Decrypt the groove: Audio features of groove and their importance for auditory-motor interactions

When we listen to music we often experience a state that can be described as ”˜in the groove’. This state is characterized by the wish or even the urge to move our body to the musical pulse (Janata et al., 2012; Madison, 2006). A previous study showed that high-groove music modulates the excitability of the motor system, whereas no effect of low-groove music was found (Stupacher et al., 2013). But which musical qualities contribute to the feeling of groove? To answer this question, we extracted audio features of 80 song clips with similar instrumentation and correlated them with subjective groove ratings. Song clips and groove ratings of 19 participants were taken from Janata et al. (2012). The following features were extracted with Matlab’s MIR toolbox (Lartillot & Toiviainen, 2007): RMS energy, spectral flux, sub-band flux, pulse clarity (”˜MaxAutocor’ and ”˜Attack’), and event density. Additionally we used the Genesis Loudness toolbox to compute measures of loudness using the loudness model of Glasberg and Moore (2002).Results showed that groove ratings correlated positively (all ps < .01) with following audio features: RMS energy (r = .37), RMS variability (r = .57), pulse clarity ”˜attack’ (r = .38), spectral flux (r = .34), sub-band flux of band 1 (0-50 Hz, r = .29), and band 2 (50-100 Hz, r = .29). Additionally, groove ratings correlated positively (all ps < .05) with band 3 (100-200 Hz, r = .23), band 5 (400-800 Hz, r = .23), and band 6 (800-1600 Hz, r = .24). The mean loudness of song clips did not affect groove ratings.Since energy in low frequency bands (Burger et al., 2012; Van Dyck et al., 2013), percussiveness (similar to pulse clarity ”˜attack’), and spectral flux (Burger et al., 2012) have previously been shown to affect motor movements, our results indicate that the experience of groove is a phenomenon predominantly based on auditory-motor interactions (cf. Janata et al., 2012; Stupacher et al., 2013).ReferencesBurger, B., Thompson, M. R., Luck, G., Saarikallio, S., & Toiviainen, P. (2012). Music moves us: Beat related musical features influence regularity of music-induced movement. In Proceedings of the 12th International Conference in Music Perception and Cognition and the 8th Triennial Conference of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences for Music, Thessaloniki, Greece.Glasberg, B. R., & Moore, B. C. J. (2002). A model of loudness applicable to time-varying sounds. Journal Audio Engineering Society, 50, 331–342.Janata, P., Tomic, S. T., & Haberman, J. M. (2012). Sensorimotor coupling in music and the psychology of the groove. Journal of Experimental Psychology. General, 141, 54–75.Lartillot, O., & Toiviainen, P. (2007). A matlab toolbox for musical feature extraction from audio. In Proc. of the 10th Int. Conference on Digital Audio Effects (DAFx-07), Bordeaux, France.Madison, G. (2006). Experiencing groove induced by music: Consistency and phenomenology. Music Perception, 24, 201–208.Stupacher, J., Hove, M. J., Novembre, G., Schütz-Bosbach, S., &Keller, P. E. (2013). Musical groove modulates motor cortex excitability: a TMS investigation. Brain and Cognition, 82, 127–136.Van Dyck, E., Moelants, D., Demey, M., Deweppe, A., Coussement, P., & Leman, M. (2013). The impact of the bass drum on human dance movement. Music Perception, 30, 349–359

Learning music from each other: synchronization, turn-taking, or imitation?

In an experimental study, we investigated how well novices can learn from each other in situations of technology-aided musical skill acquisition, comparing joint and solo learning, and learning through imitation, synchronization, and turn-taking. Fifty-four participants became familiar, either solo or in pairs, with three short musical melodies and then individually performed each from memory. Each melody was learned in a different way: participants from the solo group were asked via an instructional video to: 1) play in synchrony with the video, 2) take turns with the video, or 3) imitate the video. Participants from the duo group engaged in the same learning trials, but with a partner. Novices in both groups performed more accurately in pitch and time when learning in synchrony and turn-taking than in imitation. No differences were found between solo and joint learning. These results suggest that musical learning benefits from a shared, in-the-moment, musical experience, where responsibilities and cognitive resources are distributed between biological (i.e., peers) and hybrid (i.e., participant(s) and computer) assemblies

