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“Diversity and commonality in music performance: An analysis of timing microstructure in Schumann Traumerei”
Abstract
This study attempts to characterize the temporal commonalities and differences among distinguished pianists' interpretations of a well-known piece, Robert Schumann's "Träumerei." Intertone onset intervals (IOIs) were measured in 28 recorded performances. These data were subjected to a variety of statistical analyses, including principal components analysis of longer stretches of music and curve fitting to series of IOIs within brief melodic gestures. Global timing patterns reflected the hierarchical grouping structure of the composition, with pronounced ritardandi at the ends of major sections and frequent expressive lengthening of accented tones within melodic gestures. Analysis of local timing patterns, particularly of within-gesture ritardandi, revealed that they often followed a parabolic timing function. The major variation in these patterns can be modeled by families of parabolas with a single degree of freedom. The grouping structure, which prescribes the location of major tempo changes, and the parabolic timing function, which represents a natural manner of executing such changes, seem to be the two major constraints under which pianists are operating. Within these constraints, there is room for much individual variation, and there are always exceptions to the rules. The striking individuality of two legendary pianists, Alfred Cortot and Vladimir Horowitz, is objectively demonstrated here, as is the relative eccentricity of several other artists.
... Bu doğrultuda Repp (1992) tarafından gerçekleştirilen bir çalışmada, 28 farklı profesyonel kayıt üzerinden Robert Schumann'ın Träumerei başlıklı eserindeki tekrarlanan pasajların yorumunda ortaya çıkan mikro-zamanlama profilleri karşılaştırılmış ve ilk seslendirme ile eser içi tekrar arasındaki benzerlik ve farklılık oranını gösteren korelasyonlar hesaplanmıştır (Söz konusu iki seslendirme arasındaki korelasyonun yüksekliği, yani 1'e yakın oluşu, tekrarlar arasındaki benzerlik düzeyinin de yüksek olduğu anlamına gelmekte; düşük sayılar ise tekrarların birbirinden farklı bir zamanlamayla yorumlandığı anlamına gelmektedir). Anılan çalışmanın sonucunda, neredeyse "birebir tekrar" olarak yorumlanabilecek "0,953" kadar yüksek bir korelasyona sahip olan icraların yanı sıra, iki tekrar arasında epeyce farklılık bulunduğunu gösteren "0,510" kadar düşük korelasyon düzeylerine de rastlanmıştır. ...
... Söz konusu çalışmanın sonundaki değerlendirmede, tekrarlar arasındaki "çeşitleme" durumunun, genel olarak düşük yapısal düzeydeki unsurlarda daha yüksek, yüksek yapısal düzeydeki unsurlarda ise daha düşük olduğu gözlemine ulaşılmıştır (Repp, 1992(Repp, , s. 2565. Yani icracılar, geniş ölçekte birbirleriyle aynı temel ifade kalıplarını kullanmakta, mesela cümle ya da bölüm sonunda yavaşlamaktadırlar; fakat notalar ve akorlar arası düzeye inildiği zaman icracıların daha farklı ifade kalıpları tercih ettikleri gözlenmektedir. ...
... Ayrıca, Repp'in (1992) yukarıda anılan çalışmasının sonuçlarında göze çarpan bir başka çarpıcı durum da şudur ki, Vladimir Ashkenazy ve Alfred Brendel gibi yirminci yüzyıl sonlarının önde gelen piyanistlerinin kayıtlarında, tekrarlar arasında yüksek bir korelasyon gözlenirken (yani söz konusu icracılar ilk seslendirme ile tekrarı oldukça benzer şekilde icra ederlerken), yirminci yüzyılın daha erken dönemlerinde etkili olmuş Artur Schnabel ve Alfred Cortot gibi piyanistlerin kayıtlarında oldukça düşük korelasyonlar gözlemlenmektedir (Tablo 1). Tablo 1. Vladimir Ashkenazy, Alfred Brendel, Artur Schnabel ve Alfred Cortot'un Träumerei yorumlarında tekrarlar arasındaki korelasyonların karşılaştırılması (Repp 1992(Repp , s. 2552 Ölçü no: Bu iki farklı kuşaktaki piyanistlerin yorum tercihlerinde gözlenen söz konusu farklılık, artık "kayıt çağının başlamasıyla birlikte estetik tercihlerde gerçekleşen bir dönüşüm" olarak yorumlanmakta (Margulis, 2014a, s. 121); yani eski dönem piyanistlerinin doğaçlamavâri bir havaya sahip nispeten daha özgür yorumlar üretmelerine karşılık, kayıt teknolojisinin yaygınlaşmasıyla icracıların daha net ve belirgin yorum tercihlerine yöneldikleri çıkarsanmaktadır. Bu durum, kayıt çağının hakimiyetiyle birlikte icracıların daha standartlaşmış ve öngörülebilir yorum tercihlerine yöneldikleri yönündeki tespitlerle de (Philip, 2004, s. 252) uyum içindedir. ...
... Not an auditory parameter per se but no less relevant as a musical parameter, tempo variations, as in accelerations and decelerations, also bear potential to convey sound gestures. For one, the close association of tempo or rhythmic deceleration to a kinetic equivalence in velocity has been modeled (Friberg & Sundberg, 1999), while similar time models apply to both orientations of tempo variation in musical phrasing (Repp, 1992). Although in one case tempo has been considered in the context of human-arm gestures in response to sound (Küssner, Tidhar, Prior, & Leech-Wilkinson, 2014), it did not represent a gestural parameter itself but rather determined the time course along other auditory parameters, a notable distinction to the current study. ...
... (C) mirrored the former with an inverse curvature. Function D employed the quadratic IOI function by Repp (1992). Formulaic expressions for functions A-D are given in the Appendix. ...
... Friberg and Sundberg (1999) investigated the final tempo deceleration that concludes a musical piece, whereas they did not assess whether the same models applied to equivalent tempo increases, as in accelerandi. Repp (1992) had previously studied the fit of parabolic, squared IOI functions on timing variations obtained from pianists, where a parabolic function modeled both the initial acceleration toward a musical phrase boundary and the deceleration that followed; thus, one function was able to model both orientations of tempo change. Furthermore, in a joint comparison of squared IOI against alternative models using the parameter q (Friberg & Sundberg, 1999), the use of q = 2 and q = 3 in the timing of musical excerpts was perceived as more 'musical' compared to the alternatives. ...
Sound-based trajectories or sound gestures draw links to spatiokinetic processes. For instance, a gliding, decreasing pitch conveys an analogous downward motion or fall. Whereas the gesture’s pitch orientation and range convey its meaning and magnitude, respectively, the way in which pitch changes over time can be conceived of as gesture shape, which to date has rarely been studied in isolation. This article reports on an experiment that studied the perception of shape in uni-directional pitch, loudness, and tempo gestures, each assessed for four physical scalings. Gestures could increase or decrease over time and comprised different frequency and sound level ranges, durations, and different scaling contexts. Using a crossmodal-matching task, participants could reliably distinguish between pitch and loudness gestures and relate them to analogous visual line segments. Scalings based on equivalent-rectangular bandwidth (ERB) rate for pitch and raw signal amplitude for loudness were matched closest to a straight line, whereas other scalings led to perceptions of exponential or logarithmic curvatures. The investigated tempo gestures, by contrast, did not yield reliable differences. The reliable, robust perception of gesture shape for pitch and loudness has implications on various sound-design applications, especially those cases that rely on crossmodal mappings, e.g., visual analysis or control interfaces like audio waveforms or spectrograms. Given its perceptual relevance, auditory shape appears to be an integral part of sound gestures, while illustrating how crossmodal correspondences can underpin auditory perception.
... This piece is the one of the most famous and lyrical of Schumann's piano pieces (Ostwald, 1985;Magrath, 1993;Gordon, 1996;Kapilow, 2011). This piece has been employed in several music psychological research studies regarding acoustic analysis and performance research (e.g., Repp, 1992;Friberg, 1995;Repp, 1995;Repp, 1996;Beran and Mazzola, 2000;Cambouropoulos and Widmer, 2000;Almansa and Delicado, 2009). It was also expected to encourage various individual differences in performances, as this feature has been reported in several previous research studies (e.g., Repp, 1992Repp, , 1995Repp, , 1996Mazzola, 2011). ...
... This piece has been employed in several music psychological research studies regarding acoustic analysis and performance research (e.g., Repp, 1992;Friberg, 1995;Repp, 1995;Repp, 1996;Beran and Mazzola, 2000;Cambouropoulos and Widmer, 2000;Almansa and Delicado, 2009). It was also expected to encourage various individual differences in performances, as this feature has been reported in several previous research studies (e.g., Repp, 1992Repp, , 1995Repp, , 1996Mazzola, 2011). From the perspective of its relative technical difficulty, this piece was selected for the syllabus of the 2007-2008 ABRSM Graded 7 Piano Exam (ABRSM, 2006). ...
... The six participants were asked to practise a piece of Schumann's "Träumerei, " Op. 15 No. 7 with repeats (c.f., Repp, 1992Repp, , 1994Repp, , 1995Repp, , 1996 before coming to the recording session. The participants were given a copy of the music score in advance, which was published originally by Breitkopf and Härtel (1839). ...
In common with other professional musicians, self-evaluation of practise and performance is an integral part of a pianist’s professional life. They will also have opportunities to listen to and evaluate the performances of others based on their own criteria. These self-constructed perspectives towards to a piano performance will have an influence on both self-evaluation and external evaluation, but whether differently or similarly is not known. Consequently, this research study aimed to explore how judgements on the perceived quality of a performance are undertaken by professional standard pianists and what criteria are applied, both with regards their own performances as well as the performance of others. Participants were six professional pianists (3 men, 3 women) who were based in the United Kingdom (Mean age = 31.5 years old. SD = 5.1). They were asked to play individually six trials of a piece of R. Schumann’s “Träumerei” Op. 15 No. 7 in a hired hall for recordings. Then, within 2 months, each participant was asked to come to a self-evaluation session to listen to and evaluate their own six recordings, using a Triadic method as a Repertory Grid. For the external evaluation focused session, the participants were asked to return again to evaluate a further six recordings made up of ‘best’ recordings as selected by each participant from their own individual self-evaluations. Analyses of the resultant data suggest that there was no significant difference between the participants in their overall ratings in the external phase, but that self-evaluation showed significant individual differences amongst several participants. The performance criteria in both self-evaluation and external evaluation predominately overlapped with each other in terms of musical factors, such as tone quality, phrasing, and pedalling. The ranking of the performances was highly correlated with perceptions of overall flow, tone quality and pedalling. It appears that pianists apply similar criteria to decide performance quality when evaluating their own performances as well as others.
... In a musical performance, performers make decisions regarding expressive cues to convey or emphasise emotional content. Studies using expert performers captured on commercially available recordings have explored these expressive differences across performers' use of timing cues, demonstrating variations in their interpretative decisions (Dodson, 2011;Repp, 1992;Vines et al., 2006). For example, differences in performance cues that encode timing and dynamic information are evident at the microstructural level of a musical composition (Macritchie et al., 2012;Repp, 1992). ...
