Swing Ratios and Ensemble Timing in Jazz Performance: Evidence for a Common Rhythmic Pattern

Abstract

The timing in jazz ensemble performances was investigated in order to approach the question of what makes the music "swing." One well-known aspect of swing is that consecutive eighth notes are performed as longshort patterns. The exact duration ratio (the swing ratio) of the longshort pattern has been largely unknown. In this study, the swing ratio produced by drummers on the ride cymbal was measured. Three wellknown jazz recordings and a play-along record were used. A substantial and gradual variation of the drummers' swing ratio with respect to tempo was observed. At slow tempi, the swing ratio was as high as 3.5:1, whereas at fast tempi it reached 1:1. The often-mentioned "triple-feel," that is, a ratio of 2:1, was present only at a certain tempo. The absolute duration of the short note in the long-short pattern was constant at about 100 ms for medium to fast tempi, suggesting a practical limit on tone duration that may be due to perceptual factors. Another aspect of swing is the soloist's timing in relation to the accompaniment. For example, a soloist can be characterized as playing "behind the beat." In the second part, the swing ratio of the soloist and its relation to the cymbal accompaniment was measured from the same recordings. In slow tempi, the soloists were mostly playing their downbeats after the cymbal but were synchronized with the cymbal at the off-beats. This implied that the swing ratio of the soloist was considerably smaller than the cymbal accompaniment in slow tempi. It may give an impression of "playing behind" but at the same time keep the synchrony with the accompaniment at the off-beat positions. Finally, the possibilities of using computer tools in jazz pedagogy are discussed.

IS THERE A PERCEPTION-BASED ALTERNATIVE TO KINEMATIC MODELS OF TEMPO RUBATO?

“…This is why they predict different results even when the input-pattern is simply tempo transformed. This compares to several performance studies that showed that expressive timing, in general, is not relationally invariant over tempo transformations (Desain & Honing, 1994;Friberg & Sundström, 2002;Clarke, 1999). …”

“…And finally, for the kinematic models the overall tempo of the performance has no effect on the predicted shape of the ritard (tempo is normalized). However, several authors have shown that global tempo influences the use of expressive timing (e.g., Desain & Honing, 1994;Friberg & Sundström, 2002)-at different tempi different structural levels become salient and this will have an effect on the expressive freedom and variability observed (Clarke, 1999).…”

The Performance of Notes Inégales: The Influence of Tempo, Musical Structure, and Individual Performance Style on Expressive Timing

“…In general, the maximum ratios found seemed relatively small, as historical treatises often recommend a 3:1 average ratio (Houle, 1987). In swing research, Friberg and Sundström (2002) found maximum ratios over 3.5 at similar tempi. When Honing and De Haas (2008) presented jazz drummers a swing pattern with a 2:1 eighth note ratio and asked them to perform it at different tempi, the performed ratios were mostly between 2.0 and 2.5.…”

“…Moreover, he stresses the importance of the specific character of each piece much more than the global tempo and does not consequently apply the tempo-ratio relation in his description of timing schemes for the performance of music on mechanical instruments. Here the comparison with jazz swing research is interesting, as three independent studies (Collier & Collier, 1996;Friberg & Sundström, 2002;Honing & De Haas, 2008) show a uniform effect of tempo on the swing ratio. In each of these studies, there was a clear increase of the ratio at slower tempi, which confirms our majority finding.…”

Syncopation as Transformation

“…Temporal boundaries are imposed to meter perception by our limits in sensing the beat and our ability A lower boundary of 100 ms is found to be the shortest perceptual duration or fastest metrical subdivision in many studies of rhythm perception and performance (Friberg & Sundström, 2002;Repp, 2005aRepp, , 2005bRepp, , 2006. Parncutt (1994) quantified the salience of pulses and the metrical accents that arise from the interaction of the pulses, based on experiments he carried out himself and measurements he found in the literature.…”