Microtiming and Mental Effort

Abstract

The present study tested two assumptions concerning the auditory processing of microtiming in musical grooves (i.e., repeating, movement-inducing rhythmic patterns): 1) Microtiming challenges the listener's internal framework of timing regularities, or meter, and demands cognitive effort. 2) Microtiming promotes a “groove” experience—a pleasant sense of wanting to move along with the music. Using professional jazz musicians and nonmusicians as participants, we hypothesized that microtiming asynchronies between bass and drums (varying from −80 to 80 ms) were related to a) an increase in “mental effort” (as indexed by pupillometry), and b) a decrease in the quality of sensorimotor synchronization (as indexed by reduced finger tapping stability). We found bass/drums-microtiming asynchronies to be positively related to pupil dilation and negatively related to tapping stability. In contrast, we found that steady timekeeping (presence of eighth note hi-hat in the grooves) decreased pupil size and increased tapping performance, though there were no conclusive differences in pupil response between musicians and nonmusicians. However, jazz musicians consistently tapped with higher stability than nonmusicians, reflecting an effect of rhythmic expertise. Except for the condition most closely resembling real music, participants preferred the on-the-grid grooves to displacements in microtiming and bass-succeeding-drums-conditions were preferred over the reverse.

Effects of instructed timing on electric guitar and bass sound in groove performance

“…Based on findings from certain "groove rating" studies (Frühauf et al, 2013;, one might be tempted to expect that, upon hearing the performances from our experiments, an average listener would likely rate on-the-beat performances as higher in "groove" than either laid-back and pushed (at least those performances that utilized timing-sound strategies with perceptually salient degrees of asynchrony/anisochrony). However, as mentioned in section 2.1.3, other studies have found that certain systematic combinations of either laid-back (Skaansar et al, 2019), pushed (Matsushita & Nomura, 2016), or dynamic microrhythmic profiles (essentially a mix of on-the-beat, laid-back, and/or pushed timing within a groove's basic pattern; are perceived by listeners as either equally high or higher in groove rating than quantized profiles. Furthermore, Senn and colleagues (2018) remind us that, more than any particular micro-or macrorhythmic structural feature of groove-based patterns, familiarity and style bias tend to correlate with groove ratings-if one does not like a genre/style (or pattern) and is unfamiliar with it, chances are one will neither derive pleasure from nor want to move to its groove.…”

“…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 or the degree to which musicians displace onsets in swung note pairs (Ellis, 1991;Haas, 2007;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 Frühauf et al, 2013;Matsushira & Nomura, 2016;Skaansar et al, 2019; see also section 2.1.3).…”

“…As such, the presence of microtiming (read: onset asynchronies/anisochronies) has been thought to hamper the ability of listeners to predict and anticipate temporal events against a subjective timekeeping mechanism, keeping them from synchronizing successfully with the rhythms and in turn leading to a lesser sense of "groove" (read: lower ratings of wanting to move and of pleasure) (Frühauf et al, 2013;Merker, 2014). However, studies that conversely find that ratings related to the urge to move and/or pleasure do not necessarily decrease for stimuli with onset asynchronies, especially when their patterns resemble those of real performances Matsushita & Nomura, 2016;Skaansar et al, 2019), challenge the notion that music "with microtiming" cannot generate stable synchronization. In fact, dynamic entrainment models of pulse perception may very well be able to account for the possibility that even substantial onset asynchronies above heuristic perceptual thresholds derived from psychoacoustic studies may allow for a regular sense of pulse Large & Jones, 1999;London, 2012;Polak & London, 2014; see also sections 2.2.2 and 2.2.3).…”

Mapping timing and intensity strategies in drum-kit performance of a simple back-beat pattern

“…As such, the presence of microtiming (read: onset asynchronies/anisochronies) has been thought to hamper the ability of listeners to predict and anticipate temporal events against a subjective timekeeping mechanism, keeping them from synchronizing successfully with the rhythms and in turn leading to a lesser sense of "groove" (read: lower ratings of wanting to move and of pleasure) (Frühauf et al, 2013;Merker, 2014). However, studies that conversely find that ratings related to the urge to move and/or pleasure do not necessarily decrease for stimuli with onset asynchronies, especially when their patterns resemble those of real performances Matsushita & Nomura, 2016;Skaansar et al, 2019), challenge the notion that music "with microtiming" cannot generate stable synchronization. In fact, dynamic entrainment models of pulse perception may very well be able to account for the possibility that even substantial onset asynchronies above heuristic perceptual thresholds derived from psychoacoustic studies may allow for a regular sense of pulse Large & Jones, 1999;London, 2012;Polak & London, 2014; see also sections 2.2.2 and 2.2.3).…”

Musical and Bodily Predictors of Mental Effort in String Quartet Music: An Ecological Pupillometry Study of Performers and Listeners

“…In a musical context, patterns of pupil dilations reflect listeners' entrainment with musical rhythms (Fink et al, 2018) and listeners' attention to deviations from strict rhythmic regularity. These deviations are referred to as "microtiming" in the context of groove-based jazz music (Skaansar et al, 2019), but are also a common feature of expressively-performed music in many traditions. A pupil response is also observed when listeners hear pitches that deviate from an established tonal context, or in general, when they are surprising (Liao et al, 2016;Bianco et al, 2020).…”