The effect of practice and musical structure on pianists’ eye-hand span and visual monitoring

This study examines short-term improvement of music performances and oculomotor behaviour during four successive executions of a brief musical piece composed by Bartók, “Slovak Boys’ Dance”. Pianists (n=22) were allowed to practice for two minutes between each trial. Eye-tracking data were collected as well as MIDI information from pianists’ performances. Cognitive skills were assessed by a spatial memory test and a reading span test. Principal component analysis (PCA) enabled us to distinguish two axes, one associated with anticipation and the other with dependence/independence on written code. The effect of musical structure, determined by the emergence of different sections in the score, was observed in all the dependent variables selected from the PCA; we also observed the effect of practice on the number of fixations, the number of glances at the keyboard (GAK) and the awareness span. Pianist expertise was associated with fewer fixations and GAK, better anticipation capacities and more effective strategies for visual monitoring of motor movements. The significant correlations observed between the reading span test and GAK duration highlight the challenge of working memory involvement during music reading.

Multi-mode analysis of Rayleigh-type Lg. Part 1. Theory and applicability of the method

Rayleigh-type Lg propagating in a laterally homogeneous continental crust can be synthesized by adding only a few overtones at periods greater than 2 sec. Under minimal assumptions, we show that wavenumber analysis of Lg recorded on a several hundred kilometers long linear array of 10 stations allow us to isolate the different overtones, providing a tool to study crustal structures and excitation of the overtones at the source. In this first paper, we use synthetic Lg seismograms to investigate the applicability of a time-frequency-wavenumber analysis technique (UC diagram algorithm) to realistic arrays of stations. The behavior of the algorithm in the presence of lateral heterogeneities is studied numerically by introducing either random or coherent phase perturbations. We find that (1) the method is tractable if random phase fluctuations from station to station are spread over less than half a cycle, and (2) coherent velocity changes between two halves of a profile are spatially averaged if they are too small to be resolved by the array

Silent reading of music and texts; eye movements and integrative reading mechanisms

This study investigates to what extent structural units defined by physical and structural markers elicit different eye movement patterns when reading contrasting stimuli of music and verbal texts. Eye movements were tracked and compared in ten musicians undergoing Bachelor’s degrees as they silently read six texts and six pieces of music for piano: the music was contemporary, in modal style, and the style of the texts was informative and literary. Participants were music students at Universidad de Chile studying for Bachelor’s degrees. Information integration for both local (intrasentence/phrase) and global (intersentence/phrase) levels of processing was assessed through regressive fixations at the first pass and re-reading stages. Memory involvement in musical and verbal processing was investigated using verbal working memory and spatial memory tasks, suggesting a link between spatial memory and the reading of contemporary music. Both local and global integrative controls vary according to the reading stages, with differences between music styles and text types. These differences relate to information intake and integrative reading mechanisms. Despite the fact that musicians used different strategies for processing verbal and musical information, no cross-patterns of individual reading strategies were observed between conditions. Although the underlying processes are different, resource-sharing between the two domains cannot be ruled out

BCSF (2005) - Séisme des Saintes (Guadeloupe) du 21 novembre 2004.

