Animated Performance

Abstract

A study was carried out to determine the effect of the amplitude of performer movement on judgments of performance quality. The movements of eight live solo performances were captured (two each for flute, clarinet, violin, and cello). For each original recording, three stick figure animations were created: one with augmented performance motion, one with the original motion, and one with diminished motion. The three animations were combined into single dynamic videos that allowed participants to continuously adjust the range of motion in the animation via a slider—from diminished through original to augmented motion. Participants were instructed to adjust the overall amount of performance motion to create the best musical performance. Consistent with the hypothesis, participants elected to significantly augment the motions of the performers.

The impact of visual display of human motion on observers’ perception of music performance

“…In the written comments, some participants inclusively mentioned that musicians' movements potentiate musical experience. Such findings are not surprising, as it is well-known that audiences often grasp expressiveness in music performance based on musicians' bodily movements rather than musical quality, and that movements with greater amplitude tend to get higher ratings of expressiveness and preferability [4,30,31,36,69]. Here, we confirmed that this assumption is also applicable to saxophone players, as a first step towards the development of future work involving multiple motion patterns [e.g., 4], instead of focusing on the dichotomy movement versus no movement.…”

Increased body movement equals better performance? Not always! Musical style determines motion degree perceived as optimal in music performance

“…Huang and Krumhansl ( 2011 ) found that the ratings of baroque and romantic music increased as a function of stage behaviour, whereas minimal and natural behaviour was preferred for modern music. Complementarily, in the study by Trevor and Huron ( 2018 ), augmented movement was preferred for fast technical passages and only slightly above normal movement for slow, lyrical passages. According to Wapnick and Colleagues ( 2004 ), romantic and modern excerpts received higher ratings from pianists (vs. non-pianists) than classical excerpts.…”

“…Musical expression, in turn, encompasses not only auditory elements such as rhythmic variations (Huberth et al, 2020 ; Repp, 1992 ) or timbre (Li & Timmers, 2020 ), but also non-auditory cues related to the facial and bodily actions of the performers (Davidson, 2012 ; Laeng et al, 2021 ; Nápoles et al, 2022 ; Weiss et al, 2018 ). Although body movement is not the ultimate goal in music performance, as it is in dance, there has been a growing interest in this dimension, considering that movements significantly affect observers’ opinion (Bugaj et al, 2019 ; Nápoles et al, 2022 ; Silveira, 2014 ; Trevor & Huron, 2018 ; Wapnick et al, 2004 ) and auditory perception (Juchniewicz, 2008 ; Nápoles et al, 2022 ; Schutz & Lipscomb, 2007 ; Wapnick et al, 2004 ). The relevance of studying how nonverbal behaviour influences music performance perception is multifaceted, ranging from the understanding of processes underlying social connectedness to the multisensory integration involved in associating auditory and visual stimuli.…”

“…Body behaviour is the major component of the visual dimension in music performance. Studies focussed on the role of visuo-kinematic cues in audience perception have addressed two complementary views: full-body motion, tackling musicians’ movement as a general concept involving the body as a whole (Bugaj et al, 2019 ; Burger & Wöllner, 2023 ; Davidson, 1993 ; Moura et al, 2023 ; Nápoles et al, 2022 ; Nusseck & Wanderley, 2009 ; Trevor & Huron, 2018 ; Van Zijl & Luck, 2013 ), and motion types, providing a detailed view on specific gestures or body locations (Davidson, 1994 ; Nusseck & Wanderley, 2009 ; Weiss et al, 2018 ).…”

“…Accordingly, Küssner and Colleagues ( 2020 ) demonstrated that visual attention is directed towards the musicians moving more expressively, even if they are not playing the most relevant musical part. In the study by Trevor and Huron ( 2018 ), when asked to adjust the amplitude of motion to create the best animated performances, participants augmented musicians’ motion. Moreover, musicians reported concentrating more on quantity than regularity or velocity of motion to discriminate between gradual expressivity conditions (Massie-Laberge et al, 2016 ).…”