Abstract
Clapping Music is a minimalist work by Steve Reich based on twelve phased variations of a rhythmic pattern. It has been reimagined as a game-based mobile application, designed with a dual purpose. First, to introduce new audiences to the Minimalist genre through interaction with the piece presented as an engaging game. Second, to use large-scale data collection within the app to address research questions about the factors determining rhythm production performance. The twelve patterns can be differentiated using existing theories of rhythmic complexity. Using performance indicators from the game such as tap accuracy we can determine which patterns players found most challenging and so assess hypotheses from theoretical models with empirical evidence. The app has been downloaded over 140,000 times since the launch in July 2015, and over 46 million rows of gameplay data have been collected, requiring a big data approach to analysis. The results shed light on the rhythmic factors contributing to performance difficulty and show that the effect of making a transition from one pattern to the next is as significant, in terms of pattern difficulty, as the inherent complexity of the pattern itself. Challenges that arose in applying this novel approach are discussed.
Highlights
Rhythm can be perceived and reproduced, both in music and in our wider environment
We are adept at recognising regular rhythmic patterns, for example the sound of train carriage wheels passing over track joins, a heartbeat, a tap dripping or a clock ticking
There has been significant mathematical analysis of Clapping Music to determine ways to differentiate between the patterns [25, 39, 40]
Summary
Rhythm can be perceived and reproduced, both in music and in our wider environment. We synchronise with rhythms (a phenomenon known as entrainment) consciously and unconsciously, for example tapping our feet as we listen to music. We respond to the regularities that are present in our auditory environment, inferring hierarchical patterns of regularly accented pulses, known as metre [1]. Some pulses are perceived as more accented than others and perception of such accents can depend on the structure of the rhythm, the arrangement of the notes and rests, or inferred from the volume, timing, articulation, intonation and timbre of a note. Accents can be produced expressively, the performers communicating their feel for the metre through the way that they articulate each note.
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