Guadeloupe, together with Martinique, is classified as a seismic zone III (Decree No. 91-461 of 14 May 1991) which is the highest level of seismic hazard for the French territory. With a magnitude of 6.3, the Saintes earthquake is the largest that has occurred in France since the Provence earthquake of June 11, 1909. Macro-seismic intensity reached VIII in the Saintes archipelago. This is the highest macro-seismic intensity observed in France since the Arette earthquake of 13 August 1967 in the Pyrenees. The Saintes earthquake mobilized many people, scientific research laboratories and technical centres. To produce this document, the BCSF relied on data processed by the IPGP Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Guadeloupe and the CDSA. Macro-seismic data were collected using the survey forms distributed to town halls, gendarmerie and fire brigades by the SIDPC of the prefecture of Guadeloupe, the testimonies posted on the BCSF website, and the information collected during the BCSF-CDSA survey in the field. This information has been usefully supplemented by information from the French Association of Seismic Engineering.The mission of the French Central Seismological Office is to collect data on earthquakes felt in France, to collect useful information and to facilitate its dissemination to stakeholders concerned by seismic risk or conducting studies or research requiring the use of these observations.La Guadeloupe est, avec la Martinique, classée en zone de sismicité III (décret n° 91-461 du 14 mai 1991) qui est le niveau d'aléa sismique le plus élevé pour le territoire français. Avec une magnitude de 6,3, le séisme des Saintes est le plus important s’étant produit en France depuis celui de Provence du 11 juin 1909. L’intensité macrosismique a atteint VIII sur l’archipel des Saintes. C’est la plus forte intensité macrosismique observée en France depuis le séisme d’Arette du 13 août 1967 dans les Pyrénées. Le séisme des Saintes a mobilisé de nombreuses personnes, laboratoires de recherche scientifique et centres techniques. Pour réaliser ce document, le BCSF s’est appuyé sur les données traitées par l’Observatoire Volcanologique et Sismologique de Guadeloupe de l’IPGP et le CDSA. Les données macrosismiques ont été collectées grâce aux formulaires d’enquête distribués auprès des mairies, services de gendarmerie et de pompiers par le SIDPC de la préfecture de la Guadeloupe, grâce aux témoignages déposés sur le site Internet du BCSF, et grâce aux informations recueillies lors de l’enquête BCSF-CDSA sur le terrain. Ces informations ont été utilement complétées par celles de l'Association française de génie parasismique.Le Bureau Central Sismologique Français a pour mission de collecter les données sur les séismes ressentis en France, de rassembler les informations utiles et de faciliter leur diffusion vers les acteurs concernés par le risque sismique ou menant des études ou recherches nécessitant l’usage de ces observations

Upper mantle structure beneath continents: New constraints from multi‐mode Rayleigh wave data in western North America and southern Africa

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95080/1/grl22780.pd

Multivariate Approach to Reading Comprehension and Sight-Reading

This chapter focuses on the study of the relationship between reading of music and verbal texts and it seeks to define an ecological music reading task that allows comparison of musical and verbal domains. Participants were preservice music students who performed different music reading tasks correlated with a verbal text comprehension test. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA), was performed, explaining 91,5% of the variance. The following two axes were defined: one related to reading compression and the other to music performance variables. The relationship between the selected variables in the factorial plane, particularly the strong association between sight-reading and literal comprehension, suggest that sight-reading is a relevant factor with regards to the study of musical and verbal domains

Multi-mode analysis of Rayleigh-type Lg. Part 2. Application to southern California and the northwestern Sierra Nevada

The UC diagram technique described in the companion paper (Part 1), is applied to nine sets of Lg phases recorded through the CEDAR system in southern California, and two sets of Lg phases recorded along the northwestern margin of the Sierra Nevada. A clear image of the signal is obtained in time-frequency-wavenumber space, and we discuss in particular observations at 2.5-sec period, for events 200 to 300 km outside the profiles. From the gross features of UC diagrams we conclude that a representation of Lg as a single coherent multi-mode wave train is oversimplified in the case of southern California but is more appropriate for the Sierra block. In southern California, peaks observed at group velocities smaller than 3.2 km/sec are not predicted by realistic crustal models of the area, and are probably due to lateral heterogeneities effects such as mode conversion and multipathing. On the other hand, for group velocities between 3.2 and 3.6 km/sec, peaks observed in either area can generally be interpreted in terms of overtones excited at the source and propagating through spatially averaged structures, although care must be taken to monitor the stability of the algorithm on actual short-period records

Mantle upwellings and convective instabilities revealed by seismic tomography and helium isotope geochemistry beneath eastern Africa

International audienceThe relationship between intraplate volcanism and continental tectonics has been investigated for North and East Africa using a high resolution three-dimensional anisotropic tomographic model derived from seismic data of a French experiment ''Horn of Africa'' and existing broadband data. The joint inversion for seismic velocity and anisotropy of the upper 400 km of the mantle, and geochemical data reveals a complex interaction between mantle upwellings, and lithosphere. Two kinds of mantle upwellings can be distinguished: The first one, the Afar ''plume'' originates from deeper than 400 km and is characterized by enrichment in primordial 3 He and 3 He/ 4 He ratios higher than those along mid-ocean ridges (MOR). The second one, associated with other Cenozoic volcanic provinces (Darfur, Tibesti, Hoggar, Cameroon), with 3 He/ 4 He ratios similar to, or lower than MOR, is a consequence of shallower upwelling. The presumed asthenospheric convective instabilities are oriented in an east-west direction, resulting from interaction between south-north asthenospheric mantle flow, main plume head and topography on the base of lithosphere