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the present study examined the synchronization error (SE) of drum kit playing by professional drummers with an auditory metronome, focusing on the effects of motor effectors and tempi. Fifteen professional drummers attempted to synchronize a basic drumming pattern with a metronome as precisely as possible at tempi of 60, 120, and 200 beats per minu...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... drum kit consisting of high-hat cymbals (14-inch diameter, Sabian), a snare drum (14-inch diameter, Carbon-Ply-Maple Series, Pearl), and a bass drum (22-inch diameter, Reference Series, Pearl) was located in front of the participants (see Figure 1). The height and position of the drum kit were adjusted to fit each par- ticipant, enabling them to sit comfortably while holding the drum sticks. ...
Context 2
... group mean of the correlation coefficient is shown in Figure 10. A two-way ANOVA with the factors of met- ronome tempi (60, 120, and 200 bpm) and limb combi- nations (the right hand and foot; the left and right hands) showed significant interaction, F(2, 28) = 5.64, p < .01, ...
Context 3
... the present study, the time series of SE was signifi- cantly correlated across the limbs, suggesting that each limb synchronized not independently to the metronome but in relation to the other limbs, which are in turn syn- chronized with the metronome. Moreover, the correla- tion coefficients among the limbs decreased with the increase of the metronome tempo (see Figure 10), indi- cating that the interaction among the limbs became weaker with the increase of the metronome tempo. This might be related to the more unstable synchronization performance, especially at the tempo of 200 bpm. ...
Citations
... Extensive training has an impact on flexibility in embodied processing of music at different temporal levels. Musical training clearly improves timing at various tempi, as was shown for percussionists who were able to perform with high synchronization accuracy at tempi ranging from 60 to 200 beats per minute (Fujii et al., 2011; see also , for synchronization rate flexibility of musicians compared to non-musicians). Furthermore, the synchronization accuracy of percussionists was found to be higher compared to other musicians including pianists and singers, and was extended to a cross-modal timing perception task (Krause et al., 2010), suggesting that enhanced temporal flexibility in synchronization may generalize to other domains including vision. ...
Music and dance can change our sense of time. Both rely on synchronizing our attention and actions with sounds and with other people, both involve memory and expectation, and both can give rise to experiences of flow and pleasure.
Performing Time explores our experience of time in dance and music, from the perspectives of performers and audiences, and informed by the most recent research in dance science, musicology, neuroscience, and psychology. It includes discussions of tempo and pacing, coordination and synchrony, the performer's experience of time, audiences' temporal expectations, the effect of extreme slowness, and our individual versus collective senses of time. At its core, the book addresses how time and temporality in music and dance relate to current psychological and neuroscientific theories as well as to the aesthetic aims of composers, choreographers and performers.
Bringing together new research on rhythm, time and temporality in both music and dance in one volume, the book contains overview chapters on the state of the art from leading researchers on topics ranging from the psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy of musical time to embodied timing in dance. In addition, numerous case studies regarding our temporal experience of music and dance are provided in shorter focus chapters, with their implications for further scientific study and artistic enquiry.
Performing Time is an invaluable and comprehensive resource for students, researchers, educators, and artists alike, and for any reader interested in how the performing arts construct and play with time in our minds and bodies.
Some chapters in this title are open access and available under the terms of a [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International] licence.
... Drummers (i.e., "percussionists who play the drum kit", Azar, 2020, p. 153) must be able to coordinate their entire body in perfect harmony to create the basic rhythm and provide complex rhythmic patterns and dramatic accents within a musical piece (Reimer, 2013). Skilled performance on the drum kit requires superior coordination (Fujii & Oda, 2006;Fujii et al., 2011), error detection (Bianco et al., 2017), stamina (De La Rue et al., 2013;Dr. Nadia Azar -DRUM-MER Lab, 2021), and the ability to perform complex movement patterns with apparent ease (Fujii et al., 2009a) -many attributes that are also exhibited by highly skilled athletes. ...
