scholarly journals Timing variations in music performance: Musical communication, perceptual compensation, and/or motor control?

2004 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 545-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amandine Penel ◽  
Carolyn Drake
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Musical Communication

Music Performance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Pfordresher
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Structural Information ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Interpersonal Coordination ◽  
Motor Tasks ◽  
Performance Skills ◽  
Vocal Apparatus ◽  
Musical Knowledge ◽  
Complex Structural ◽  
Communication And Coordination

Music performance involves precise motor control that is coordinated with higher order planning to convey complex structural information. In addition, music performance usually involves motor tasks that are not learned spontaneously (as in the use of the vocal apparatus), the reproduction of preestablished sequences (notated or from memory), and synchronized joint performance with one or more other musicians. Music performance also relies on a rich repertoire of musical knowledge that can be used for purposes of expressive variation and improvisation. As such, the study of music performance provides a way to explore learning, motor control, memory, and interpersonal coordination in the context of a real-world behavior. Music performance skills vary considerably in the population and reflect interactions between genetic predispositions and the effect of intensive practice. At the same time, research suggests that most individuals have the capacity to perform music through singing or learning an instrument, and in this sense music performance taps into a universal human propensity for communication and coordination with conspecifics.

Performers and an active audience: Movement in music production and perception

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Bishop ◽  
Werner Goebl
Keyword(s):  
Music Perception ◽  
Sound Production ◽  
Music Cognition ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Human Movement ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Optical Motion ◽  
Crossmodal Associations ◽  
Musical Communication

Musical communication involves performance and perception processes, both of which engage the sensorimotor system. In much of the performance science literature, however, musical communication is conceptualized as a one-way trajectory from active performer to passive listener, minimizing the contribution of the listener and the collaborative nature of communication. In this paper, we discuss how movement contributes to 1) music performance, through sound production, interperformer coordination, and visual expressivity, and 2) music perception, through the simulation of observed gestures, activation of crossmodal associations, and induction of overt synchronized responses. Embodied music cognition, which treats musical communication as a process of dynamic interaction between individuals, and emphasizes the role of the physical body in mediating between environmental stimuli and subjective experiences, provides a background for our discussion. We conclude the paper with a discussion of how ongoing technological developments are simultaneously enhancing our ability to study musical communication (e.g., via integration of optical motion capture and mobile eye tracking) and, by introducing means of performing music that do not rely on human movement, challenging our understanding of how music and movement relate.

Nonverbal behaviours in popular music performance: A case study of The Corrs

2005 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaori Kurosawa ◽  
Jane W. Davidson
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Live Performance ◽  
Musical Narrative ◽  
Nonverbal Behaviour ◽  
Musical Communication

The aim of this study was to investigate performer nonverbal behaviour in popular music performance in order to understand the use and functions of gestures, postures, and facial expression. To this end, the study begins by reviewing relevant psychological and sociological research including Ekman and Friesen and Argyle's categorisations of nonverbal behaviour. Drawing on these specific categories, functions of nonverbal behaviours in popular music performance are proposed. These include: to maintain performer self-control; to provide musical, narrative, emotional and personal information; to regulate and manipulate relationships between performer, co-performer and audience. The investigative work focuses on a case study of The Corrs and is carried out by observing two commercially available film recordings of the band in live performance. The songs demonstrate that within this band, three of the four members take turns singing solos. In the first performance, What can I do? is sung by Andrea (principle vocal), and in the second performance, No frontiers is sung by Sharon and Caroline. Focusing on the soloists, all their nonverbal behaviours are classified in terms of types ( e.g., emblem, illustrator, regulator, adaptor, affect display) and frequency of behaviour. The results demonstrate that Ekman and Friesen and Argyle's categorisations provide a complete description of the nonverbal behaviours found in the performances. Moreover, the analysis reveals differences between individuals and the two songs. With these findings, the paper concludes that nonverbal behaviours in this type of performance are crucial to the development, production and perception of the musical performance. Though preliminary, the study indicates a need for much more detailed research of this topic if performers, educators and researchers are to understand and exploit the nonverbal aspects of a musical communication fully.

scholarly journals Constraint-Based Sound-Motion Objects in Music Performance

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf Inge Godøy
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Body Motion ◽  
Control Constraints ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Sound Motion ◽  
Generative Processes

The aim of this paper is to present principles of constraint-based sound-motion objects in music performance. Sound-motion objects are multimodal fragments of combined sound and sound-producing body motion, usually in the duration range of just a few seconds, and conceived, produced, and perceived as intrinsically coherent units. Sound-motion objects have a privileged role as building blocks in music because of their duration, coherence, and salient features and emerge from combined instrumental, biomechanical, and motor control constraints at work in performance. Exploring these constraints and the crucial role of the sound-motion objects can enhance our understanding of generative processes in music and have practical applications in performance, improvisation, and composition.

