Swinging to the beat: Movement induction in electronic dance music

TY - GEN

T1 - Swinging to the beat

T2 - Movement induction in electronic dance music

AU - Egermann, Hauke

AU - Förstel, Alexander

AU - Lehrbach, Nico

AU - Wende, Markus

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - Overt beat induction occurs when an individual, listening to rhythmic music, spontaneously starts moving her/his body in a synchronized manner -- e.g. by tapping her/his finger or foot. However, it is not well understood which specific rhythmic features increase the likelihood of beat induction. An interesting candidate is the ``swing`` parameter used in electronic music production, which induces a delay of every second eighth note and thus creates a ``swinging`` feeling. We tested within subjects the effects of three experimental factors on the intensity of beat synchronized movements: 1) Movement instruction (none/naive vs. instructed beat synchronization), 2) the intensity of the ``swing``-parameter, and 3) music excerpt. Three pieces of rhythmic electronic music with six different swing ratios each were randomly played to 18 participants. Bodily expressions of beat induction were measured using a motion capture system with reflectors attached to the subjects' feet, hands and the head. In the naive condition, the subjects were told that the reflectors will be used ``later on`` for another part of the study. In the instructed condition, participants were explicitly encouraged to move to the music. The order of the conditions was randomised between participants. The motion capture data were transformed to the frequency-domain and the individual movement intensities were extracted at frequencies corresponding to the BPM of the stimuli. A repeated-measures Hierarchical Linear Model revealed that both condition and piece have a significant influence on the movement intensities. The swing parameter, however, exhibits only a weak, non-significant relationship with the beat-induction movements.

AB - Overt beat induction occurs when an individual, listening to rhythmic music, spontaneously starts moving her/his body in a synchronized manner -- e.g. by tapping her/his finger or foot. However, it is not well understood which specific rhythmic features increase the likelihood of beat induction. An interesting candidate is the ``swing`` parameter used in electronic music production, which induces a delay of every second eighth note and thus creates a ``swinging`` feeling. We tested within subjects the effects of three experimental factors on the intensity of beat synchronized movements: 1) Movement instruction (none/naive vs. instructed beat synchronization), 2) the intensity of the ``swing``-parameter, and 3) music excerpt. Three pieces of rhythmic electronic music with six different swing ratios each were randomly played to 18 participants. Bodily expressions of beat induction were measured using a motion capture system with reflectors attached to the subjects' feet, hands and the head. In the naive condition, the subjects were told that the reflectors will be used ``later on`` for another part of the study. In the instructed condition, participants were explicitly encouraged to move to the music. The order of the conditions was randomised between participants. The motion capture data were transformed to the frequency-domain and the individual movement intensities were extracted at frequencies corresponding to the BPM of the stimuli. A repeated-measures Hierarchical Linear Model revealed that both condition and piece have a significant influence on the movement intensities. The swing parameter, however, exhibits only a weak, non-significant relationship with the beat-induction movements.

M3 - Conference contribution

SP - 338

EP - 340

BT - Proceedings of the Ninth Triennial Conference of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music

A2 - Ginsborg, Jane

A2 - Lamont, Alexandra

A2 - Bramley, Stephanie

PB - Chapel Press

CY - Manchester

ER -