Background: Playing the drum kit is a physically and cognitively demanding task, and skilled drummers share many such attributes with elite athletes. The ‘double pulse’ muscle activation (DPMA) pattern is a motor control strategy that has been observed in athletes of sports involving ballistic movements (e.g., baseball, golf, Mixed Martial Arts), and is believed to function to increase force transfer to the target. Objective: This study examined the muscle activation patterns of highly skilled drummers for evidence of a DPMA during high-velocity cymbal crashes. Methods: Five drummers were instrumented with electromyography electrodes on the right latissimus dorsi, triceps brachii, erector spinae, rectus abdominis, deltoideus posterior (DP), teres major, extensor carpi radialis, and flexor carpi ulnaris muscles. Six trials of data were collected, including a resting baseline, three maximum voluntary exertions (MVE) consisting of maximal effort cymbal crashes, a drumming pattern that included multiple crashes, and a ‘free-play’ trial. Results: The DPMA waveform was observed in all trials, but only those observed during the MVE trials were confirmed to coincide with the crashing movement via video analysis. The DP muscle – which functions to extend the shoulder joint to crash the stick on to the cymbal – exhibited confirmed DPMAs the most frequently. Conclusion: The extent to which drummers use the DPMA to produce high-velocity cymbal crashes within authentic playing conditions is inconclusive and needs further examination. Future study of the DPMA phenomenon in drummers would benefit from the addition of 3-dimensional motion capture to further understand the purpose of the muscle contractions of the DPMA.
... Typical reported values of microtiming onset asynchronies in groove-based performances range from zero milliseconds (no displacement) to fifty milliseconds or more, depending on instrument, tempo, and genre (Câmara, 2016;Fujii et al., 2011;Hellmer & Madison, 2015;Senn et al., 2016). As to whether one can perceive CONTACT Guilherme Schmidt Câmara g.s.camara@imv.uio.no ...
... Although the drummers performed to the same metronome and backing track stimuli, the exact location of the perceived metrical grid -that is, the subjective grid with which each drummer operates -may differ from one drummer to another. It has been repeatedly observed that individuals tend to exhibit NMA (systematically early timing) when synchronising in an on-beat manner to short metronomic stimuli with fast attacks (Repp & Su, 2013) and instrument performance tasks (Câmara et al., 2020b;Fujii et al., 2011). Furthermore, P-centre studies show that the rhythmic moment of occurrence in longer instrumental sounds with relatively slower attack times, such as those of the Backing Track, tends to be perceived later in relation to onsets and also lead to lower NMA in drum synchronisation tasks Câmara et al. (2020b). ...
... The hi-hat is widely assumed to be the main timekeeper of the drum kit, and it is most closely Note: STD = standard deviation, IOI = inter-onset interval. and consistently synchronised with external grid reference stimuli (Câmara et al., 2020b;Fujii et al., 2011). The locations of the subjective metrical grid were thus calculated for each drummer as the mean difference of the hi-hat stroke onsets from the location of the Metronome or Backing Track grid in their on-beat performances. ...
We explored how drummers express a ‘back-beat’ pattern with different timing styles (laid-back, on-beat, pushed) via stroke onset and intensity features. Based on hierarchical clustering analyses and phylogenetic trees, we found three main strategies: (1) ‘general earliness/lateness’, where most instruments are consistently played earlier/later in time relative to a metrical grid; (2) ‘early/late flam’, where at least one instrument is played as a flam; and (3) ‘ambiguously early/late compound sound’, where in a dyad, one instrument is played synchronously with the grid, and the other early/late. Intensity strategies were not used uniformly to exclusively distinguish between laid-back/pushed and on-beat timing.
