Music, movement and marimba: an investigation of the role of movement and gesture in communicating musical expression to an audience

The experiment reported in this article investigated the assumption that visual movement plays a role in musician-to-audience communication in marimba performance. Body movement is of particular relevance here as the expressive capabilities of the marimba are relatively restricted, and the movements required to play it are visible. Twenty-four musically trained and 24 musically untrained observers rated auditory-only and auditory-visual presentations of 20th-century solo marimba excerpts for perceived expressiveness and interest. Performances were given by a male and a female professional musician in projected (public performance expression) and deadpan (minimized expressive features) performance manners. As hypothesized, higher ratings were recorded in response to projected performances than to deadpan. The hypothesized interaction between modality and performance manner was observed. Musically trained participants recorded higher ratings than musically untrained observers, upholding the final hypothesis. Expressive body movement plays an important role in the communication between marimba performer and audience - a role relevant for both performers and educators. Copyrigh

Thinking strategically about dance making : an analysis of the structuring stage and the strategies choreographers use for varying dance works

This empirical study investigates how expert choreographers structure their dance pieces and vary their dance designs. Specifically, the methods choreographers apply for selecting, ordering, and refining movement material into a coherent whole were explored. Accordingly, the structuring process of two expert contemporary choreographers was isolated and examined separately from other stages of dance development. We have used observations, interviews and questionnaires to understand the choreographers’ actions and thoughts as they worked on creating three dance pieces. In addition, a model from the field of design (Yilmaz et al 2011) was utilised as the main framework for analysing the quantitative and qualitative data that was extracted. We found that choreographers transform their composition through the application of multiple strategies and particularly, ‘Local’ strategies. Still, each choreographer relies on a particular set of strategies based on the problems they identify in each process and their own personal preferences. Notably, real innovation was enabled through the application of ‘Process Strategies’. These techniques guided the choreographers’ overall approach through the solution space by forcing changes in a particular direction. As a result, new dance forms were discovered

Time course of creativity in dance

Time-motion studies revolutionized the design and efficiency of repetitive work last century. Would time-idea studies revolutionize the rules of intellectual/creative work this century? Collaborating with seven professional dancers, we set out to discover if there were any significant temporal patterns to be found in a timeline coded to show when dancers come up with ideas and when they modify or reject them. On each of 3 days, the dancers were given a choreographic problem (or task) to help them generate a novel, high quality contemporary dance phrase. They were videoed as they worked on this task for sessions of 15, 30, and 45 min. At the end of each 15 min interval during each session, we had them perform the phrase they were creating. They recorded and then coded the video of themselves dancing during these sessions by using a coding language we developed with them to identify when ideas are introduced, modified, and rejected. We found that most ideas are created early and that though these early ideas are aggressively pruned early on, many still make it into the final product. The two competing accounts of creativity in design research make predictions for the temporal structure of creativity. Our results support neither account, rather showing a more blended version of the two. The iterative design view, arguably the dominant view, is that good ideas are the product of generating many ideas, choosing one fairly early, committing to it, and iteratively improving it. The “fail fast fail often” view is that good ideas are the product of rapidly generating and discarding ideas and holding back from early commitment to any one in particular. The result of holding back commitment, typically, is not that an idea is taken up later and then incrementally improved at the last minute, as much as that later designs are not completely novel, instead incorporating the best parts of the entire sequence of ideas. In our study, we found no evidence that one account or the other was more predictive for the domain of contemporary dance. The behavior of the dancers that we studied revealed elements of both, calling into question how predictive these theories are

Exploring Practitioner Perspectives of Sourcing Risks: Towards the Development of an Integrated Risk and Control Framework

Outsourcing of information and communication technologies (ICT) and related services is an established and growing industry. Recent trends, such as the move toward multi-sourcing have increased the complexity and risk of these outsourcing arrangements. There is a critical research need to identify the risks faced by both the organisations that outsource ICT and the vendors that provide it in this changing landscape. To address growing concerns regarding the best way to deal with risk and control in this environment, our research focuses on establishing a Sourcing Risk and Control Framework to assist organisations identify these risks and develop effective mitigation strategies. In this paper we report on the first stage of our research that sought to document how sourcing risk is represented and considered in practice. To date, limited empirical research has been conducted in an Australian context. Using a series of workshops involving client and vendor representatives, we identified a broad range of risks and developed a cohesive categorisation scheme that incorporates functional and multi-stakeholder perspectives

