Poster
Reference
Playing for a virtual audience. Expressive features in musical performances
SCHAERLAEKEN, Simon, GLOWINSKI, Donald, GRANDJEAN, Didier Maurice
Abstract
Immersive Virtual Environments combined with motion capture systems have been used as experimental set-ups for studying musicians' performances in different contexts. By exploring both acoustic and motion features, this study highlights the impact of the presence of a virtual audience on both the performance and the perception of authenticity and emotional intensity by the listeners. Gestures and sounds produced were impacted differently when musicians were asked to play with different expressive intents. The presence of an audience reduced the differences between those categories and makes them converging towards values associated with the projected expressive manner. On the listeners' side, only the congruent situation of projected expressive intent and the presence of an audience boosted the participants' ratings in both authenticity and emotional intensity. When comparing the different features values, stimuli recorded with an audience were associated with a bipartite distribution of the values for both authenticity and emotional intensity (either high or low) contradicting the three artificially created expressive [...]
SCHAERLAEKEN, Simon, GLOWINSKI, Donald, GRANDJEAN, Didier Maurice. Playing for a virtual audience. Expressive features in musical performances. In: Phasing Out - NCCR, Geneva, 18-19 mai 2017, 2017
Available at:
http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:103810
Disclaimer: layout of this document may differ from the published version.
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ABSTRACT Immersive Virtual Environments combined with motion capture systems have been used as experimental set-ups for studying musicians’ performances in different contexts. By ex- ploring both acoustic and motion features, this study highlights the impact of the presence of a virtual audience on both the performance and the perception of authenticity and emotional intensity by the listeners. Gestures and sounds produced were impacted differently when musicians were asked to play with different expressive intents. The presence of an audience reduced the differences between those categories and makes them converging towards values associated with the projected expressive manner. On the listeners’ side, only the congruent situation of projected expressive intent and the presence of an audience boosted the participants’ ratings in both authenticity and emotional intensity. When comparing the different features values, stimuli recorded with an au- dience were associated with a bipartite distribution of the values for both authenticity and emotional intensity (either high or low) contradicting the three artificially created expressive categories.
This study highlights the use of IVEs as a research tool as well as a training assistant for musician eager to learn how to cope with audience anxiety.
HABITS
Musicians refine their movements in a certain way to make them comfortable yet expressive.
The presence of an audience -> pushes musicians to use this set of habitual movements.
When no expressive intent -> musicians might feel the need to still express some emotions for the crowd to enjoy the perfor- mance.
Exaggerating expressive intents in front of a crowd -> musicians might feel less authentic. To counterbalance this effect, musi- cians naturally try to move less.
BTI values when an audience is present are no longer significantly differentiable across the three expressive intents.
- N = 40 (19 females, mean age = 23) - Questionaires
- Stimuli: Point Light Display (PLD) + audio - Ratings: emotional intensity & authenticity - Linear mixed models
CONGRUENCE
- Deadpan & exaggerated: trend towards projected conditions, when an audience was present.
- Significant difference in perceptual intensity and authenticity in the case of musicians playing as they would in a concert and facing a virtual audience
-> ease coming with the congruency of the common context
-> musicians appear more authentic and communicate their expressive intent better in the process.
BIPARTITE DISTRIBUTION OF PERCEIVED INTENSITY & AUTHENTICITY
- Three expressive intents can be communicated accurately by the musicians to the listeners,
-> HOWEVER the presence of an audience reduces the differentiability of such categories of expressive intents.
-> Emergence of a bipartite distribution of our data instead of the tripartite grouping of the expressive intents
- Methodological framework designed by Davidson (2005) reaches the limits of its ecological validity.
- Thresholds: Kinetic energy = 0.00673 W & Metric centroid = 308 BPM
CONCLUSION
- Presence of an audience generated important variations in both acoustic and motion features related to music performance
- Experimentally manipulating expressive intents should be done with care when in a social context
- IVEs are suitable environements as both research tool and training musicians to cope with audience anxiety
LIMITATIONS & FUTURE WORK - Test for presence
- Number of musicians
- Physiology related to stress
- More realistic IVE (example: audience behavior)
--> All of this is taken into account in a future study
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
0 0 1 2 3
Kinetic energy (J)
Time (Time frame)
A
B
C D
Angle shoulder-
pelvis
E
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
10 20 30 40
Quantile 75
Angle shoulder-pelvis value (°)
Time (Time frame)
0 0.5
1 1.5
2
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Time (in s) -0.8
-0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
Amplitude
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
400 300 200 100
Coefficient value (in BPM)
Time (in s)
Pulsation period (in s)
Time (in s)
F
G
H
- 4 violinists
- Interactive Virtual Environment (IVE) - Linear models
Features: Kinetic energy
Body Twist Index Metrical centroid Expressive intents: Deadpan
Projected
Exaggerated
Features chosen based on context and literature.
Kinetic energy -> characterise different expressive intents (Dardard, Gnecco, & Glowinski, 2016; Glowinski et al., 2015).
Metric centroid -> time-related aspect of music, linked to emotional arousal and musical entrainment (Juslin,2013).
Body Twist Index -> captures dissociation between different body parts, relevant for violinists.
Body twist index (z-score)
*
**
*
***
*
DP PROJ EXAG
-2 -1 0 1
B
2Kinetic energy (z-score) ***
**
******
***
A
**DP PROJ EXAG
-2 -1 0 1 2
*** : p < 0.001
** : p < 0.01
* : p < 0.05 -2
-1 0 1 2
Metrical centroid (z-score)
** **
* *
***
***
DP PROJ EXAG
C
Empty Audience
DP PROJ EXAG
0
25 50
Perceived authenticity
B
***
0
50
DP PROJ EXAG
Empty Audience
Perceived emotional intensity
A
**
25
0
25 50
Perceived emotional intensity
0-25 25-50 50-75 75-100
A
**
***
Kinetic energy (bins of values)
0
25 50
Perceived emotional intensity
0-25 25-50 50-75 75-100
B
* *** **
***
Metrical centroid (bins of values)
0
25 50
Perceived authenticity
0-25 25-50 50-75 75-100
C
**
***
0
25 50
Perceived authenticity
0-25 25-50 50-75 75-100
D
*** ***
***
Empty Audience
Playing for a virtual audience
Expressive features in musical performances
EMAIL: simon.schaerlaeken@ unige.ch
