Why study drummers? • Large movements – easy to study • Short contact times – need for preparation

Examples of preparatory movements for striking

(Wickstrom 1983)

”The upstroke”

Stick movements for accented and unaccented drumstrokes

Recording movements cam e

ra e cam

ra

markers

force plate

Playing styles of four recorded drummers

Vertical component vs. time

Striking velocity vs IOI

Striking velocity vs IOI, all subjects

Emphasis on the accent striking velocity as function of tempo and dynamic level

The figures show linear planes fitted to the striking velocities for unaccented (bottom planes), and accented (top planes) for

Subject S1

Subject S2

A virtual bodhran • Real time running impact model built in pd by M. Rath • Control over – Shape – Position – Fundamental frequency – Hammer properties

Controlling the model • ”Drum machine”, feeding measured striking velocities to the model • Gestural control using different controllers (radio baton, drum pad, etc…)

Vertical component vs. time

Some background • Observers are able to recognize expressive intent from musicians’ movements (e.g. Davidson 1993, 1994). • In music performance, audio cues are used by listeners to discriminate between expressive intents (e.g. Juslin 2000, 2001). • Even 4 to 5-year old children use movement cues when portraying emotions (Boone & Cunningham 2001).

Questions 1. How successful is the overall communication of a specific intended emotion? 2. Are there any differences depending on what parts of the player that are visible? 3. How can perceived emotions be classified in terms of movement cues?

The stimuli • One piece performed with intentions: – – – –

HAPPINESS SADNESS ANGER FEAR

• Each intention performed twice

Four viewing conditions:

full

no-hands

torso

head

Subjects rated: • Emotional content – – – –

Anger Sadness Happiness Fear

• Movement cues – – – –

(7 grades unipolar) unipolar):

(7 grades bipolar):

amount of movement (none – large) speed (fast – slow) fluency (jerky – smooth) distribution (uneven – even)

Results: rated emotions

Results: rated movment cues

Movement ratings characterizing… • ANGER: – large, fast, uneven and jerky movements

• HAPPINESS – large, somewhat fast movements

• SADNESS – small, slow, even, smooth movements

Audio cues for music performance: • ANGER: – high sound level, fast tempo, staccato articulation, abrupt tone attacks

• HAPPINESS – fast tempo, staccato articulation, farily high sound level

• SADNESS – slow tempo, legato articulation, low sound level

Now, about the head…

For sadness the head condition received much higher ”sad” ratings

…than the torso condition did for the same original excerpts!

Summary • Sadness, Happiness and Anger seemed to be well communicated while Fear was not • Generally small effects from viewing condition, although the head was important to convey the sad intention • Movement cues for Sadness, Happiness and Anger with resemblance to cues in music perfomrance.

The striking movements show: • That the players use movement strategies in their playing of accented strokes. • That the emphasis the players choose to put on accented strokes relative to unaccented is reflected in movement patterns as well as in striking velocities and timing. • That movements not directly related to note production can convey information on expressive intention through movement cues, similar to found audio cues.

Ghost in the Cave An interactive, collaborative game using gestures in voice and movements to navigate, and to solve tasks where specific emotions should be expressed

http://www.speech.kth.se/music/projects/Ghostgame/

Navigation (left-right, speed) either using voice or movements.

http://www.speech.kth.se/music/projects/Ghostgame/

Cue analysis for emotional expression with feedback from avatars.

Angry

Sad

Examples of movement cues for emotion – Upward gesture tempo

(How much upward

movement? Quick? Slow?)

– Contraction Index (How extended is the body?) – Quantity of Motion (Overall movement between frames)