scholarly journals Improvising Inside a House of Cards: New performance and music-making through a collective networked instrument

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-389
Author(s):  
Trond Engum ◽  
Thomas Henriksen ◽  
Carl Haakon Waadeland
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Electroacoustic Music ◽  
Artistic Practice ◽  
House Of Cards ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Somatic Transformation ◽  
Musical Interaction ◽  
Networked Music ◽  
Musical Communication

This article presents experiences and reflections related to performing improvised, live processed electroacoustic music within a context of networked music performance. The musical interaction is performed through a new collective networked instrument, and we report how the ensemble ‘Magnify the Sound’, consisting of two of the authors of this article, meets the instrument in different networked performance situations, and how this is related to the affordance of the instrument. In our performances the network is inherent to our artistic practice, and we experience a phenomenological and somatic transformation in our roles as musicians, from individual instrumentality to shared instrumentality. The instrument invites new forms of music-making and contributes in fundamental ways to the ensemble’s musical communication and artistic expression. In the present article we outline our methods of working artistically with the networked instrument, and we point at some artistic results. We then discuss how the collective instrument has facilitated new performance and musical practice within the network.

Collaborative Composing in High School String Chamber Music Ensembles

2014 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 405-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael T. Hopkins
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Chamber Music ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Gender Grouping ◽  
Music Ensembles ◽  
Gender Groups ◽  
Musical Communication ◽  
Mixed Gender

The purpose of this study was to examine collaborative composing in high school string chamber music ensembles. Research questions included the following: (a) How do high school string instrumentalists in chamber music ensembles use verbal and musical forms of communication to collaboratively compose a piece of music? (b) How do selected variables (music performance and composing experience, quality of group collaboration, gender grouping, perceptions of the project) influence the process of composing collaboratively in a high school chamber music ensemble? and (c) What variables influence the quality of the resulting collaborative composition? High school string instrumentalists ( N = 37) formed eight chamber music ensembles. Participants completed a presurvey regarding music performance and composing experiences, were videotaped while composing chamber music compositions, and completed a postsurvey regarding their project experiences. All groups spent a larger percentage of time engaged in task-directed musical communication than in verbal communication. Balance of collaboration had a strong relationship with composition quality. Mixed-gender groups had a stronger balance of collaboration than same-gender groups. Postsurvey data indicated that enjoyment of the project was found to have a strong relationship with composition quality.

Exploring the effect of tempo changes on violinists’ body movements

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Coorevits ◽  
Dirk Moelants ◽  
Pieter-Jan Maes ◽  
Marc Leman
Keyword(s):  
Fourier Transform ◽  
Motor Control ◽  
Body Movement ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Ground Surface ◽  
Fundamental Parameter ◽  
Continuous Change ◽  
Body Movements ◽  
Self Organizing Maps ◽  
Musical Tempo

In expressive music performance, tempo is known to be a fundamental parameter. In this article, we explored effects of changes in musical tempo on performers’ movement articulations. Eight duos (piano – violin) played two pieces at a predefined tempo, after which this start tempo was gradually increased and decreased. Throughout the different performances, we measured acceleration of the violinists’ head and right wrist, together with the downward force applied by their body to the ground surface. We calculated periodicities in downward force using fast Fourier transform (FFT) analyses and tested whether differences occurred across different tempi. Also, we clustered acceleration and force patterns across different tempi using self-organizing maps (SOMs) and k-means clustering. The results show that a continuous change in performance tempo leads to distinct “performance states” with characteristic bodily behavior in terms of periodic body movement and co-articulated gestures, which supports theories of tempo-variant motor control.

5. The psychology of music performance

2018 ◽  
pp. 63-78
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis
Keyword(s):  
Music Performance ◽  
Expressive Power ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Musical Culture ◽  
Critical Dimensions ◽  
Listener Responses ◽  
Psychology Of Music ◽  
Musical Communication ◽  
The Way

Performers occupy a special role within contemporary Western musical culture. Since two individuals can produce markedly different responses by playing the same notes, it is clear that notation fails to capture some of the most critical dimensions of musical communication. What are these dimensions? What does it take to acquire the kind of expertise in manipulating them that top-notch performers possess? How do listeners perceive and respond to them? “The psychology of music performance” tries to understand this expressive power. It considers expressivity in performance as well as its mechanics, the way that practice shapes performance, listener responses to performer choices, and the processes of creativity and improvisation.

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