Effect of aural and visual presentation modes on Argentine and US musicians' evaluations of conducting and choral performance

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of presentation modes on evaluations of conducting and choral ensemble performance. Participants (N = 36) were graduate music students with conducting and teaching experience studying in Argentina (n = 18) or the USA (n = 18). The participants viewed and evaluated a stimulus videotape that presented a director conducting two different choral performances in three different presentation modes (aural-only, visual-only, and aural—visual). The conductor alternated between good and bad conducting in each of the two performances. While the good conducting remained consistent, the bad conducting changed in style from performance 1 to performance 2. A four-way ANOVA with repeated measures indicated significant differences as a result of performer (director and choir) and excerpt (performance 1 and performance 2). No significant differences were indicated as a result of presentation mode or culture. Results indicated that experienced teachers may be more critical of a director's performance than a choir's, that different styles of conducting behavior may influence perceptions and that poor conducting may influence evaluative ratings more so than good conducting.

Comment les modes de présentation aural et visual affectent les évaluations de musicians américains et argentins à propos de la manière de diriger et d'interpreter le chant choral Le but de cette etude a été de verifier comment les modes de présentation affectent la façon d'évaluer l'action de diriger le chant choral et le chant choral lui-même. Les participants (N = 36) étaient des étudiants de musique déjà licenciés, avec une experience préalable en tant que directeurs de chorale, qui faisaient leurs etudes en Argentine (n = 18) et en Amérique (n = 18). Les participants ont vu et évalué un enregistrement magnétoscopique servant de stimulus qui présentait selon trois modes différents (seulement auditif, seulement visual et auditif + visual) un directeur dirigeant deux différentes interprétations de chorales. Le directeur allait et venait successivement d'une direction parfaite à une direction maladroite dans chacune des deux présentations. Tandis que la direction correcte restait la meme, le style de la direction incorrecte était modifié en passant de la première à la deuxième presentation. Une ANOVA avec des mesures répétées a indiqué des différences significatives dues aux interprètes (le directeur et la chorale) et à l'extrait (performance 1 and performance 2). Aucune difference significative n'a pu être rattachée au mode de presentation ou à la culture. Les résultats ont indiqué que les enseignants expérimentés sont plus critiques envers le directeur, et moins critiques envers l'ensemble choral, que les différents styles et comportements du directeur peuvent influencer la perception, et qu'une direction de mauvaise qualité peut influencer les classements et les scores beaucoup plus qu'une bonne direction.

Keywords

Argentina audio conductor culture perception

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