression of structure within music performance.

Exploring relationships between pianists’ body movements, their expressive intentions, and structural elements of the music

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc R. Thompson ◽  
Geoff Luck
Keyword(s):  
Music Performance ◽  
The Body ◽  
Musical Score ◽  
Structural Elements ◽  
Piano Performance ◽  
Body Movements ◽  
Optical Motion ◽  
Optical Motion Capture ◽  
Performance Conditions ◽  
Biomechanical Factors

Body movements during music performance have been found to be indicative of the performer’s musical intentionality, and contribute to an observer’s perception of expressive playing. This study investigates the effect of structural elements of the score, and the playing of different levels of expression on body movements during a piano performance. Pianists were required to play the same piece in four different performance conditions. Their movements were tracked by an optical motion capture system, and the comparisons that were made between specific parts of the body used, performance condition, and musical score locations were subsequently statistically examined. We found that the head and shoulders exhibited more movement per measure, as well as larger differences between each condition, than the fingers, wrists and lower back. Differences between performance conditions were observed primarily at structurally significant portions of the score, and biomechanical factors also played a role. Moreover, our data supports the view that performers equate playing without expression to playing without nonessential movements.

Creating with timbre

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magda Mayas
Keyword(s):  
Music Performance ◽  
Piano Performance ◽  
Compositional Approach ◽  
Improvised Music ◽  
Listening Experience ◽  
The Many ◽  
Dynamic Relationships ◽  
A Site ◽  
Perceptual Phenomenon ◽  
A Performance

Unfolding processes of timbre and memory in improvisational piano performance This exposition is an introduction to my research and practice as a pianist, in which I unfold processes of timbre and memory in improvised music from a performer’s perspective. Timbre is often understood as a purely sonic perceptual phenomenon. However, this is not in accordance with a site-specific improvisational practice with changing spatial circumstances impacting the listening experience, nor does it take into account the agency of the instrument and objects used or the performer’s movements and gestures. In my practice, I have found a concept as part of the creating process in improvised music which has compelling potential: Timbre orchestration. My research takes the many and complex aspects of a performance environment into account and offers an extended understanding of timbre, which embraces spatial, material and bodily aspects of sound in improvised music performance. The investigative projects described in this exposition offer a methodology to explore timbral improvisational processes integrated into my practice, which is further extended through collaborations with sound engineers, an instrument builder and a choreographer: -experiments in amplification and recording, resulting in Memory piece, a series of works for amplified piano and multichannel playback - Piano mapping, a performance approach, with a custom-built device for live spatialization as means to expand and deepen spatio-timbral relationships; - Accretion, a project with choreographer Toby Kassell for three grand pianos and a pianist, where gestural approaches are used to activate and compose timbre in space. Together, the projects explore memory as a structural, reflective and performative tool and the creation of performing and listening modes as integrated parts of timbre orchestration. Orchestration and choreography of timbre turn into an open and hybrid compositional approach, which can be applied to various contexts, engaging with dynamic relationships and re-configuring them.

KABUTO: Inducing Upper-Body Movements using a Head Mounted Haptic Display with Flywheels

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taku Tanichi ◽  
Futa Asada ◽  
Kento Matsuda ◽  
Danny Hynds ◽  
Kouta Minamizawa
Keyword(s):  
Upper Body ◽  
Haptic Display ◽  
Body Movements

Evaluating upper body movements during gait in healthy children and children with diplegic cerebral palsy

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Romkes ◽  
Wietske Peeters ◽  
Aidia M. Oosterom ◽  
Sara Molenaar ◽  
Iris Bakels ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cerebral Palsy ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Healthy Children ◽  
Body Movements

scholarly journals Automated Analysis of Body Movement in Emotionally Expressive Piano Performances

2008 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ginevra Castellano ◽  
Marcello Mortillaro ◽  
Antonio Camurri ◽  
Gualtiero Volpe ◽  
Klaus Scherer
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Expression ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Body Movement ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
The Body ◽  
Head Movements ◽  
Automated System ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Musical Score ◽  
Motion Cues

EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION IN MUSIC PERFORMANCE includes important cues arising from the body movement of the musician. This movement is related to both the musical score execution and the emotional intention conveyed. In this experiment, a pianist was asked to play the same excerpt with different emotionally expressive intentions. The aim was to verify whether different expressions could be distinguished based on movement by trying to determine which motion cues were most emotion-sensitive. Analyses were performed via an automated system capable of detecting the temporal profiles of two motion cues: the quantity of motion of the upper body and the velocity of head movements. Results showed that both were sensitive to emotional expression, especially the velocity of head movements. Further, some features conveying information about movement temporal dynamics varied among expressive conditions allowing emotion discrimination. These results are in line with recent theories that underlie the dynamic nature of emotional expression.