Meaning-making and creativity in musical entrainment

In this paper we suggest that basic forms of musical entrainment may be considered as intrinsically creative, enabling further creative behaviors which may flourish at different levels and timescales. Rooted in an agent's capacity to form meaningful couplings with their sonic, social, and cultural environment, musical entrainment favors processes of adaptation and exploration, where innovative and functional aspects are cultivated via active, bodily experience. We explore these insights through a theoretical lens that integrates findings from enactive cognitive science and creative cognition research. We center our examination on the realms of groove experience and the communicative and emotional dimensions of music, aiming to present a novel preliminary perspective on musical entrainment, rooted in the fundamental concepts of meaning-making and creativity. To do so, we draw from a suite of approaches that place particular emphasis on the role of situated experience and review a range of recent empirical work on entrainment (in musical and non-musical settings), emphasizing the latter's biological and cognitive foundations. We conclude that musical entrainment may be regarded as a building block for different musical creativities that shape one's musical development, offering a concrete example for how this theory could be empirically tested in the future

Musical novices perform with equal accuracy when learning to drum alone or with a peer

The capacity of expert musicians to coordinate with each other when playing in ensembles or rehearsing has been widely investigated. However, little is known about the ability of novices to achieve satisfactory coordinated behaviour when making music together. We tested whether performance accuracy differs when novices play a newly learned drumming pattern with another musically untrained individual (duo group) or alone (solo group). A comparison between musical outcomes of the two groups revealed no significant differences concerning performative accuracy. An additional, exploratory examination of the degree of mutual influence between members of the duos suggested that they reciprocally affected each other when playing together. These findings indicate that a responsive auditory feedback involving surprises introduced by human errors could be part of pedagogical settings that employ repetition or imitation, thereby facilitating coordination among novices in a less prescribed fashion

Audio Features Underlying Perceived Groove and Sensorimotor Synchronization in Music

The experience of groove is associated with the urge to move to a musical rhythm. Here we focus on the relevance of audio features, obtained using music information retrieval (MIR) tools, for explaining the perception of groove and music-related movement. In the first of three studies, we extracted audio features from clips of real music previously rated on perceived groove. Measures of variability, such as the variance of the audio signal’s RMS curve and spectral flux (particularly in low frequencies) predicted groove ratings. Additionally, we dissociated two forms of event density, showing that an algorithm that emphasizes variability between beats predicted groove ratings better. In Study 2 we manipulated RMS levels and groove category (low, mid, and high groove) to confirm that perceived groove is not a function of loudness. In Study 3 we utilized novel music clips that manipulated the frequency of bass and bass drum (low vs. high) and attack time (short vs. long). Groove ratings and tapping velocities tended to be higher and tapping variability tended to be lower when the bass instruments had lower frequencies. The present findings emphasize the multifaceted nature of groove by linking audio and musical qualities to subjective experience and motor behavior

Social effects of interpersonal synchronization during listening to music compared to a metronome: What can we learn from implicit measures?

Interpersonal coordination, such as simultaneous rhythmic movement, is a fundamental way to form socioemotional connections. The social and emotional power of music might further strengthen such interpersonal bonds. Here, we tested if interpersonal synchronization (synchronous vs. asynchronous finger-tapping) affects sympathy and helpfulness more strongly when listening to music compared to a metronome. We tested 40 participants and used an explicit and an implicit measure to assess their social orientation toward a tapping partner (i.e., one of two experimenters). Participants directly rated the friendliness of the experimenter on a 9-point Likert scale. As a more indirect or implicit measure of social orientation, we counted the number of pencils (out of a total of eight) that the participants collected after the experimenter “accidentally” dropped them. After five seconds, the experimenter started to help the participants or collected the pencils herself. Results of the pencil test showed that participants were more helpful toward an experimenter who tapped synchronously compared to asynchronously. Importantly, this result was completely driven by the effect of interpersonal synchrony during listening to music. When listening to music, participants collected 38 pencils (M = 3.80, SD = 3.29) after tapping in interpersonal synchrony compared to only 13 pencils (M = 1.30, SD = 2.67) after tapping asynchronously. No such effect was found for the metronome. The results of explicit ratings of the experimenter’s friendliness, however, did not confirm these effects. The direct ratings might have been more strongly influenced by social desirability or related motivational distortions. Since music is a product of social interactions and might even be the result of evolutionary adaptation, we conclude that especially during listening to music, interpersonal synchrony or asynchrony can fulfill or violate hardwired social expectations. Additionally, we could show that implicit or indirect measures can help elucidate how music, movement and prosocial behavior are connected