... Studies using expert performers captured on commercially available recordings have explored these expressive differences across performers' use of timing cues, demonstrating variations in their interpretative decisions (Dodson, 2011;Repp, 1992;Vines et al., 2006). For example, differences in performance cues that encode timing and dynamic information are evident at the microstructural level of a musical composition (Macritchie et al., 2012;Repp, 1992). Further, listeners can identify major sectional boundaries differently within Chopin's Prelude in E minor based on performers' deviations of those timing and dynamic cues (Macritchie et al., 2012). ...
... Previous work on interpretation tends to focus on either (1) acoustical differences (Macritchie et al., 2012;Repp, 1992) rather than their perceptual consequences or (2) perceptual differences in response to researcher-directed goals (Gingras et al., 2011;Juslin, 2000Juslin, , 1997. Due in large part to the complexity of perceptual issues, stimuli used in experiments assessing emotion are often selected explicitly for their ability to convey specific emotions (Dibben, 2004), or performers are instructed to express select discrete emotions (Laukka et al., 2013). ...
Audiences, juries, and critics continually evaluate performers based on their interpretations of familiar classics. Yet formally assessing the perceptual consequences of interpretive decisions is challenging – particularly with respect to how they shape emotional messages. Here, we explore the issue through comparison of emotion ratings (using scales of arousal and valence) for excerpts of all 48 pieces from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. In this series of studies, participants evaluated one of seven interpretations by highly regarded pianists. This work offers the novel ability to simultaneously explore (1) how different interpretations by expert pianists shape emotional messages, (2) the degree to which structural and interpretative elements shape the clarity of emotional messages, and (3) how interpretative differences affect the strength of specific features or cues to convey musical emotion.
... The idea of analysing different performances to unveil interpretative models has been employed in a number of scientific works, such as Friberg and Sundströöm (2002), Goebl et al. (2004) and Repp (1990). One of the major problems for an extensive analysis of multiple audio tracks is to determine matches among occurrences of audio events in the various media. ...
... Similar initiatives have been already conducted in the field of computational musicology. It is worth citing, for example, the research activities by Repp (1990Repp ( , 1992, focusing on Beethoven's and Schumann's repertoire, and the Mazurkas project of the AHRC Research Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music (CHARM), aiming to investigate the style, performance and meaning in Chopin's Mazurkas (Cook 2007). With respect to such initiatives, the novel aspect of our proposal is the adoption of a multi-layer format, specifically IEEE 1599, to join all needed information and to intrinsically facilitate the analysis and recognition of diversity and commonality in music performance. ...
... Similar initiatives have been already conducted in the field of computational musicology. It is worth citing, for example, the research activities by Repp (1990Repp ( , 1992, focusing on Beethoven's and Schumann's repertoire, and the Mazurkas project of the AHRC Research Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music (CHARM), aiming to investigate the style, performance and meaning in Chopin's Mazurkas (Cook 2007). With respect to such initiatives, the novel aspect of our proposal is the adoption of a multi-layer format, specifically IEEE 1599, to join all needed information and to intrinsically facilitate the analysis and recognition of diversity and commonality in music performance. ...
Multi-layer formats are becoming increasingly important in the field of music description. Thanks to their adoption, it is possible to embed into a unique digital document different representations of music contents, multiple in number and potentially heterogeneous in media type. Moreover, these descriptions can be mutually synchronized, thus providing different views of the same information entity with a customizable level of granularity. Standard use cases of multi-layer formats for music address information structuring and support to advanced fruition. The goal of the paper is to demonstrate how suitable multi-layer formats can foster analytical activities in the field of interpretative modelling and expressiveness investigation, discussing both the pedagogical roots and the educational implications of this approach. A use case focusing on the incipit of G. Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 will be presented.
... The present study fills this gap by constructing a model whereby individual differences in tempo and tempo variation can be evaluated. 1 Research shows that performers often differ from each other in their use of such parameters as tempo (Bowen, 1996;Dodson, 2011a;Fabian, 2003;Repp, 1994Repp, , 1999aRepp, 1999b) and other aspects of timing (Dodson, 2011c;Fabian & Schubert, 2010;Leech-Wilkinson, 2015;Repp, 1992Repp, , 1997aRepp, , 1997bSpiro, Gold, & Rink, 2010;Todd, 1985), dynamic variation (Cheng & Chew, 2008;Cook, 2009b;Dodson, 2011c;Todd, 1992), timbre (Bernays & Traube, 2014), ornamentation (Fabian, 2003(Fabian, , 2015Sung & Fabian, 2011), articulation (Bresin & Battel, 2000;Fabian, 2003Fabian, , 2009Fabian & Ornoy, 2009), pitch control (Fabian & Ornoy, 2009;Leech-Wilkinson, 2010), and many instrument-specific aspects such as violin vibrato and bowing, as well as piano pedaling (Bazzana, 1997;Fabian, 2015;Leech-Wilkinson, 2010;Sarlo, 2015). We refer to performers' distinctive ways of manipulating these parameters as "performers' individuality," which research has shown to be recognizable not only by performers themselves (Repp & Knoblich, 2004) but also by most listeners (Gingras, Lagrandeur-Ponce, Giordano, & McAdams, 2011;Koren & Gingras, 2014). ...
... We refer to performers' distinctive ways of manipulating these parameters as "performers' individuality," which research has shown to be recognizable not only by performers themselves (Repp & Knoblich, 2004) but also by most listeners (Gingras, Lagrandeur-Ponce, Giordano, & McAdams, 2011;Koren & Gingras, 2014). In addition, it is suggested that in many cases it is the most renowned performers whose performances differ most from each other and from the statistical norm (Repp, 1990(Repp, , 1992. In a nutshell, performers' individuality does exist; it can be perceived in the differences among their styles of performance. ...
... According to Bruno Repp (1992), tempo variation can be global or local. Global tempo variation entails the grouping of the hierarchical structure of the composition at the phrase or section level (i.e., large-scale, or macro variation), while local tempo variation involves within-gesture lengthening or shortening of beats (or notes), usually for expressive purposes, at the bar/beat/note level (i.e., micro variation). ...
People differ from each other, and this includes performers of music. The study of individual differences is well established in many social science disciplines but has been largely neglected in music performance research. To what extent do performers play differently from each other? How can these differences be concisely described and precisely assessed? Questions like these remain unanswered. Focusing on tempo and tempo variation in performance, this article contributes to knowledge by describing a well-defined, clearly illustrated and systematically classified taxonomy for identifying differences in tempo and tempo variation. Based on findings from past theoretical and empirical research on tempo in performance, it presents a model whereby performers’ individual differences in tempo and tempo variation can be evaluated. The model identifies six variables representing three dimensions of tempo and tempo variation: basic tempo, global tempo variation, and local tempo variation. It has the potential for providing researchers with a toolbox for analyzing differences among individual performers’ use of tempo and tempo variation by assessing the extent to which each of the variables is embodied in specific performances. Evgeny Kissin’s and Lars Vogt’s recorded performances are used to illustrate how the model will perform its role. Researchers could test the model further by analyzing a larger repertoire and/or carrying out experiments to generate more comprehensive knowledge about individual differences in performance style.
... First, by conditioning on performed note events, such a system can effectively transfer pianists' skills, potentially serving as an intuitive conducting tool that allows pianists to convey their expressive intentions more naturally. Additionally, pianists often rely on common performance strategies to express their musical ideas [13]. Building models that understand these conventions enables the system to predictably render the remaining performance details, based on a performed note sequence that carries the pianist's expressive intentions, such as phrasing, timbre, and tempo. ...
... It is important to note that although the model does not explicitly include an encoder for symbolic musical features such as staff notation and rhythm types, they can be inferred from the MIDI pitch, note-on, note-off, and velocity events. Additionally, given that professional pianists use expressive parameters to convey their interpretations of music [13], the BERT encoder is likely to learn musical encoding through these expressive parameters. Experimental results indicate that the model is responsive to the musical features and can predict conventional performance strategies, such as voicing an ascending melody line with a crescendo, balancing an Alberti bass with the main melody, and emphasizing the bass line in polyphonic passages. ...
Creating and experiencing expressive renditions of composed musical pieces are fundamental to how people engage with music. Numerous studies have focused on building computational models of musical expressiveness to gain a deeper understanding of its nature and explore potential applications. This paper examines masked language modeling (MLM) for modeling expressiveness in piano performance, specifically targeting the prediction of key striking velocity using vanilla Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT). While MLM has been explored in previous studies, this work applies it in a novel direction by concentrating on the fine-grained conditioned prediction of velocity information. The results show that the model can predict masked velocity events in various contexts within an acceptable margin of error, relying solely on the pitch, timing, and velocity data encoded in Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) files. Additionally, the study employs a sequential masking and prediction approach toward rendering the velocity of unseen MIDI files and achieves more musically convincing results. This approach holds promise for developing interactive systems for expressive performance generation, such as advanced piano conducting or accompaniment systems.
... One important reason for this lack of impact was methodological: In 1966, there was no way to demonstrate scientifically that these traces of the performance process or "participatory discrepancies" (PDs; see Keil, 1987) even existed. This situation started to change in the 1980s and 1990s, when researchers such as Bengtsson and Gabrielsson (1983), Rose (1989), Repp (1992), Alén (1995), and Prögler (1995) found and applied methods to measure the exact onset times of musical notes. The timing measurements revealed a plethora of microscopic life in shortest time spans of performed music, and they showed that participatory discrepancies indeed exist in the time domain of music (much to the relief of Keil himself; Keil, 1995, p. 2). ...
... The timing measurements revealed a plethora of microscopic life in shortest time spans of performed music, and they showed that participatory discrepancies indeed exist in the time domain of music (much to the relief of Keil himself; Keil, 1995, p. 2). This triggered a series of microtiming analyses that studied performances from various musical contexts and genres, be it Western art music (Dodson, 2011;Goebl et al., 2004;Repp, 1992Repp, , 1997Repp, , 1998Senn et al., 2009Senn et al., , 2012, jazz (Datseris et al., 2019;Ellis, 1991;Friberg & Sundström, 1997, 2002Honing & Haas, 2008;Nelias et al., 2022), samba or other forms of popular music (Haugen, 2014, Hosken et al., 2021Naveda et al., 2011). ...
Charles Keil (1966) argued against Leonard Meyer (1956) that the expressivity, emotional power, and groove of music does not primarily lie in the syntax of the notated score, but in music performance as a bodily and participatory process. So far, empirical music research has investigated the traces of the performance process primarily focusing on note onset timing (or microtiming). Studies established that microtemporal deviations from metronomic regularity (isochrony and synchrony) tend to be systematic and not just random deviations caused by motor imprecision. Besides this positivistic acknowledgment of microtiming patterns, research has largely failed to show that microtiming has the emotional effects predicted by Keil. One reason for this failure may be that note onset displacement is only one performance aspect among many (e.g., articulation, timbre, dynamics) that are potentially relevant to listeners' and musicians' emotional responses. In their recent studies, Câmara and colleagues analyze traces of music performance in different dimensions of the musical artifact. This holistic approach may lead to a new empirical assessment of Keil's ideas in the future, more than half a century after they were first proposed.
... Performed music shows some similarities to speech in how these dimensions are phonetically cued. Grouping or "phrasing" is encoded in music performance by an increase in duration at phrase endings, with greater degrees of lengthening observed at greater junctures (Repp, 1992;Todd, 1985). And Gabrielsson (1987, p. 98) observed that in piano performances the "termination of each phrase is thus associated with diminishing amplitude." ...
