Musicians often play with flexible timing to convey different desired “microrhythmic” feels in groove-based music, either by playing slightly behind, or ahead of the beat. Precise timing control is considered a hallmark of expert groove playing and can lead to the perception of different qualitative effects in performance. But how exactly do musicians achieve this? Is it simply via temporal displacement of onset locations (placing strokes late or early), or do they also manipulate other acoustic features as well? The research in this dissertation shows that “timing” is not everything in creating groove feels in performance, but in fact, musicians utilize a range of “sound” features such as duration, intensity and brightness to convey different feels. By analyzing audio recordings via from three sets of performance experiments with guitarists, bassists and drummers, it was possible to identify various timing-sound strategies both at the group and individual performer level. In sum, this research shows that both temporal and sound-related properties contribute to the production and perception of rhythm in music, providing deeper insights into the ways in which expert musicians craft grooves in performance.
This dissertation was carried out as part of the TIME project – Timing and sound in musical microrhythm at the RITMO Center for interdisciplinary studies in rhythm, time and motion.
Video recordings
Trial lecture
Designated topic: How far can we predict aesthetic effects from physical properties within and beyond groove music, and what can different microrhythmic feels communicate to listeners?
Thesis Introduction
Title: Timing Is Everything . . . Or Is It? Investigating Timing and Sound Interactions in the Performance of Groove-Based Microrhythm.
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Evaluation committee
- Dr. Rainer Polak, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (first opponent)
- Professor Anders Friberg, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (second opponent)
- Associate Professor Ragnhild Br?vig-Hanssen, University of Oslo (committee administrator)
Chair of the defence
- Head of Department Zafer ?zgen
Supervisors
- Professor Anne Danielsen, University of Oslo
- Associate Professor Kristian Nymoen, University of Oslo