... Although several studies have examined the biomechanics and motor control of drumming (e.g., Fujii et al., 2009Fujii et al., , 2011Dahl, 2011;Chong et al., 2016;Mutio et al., 2017;Eriksen et al., 2018), only three have examined this data in the context of injury prevention. Salvalaio et al. (2011) used thermography to examine leg muscle activation in one drummer during two double-kick pedal techniques. ...
For any skilled performer to deliver their optimal performance, preparation must extend beyond task-specific skill development to include psychological skills training, physical conditioning, and injury prevention. The keynote lecture upon which this article is based (delivered at the International Symposium on Performance Science 2021) explored current research that demonstrates the importance of physical conditioning and injury prevention for drummers (i.e., percussionists who play the drum kit). Early results revealed that professional drummers’ heart rates during live performances can reach similar levels to those of other professional athletes during competitions. They also established that playing-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMDs) are very common in drummers, particularly those affecting the upper limbs such as tendinitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. Evidence from laboratory-based studies supports non-neutral postures, repetitive movements, and exposure to hand-arm vibration as risk factors for the development of these injuries in drummers. Embedding injury prevention education within drum kit curricula is a promising strategy for reducing the rates at which drummers report experiencing PRMDs, and the barriers and facilitators that drum kit educators encounter when attempting to do so are currently under investigation. When drummers include both physical conditioning and injury prevention within their overall preparation regimen, they will maximize their potential to deliver their peak performance.
... The role of musical training in developing the perception and production abilities needed for fine-grained timing and synchronization of sounds has been investigated in several studies, using both behavioral and neuroscientific methods. Regarding timing production, that is, the act of accurately synchronizing a self-produced sound (such as a tap) with an external sound source, research has shown that musicians do this with lower variability than non-musicians (Cameron & Grahn, 2014;Danielsen et al., 2019;Fujii et al., 2011;Krause et al., 2010;Manning & Schutz, 2015;Manning et al., 2017;Manning et al., 2020;Matthews et al., 2016;Repp, 2010;Repp & Doggett, 2007;Skaansar et al., 2019). Musicians also show less asynchrony when tapping to an isochronous auditory sequence (Cameron & Grahn, 2014;Danielsen et al., 2019;Repp, 2010;Repp & Doggett, 2007). ...
Musical expertise improves the precision of timing perception and performance – but is this expertise generic, or is it tied to the specific style(s) and genre(s) of one’s musical training? We asked expert musicians from three musical genres (folk, jazz, and EDM/hip-hop) to align click tracks and tap in synchrony with genre-specific and genre-neutral sound stimuli to determine the perceptual center (“P-center”) and variability (“beat bin”) for each group of experts. We had three stimulus categories – Organic, Electronic, and Neutral sounds – each of which had a 2 × 2 design of the acoustic factors Attack (fast/slow) and Duration (short/long). We found significant effects of Genre expertise, and a significant interaction for both P-center and P-center variability: folk and jazz musicians synchronize to sounds typical of folk and jazz in a different manner than the EDM/hip-hop producers. The results show that expertise in a specific musical genre affects our low-level perceptions of sounds as well as their affordance(s) for joint action/synchronization. The study provides new insights into the effects of active long-term musical enculturation and skill acquisition on basic sensorimotor synchronization and timing perception, shedding light on the important question of how nature and nurture intersect in the development of our perceptual systems.
... For pianists, however, tapping can be regarded as similar to everyday practice at the instrument. It has been shown by [15] that being in their proper environment with their instruments helps musicians to perform with a significantly lower synchronization error when playing the drum set than in previous tapping experiments. ...