It's not just about sound: investigating marimba performance as an auditory and visual experience

This paper is concerned with investigating expressive bodily movement in music performance, focussing on the keyboard percussion instrument, the marimba. A theoretical basis for developing a qualitative analysis of expressive bodily movement in music performance is presented. Research in experimental psychology and music performance has demonstrated that bodily movement creates visual information that can influence judgements of auditory information. The concert setting provides an excellent opportunity for performers to use both the aural and visual modes to their advantage in engaging audience attention and guiding awareness to musical content and artistic interpretation. It is suggested that the notated score provides sufficient information for the creation of an embodied musical interpretation resulting in an expressive audio-visual performance. It is proposed that ‘Laban Movement Analysis’ can be implemented as a qualitative method and meta-language for analysing expressive bodily movement in music performance. Two worked examples illustrate analysis of a performer’s expressive bodily movements. ‘Effort-Shape Notation’ is employed as a tool that links observed movement with the musical score. A theory based on embodied cognition of a musical score is proposed that explains the performer’s role in effectively communicating their artistic image and musical interpretation with an audience through auditory and visual means

Analyzing expressive qualities in movement and stillness: Effort-shape analyses of solo marimbists' bodily expression

laban movement analysis, specifically effort-shape analysis, is offered as a system to study musicians' bodily expression. It proposes others' intentions are manifest in expressive bodily activity and understood through shared embodied processes. The present investigation evaluates whether the basic components of Laban analysis are reflected in perceptual judgments of recorded performances and, specifically, evaluates interjudge reliability for effort-shape analysis. Sixteen audio-visual excerpts of marimba pieces performed by two professional solo marimbists' (female and male) served as stimuli. Effort-shape analyses and interjudge reliability thereof were assessed through three different tasks: 1) verification task, 2) independent analysis task, 3) signal detection yes/no task. Professional musicians - two percussionists, a violinist, and a French hornist - acted as participants. High interjudge reliability was observed for transformation drive and shape components, but less so for basic effort action components. Mixed interjudge reliability results for basic effort actions, and differences between frequency observations, point to differences in participant's embodied expertise, task implementation, and training issues. Effort-shape analysis has potential to drive comparative and predictive research into musicians' bodily expression. Effort-shape provides a fine-grain temporal analysis of ecologically valid performance sequences

Music playlists for people with dementia : qualitative evaluation of a guide for caregivers

This study aimed to evaluate a set of guidelines for music use with people with dementia. A secondary aim was to identify challenges and barriers to implementation of music interventions by caregivers. Caregivers (n = 16) were interviewed after implementing a music listening programme based on the guidelines with 29 people with dementia in home-care and aged care facilities. Caregivers found the guidelines informative, easy to understand and use. Positive effects on mood, reduced agitation and reduced challenges to care were reported. Difficulties with technology and finding time to implement the music programme were identified. Results highlight the need for more research around appropriate technology and the streamlining of processes and procedures for aged care staff. Further iterations of the guidelines will need to address these issues and consider the differing needs of home-based carers and aged care providers separately

Music playlists for people with dementia : trialing a guide for caregivers

Background: Music programs have the potential to provide an effective non-pharmacological tool for caregivers to reduce depression and agitation and increase quality of life in people with dementia. However, where such programs are not facilitated by a trained music therapist, caregivers need greater access to information about how to use music most effectively in response to key challenges to care, and how to pre-empt and manage adverse responses. Objective: This study reports on the trial of a Guide for use of music with 45 people with dementia and their caregivers in residential care facilities and home-based care. Methods: The study used a pre-post experimental design in which participants were randomly allocated to a treatment group or a waitlist control group. Results: Improvements to quality of life were found in the experimental group over the 6-week period. Significant increases in Interest, Responsiveness, Initiation, Involvement, and Enjoyment were reported for individual listening sessions. Conclusion: The Guide can provide an effective protocol for caregivers to follow in selecting music to manage particular challenges to care, confirming the need for caregivers to be prepared to monitor and manage potential negative responses