Primate Drum Kit: A System for Studying Acoustic Pattern Production by Non-Human Primates Using Acceleration and Strain Sensors

Abstract

The possibility of achieving experimentally controlled, non-vocal acoustic production in non-human primates is a key step to enable the testing of a number of hypotheses on primate behavior and cognition. However, no device or solution is currently available, with the use of sensors in non-human animals being almost exclusively devoted to applications in food industry and animal surveillance. Specifically, no device exists which simultaneously allows: (i) spontaneous production of sound or music by non-human animals via object manipulation, (ii) systematical recording of data sensed from these movements, (iii) the possibility to alter the acoustic feedback properties of the object using remote control. We present two prototypes we developed for application with chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) which, while fulfilling the aforementioned requirements, allow to arbitrarily associate sounds to physical object movements. The prototypes differ in sensing technology, costs, intended use and construction requirements. One prototype uses four piezoelectric elements embedded between layers of Plexiglas and foam. Strain data is sent to a computer running Python through an Arduino board. A second prototype consists in a modified Wii Remote contained in a gum toy. Acceleration data is sent via Bluetooth to a computer running Max/MSP. We successfully pilot tested the first device with a group of chimpanzees. We foresee using these devices for a range of cognitive experiments.

The Extraordinary Nature of Barney's Drumming: A Complementary Study of Ordinary Noise Making in Chimpanzees

“…Although music appears to be within the grasp of chimpanzees, they have not yet taken the step to music per se . This modest contribution was designed to provide additional information about the use of objects and various media for sound production by chimpanzees, thus providing a starting point for further work along these lines (see also Ravignani et al, 2013). Further studies should attempt to investigate the type of attraction that instrumental noise making has on chimpanzees, including the refinement and leisureliness expressed while doing so.…”

Studying the evolutionary ecology of cognition in the wild: a review of practical and conceptual challenges

“…), automated individual identification techniques widen the range of contexts and species that can be tested, and should therefore provide a credible path to obtaining large sample sizes on multi‐trial cognitive and behavioural phenotypes in natural populations with minimal human intervention. These systems can be driven by small printed circuit boards or potentially by customisable computer systems such as Raspberry Pi (Upton & Halfacree, ) or Arduino (Ravignani et al , ) and powered by batteries or solar panels, making them portable enough to be used in remote locations. For instance, we developed a portable operant learning device and ran over 5000 learning trials in the absence of experimenters at several sites in Wytham woods, UK (J. Morand‐Ferron et al , in preparation).…”

Rhythm in speech and animal vocalizations: a cross‐species perspective

“…[26][27][28] Research on individual vocal rhythms in nonhuman primates is scarce: most work has investigated either group vocal rhythms 29,30 or individual nonvocal rhythms. [31][32][33] Focusing on individual vocal rhythms, early descriptive work remarked temporal regularities in gelada monkeys' vocalizations, 34 a claim which is intriguing but purely descriptive, unfortunately not supported by quantitative data or statistical inference. More recent work in macaques and orangutans noted a 5-Hz isochronous pattern during lip-smacking, facial movement, or vocalization.…”