Synchronization of movement to music is a behavioural capacity that separates humans from most other species. Whereas such movements have been studied using a wide range of methods, only few studies have investigated synchronisation to real music stimuli in a cross-culturally comparative setting. The present study employs beat tracking evaluation metrics and accent histograms to analyze the differences in the ways participants from two cultural groups synchronize their tapping with either familiar or unfamiliar music stimuli. Instead of choosing two apparently remote cultural groups, we selected two groups of musicians that share cultural backgrounds, but that differ regarding the music style they specialize in. The employed method to record tapping responses in audio format facilitates a fine-grained analysis of metrical accents that emerge from the responses. The identified differences between groups are related to the metrical structures inherent to the two musical styles, such as non-isochronicity of the beat, and differences between the groups document the influence of the deep enculturation of participants to their style of expertise. Besides these findings, our study sheds light on a conceptual weakness of a common beat tracking evaluation metric, when applied to human tapping instead of machine generated beat estimations.
... In analytical investigations of polyphonic music from commercial recordings, this focus stems in part from the fact that it is easier to measure and compare instruments' onsets (which can be readily identified in signal waveforms and spectrogram representations with a decent degree of accuracy) than aspects related to timbre, intensity, or duration (which are harder to isolate and quantify with confidence without filtering or distorting signals). However, even in experimental performance studies of groove-based music where better signal sources enable such investigations, scholars have continued to be concerned with onset timing relationships, including the degree to which musicians can closely synchronize onsets to, or systematically anticipate or delay against, a timing reference (Fujii et al., 2011;Kilchenmann & Senn, 2011) or the degree to which musicians displace onsets in swung note pairs (Ellis, 1991;Haas, 2007;Honing & Haas, 2008;Prögler, 1995; see also sections 2.3.2 and 2.3.4). Studies involving perceptual listening tasks with groove-based stimuli have also primarily focused on onsets-an inclination that stems from a preoccupation with testing PD theory's insistence that it is mainly the onset microtiming profiles of performances that influence the qualitative "feel" of their grooves (Butterfield, 2010;Davies et al., 2013;Frühauf et al., 2013;Kilchenmann & Senn, 2015;Matsushira & Nomura, 2016;Senn et al., 2016Senn et al., , 2017Skaansar et al., 2019; see also section 2.1.3). ...
... Thus, the "grid" was conceptualized here as a subjective reference structure representing where drummers might have perceived the location of the main quarter-note beats of the 4/4 meter. The hi-hat was specifically chosen as a proxy for the average location of the drummers' perceived metrical grids, since findings from paper II as well as other studies (Fujii et al., 2011) reveal that the hi-hat often exhibits the least NMA or is most closely synchronized to external timing references during in-phase (or on-the-beat) tasks, and thus likely serves as the main "timekeeper" for drummers. 21 We could have alternatively chosen to use a superimposed idealized grid based on local (measure level) or global (entire performance) average onset timing of a single drum instrument (such as that used by Câmara [2016] and Bilmes [1993], or of all drum instruments (Hoffman et al., 2017). ...
... This is because we were interested in discerning how drummers distinguished on-the-beat performances from laid-back ("behind-the-beat") and pushed performances on an individual basis. We specifically chose to use the hi-hat onset timing in the onthe-beat condition as a proxy for the average location of a given drummer's perceived metrical grid, since findings from paper I as well as other studies (Fujii et al., 2011) show that the hi-hat is often the drum kit instrument most closely synchronized to external timing references (that is, showing the smallest NMA)-therefore, it likely serves as the main "timekeeper" for drummers. Furthermore, we used the mean variability (2 x SD) of a given drummer's own stroke onset and intensity reference values in the on-the-beat condition as the "tolerance" threshold. ...