... It has long been noted that music performers, in order to not sound mechanical, have to deviate from the score to create a natural-sounding rhythm (Bengtsson & Gabrielsson, 1983). These deviations in part reflect constraints on motor planning, but they are also expressive and have been argued to be used evoke associations with physical motion (Gabrielsson, 1987;Kronman & Sundberg, 1984;Repp, 1992;Todd, 1992). Honing (2003) related phrase-final ritardando in music to the "exertion of a continuous breaking force." ...
In a sequence of otherwise equal sounds, listeners tend to hear a series of trochees (groups of two sounds with an initial beat) when every other sound is louder; they tend to hear a series of iambs (groups of two sounds with a final beat) when every other sound is longer. The article presents evidence that this so-called "Iambic-Trochaic Law" (ITL) is a consequence of the way listeners parse the signal along two orthogonal dimensions, grouping (Which tone is first/last?) and prominence (Which tone is prominent?). A production experiment shows that in speech, intensity and duration correlate when encoding prominence, but anticorrelate when encoding grouping. A model of the production data shows that the ITL emerges from the cue distribution based on a listener's predicted decisions about prominence and grouping respectively. This, and further predictions derived from the model, are then tested in speech and tone perception. The perception results provide evidence that intensity and duration are excellent cues for grouping and prominence, but poor cues for the distinction between iamb and trochee per se. Overall, the findings illustrate how the ITL derives from the way listeners recover two orthogonal perceptual dimensions, grouping and prominence, from a single acoustic stream. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
... For expressive music, both approaches have disadvantages. IBIs exhibit a large variance, and averaging beat counts may underestimate the tempo, because expression leads more often to longer than shorter IBIs [2]. Repp therefore attempts to find a definition for the basic tempo [3], i.e., the implied tempo the instantaneous tempo varies around. ...
... Repp therefore attempts to find a definition for the basic tempo [3], i.e., the implied tempo the instantaneous tempo varies around. In [2], he suggests to derive the basic tempo from the first quartile of eighth-note Inter Onset Intervals (IOIs). Similarly, Dixon [4] proposes IOI clustering, using centroids as tempo hypotheses. ...
Even though local tempo estimation promises musicological insights into expressive musical performances, it has never received as much attention in the music information retrieval (MIR) research community as either beat tracking or global tempo estimation. One reason for this may be the lack of a generally accepted definition. In this paper, we discuss how to model and measure local tempo in a musically meaningful way using a cross-version dataset of Frédéric Chopin's Mazurkas as a use case. In particular , we explore how tempo stability can be measured and taken into account during evaluation. Comparing existing and newly trained systems, we find that CNN-based approaches can accurately measure local tempo even for expressive classical music, if trained on the target genre. Furthermore, we show that different training-test splits have a considerable impact on accuracy for difficult segments.
... For expressive music, both approaches have disadvantages. IBIs exhibit a large variance, and averaging beat counts may underestimate the tempo, because expression leads more often to longer than shorter IBIs [138]. Repp therefore attempts to find a definition for the basic tempo [139], i.e., the implied tempo the instantaneous tempo varies around. ...
... Repp therefore attempts to find a definition for the basic tempo [139], i.e., the implied tempo the instantaneous tempo varies around. In [138] he suggests to derive the basic tempo from the first quartile of eighth-note inter-onset intervals (IOIs). Similarly, Dixon [33] proposes IOI clustering, using centroids as tempo hypotheses. ...
In recent years, we have witnessed the creation of large digital music collections, accessible, for example, via streaming services. Efficient retrieval from such collections, which goes beyond simple text searches, requires automated music analysis methods. Creating such methods is a central part of the research area Music Information Retrieval (MIR). In this thesis, we propose, explore, and analyze novel data-driven approaches for the two MIR analysis tasks tempo and key estimation for music recordings. Tempo estimation is often defined as determining the number of times a person would “tap” per time interval when listening to music. Key estimation labels music recordings with a chord name describing its tonal center, e.g., C major. Both tasks are well established in MIR research. To improve tempo estimation, we focus mainly on shortcomings of existing approaches, particularly estimates on the wrong metrical level, known as octave errors. We first propose novel methods using digital signal processing and traditional feature engineering. We then re-formulate the signal-processing pipeline as a deep computational graph with trainable weights. This allows us to take a purely data-driven approach using supervised machine learning (ML) with convolutional neural networks (CNN). We find that the same kinds of networks can also be used for key estimation by changing the orientation of directional filters. To improve our understanding of these systems, we systematically explore network architectures for both global and local estimation, with varying depths and filter shapes, as well as different ways of splitting datasets for training, validation, and testing. In particular, we investigate the effects of learning on different splits of cross-version datasets, i.e., datasets that contain multiple recordings of the same pieces. For training and evaluation the proposed data-driven approaches rely on curated datasets covering certain key and tempo ranges as well as genres. Datasets are therefore another focus of this work. Additionally to creating or deriving new datasets for both tasks, we evaluate the quality and suitability of popular tempo datasets and metrics, and conclude that there is ample room for improvement. To promote better, transparent evaluation, we propose new metrics and establish a large open and public repository containing evaluation code, reference annotations, and estimates.
... For instance, phrasing has been modelled by fitting polynomials to the expressive variation in dynamics or timing of the music [27,28]. PCA analysis has been used to find commonalities between the ways musicians phrase music [29] in objective music analysis. Phrasing algorithms have used concatenate synthesis and reconstructive phrase modelling approaches [30] to mimic human phrasing patterns. ...
Why are musical robots distinguishable from humans? What makes them sound less ‘musical’ or ‘human’? The many variables and high complexity of music make it difficult to answer this question. This paper sets out to formalise the many tasks and skills a musical robot has to carry out, and lists areas of unsolved problems that require new research. A potential overall robot information structural flow is provided on how separately created modules can work together to create a coherent musical robot. This was accompanied by a method for grading the ability of musical robots to evaluate their performance. This study attempted to depict how robotic musicians might perform in the future.
... Phrase-final lengthening has been documented not just in speech (e.g., van Santen, 1992) but also in music. Notated melodic phrases tend to exhibit note durations that increase rather than decrease towards the phrase end (Huron, 2006), while in performance, musicians tend to slow down ("ritardando") by lengthening notes at phrase boundaries, irrespective of notation (Lindblom & Sundberg, 2014;Palmer, 1989;Repp, 1992;Todd, 1985). Furthermore, in both English and Japanese folk tune samples, Savage et al. (2022) found final notes to be the most stable (less likely to change across time), followed by stressed notes with a strong rhythmic function. ...
Music is a product of both biological and cultural evolution. Cultural transmission is the engine of cultural evolution and may play a role in the establishment of musical universals. Here, we examined how transmission dynamics can shape melodic features in music. Specifically, we tested whether random melodic seeds, in their transformation, take on properties known to characterise music within or even across cultures. Using an iterated learning paradigm, we investigated the transmission of random melodic seeds through a chain of non-musician participants (N = 64). We found that melodies reproduced vocally between "generations" became more similar to known musical scales, exhibited a predominance of consonant intervals, and reduced the number of scale degrees used. Additionally, we observed the previously documented tendency for large intervals to be followed by a change in direction, as well as features common to both music and speech including phrase-final lengthening and the Zipfian distribution of signalling units. As participants' vocalisations converged towards greater memora-bility, they exhibited decreased entropy, and their contours became smoother and more consistent. Finally, certain short melodic patterns became prominent motifs within the incipient musical "traditions" simulated by the chains. These emerging features may reflect a process shaped by (i) cognitive bottlenecks such as learnability; (ii) statistical properties of the processes and structures involved in inter-generational vocal transmission; but also by (iii) idiosyncratic cultural artefacts specific to the lab samples employed. Overall, our results demonstrate that fundamental aspects of melodic structure emerge naturally through the process of cultural transmission, as simulated in the lab.
... We can assume that there are systematic local timing variations in jazz that serve an expressive purpose, as has been found in other genres (cf. Bengtsson and Gabrielsson 1983;Repp 1992) and that the timing patterns are potentially influenced by many parameters like phrase structure, dynamics, melodic contour, and rhythmic pattern. Whether these timing variations contribute to the perception of groove or swing needs to be clarified, however. ...
In a jazz ensemble, the timing patterns within each instrument and between instruments vary systematically depending on the instrument, tempo, style, and other parameters. A set of computer tools is described to modify these timing parameters according to previous measurements, allowing a large flexibility to account for individual differences and preferences. Four different jazz trio recordings were transcribed and annotated, and the tools were then used to recreate or modify the timing patterns in synthesized versions. These tools can be used for pedagogical purposes in which a music example can be played with different timing interpretations. It can also be used as a tool for research in which controlled factorial experiments can be designed.
... Importantly, they revealed this relationship's complex and multifaceted nature: musical parameters were simultaneously associated with multiple motion parameters. Motion can also be correlated with the musical structures of the piece, for example in line with the ritardandi (Repp, 1992). So-called sound-tracing experiments, focused on the listeners' spontaneous gestural renderings of sound, have further analyzed listeners' immediate association between music and motion (Godøy et al., 2006;Nymoen et al., 2010Nymoen et al., , 2011Nymoen et al., , 2013. ...
Recent investigations on music performances have shown the relevance of singers' body motion for pedagogical as well as performance purposes. However, little is known about how the perception of voice-matching or task complexity affects choristers' body motion during ensemble singing. This study focussed on the body motion of choral singers who perform in duo along with a pre-recorded tune presented over a loudspeaker. Specifically, we examined the effects of the perception of voice-matching, operationalized in terms of sound spectral envelope, and task complexity on choristers' body motion. Fifteen singers with advanced choral experience first manipulated the spectral components of a pre-recorded short tune composed for the study, by choosing the settings they felt most and least together with. Then, they performed the tune in unison (i.e., singing the same melody simultaneously) and in canon (i.e., singing the same melody but at a temporal delay) with the chosen filter settings. Motion data of the choristers' upper body and audio of the repeated performances were collected and analyzed. Results show that the settings perceived as least together relate to extreme differences between the spectral components of the sound. The singers' wrists and torso motion was more periodic, their upper body posture was more open, and their bodies were more distant from the music stand when singing in unison than in canon. These findings suggest that unison singing promotes an expressive-periodic motion of the upper body.
... 3 One example is provided in Figure 1. The phrase-arch rule contains several additional parameters that were chosen as the best fit for a set of analysed performances of Schumann's Träumerei (Repp, 1992). The features included both the whole dynamics curve and the first and the last note of each phrase separately for all three levels. ...
