Auditory perception of note transitions in simulated complex bowing patterns

Abstract

Recent motion-capture measurements of violin bowing revealed an interesting coordination behavior in fast repetitive bowing patterns involving bow changes and string crossings; bow changes were consistently lagging behind string crossings, and the relative timing appeared to be an integral part of the bow-movement patterns. The aim of the current study was to investigate if there might be a perceptual explanation for the observed coordination behavior. For this purpose a virtual violin was used, controlled by simulated bowing gestures. A simplified coordination model is presented, which was implemented to allow real-time control of complex bowing patterns. This synthesis approach was employed in a perceptual experiment in which the participants were asked to optimize the sound by adjusting a slider controlling the main coordination parameters. It was found that the resulting coordination patterns were similar to those observed in performance, implying that complex bowing trajectories for an important part emerge from auditory-motor interaction. Further analysis of the responses shed light on temporal and spatial constraints of the simulated gestures associated with the note transitions. The results raise interesting questions with regard to auditory-motor interaction in complex instrumental control gestures.