This thesis investigates the expressive means through which musicians well versed in groove-based music shape the timing of a rhythmic event, with a focus on the interaction between produced timing and sound features. In three performance experiments with guitarists, bassists, and drummers, I tested whether musicians systematically manipulate acoustic factors such as duration, intensity, and volume when they want to play with a specific microrhythmic style (pushed, on-the-beat, or laid-back). The results show that all three groups of instrumentalists indeed played pushed, on-the-beat, or laid-back relative to the reference pulse and in line with the instructed microrhythmic styles, and that there were systematic and consequential sound differences. Guitarists played backbeats with a longer duration and darker sound in relation to pushed and laid-back strokes. Bassists played pushed beats with higher intensity than on-the-beat and laid-back strokes. For the drummers, we uncovered different timing–sound combinations, including the use of longer duration (snare drum) and higher intensity (snare drum and hi-hat), to distinguish both laid-back and pushed from on-the-beat strokes. The metronome as a reference pulse led to less marked timing profiles than the use of instruments as a reference, and it led in general to earlier onset positions as well, which can perhaps be related to the phenomenon of “negative mean asynchrony.” We also conducted an in-depth study of the individual drummers’ onset and intensity profiles using hierarchical cluster analyses and phylogenetic tree visualizations and uncovered a diverse range of strategies. The results support the research hypothesis that both temporal and sound-related properties contribute to how we perceive the location of a rhythmic event in time. I discuss these results in light of theories and findings from other studies of the perception and performance of groove, as well as research into rhythm and microrhythmic phenomena such as perceptual centers and onset asynchrony/anisochrony.
... The standardized approach of using rapid tapping studies when investigating sensorimotor control synchronization to auditory and visual stimuli has uncovered important principles underlying the processing and control of rhythm, temporal acuity, and action (e.g., Fujii et al., 2011;Repp, 2003;Thaut et al., 1997-for reviews, see Repp, 2005Repp & Su, 2013). ...
... Despite accumulating thousands of hours of training, musicians do not usually extend this limit (Fujii et al., 2009b;Fujii & Moritani, 2012a, 2012bFujii & Oda, 2006;Jäncke et al., 1997). In comparisons of motor control and instrumental expertise, drummers, pianists, violinists, and cellists achieved faster tapping intervals across various task conditions when compared with nonmusicians, with noticeably greater accuracy (Dahl, 2004(Dahl, , 2006Eriksen et al., 2018;Fujii et al., 2011;González-Sánchez et al., 2019;Krause et al., 2010;Repp, 2010). ...
... Previous studies of expertise investigating bimanual audio-motor synchronization tasks (such as tapping to alternating rhythms, or tapping basic exercises at increasing or different tempi) have compared skilled drummers with nondrummers and with other instrumentalists (e.g., pianists, cellists, violinists). Drummers were found to achieve faster repetition rates and showed greater control in bimanual tapping conditions, with lower variability in nonisochronous rhythms compared with a variety of other instrumentalists and with nonmusicians (Dahl, 2004(Dahl, , 2006(Dahl, , 2011Fujii et al., 2011;González-Sánchez et al., 2019;Krause et al., 2010;. Existing theories of deliberate practice and expertise (Ericsson et al., 1993) are currently debated with respect to potential genetic predispositions that may lead to increased musical expertise. ...
Background:
High-speed drumming requires precise control over the timing, velocity, and magnitude of striking movements.
Aim:
To examine effects of tempo and expertise on unaccented repetitive drumming performance using 3D motion capture.
Methods:
Expert and amateur drummers performed unimanual, unaccented, repetitive drum strikes, using their dominant right hand, at five different tempi. Performance was examined with regard to timing variability, striking velocity variability, the ability to match the prescribed tempo, and additional variables.
Results:
Permutated multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) revealed significant main effects of tempo (p < .001) and expertise (p <.001) on timing variability and striking velocity variability; low timing variability and low striking velocity variability were associated with low/medium tempo as well as with increased expertise. Individually, improved precision appeared across an optimum tempo range. Precision was poorest at maximum tempo (400 hits per minute) for precision variables.
Conclusions:
Expert drummers demonstrated greater precision and consistency than amateurs. Findings indicate an optimum tempo range that extends with increased expertise.