Variations in dynamics are an essential component of musical performance in most instruments. To study the factors that contribute to dynamic variations, we used a model approaching, allowing for determination of the individual contribution of different musical features. Thirty monophonic melodies from 3 stylistic eras with all expressive markings removed were performed by 20 pianists on a Disklavier piano. The results indicated a relatively high agreement among the pianists (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.88). The overall average dynamics (across pianists) could be predicted quite well using support vector regression (R² = 66%) from a set of 48 score-related features. The highest contribution was from pitch-related features (37.3%), followed by phrasing (12.3%), timing (2.8%), and meter (0.7%). The highest single contribution was from the high-loud principle, whereby higher notes were played louder, as corroborated by the written feedback of many of the pianists. There were also differences between the styles. The highest contribution from phrasing, for example, was obtained from the Romantic examples, while the highest contribution from meter came from the Baroque examples. An analysis of each individual pianist revealed some fundamental differences in approach to the performance of dynamics. All participants were undergraduate-standard pianists or above; however, varied levels of consistency and predictability highlighted challenges in acquiring a reliable group in terms of expertise and preparation, as well as certain pianistic challenges posed by the task. Nevertheless, the method proved useful in disentangling some underlying principles of musical performance and their relation to structural features of the score, with the potential for productive adaptation to a wider range of expressive and instrumental contexts.
... Performance science has shown that lengthening the duration of a beat stresses its contextual position as a metrical accent (Repp 1992). Consistent patterns of lengthening and shortening can therefore help listeners form higher-level rhythmic and metrical structures (Iyer 2002). ...
... Performance science has shown that lengthening the duration of a beat stresses its contextual position as a metrical accent (Repp 1992). Consistent patterns of lengthening and shortening can therefore help listeners form higher-level rhythmic and metrical structures (Iyer 2002). ...
... Musicians have idiosyncratic playing styles and timing patterns that differ from those of other musicians Repp, 1992Repp, , 1998Repp and Knoblich, 2004;Zamm et al., 2016). Interestingly, musicians seem to be able to use their sensory familiarity with the co-performers' idiosyncratic playing style when rehearsing and performing together. ...
... Cf. Neuhoff / Polak / Fischinger 2014. 18 See, e.g.,Todd 1985;Repp 1992;Ohriner 2011. 19 Goldberg 2015 ...
... Yet, anecdotally, elite musicians extol the virtues of practising slowly (Kageyama, 2021). As temporal aspects of motor control, and nuanced musical timing details are key to successful music performance (Repp, 1998;Ullén ...
Practicing slowly is a commonly used, intuitive approach to music learning, and is widely considered the bedrock of musical skill acquisition. Yet, little is known about the different approaches and techniques musicians use when practicing slowly. This study investigated instrumental musicians’ perspectives on the uses, limitations, and specific techniques of slow music practice, through qualitative thematic analysis of responses to an online questionnaire. Generally, slow practice was perceived as a useful, and often necessary, part of learning. Furthermore, we identified four perceived functions of slow practice. They were managing information load; building a foundation for motor learning; creative and critical problem-solving; and regulating emotional, mental, and perceptual states. We propose a possible underlying mechanism of these functions: reduction of extrinsic cognitive load and stimulation of germane cognitive processes. Respondents also perceived potential technical-practical and emotional-cognitive malfunctions of slow practice, as well as possible strategic pitfalls of using slow practice. Specific techniques of slow practice included the use of tempo organization methods and strategies to complement slow practice. This provided insight into how biomechanical differences between slow and fast playing might be bridged. Findings have implications for music education and understanding the psychology of musical skill acquisition.
... In solo music performances, significant individual differences in musical expressions have been found in professional pianists (Repp, 1992;Repp, 1998): for example, in the expressive deviations from metronomic timing in solo piano performances (Repp, 1999). Several models of expressiveness in music performances based on timing have been proposed (Widmer & Goebl, 2004). ...
Ensemble music is a familiar example of collective creativity. However, it remains unclear how the process of changes from individual creativity (i.e. solo performance) leads to collective creativity (i.e. ensemble performance) and how we can simulate this process. Thus, this study investigated whether a multi-agent system can sufficiently simulate human ensemble performances using recorded solo performances by skilled professional performers. The original solo performance of a professional human performer was assigned to an agent as an initial value, and a simulation was conducted. Focusing on the timing profile, which is crucial for both expression and coordination during music performances, we compared the human music ensemble performances with the multi-agent ensemble performances. The main findings are as follows: (1) the multi-agent performance shares many common aspects with the human ensemble performance; (2) at the structural boundaries of the musical piece, where the tempo changes drastically, the difference between the human performance and the multi-agent performance became significant; (3) by making the agent's negotiation strategy similar to that of a human, the similarities of the multi-agent and human performances increased. These results can be used to increase our understanding of collective creativities, the creation of new musical performances, and human-agent collaboration.
... In solo music performances, significant individual differences in musical expressions have been found in professional pianists (Repp, 1992;Repp, 1998): for example, in the expressive deviations from metronomic timing in solo piano performances (Repp, 1999). Several models of expressiveness in music performances based on timing have been proposed (Widmer & Goebl, 2004). ...
Ensemble music is a familiar example of collective creativity. However, it remains unclear how the process of changes from individual creativity (i.e. solo performance) leads to collective creativity (i.e. ensemble performance) and how we can simulate this process. Thus, this study investigated whether a multi-agent system can sufficiently simulate human ensemble performances using recorded solo performances by skilled professional performers. The original solo performance of a professional human performer was assigned to an agent as an initial value, and a simulation was conducted. Focusing on the timing profile, which is crucial for both expression and coordination during music performances, we compared the human music ensemble performances with the multi-agent ensemble performances. The main findings are as follows: (1) the multi-agent performance shares many common aspects with the human ensemble performance; (2) at the structural boundaries of the musical piece, where the tempo changes drastically, the difference between the human performance and the multi-agent performance became significant; (3) by making the agent’s negotiation strategy similar to that of a human, the similarities of the multi-agent and human performances increased. These results can be used to increase our understanding of collective creativities, the creation of new musical performances, and human–agent collaboration.
... There is a body of research showing (sometimes implicitly) that performers tend to elongate the ends of major harmonic sections (e.g. Repp, 1992Repp, , 1998Todd, 1985) in such a manner that the resulting grouping structure is isomorphic to major harmonic (syntactic) constituents. Many of the ethnomusicological descriptions reviewed in Sect. ...
This paper reviews evidence concerning the nature of grouping in music and language and their interactions with other linguistic and musical systems. I present brief typological surveys of the relationship between constituency and acoustic parameters in language and music, drawing from a wide variety of languages and musical genres. The two domains both involve correspondence between auditory discontinuities and group boundaries, reflecting the Gestalt principles of proximity and similarity, as well as a nested, hierarchical organization of constituents. Typically, computational-level theories of musical grouping take the form of a function from acoustic properties through grouping representations to syntactic or interpretive constituents. Linguistic theories tend to be cast as functions in the opposite direction. This study argues that the difference in orientation is not grounded in principled differences in information flow between the two domains, and that reconceptualizing one or both theories allows for gains in analytical understanding. There are also obvious differences between musical and linguistic grouping. Grappling with those differences requires one to think in detail about modularity, information flow, levels of description, and the functional nature of cognitive domains.
... Compared with less skilled pianists, expert pianists have better independence and efficiency in their fingers and upper-limb movements by minimizing and optimizing their muscles' coordination processes as a result of extensive practice (Aoki et al., 2005;Furuya et al., 2011;Furuya & Kinoshita, 2007, 2008. Besides, skilled pianists can play and synchronize with millisecond-level precision and maintain a less than 3% error accuracy (Palmer, 1997(Palmer, , 2006Repp, 1992Repp, , 2005Repp, , 2010. Except for the precise execution of their performance, skilled musicians also need to monitor the sound and adjust their motions in real-time to ensure the quality and desired music intention (Brown et al., 2015). ...
This master's thesis examines the musicians' cardiac rhythms in string quartet performances. It attempts to capture and demonstrate the cardiac dynamics and synchrony in musical ensembles by analyzing two cases, including a student string quartet (the Borealis String Quartet) and a world-renowned quartet (the Danish String Quartet) performing in different experimental configurations. Two string quartets measured resting heart rate as the Quiet Baseline and repeated Joseph Haydn's String Quartet in B-flat major in conditions that differ in communication constraints such as the Blind, Violin-isolated, Score-directed, Normal, and Concert. Besides, the Danish String Quartet performed an additional Moving Baseline condition in which they played a scale together, as well as a Sight-reading condition involving a music excerpt they had never heard or practiced before. Unlike most previous studies on music and physiological responses, this study employs both linear and nonlinear methods to reveal different aspects of cardiac dynamics from the individual to the group level. Firstly, we observed more predictable individuals' cardiac dynamics during the musical performance than the resting baseline in both quartets. Secondly, group-level synchrony analysis demonstrated that both quartets' cardiac synchrony levels increased during performance conditions relative to the Quiet Baseline. Moreover, the cardiac synchrony level of the Borealis String Quartet was affected to varying degrees by adverse conditions. However, the Danish String Quartet, as an expert group, was more resistant to constraints. Finally, we compared the cardiac synchrony level of the two quartets in identical pairwise conditions. We found the Danish String Quartet has a higher cardiac coupling rate relative to the Borealis String Quartet. Overall, our findings suggest that performing in the string quartet facilitates more predictable cardiac dynamics and synchrony. Different constraints may affect cardiac synchrony to the degree associated with the level of expertise.
... The tendency for passages that emphasize different locations or centers in tonal space to be separated by Gestalt grouping is attested in Japanese Edo-period music (Pasciak, 2017), Arab taqsim (Ayari & McAdams, 2003), Turkish makam (Mungan et al., 2017), and Javanese gamelan (Hughes, 1988), for instance. More generally, the most prominent musical events in metrical, harmonic, and psychoacoustic terms play an outsized role in people's ability to identify (Dalla Bella et al., 2003), perform (Repp, 1992;1998;Large et al., 1995;Dell & Halle, 2009), and judge the similarity (Bigand, 1990;Dibben, 1994) of musical pieces. Listeners are much better at remembering musical sequences that have hierarchical elaboration structures of tonally-stable events, as in (8), than those that do not (Deutsch, 1980). ...
This paper reviews some basic elements of musical structure, drawing from work in traditional and cognitive musicology, ethnomusicology, psychology, and generative textsetting. Music features two different hierarchical representational components that can both be visualised in grid notation: metrical structure and event hierarchies (also referred to as Time‐Span Reduction). Metrical structure is an abstract pattern of stronger and weaker points in time that form a temporal ‘scaffold’ against which auditory events occur, but is partly independent from those occurring events. Event hierarchies encode the constituency (referred to as grouping) and prominence of actually‐occurring musical events. Basic principles of these components are illustrated with examples from Western children's, folk, and popular song. The need for both metrical hierarchy and event hierarchy is illustrated using mismatches between metrical and rhythmic structure. The formal, conceptual, and empirical features of musical metre are quite different from linguistic stress and prosody, despite the frequent analogies drawn between them. Event hierarchies, on the other hand, are shown to resemble linguistic prosodic structure with regard to all of these features.
... Despite the widespread assumption that musical scores could also be useful in this regard, sonification, that is, the visual representation of notes on a music score, cannot convey the complexity of such nuances and their infinite possibilities of variation. The parameters of interpretive expression in performance have been thoroughly investigated and analyzed in previous studies (Sloboda, 1983(Sloboda, , 1999Shaffer and Todd, 1987;Clarke, 1988Clarke, , 1989Clarke, , 1993Gabrielsson, 1988;Palmer, 1989Palmer, , 1996Repp, 1992Repp, , 1995. Studies have also examined pianists' individuality in performance (Seashore, 1936(Seashore, , 1938Bernays and Traube, 2014). ...