Meaning-making and creativity in musical entrainment

In this paper we suggest that basic forms of musical entrainment may be considered as intrinsically creative, enabling further creative behaviors which may flourish at different levels and timescales. Rooted in an agent's capacity to form meaningful couplings with their sonic, social, and cultural environment, musical entrainment favors processes of adaptation and exploration, where innovative and functional aspects are cultivated via active, bodily experience. We explore these insights through a theoretical lens that integrates findings from enactive cognitive science and creative cognition research. We center our examination on the realms of groove experience and the communicative and emotional dimensions of music, aiming to present a novel preliminary perspective on musical entrainment, rooted in the fundamental concepts of meaning-making and creativity. To do so, we draw from a suite of approaches that place particular emphasis on the role of situated experience and review a range of recent empirical work on entrainment (in musical and non-musical settings), emphasizing the latter's biological and cognitive foundations. We conclude that musical entrainment may be regarded as a building block for different musical creativities that shape one's musical development, offering a concrete example for how this theory could be empirically tested in the future

Audio Features Underlying Perceived Groove and Sensorimotor Synchronization in Music

The experience of groove is associated with the urge to move to a musical rhythm. Here we focus on the relevance of audio features, obtained using music information retrieval (MIR) tools, for explaining the perception of groove and music-related movement. In the first of three studies, we extracted audio features from clips of real music previously rated on perceived groove. Measures of variability, such as the variance of the audio signal’s RMS curve and spectral flux (particularly in low frequencies) predicted groove ratings. Additionally, we dissociated two forms of event density, showing that an algorithm that emphasizes variability between beats predicted groove ratings better. In Study 2 we manipulated RMS levels and groove category (low, mid, and high groove) to confirm that perceived groove is not a function of loudness. In Study 3 we utilized novel music clips that manipulated the frequency of bass and bass drum (low vs. high) and attack time (short vs. long). Groove ratings and tapping velocities tended to be higher and tapping variability tended to be lower when the bass instruments had lower frequencies. The present findings emphasize the multifaceted nature of groove by linking audio and musical qualities to subjective experience and motor behavior

A replication of the inverted U-shaped relationship between rhythmic complexity and the sensation of groove with a small stimulus set

The experience of groove is defined as a pleasurable state of wanting to move one’s body in relation to the pulse of a musical rhythm. Most individuals feel a strong desire to move their body when listening to music with a moderate amount of rhythmic complexity, whereas low and high amounts of rhythmic complexity decrease the desire to move (Matthews et al., 2019; Witek et al., 2014). Matthews and colleagues (2019) additionally investigated the influence of harmonic complexity on the sensation of groove and found that wanting to move ratings were similar for low and moderately complex harmonies, but dropped for a highly complex harmony. The present study tests whether these effects of rhythmic and harmonic complexity can be replicated with a subset of 9 stimuli from the original set of 54 stimuli used by Matthews and colleagues (2019). In line with previous research by Matthews et al. (2019) and Witek et al. (2014), groove ratings followed an inverted U-shape when plotted against rhythmic complexity. The strongest sensation of groove was reported for patterns with a moderate amount of rhythmic complexity, followed by low and high rhythmic complexity. The manipulation of harmonic complexity also led to similar results as in Matthews et al. (2019): Groove ratings were highest for low harmonic complexity followed by moderate and high harmonic complexity