... This phenomenon, referred to as sensorimotor synchronization (SMS; Repp, 2005;Repp & Su, 2013), involves two independent motor systems, one for each hand, and a central timing system that governs these two systems (Hestermann et al., 2018;Pabst & Balasubramaniam, 2018;Vorberg & Hambuch, 1984). SMS has been demonstrated using synchronization tapping tasks in which participants synchronize external stimuli with movements of unilateral (Aschersleben & Prinz, 1995;Nalηacı et al., 2001) and bilateral motor effectors (Aschersleben & Prinz, 1995;Fujii et al., 2011;Vorberg & Hambuch, 1984;Yamanishi et al., 1980). In this task, synchronization error (SE), defined as the time difference between the onset of an external stimulus and the time at which a finger hit the table, is a critical measure of synchronous tapping movements. ...
... By contrast, another study found that tapping two hands synchronously produced different mean SEs among three effectors. Specifically, Fujii et al. (2011) found a difference in SEs between the right and left hands when professional drummers tapped with their right hand, left hand, and right foot to synchronize to designated beats. In their study, the right hand tapped twice per auditory pacing signal, and the left hand and the right foot tapped once per two auditory pacing signals, alternating throughout the experimental session, as shown in Figure 1A. ...
... participants in the Fujii et al., study (2011) were right-handed, it is reasonable to assume that the dominant hand was attentionally prioritized over the non-dominant hand; thus, participants perceived the interval as shorter for the dominant hand, as demonstrated by Zakay (1993). This biased prioritization would cause greater SEs in the non-dominant hand relative to the dominant hand in Fujii et al. (2011). The second interpretation is based on characteristics of the beat pattern (the beat-pattern hypothesis). ...
A previous study reported the unique finding that people tapping a beat pattern with the right hand produce larger negative synchronization error than when tapping with the left hand or other effectors, in contrast to previous studies that have shown that the hands tap patterns simultaneously without any synchronization errors. We examined whether the inter-hand difference in synchronization error occurred due to handedness or to a specificity of the beat pattern employed in that study. Two experiments manipulated the hand–beat assignments. A comparison between the identical beat to the pacing signal and a beat with a longer interval excluded the handedness hypothesis and demonstrated that beat patterns with relatively shorter intervals were tapped earlier (Experiment 1). These synchronization errors were not local but occurred consistently throughout the beat patterns. Experiment 2 excluded alternative explanations. These results indicate that the apparent inconsistency in previous studies was due to the specificity of the beat patterns, suggesting that a beat pattern with a relatively shorter interval between hands is tapped earlier than beats with longer intervals. Our finding that the bimanual tapping of different beat patterns produced different synchronization errors suggests that the notion of a central timing system may need to be revised.
... Reducing the pre-takeoff interval probably makes the transition from stationary to in-flight echolocation smoother as can be learned from the sequences in Fig. 2B. This first interval before take-off times the entire approach sequence, so we hypothesize that it might serve to coordinate the entire sensorimotor sequence, similar to how the percussionist determines the rhythm of a melody with the first beat [35,36]. We hypothesize that bats reduced the IGI over-time to adapt it to the highly increased clutter they experienced. ...
Background
Learning to adapt to changes in the environment is highly beneficial. This is especially true for echolocating bats that forage in diverse environments, moving between open spaces to highly complex ones. Bats are known for their ability to rapidly adjust their sensing according to auditory information gathered from the environment within milliseconds but can they also benefit from longer adaptive processes? In this study, we examined adult bats’ ability to slowly adapt their sensing strategy to a new type of environment they have never experienced for such long durations, and to then maintain this learned echolocation strategy over time.
Results
We show that over a period of weeks, Pipistrellus kuhlii bats gradually adapt their pre-takeoff echolocation sequence when moved to a constantly cluttered environment. After adopting this improved strategy, the bats retained an ability to instantaneously use it when placed back in a similarly cluttered environment, even after spending many months in a significantly less cluttered environment.
Conclusions
We demonstrate long-term adaptive flexibility in sensory acquisition in adult animals. Our study also gives further insight into the importance of sensory planning in the initiation of a precise sensorimotor behavior such as approaching for landing.