The integrative powers of human auditory perception in masterful performing artists can create nuances of sound from the interpretation of notes on a written page that often seem beyond one’s grasp as a listener. It is important to consider what type of feedback can provide a clearer understanding of nuances in sound to guide motor learning for the acquisition of new skills for expression. Master pianists’ performance has been used as a model for imitation. However, to ensure the accuracy of imitation and clear understanding, sonification was examined for its effectiveness in providing a more immediate understanding of individual interpretations in terms of inter-onset timing and velocity of the notes. Three master concert pianists volunteered to record a performance of the Chopin Nocturne Opus 15 No. 1 on a Yamaha Disklavier Pro MIDI (music instrument digital interface) grand piano. Logic software was used to analyze and compare MIDI data from each performance from the perspective of phrase-by-phrase, note onset timings, and corresponding data from the other pianists. The study objectives were to examine commonalities and differences in timing and dynamics among the performances using MIDI measurements; to probe whether listening to comparative performance data assisted with feedback from sonification would enhance music students’ understanding of the interpretive nuances through imitation; and to determine whether auditory-assisted sonification feedback could be used as a tool to expand students’ interpretive choices and enhance performance. Participants imitated selected phrases of each of the master pianists, first with only music listening, and then with feedback from the sonified, comparative performance data. Results showed limited success in attempts to imitate the model with auditory feedback alone. Auditory-assisted sonification feedback significantly enhanced the participants’ abilities to imitate the model faster and with greater accuracy in the final imitation experiments. The data gathered by the study provide insights on this kind of sonification as an effective feedback tool for heightening participants’ auditory understanding of nuances in sound, as well as providing an effective teaching tool for imitation exercises.
... Theoretical models of rubato in performance tend to predict more extreme ritardando at globally important phrase endings than locally important endings and rely on music-theoretic hierarchies of phrase structure (Todd, 1985(Todd, , 1989. Rubato patterns at phrase endings are also more consistent across different players than in the middle of phrases, where there is more individual variation (Repp, 1992). ...
Performers express musical structure using variations in dynamics, timbre, timing, and physical gesture. Previous research on instrumental performance of Western classical music has identified increased nontechnical motion (movement considered supplementary to producing sound) and ritardando at cadences. Cadences typically provide resolution to built-up tension at differing levels of importance according to the hierarchical structure of music. Thus, we hypothesized that performers would embody these differences by employing nontechnical motion and rubato, even when not explicitly asked to express them. Expert violinists performed the Allemande from Bach’s Flute Partita for motion capture and audio recordings in a standing position, then we examined nontechnical motion and rubato in four cadential excerpts (two locally important, two globally important) and four noncadential excerpts. Each excerpt was segmented into the buildup to and departure from the dominant-tonic progression. Increased ritardando as well as nontechnical motion such as side-to-side whole-body swaying and torso rotation in cadential excerpts were found compared to noncadential excerpts. Moreover, violinists used more nontechnical motion and ritardando in the departure segments of the global cadences, while the buildups also showed the global-local contrast. Our results extend previous findings on the expression of cadences by highlighting the hierarchical nature of embodied musical resolution.
... They assume the tempo of the click track to be constant and changes in tempo to happen suddenly or at least with a constant rate. When several Musicians are playing together in an ensemble, the tempo is perpetual fluctuating due to musical expression or the musicians' rhythmical skills (see, e.g., (Repp, 1992(Repp, , 2005). The musicians' insufficiency can be simulated by adding different kinds of noise to the tempo of the click track, as discussed in the introduction. ...
When musicians perform in an ensemble, synchronizing to a mutual pace is the foundation of their musical interaction. Clock generators, e.g., metronomes, or drum machines, might assist such synchronization, but these means, in general, will also distort this natural, self-organized, inter-human synchronization process. In this work, the synchronization of musicians to an external rhythm is modeled using the Impulse Pattern Formulation (IPF), an analytical modeling approach for synergetic systems motivated by research on musical instruments. Nonlinear coupling of system components is described as the interaction of individually propagating and exponentially damped impulse trains. The derived model is systematically examined by analyzing its behavior when coupled to numerical designed and carefully controlled rhythmical beat sequences. The results are evaluated by comparison in the light of other publications on tapping. Finally, the IPF model can be applied to analyze the personal rhythmical signature of specific musicians or to replace drum machines and click tracks with more musical and creative solutions.
... An IOI is defined as the duration between successive event onsets, a standard measurement within studies on sensorimotor synchronization (Madison 2001;Repp 2005), expressive timing in music (Benadon 2006;Goldberg 2015;Ohriner 2018), and cognitive processes like free recall of items from memory (e.g., Rhodes and Turvey 2007;. In keeping with standard methods for measuring IOIs in prerecorded music (Repp 1992;Ashley 2002), drum samples were uploaded into the sound processing program Audacity (Mazzoni 2021) and were then analyzed in two stages. In the first stage, the time point for each attack on the drum was marked in the recording. ...
Yorùbá dùndún drumming is an oral tradition which allows for manipulation of gliding pitch contours in ways that correspond to the differentiation of the Yorùbá linguistic tone levels. This feature enables the drum to be employed as both a musical instrument and a speech surrogate. In this study, we examined four modes of the dùndún talking drum, compared them to vocal singing and talking in the Yorùbá language, and analyzed the extent of microstructural overlap between these categories, making this study one of the first to examine the vocal surrogacy of the drum in song. We compared the fundamental frequency, timing pattern, and intensity contour of syllables from the same sample phrase recorded in the various communicative forms and we correlated each vocalization style with each of the corresponding drumming modes. We analyzed 30 spoken and sung verbal utterances and their corresponding drum and song excerpts collected from three native Yorùbá speakers and three professional dùndún drummers in Nigeria. The findings confirm that the dùndún can very accurately mimic microstructural acoustic temporal, fundamental frequency, and intensity characteristics of Yorùbá vocalization when doing so directly, and that this acoustic match systematically decreases for the drumming modes in which more musical context is specified. Our findings acoustically verify the distinction between four drumming mode categories and confirm their acoustical match to corresponding verbal modes. Understanding how musical and speech aspects interconnect in the dùndún talking drum clarifies acoustical properties that overlap between vocal utterances (speech and song) and corresponding imitations on the drum and verifies the potential functionality of speech surrogacy communications systems.
... In the tradition of Western classical music, musicians usually learn their repertoire from notated scores, but the same scores can be performed by different musicians in highly individual ways (e.g., Repp, 1992). Expression in performance may depend, for example, on the performer's technical skills, structural interpretation of the music, personal style, mood, expressive intentions, and/or performer-audience interaction (Juslin, 2003). ...
The purpose of this study was to investigate how professional pianists practice music for a concert, and whether their individual cognitive orientations in such practice processes can be identified accurately from the resulting performances. In Study I, four pianists, previously found to be skilled music memorizers, practiced and performed a short piece by André Jolivet over the course of two weeks, during which their practice strategies were studied using semi-structured interviews, and analyses of practice diaries, practice activities, and eye-movement data. The results indicate that the pianists used similar basic strategies but had different cognitive orientations, here called “practice perspectives,” consistent with each individual, in that they focused on different kinds of information while practicing. These practice perspectives may be related to skills and habits in using imagery and music analysis, as well as to professional and educational background. In Study II, 34 piano teachers listened to recordings of the concert performances and evaluated them against 12 statements representing the four practice perspectives identified in Study I. The results did not support the prediction that practice perspectives would be correctly detected by listeners. Nonetheless, practice perspectives can be used to highlight potentially vast differences between the ways in which individual professional classical musicians conceptualize music and make it meaningful to themselves and others. They could be used in the context of music education to increase musicians’ knowledge of different practice strategies and the ability to develop their own preferred working methods.
... The following case study of timing in performances of Chopin's Etude in A flat Major, Op. 25 no. 1, aims to show how foundational rules of phrasing and expressive nuance have changed over the history of recorded music. Repp's (1992Repp's ( , 1998) studies of recordings of Schumann's Träumerei and Chopin's Etude Op. 10 no. 3 are early models for the current study. Both focus on discovering norms of expressive performance rather than historical change. ...
Studies of early 20th-century performance practice tend to focus on features that are alien to late 20th- and early 21st-century ears. Empirical analysis of timing in recordings of Chopin's Etude, Op. 25 no. 1—a piece for which performance style has remained relatively static—suggests how some foundational rules of phrasing and expressive nuance have changed over the history of recorded music. Melody note onsets were marked manually in 127 commercial recordings dating from 1909 to 2016. Overall, the data do not show an increase or decrease over time in the amount of tempo fluctuation. Independently of a tendency to use slower tempi, pianists changed the way they employ rubato. Several factors contribute to a trend whereby the fourth beat is lengthened at the expense of the second and third beats: an increase in phrase-final lengthening, an increase in the use of tempo arching for shorter groups of measures, and a tendency to delay the arrival of an accented dissonance or change of harmony instead of lengthening the melody inter-onset interval that contains it. The data illustrate nearly imperceptible shifts in interpretation and suggest that some practices thought to be the bedrock of expressive performance may be historically conditioned.
... This view is related to a formalist theory of musical meaning in which the structure of a composition is seen as the most important feature for understanding a musical work (see DeBellis, 2005). Musicians can manipulate various performance features, e.g., articulation, dynamics, tempo, gestures (MacRitchie et al., 2013) and "ensemble timing" (Friberg and Battel, 2002) to communicate phrases and harmonic structures (e.g., Todd, 1985;Repp, 1992Repp, , 1998Palmer, 199). Secondly, many scholars subscribe to a referentialist conception of musical meaning, perceiving music as resembling or expressing extra-musical features, such as affects (Cespedes-Guevara and Eerola, 2018), emotions, moods, feelings, motion, characters, or patterns of sound (Gabrielsson, 1999;Gabrielsson and Juslin, 1996;Juslin and Laukka, 2000;Juslin and Persson, 2002;Juslin, 2003;DeBellis, 2005;Brendel, 2011). ...
Since communication and expression are central aspects of music performance it is important to develop a systematic pedagogy of teaching children and teenagers expressiveness. Although research has been growing in this area a comprehensive literature review that unifies the different approaches to teaching young musicians expressiveness has been lacking. Therefore, the aim of this article is to provide an overview of literature related to teaching and learning of expressiveness from music psychology and music education research in order to build a new theoretical framework for teaching and learning expressive music performance in instrumental music lessons with children and teenagers. The article will start with a brief discussion of interpretation and expression in music performance, before providing an overview of studies that investigated teaching and learning of performance expression in instrumental music education with adults and children. On the foundation of this research a theoretical framework for dialogic teaching and learning of expressive music performance will be proposed and the rationale explained. Dialogic teaching can be useful for scaffolding young musicians’ learning of expressivity as open questions can stimulate thinking about the interpretation and may serve to connect musical ideas to the embodied experience of the learner. A “toolkit” for teaching and learning of expressiveness will be presented for practical application in music lessons. In addition, a theoretical model will be proposed to further our understanding of teaching and learning of expressive music performance as a multifaceted and interactive process that is embedded in the context of tutors’ and learners’ experiences and environment. Finally, implications of this framework and suggestions for future research will be discussed.
... See Janssen and Laa 1994, 531-58. Factor analysis was first used as a method for comparing tempo curves by Repp 1992. Return to text 50. ...