scholarly journals Muscle-driven and torque-driven centrodes during modeled flexion of individual lumbar spines are disparate

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Rockenfeller ◽  
Andreas Müller ◽  
Nicolas Damm ◽  
Michael Kosterhon ◽  
Sven R. Kantelhardt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Center Of Mass ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Confidence Regions ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Motion Patterns ◽  
Narrow Region ◽  
Surgical Methods

Abstract Lumbar spine biomechanics during the forward-bending of the upper body (flexion) are well investigated by both in vivo and in vitro experiments. In both cases, the experimentally observed relative motion of vertebral bodies can be used to calculate the instantaneous center of rotation (ICR). The timely evolution of the ICR, the centrode, is widely utilized for validating computer models and is thought to serve as a criterion for distinguishing healthy and degenerative motion patterns. While in vivo motion can be induced by physiological active structures (muscles), in vitro spinal segments have to be driven by external torque-applying equipment such as spine testers. It is implicitly assumed that muscle-driven and torque-driven centrodes are similar. Here, however, we show that centrodes qualitatively depend on the impetus. Distinction is achieved by introducing confidence regions (ellipses) that comprise centrodes of seven individual multi-body simulation models, performing flexion with and without preload. Muscle-driven centrodes were generally directed superior–anterior and tail-shaped, while torque-driven centrodes were located in a comparably narrow region close to the center of mass of the caudal vertebrae. We thus argue that centrodes resulting from different experimental conditions ought to be compared with caution. Finally, the applicability of our method regarding the analysis of clinical syndromes and the assessment of surgical methods is discussed.

Preparation of a Public Piano Performance: The Relation between Practice and Performance

1998 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas C. Lehmann ◽  
K. Anders Ericsson
Keyword(s):  
Music Performance ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Subjective Ratings ◽  
Public Performance ◽  
Piano Performance ◽  
Preparation Time ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Preparation Period ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Practice Time

This study investigated an expert pianist's nine-month preparation for a public music performance (recital) through the collection of practice diaries and MIDI recordings of the eight scheduled pieces. Recordings were made under the experimentally varied conditions of solitary performance and public performance. The practice diaries revealed that the expert (an advanced student performer) allocated practice time consistently across the entire preparation period and tended to use mornings to practice the pieces perceived as being more difficult. Total preparation time for each of the pieces could be predicted on the basis of the pianist's subjective ratings of complexity and independent ratings of complexity given by other experts. An analysis of the performance data showed that, near the time of the recital, variability in performance tempo was large between pieces but very small for multiple renditions of the same piece, even under the different experimental conditions. Thus, to attain a highly reproducible public performance, the expert allocated practice time in response to task demands and engaged in specific preparations that would safeguard the performance against unexpected problems.

scholarly journals Pianism: performance communication and the playing technique

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara James
Keyword(s):  
Motor Skills ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Muscle Relaxation ◽  
Body Movement ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Arm Movement ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Training Methods ◽  
Forearm Muscles ◽  
Shoulder Muscles

A pianist’s movements are fundamental to music-making by producing the musical sounds and the expressive movements of the trunk and arms which communicate the music’s structural and emotional information making it valuable for this review to examine upper-body movement in the performance process in combination with the factors important in skill acquisition. The underpinning playing technique must be efficient with economic muscle use by using body segments according to their design and movement potential with the arm segments mechanically linked to produce coordinated and fluent movement. Two physiologically and pianistically important actions proposed by early music scientists to deliver the keystroke involve dropping the hand from the shoulders towards the keys via a wave action with the joints activated sequentially, and forearm rotation to position the fingers for the keystroke, an action followed by the elbow/upper-arm rotating in the opposite direction. Both actions spare the forearm muscles by generating the energy needed in the larger shoulder muscles. The hand in the playing position has a curved palm through action of the metacarpal (knuckle) joints and curved fingers. Palm/finger posture controls sound quality from loud, high tempo sounds to a more mellow legato articulation, and to perform effectively the forearms should slope down towards the keyboard. The technique must be automatic through systematic practice which develops the motor skills for proficient playing, with practice duration tempered to reduce the risk of causing injury through overuse of the forearm muscles. Efficient movement patterns and strategic muscle relaxation which results in faster movement are realized only through extensive training. The constant movements of the head and trunk, and flowing arm movement with frequent hand lifts and rotational elbow movements, although generated in producing the playing technique, resonate with audience members who perceive them as expressive and thereby creating in them an empathic engagement with the music. It was proposed that music students be trained in the mechanical aspects of upper-body use in the playing technique, and practice strategies, with specialist pedagogy for children to develop motor skills for efficient playing, and training methods fostering an appreciation of the communicative aspects of music performance.

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