Arnold Schoenberg’s Sechs kleine Klavierstücke (Six Little Piano Pieces), op. 19 (1911), offer a fruitful case study to examine and categorize performers’ strategies in regard to their form-shaping characteristics. A thorough quantitative and qualitative analysis of 46 recordings from 41 pianists (recorded between 1925 to 2018), including six recordings from Eduard Steuermann, the leading pianist of the Second Viennese School, scrutinizes the interdependency between macro- and microformal pianistic approaches to this cycle. In thus tracing varying conceptions of a performance-shaped cyclic form and their historical contexts, the continuous unfurling of the potential of Schoenberg’s musical ideas in both “structuralist” and “rhetorical” performance styles is systematically explored, offering a fresh approach to the controversial discussion on how analysis and performance might relate to one another.
... While there are several examples of scientific works that use polyphonic recordings as a source of investigation [10,11,12], for the reasons aforementioned, Iracema's scope has been intentionally limited to analyzing monophonic recordings 3 . ...
Iracema is a Python library that aims to provide models for the extraction of meaningful informationfrom recordings of monophonic pieces of music, for purposes of research in music performance. With this objective in mind, we propose an architecture that will provide to users an abstraction level that simplifies the manipulation of different kinds of time series, as well as the extraction of segments from them. In this paper we: (1) introduce some key concepts at the core of the proposed architecture; (2) describe the current functionalities of the package; (3) give some examples of the application programming interface; and (4) give some brief examples of audio analysis using the system.
... Similar effects have been found in actual musical practice. For instance, there is often a slowing down of the tempo at the end of a music phrase or the end of a whole music piece, which is a frequently applied performance practice called ritardando (Honing, 2003;Repp, 1992). This has been linked to a phenomenon observed widely across languages called prepausal lengthening, in which there is an increase in speech duration just before the end of a phrase (Campbell & Isard, 1991;Crystal & House, 1988;Klatt, 1976;Umeda, 1975). ...
Despite extensive research demonstrating the effect of temporal context on time perception, its underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. One influential proposal to explain the temporal context effect is McAuley and Jones' (2003) framework that incorporates 2 classic timing models, interval and entrainment models. They demonstrated that listeners' duration estimates were shifted from reality in opposite directions when to-be-judged durations occurred earlier versus later than an expected beat, which is predicted by their entrainment models. However, it is unclear about how long the entrainment lasts after the cessation of external stimulation. Here, we investigated the persistence of the entrainment effect in 2 experiments. In Experiment 1, we found that entrainment models predict the behaviors better after short delays (2 beats), while interval models predict better after long delays (4 beats). In Experiment 2, we extended the finding to a faster tempo and added 1 more delay length. Again, we found that entrainment was strongest after short delays (2 beats), while disappeared after medium (4 beats) and long delays (8 beats). Our findings suggest an interplay between entrainment and interval timings as a function of delays between successive events. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
... Expressive variation in tone timbre, an essential feature of the communication of emotion, results from the musician's instinctive manipulation of touch through finger/key pressure intensity and duration allied with pedalling (BERNAYS and TRAUBE, 2011;PALMER, 1997). The use of sound artefacts allows for spontaneity of musical expression and is related directly to the skill level and musicality of performers (BERNAYS and TRAUBE, 2014;JUCHNIEWICZ, 2012) with variation in sound quality and expressive temporal variation avenues by which performers show their individuality through their creative response to the score's notation (REPP, 1992;THOMPSON et al., 2005). ...
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.
Across different epochs and societies, humans occasionally gather to jointly make music. This universal form of collective behavior is as fascinating as it is fragmentedly understood. As the interest in joint music making (JMM) rapidly grows, we review the state-of-the-art of this emerging science, blending behavioral, neural, and computational contributions. We present a conceptual framework synthesizing research on JMM within four components. The framework is centered upon interpersonal coordination, a crucial requirement for JMM. The other components imply the influence of individuals’ (past) experience, (current) social factors, and (future) goals on real-time coordination. Our aim is to promote the development of JMM research by organizing existing work, inspiring new questions, and fostering accessibility for researchers belonging to other research communities.
What does it mean to be expressive in music performance in diverse historical and cultural domains? What are the means at the disposal of a performer in various time periods and musical practice conventions? And what are the conceptualizations of expression and the roles of performers that shape expressive performance? For the first time, a wide variety of perspectives are assembled in one volume investigating expressiveness in performance in various styles and cultures, including the ways in which the improvisations of Louis Armstrong, studio-fashioned electronic dance music, and the songs of Bedzan Pygmies can be considered expressive. The volume is unique in combining historical, systematic, computational, and phenomenological approaches to performance, and in including empirical investigations of western and non-western classical music as well as western and non-western popular and folk music. The highlighted conceptualizations and materializations of expressiveness in performance are as diverse as one would hope them to be. More awareness of and focus on oral traditions and player interaction are needed for performance research to break away from the dogma of notation. While this challenges existing methods, computational and empirical approaches are nevertheless not only crucial, but also may become central to furthering our understanding of what makes music performance expressive.
Interpersonal coordination in musical ensembles often involves multisensory cues, with visual information about body movements supplementing co-performers’ sounds. Previous research on the influence of movement amplitude of a visual stimulus on basic sensorimotor synchronization has shown mixed results. Uninstructed visuomotor synchronization seems to be influenced by amplitude of a visual stimulus, but instructed visuomotor synchronization is not. While music performance presents a special case of visually mediated coordination, involving both uninstructed (spontaneously coordinating ancillary body movements with co-performers) and instructed (producing sound on a beat) forms of synchronization, the underlying mechanisms might also support rhythmic interpersonal coordination in the general population. We asked whether visual cue amplitude would affect nonmusicians’ synchronization of sound and head movements in a musical drumming task designed to be accessible regardless of musical experience. Given the mixed prior results, we considered two competing hypotheses. H1: higher amplitude visual cues will improve synchronization. H2: different amplitude visual cues will have no effect on synchronization. Participants observed a human-derived motion capture avatar with three levels of movement amplitude, or a still image of the avatar, while drumming along to the beat of tempo-changing music. The moving avatars were always timed to match the music. We measured temporal asynchrony (drumming relative to the music), predictive timing, ancillary movement fluctuation, and cross-spectral coherence of ancillary movements between the participant and avatar. The competing hypotheses were tested using conditional equivalence testing. This method involves using a statistical equivalence test in the event that standard hypothesis tests show no differences. Our results showed no statistical differences across visual cues types. Therefore, we conclude that there is not a strong effect of visual stimulus amplitude on instructed synchronization.
Lorsqu’un mouvement est répété à plusieurs reprises, de subtiles différences peuvent être observées entre les répétitions. En biomécanique sportive, l’étude de la variabilité intra-individuelle ( vi ) du mouvement et de ses implications a le potentiel de prévenir les blessures, d’évaluer le progrès de traitements et d’informer le développement de protocoles de recherche ( Preatoni et al. 2013 ). Bien que les chercheurs du domaine de la musique partagent plusieurs de ces objectifs, peu d’attention a été accordée à la vi du mouvement. Cette revue exploratoire vise à consolider les informations existantes concernant la vi du mouvement en performance pianistique afin d’explorer trois importants enjeux méthodologiques : a) quelles méthodes ont été utilisées pour mesurer cette vi du mouvement ; b) quelle est l’influence de l’expertise sur cette vi du mouvement et c) combien d’essais devraient être utilisés dans un protocole de recherche afin d’obtenir une évaluation fiable d’une performance. En outre, les lacunes dans notre compréhension du phénomène sont identifiées et des recommandations pour les recherches futures sont émises.
The temporal aspects of music signals such as the tempo and the rhythm include important musical properties. This chapter focuses on extracting temporal properties from musical audio, starting with the onset, the beginning of a musical sound event such as a tone or a stroke on a percussive instrument, over the tempo and meter to high‐level structural properties of music. During the process of human perception, the audio stream will be segmented into a series of events. The goal of onset detection is to segment the audio stream into separate musical events. This supports tasks such as tempo detection or automatic music transcription and enables the analysis of rhythm and timing. The beat histogram or beat spectrum is not an analysis task itself but a representation that captures some rhythmic properties of the signal.
Studies on music performance have received greater attention in the last several decades since the establishment of musical performance studies, and emotional expressivity has taken an important place in the study of emotional communication. The methodological or thematic integration of these domains in the study of music performance may expand the rationale for studying performance. The purpose of this study was to explore a virtuoso’s expressivity in terms of sanjo-specific features, including jangdan, indicating a rhythmic pattern, and jo, a structural feature that conveys emotional meanings. We investigated tempo and dynamics in the melodies within the unit of a jangdan across jo and those acoustic cues related to the jo transition. The findings suggest that the virtuoso, Kim Juk-pa, differentiated tempo and dynamics in the conveyance of structural features of jo. Tempo and dynamics were indicative of a jo shift, acting as a clue for her individuality. This provides current performers with critical sources for understanding the virtuoso’s expressivity corresponding with jo’s changes. The sanjo virtuoso’s individuality could be further elaborated via multi-dimensional analysis of historically informed recordings; this approach to music performance would lead to improved learning, transmission, and creation of new forms of music across cultures.
This report describes the open-source Recorded Brahms Corpus (RBC) dataset, as well as the methods employed to extract and process the data. The dataset contains (micro)timing and dynamic data from 21 recordings of Brahms's Cello Sonatas, Opp. 38 and 99, focusing on note and beat onsets and duration, tempo fluctuations, and dynamic variations. Consistent manual annotation of the corpus in Sonic Visualiser was necessary prior to automatic extraction. Data for each recording and measurement unit are given as TXT files. Scores in various digital formats, the original SV files and diamond-shaped scape plots visualizations of the data are offered too. Expansion of the corpus with further movements of the sonatas, further recordings thereof and other compositions by Brahms is planned. The study of the data may contribute to performance studies and music theory alike.
The canonical repertoire of Western art music – and, by association, the pantheon of its progenitors – exists both as history and in the living, sounding present. It undergoes reinvention and renegotiation through performance and related activities, prompting reflection on how to account for its multi-faceted ontology. This study applies an array of methodologies to the task of describing and contextualising performance acts with the aim of gaining a more nuanced understanding of one repertoire in one historical time and place. The early decades of the twentieth century were a time of sustained interest in Bach’s music in British musical culture. That interest was manifested with exceptional intensity in the performing, editing, and recording of his keyboard works by pianists. Such a range of phenomena, along with attendant discourses, reveals a historically and culturally situated portrait of the composer as he was understood in Britain between 1920 and 1935. The research questions underlying this enquiry fall into two categories: those related to Bach, and those related to the interaction of performance and history. (1) How did the events of the decades preceding the 1920s shape the way in which Bach and his keyboard works were perceived in Britain? (2) How, by whom, when and where were Bach’s keyboard works performed live, recorded, edited, discussed, taught etc. in Britain during the 1920s and 1930s? Then, (3) How does this range of activity form a more broadly conceived historical narrative? (4) How does the historical context enrich our understanding of the performances themselves? Although it attends to performances and, more generally, to the concerns of the performer, this study is not limited to describing historically situated practices. It seeks more nuanced perspectives on issues such as wider patterns of Bach reception in the twentieth century; how canonical repertoires come to be understood, appreciated, and performed across borders and through time; and finally, how history may be written on the basis of performance events.
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This thesis engages with complex issues of musical expression and movement, and their relation, on the one hand, to musical structure and, on the other hand, to embodied musical experience. It aims to fill a gap in music theory and analysis: most methods overemphasise abstract conceptualisation of structural relations at the expense of the more dynamic, intuitive aspect of musical experience. As a solution, it offers a specific analytical method that can be used to explore dynamic aspects of music as experienced through the whole body. Drawing mainly on nineteenth-century piano music, I analyse aspects of structure in both composition and performance in terms of expressive and motional qualities, revealing the relationship between musical and physical movement. Expressivity in music derives its meaning, at least partly, from the embodied experience of music: performers shape expression through their whole body while listeners react to it in a comparable way, albeit less overtly. Two related systems of graphic notation are introduced, which provide a non-verbal means of representing expressive movement and at the same time encourage an immediate, visceral relationship to the music. The first notation captures the animated quality of expressive movement by analogy with the motion of a bouncing ball, while the second breaks down the expressive musical flow into discrete gestural patterns of specific motional character. While the ultimate value of this method lies in the analytical process it instigates, it also provides a novel theoretical framework that sheds light on the interaction, as well as integration, between structures such as metre, rhythm, harmony and voice-leading, which are traditionally studied mostly independently. In addition, it provides a useful tool for the study and communication of performance interpretation, based on data extracted from recordings in the form of tempo and dynamic fluctuation graphs.
Timing data from piano performances of Gnossienne no. 5 are analyzed to examine the way in which a performer structures different subdivisions of a constant beat. The piece contains a wide variety of different beat divisions, and the timing data demonstrate that these rhythmic distinctions are accurately preserved by the performer. These data also provide the basis for a model of expressive rhythmic performance in which an underlying structural representation, consisting of rhythmic figures organized around a framework of beats, is transformed by an expressive system constrained by certain parameters. This accounts for the complex yet stable characteristics of musical performances by skilled exponents.
Recently developed parts of a computer program are presented that contain a rule system which automatically converts music scores to musical performance, and which, in a sense, can be regarded as a model of a musically gifted player. The development of the rule system has followed the analysis-by-synthesis strategy; various rules have been formulated according to the suggestions of a professional string quartet violinist and teacher of ensemble playing. The effects of various rules concerning synchronization and timing and also tuning, in performance of ensemble music are evaluated by a listening panel of professional musicians. Further support for the notion of melodic charge, previously introduced and playing a prominent rule in the performance rules, is found in a correlation with fine tuning of intervals.
Expressive timing methods are described that map pianists' musical thoughts to sounded performance. In Experiment 1, 6 pianists performed the same musical excerpt on a computer-monitored keyboard. Each performance contained 3 expressive timing patterns: chord asynchronies, rubato patterns, and overlaps (staccato and legato). Each pattern was strongest in experienced pianists' performances and decreased when pianists attempted to play unmusically. In Experiment 2 pianists performed another musical excerpt and notated their musical intentions on an unedited score. The notated interpretations correlated with the presence of the 3 methods: The notated melody preceded other events in chords (chord asynchrony); events notated as phase boundaries showed greatest tempo changes (rubato); and the notated melody showed most consistent amount of overlap between adjacent events (staccato and legato). These results suggest that the mapping of musical thought to musical action is rule-governed, and the same rules produce different interpretations.
After some preliminary remarks concerning the scope and aim of our study, the present paper describes the temporal analysis of a piece of music (the first prelude of J.S. Bach's Wohltemperiertes Clavier) as performed by three professional musicians. A number of temporal characteristics are derived that possibly play a role in the perception and appreciation of musical performances.
Discussions of music performance often stress diversity and artistic freedom, yet there is general agreement that interpretation is not arbitrary and that there are standards that performances can be judged by. However, there have been few objective demonstrations of any extant constraints on music performance and judgment, particularly at the level of expressive microstructure. This study illustrates such a constraint in one specific case: the expressive timing of a melodic gesture that occurs repeatedly in Robert Schumann's famous piano piece, "Traumerei." Tone onset timing measurements in 28 recorded performances by famous pianists suggest that the most common " temporal shape" of this (nominally isochronous) musical gesture is parabolic and that individual variations can be described largely by varying a single degree of freedom of the parabolic timing function. The aesthetic validity of this apparent constraint on local performance timing was investigated in a perceptual experiment. Listeners judged a variety of timing patterns (original parabolic, shifted parabolic, and nonparabolic) imposed on the same melodic gesture, produced on an electronic piano under control of a Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI). The original parabolic patterns received the highest ratings from musically trained listeners. (Musically untrained listeners were unable to give consistent judgments.) The results support the hypothesis that there are classes of optimal temporal shapes for melodic gestures in music performance and that musically acculturated listeners know and expect these shapes. Being classes of shapes, they represent flexible constraints within which artistic freedom and individual preference can manifest themselves.
This article consists of three parts. In the first part, early empirical research on music performance is reviewed—with special emphasis on the contributions by C. E. Seashore and his co-workers at Iowa University in the 1930s. The second part presents a model for interplay between analysis and synthesis in studies of music performance and its relationship to listeners' experience of the music. The model means that music performance is analyzed with regard to various physical properties, and their relationships to listeners' experience are investigated by means of synthesized sound sequences that are systematically varied in different aspects. In the third part, this idea is illustrated by examples from an extensive research project on musical rhythm. It is shown that performance of musical rhythm is characterized by various systematic variations regarding the durations of the sound events relative to strict mechanical regularity and that these variations may be related to various aspects of the experienced rhythm.
The cognitive basis of musical performance is discussed in the context of the problem of how to construct a humanoid robot that could play a Chopin waltz. This allows the discussion to focus critically on issues ranging from the mechanics of movement to the cognitive representation in planning a performance. In doing so it makes explicit the varieties of knowledge buried in the nervous system, most of which are inaccessible to introspection. Finally it raises the possibility that knowledge may not be enough and that we have to give the robot feelings about itself as a performer and about the social context and tradition of music making.
The timing of the last tones constituting the final retard is studied in performances of motor music, i.e., music dominated by long sequences of short and equal note values frequently accompanied by similar series of twice as long note values. The results suggest that the retard length is related to the length of the final cadence and that the retards are divided into two phases, the first of which is variable while the second is more regular; its length and decrease in tempo depends on the length of the last conceptual unit (motive) of the piece and, as regards the decrease in tempo, also the preretard mean tempo, with which the piece is played. The same preretard mean tempo also determines the duration of the note preceding the final chord. These observations are expressed in a set of equations by means of which retards are computed for a set of compositions. The musical quality of such rule generated retards is assessed by a jury of experienced musicians and music listeners.
Presented is a model of rubato, implemented in Lisp, in which expression is viewed as the mapping of musical structure into the variables of expression. The basic idea is that the performer uses “phrase final lengthening” as a device to reflect some internal representation of the phrase structure. The representation is based on Lardahl and Jackendoff's time-span reduction. The basic heuristic in the model is recursive involving look-ahead and planning at a number of levels. The planned phrasings are superposed beat by beat and the output from the program is a list of durations which could easily be adapted to be sent to a synthesiser given a suitable system.
During a performance, a pianist has direct control over only two variables, duration and intensity (Seashore, 1938). Other factors such as pitch and timbre are determined largely by the composer and the mechanics of the instrument. Thus expressiveness imparted to a performance lies in the departures from metrical rigidity and constant intensity. In this article, the first of the two variables is considered and it is shown how a duration structure can be generated, corresponding to the rubato in a performance, from the musical structure. The main input to the model is the time-span reduction of Lerdahl and Jackendoff's theory (1977, 1983). Also shown is an interesting analogy between this model and the algorithms of Grosjean, Grosjean, and Lane (1979). Thus the hypothesis that expression is largely determined by musical structure, and the formal parallel between time-span reduction and prosodic structure are given empirical support.
emphasizes the role of performance in exemplifying structural aspects of the music through expressive gradients, discontinuities, and contrasts
embeds several ingenious experimental studies within a theoretical framework that emphasizes the importance of hierarchical mental representations as a means of controlling performances (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
confirms that performers make systematic and significant deviations from strict metricality, but that it is hard to make generalizations about the nature of the deviations (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A theory of motor programming is presented within which one can consider fluency, expressiveness and flexibility as basic properties of skilled performance. It is emphasized that these are emergent properties of skill, absent or poorly represented in unskilled performance. Hence it is argued that motor programming is best studied looking at the performance of skilled exponents. A method of recording piano performance directly onto a computer is described, together with results obtained from such recordings of concert pianists. These bear on the hierarchic structure of timing, expressive freedom of timing and its reproducibility in successive performances.
Data on piano performance were obtained by recording movements in the piano action and storing the digitized signals in a computer. In this way the performances were examined of different professional pianists playing a Chopin Study, a Bach Fugue, and a Bartok Dance. This article provides a description of some of the phenomena of skilled performance and it examines two problems, one on the nature of motor independence and the other on the mechanisms of movement timing. The discussion is couched within the framework of a theory of motor programming. This supposes that the motor program generates and maintains two representations of output, an abstract homomorphism that specifies the syntax of movements together with a set of expressive features, and an array of motor commands that give the explicit targets of movement. The hierarchic construction of these representations provides a nesting of streams of information under superordinate codes, which enables movement independence. An internal clock is used to generate markers for the timing of output. It can change its rate or produce elastically deformed time scales in response to the expressive features marked in the abstract representation.
— Two pianists and one percussionist performed a number of notated rhythms on the piano and on the side drum or the bongo drum. The tape-recordings of the performances were analyzed by an analyzer for mono-phonic sound sequences as regards the durations and the amplitudes. Several characteristic deviations from the norms implied by the musical notation appeared. The recordings were used as stimuli in experiments on rhythm experience described elsewhere.
Monophonic performances of 15 melodies in 3/4 or 6/8 meter were analyzed according to previously described methods (Bengtsson & Gabrielsson, 1980) to test the hypothesis that live performance of musical rhythm is characterized by various systematic variations (SYVAR) as regards the duration of the sound events in relation to strict mechanical regularity. The results show many different types of SYVAR, varying with music and/or performers but with certain recurring features. at the sound event level as well as at the beat, half-measure and measure levels. It is pointed out that these results should be supplemented by data in other performance variables, and that there probably are certain basic relationships between SYVAR and different aspects of the rhythm response to be further investigated.
The timing of notes in piano performances of ‘Vexations’ by Erik Satie was recorded by means of sensors in the piano action connected to a computer. The data were analysed so as to reassess Michon's (1974) result that rhythm and performance tempo are not independent parameters, and to examine the relationship between the performance of a piece of musicand its notated counterpart (the score). Evidence is presented for the suggestion that the expressive characteristics of musical performances are related to structural characteristics of the music performed. The finding that rhythm and tempo are not independent is interpreted in terms of changes in the group structure of performances and concomitant changes in the expressive characteristics of those performances, and the result is related back to intrinsic properties of the musical structure. The approach thus constitutes a means by which to study aspects of musical cognition through the examination of the properties of piano performances.
The curiosity of this book is first manifested by the pleonasm in its title. All theories are generative; no matter what the subject is, a theory necessarily propounds that from certain structures postulated to be basic other, usually more complex, structures are generable by identified procedures. A theory of tonality could start, and historically more than one has started, with an overtone series as the basic structure. From this, scales have been generated by applying specified procedures. From scales, so–called fundamental basses have been obtained by other procedures. From fundamental basses, grammatically permissible chord structures have been derived, from which theorists have claimed that by application of various contrapuntal procedures whole movements of actual compositions would result.
The notion that there is an intimate relationship between musical motion and physical movement is an old one and can be traced back to antiquity. Recently this idea has again received some attention, particularly in relation to musical expression. To use a modern metaphor, one can consider expressive performance to be analogous to the problems of kinematics and trajectory planning in robotics. The trajectories referred to, however, are not those of the performers limbs in physical space, but those of an abstract movement relative to a metrical grid associated with a musical score. Recent studies have attempted to substantiate this idea by comparing a model of motion with timing measurements of the final ritardandi from actual performances. This study extends these earlier analyses to include the accelerandi as well as the ritardandi from complete performances. One conclusion is that the variation of tempo in music can be reasonably compared with velocity in the equations of elementary mechanics. Further, it is suggested that the origin of metrical space, upon which the motion concept rests, lies in the way the auditory system processes rhythm.
A computational model of musical dynamics is proposed that complements an earlier model of expressive timing. The model, implemented in the artificial intelligence language LISP, is based on the observation that a musical phrase is often indicated by a crescendo/decrescendo shape. The functional form of this shape is derived by making two main assumptions. First, that musical dynamics and tempo are coupled, that is, 'the faster the louder, the slower the softer.' This tempo/dynamics coupling, it is suggested, may be a characteristic of some classical and romantic styles perhaps exemplified by performances of Chopin. Second, that the tempo change is governed by analogy to physical movement. The allusion of musical expression to physical motion is further extended by the introduction of the concepts of energy and mass. The utility of the model, in addition to giving an insight into the nature of musical expression, is that it provides a basis for a method of performance style analysis.
Perhaps some of the most refined forms of timing arise in musical performance, particularly in the coordination between musicians playing together. Studies of timing in solo and duet piano performances are described, in which the musicians gave repeat performances of the music. In both solo and duet performances there was expressive use of timing, modulating the tempo of the music and the phase relationship between the voices, and the expressive forms were similar in successive performances of the piece. There was also evidence of separate timing control of the metre and of the production of notes and rests. Thus timing in musical performance is best modelled by assuming two levels of timekeeper, one pacing the metre and the other contained in the movement trajectories of note production, computed by motor procedure in relation to the metre. It is argued that expressive forms are derived from an interpretation of the music rather than memorized; and that coordination between voices in the music is achieved at the level of the metre.
This study focuses on the performer-listener link of the chain of musical communication. Using different perceptual methods (categorization, matching, and rating), as well as acoustical analyses of timing and amplitude, we found that both musicians and nonmusicians could discern among the levels of expressive intent of violin, trumpet, clarinet, oboe, and piano performers. Time-contour profiles showed distinct signatures between instruments and across expressive levels, which affords a basis for perceptual discrimination. For example, for "appropriate" expressive performances, a gradual lengthening of successive durations leads to the cadence. Although synthesized versions based on performance timings led to less response accuracy than did the complete natural performance, evidence suggests that timing may be more salient as a perceptual cue than amplitude. We outline a metabolic communication theory of musical expression that is based on a system of sequences of states, and changes of state, which fill gaps of inexorable time. We assume that musical states have a flexible, topologically deformable nature. Our conception allows for hierarchies and structure in active music processing that static generative grammars do not. This theory is supported by the data, in which patterns of timings and amplitudes differed among and between instruments and levels of expression.
Thesis (D. Mus. Ed.)--Indiana University, 1985. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 689-754). Photocopy. s
To determine whether structural factors interact with the perception of musical time, musically literate listeners were presented repeatedly with eight-bar musical excerpts, realized with physically regular timing on an electronic piano. On each trial, one or two randomly chosen time intervals were lengthened by a small amount, and the score. The resulting detection accuracy profile across all positions in each musical excerpt showed pronounced dips in places where lengthening would typically occur in an expressive (temporally modulated) performance. False alarm percentages indicated that certain tones seemed longer a priori, and these were among the ones whose actual lengthening was easiest to detect. The detection accuracy and false alarm profiles were significantly correlated with each other and with the temporal microstructure of expert performances, as measured from sound recordings by famous artists. Thus the detection task apparently tapped into listeners' musical thought and revealed their expectations about the temporal microstructure of music performance. These expectations, like the timing patterns of actual performances, derive from the cognitive representation of musical structure, as cued by a variety of systemic factors (grouping, meter, harmonic progression) and their acoustic correlates. No simple psycho-acoustic explanation of the detection accuracy profiles was evident. The results suggest that the perception of musical time is not veridical but "warped" by the structural representation. This warping may provide a natural basis for performance evaluation: expected timing patterns sound more or less regular, unexpected ones irregular. Parallels to language performance and perception are noted.
The timing patterns of 19 complete performances of the third movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata op. 31, No. 3, were measured from oscillograms and analyzed statistically. One purpose of the study was to search for a timing pattern resembling the "Beethoven pulse" [Clynes, in Studies of Music Performance (Royal Academy of Music, Stockholm, 1983), pp. 76-181]. No constant pulse was found at the surface in any of the performances. Local patterns could be interpreted as evidence for an "underlying" pulse of the kind described by Clynes, but they could also derive from structural musical factors. On the whole, the artists' timing patterns served to underline the structure of the piece; lengthening at phrase boundaries and at moments of melodic/harmonic tension were the most salient features. A principal components analysis suggested that these timing variations in the Minuet could be described in terms of two orthogonal factors, one capturing mainly phrase-final lengthening, and the other reflecting phrase-internal variation as well as tempo changes. A group of musically experienced listeners evaluated the performances on a number of rating scales. Their judgments showed some significant relations to the measured timing patterns. Principal components analysis of the rating scales yielded four dimensions interpreted as force, individuality, depth, and speed. These preliminary results are encouraging for the development of more precise methods of music performance evaluation.
The metre of a piece of music can be regarded as a grammar generating the rhythmic structures of the melodies. In this role it provides the performer with a basis for coding the rhythms for performance. The present study examines a further possibility, that it can be used to control the time course of a performance through its mapping onto a time scale generated by a timekeeper. This allows the performer two degrees of freedom in producing rhythm, one for controlling the expressive modulations of tempo and the other for controlling the expressive timing of rhythmic figures within, or in relation to, the metre. The study also explores some of the relationships between the expressive forms used by the performer and structures in the music. The data come from the repeated performances by a concert pianist of a piece by Satie. The complexly varying rhythms of this piece provide a suitable challenge for a theory of timing mechanisms.
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Gestalt und Bewegung in der Musik ( Chr. Friedrich Vieweg, Berlin-Lichterfelde) Repp: Analysis of timing in music performance
- A Truslit
Truslit, A. (1938). Gestalt und Bewegung in der Musik ( Chr. Friedrich Vieweg, Berlin-Lichterfelde). 2568 J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 92, No. 5, November 1992 Bruno H. Repp: Analysis of timing in music performance
What can a musician learn about music performance from newly discovered microstructure principles (PM and P AS)?," in Action and Perception in Rhythm and Music
- M Clynes
Clynes, M. (1987). "What can a musician learn about music performance from newly discovered microstructure principles (PM and P AS)?," in Action and Perception in Rhythm and Music, edited by A. Gabrielsson (Royal Swedish Academy of Music No. 55, Stockholm, Sweden), pp. 201-233.
Form and Performance
- E Stein
Stein, E. (1962). Form and Performance (Knopf, New York; Limelight Editions, New York, 1989).
Der Ausdruck in der Musik
- H Riemann
Riemann, H. (1884). "Der Ausdruck in der Musik," in Sammlung Musi-kalischer Vortriige, edited by P. Graf Waldersee (Breitkopf und H/irtel, Leipzig), pp. 43-64.
The Ivory Trade: Music and the Business of Music at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
- J Horowitz
Horowitz, J. (1990). The Ivory Trade: Music and the Business of Music at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (Summit Books, New York).
Once again: the theme from Mozart's Piano Sona-ta in A major (K. 331 ) ," in Action and Perception in Rhythm and Music
- A Gabrielsson
Gabrielsson, A. (1987). "Once again: the theme from Mozart's Piano Sona-ta in A major (K. 331 )," in Action and Perception in Rhythm and Music, edited by A. Gabrielsson (Royal Swedish Academy of Music No. 55, 2567 J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 92, No. 5, November 1992 Bruno H. Repp: Analysis of timing in music performance Stockholm, Sweden), pp. 81-103.
CD) [ 1929] b MHS OR 400 [ .@BULLET 1960s ] DG 2535 224 [ @BULLET 1966] Ades 13.243-2 (CD)
- Pearl
- Cd
Pearl GEMM CD 9291 (CD) [ 1929] b MHS OR 400 [.@BULLET 1960s ] DG 2535 224 [ @BULLET 1966] Ades 13.243-2 (CD) [ 1974] RCA LD 7021 [T] [1947]
Musical Expression: Accents, Nuances, and Tempo in VOcal and Instrumental Music
- M M Lussy
Lussy, M. M. (1882). Musical Expression: Accents, Nuances, and Tempo in VOcal and Instrumental Music (Novello, London).
Die 'Kinderszenen' als zyklisches Werk
- A Traub
Traub, A. (1981). "Die 'Kinderszenen' als zyklisches Werk," Musica 6, 424-426.
Glenn Gould: His dissent/An obituary
- S Lipman
Lipman, S. (1984). "Glenn Gould: His dissent/An obituary," in The House of Music: Art in an Era of lnstitutions ( Godinc, Boston), pp. 79-95 ( orig. pub. 1982).
Objective Analysis of Music Performance (University of Iowa Studies in the Psychology of Music
- C E Seashore
Seashore, C. E. (Ed.) (1936). Objective Analysis of Music Performance (University of Iowa Studies in the Psychology of Music, Vol. IV, The University Press, Iowa City, IA).
Is the musical ritard an allusion to physical motion?
- U Kronman
- J Sundberg
Kronman, U., and Sundberg, J. (1987). "Is the musical ritard an allusion to physical motion?," in Action and Perception in Rhythm and Music, edited by A. Gabrielsson (Royal Swedish Academy of Music No. 55, Stock-holm, Sweden), pp. 57-68.
Liner notes for Claudio Arrau's recording (Philips 420-871-2)
- J Chissell
Chissell, J. (1987). Liner notes for Claudio Arrau's recording
(Philips 420-871-2).
CD =compact disc; C =cassette; < =date of liner notes (recording date probably the same or preceding year); -= estimated date; T = "Traumerei" only REFERENCES Bengtsson Methods for analyzing performance of musical rhythm
- Abbreviations Cdate Unknown
Cdate unknown
Abbreviations: CD =compact disc; C =cassette; < =date of liner notes (recording date probably the same or preceding year); -=
estimated date; T = "Traumerei" only
REFERENCES
Bengtsson, 1., & Gabrielsson, A. (1980). Methods for analyzing
performance of musical rhythm. Scandinavian Journal of
PsychoLogy,21,257-268.