This study investigated the perception of conductors' body movements under different viewing conditions with a multi-modal within-subjects design. Five conductors with different levels of experience each conducted four excerpts from a Beethoven symphony that varied in musical expressiveness. Video recordings were manipulated according to three occlusion conditions: a) only the face was visible, b) only the arms were visible and c) the whole body was visible in simulated peripheral vision. 127 musically trained or untrained participants first watched, without sound, randomly presented video sequences according to these conditions. For each sequence, they were asked to rate affective and communicative items. Complete video sequences with sound were then presented as a reference and rated similarly. Video sequences that presented the conductors' faces resembled the reference significantly better than the arms-only or the peripheral conditions in terms of expressiveness ratings. Sequences showing the arms were judged higher in amount of information. For the movements of all conductors, clear interpretation differences between the four musical excerpts appeared even for conditions without sound. Differences between conductors were related to their general affective behaviour and to evaluations of four conducting experts. The findings generally highlight the importance of facial affective behaviour for expressive conducting.
AbernethyB. (1991). Visual search strategies and decision-making in sport. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 22, 189–210.
2.
AshleyR. (2000). The pragmatics of conducting: Analyzing and interpreting conductors' expressive gestures. In WoodsC.LuckG.BrochardR.SeddonF.SlobodaJ.A. (eds), Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition. Keele/UK: Dept. of Psychology.
3.
BambergerC. (ed) (1965). The conductors art. New York: Columbia University Press.
4.
BengeT.J. (1996). Movements utilized by conductors in the stimulation of expression and musicianship. Dissertation Abstracts International, University Microfilms No. 9720183.
5.
BrämT.BrämP. Boyes (1998). Der Versuch einer Klassifizierung der Ausdrucksgesten des Dirigenten [An attempt to classify a conductor's expressive gestures]. In FähndrichW. (ed), Improvisation III (pp. 220–48). Winterthur: Amadeus-Verlag.
6.
CamrasL.A.HollandE.A.PattersonM.J. (1993). Facial expression. In LewisM.HavilandJ.M. (eds), Handbook of emotions (pp. 199–208). New York etc.: Guifford Press.
7.
Cañal-BrulandR.WollnerC. (in press). The spatial occlusion technique as an interdisciplinary approach for visual perception studies in sport and music psychology. Journal of Human Movement Studies, 52/4.
8.
DahlS. (2005). On the beat. Human movement and timing in the production and perception of music. Doctoral Thesis in Speech and Music Communication, Stockholm: KTH.
9.
DanK. (2005). Facial expression and eye contact used by instrumental conductors: Practical applications and exercises. Dissertation Abstracts International, University Microfilms No. 3166080.
10.
DarwinC. (2005). The expression of the emotions in man and animals. Stilwell/USA: Digireads Publishing. (Original work published 1872; London: John Murray.).
11.
DavidsonJ.W. (1993). Visual perception of performance manner in the movements of solo musicians. Psychology of Music, 21, 103–13.
12.
DiestelH. (1931). Ein Orchestermusiker über das Dirigieren: Die Grundlagen der Dirigiertechnik aus dem Blickpunkt des Ausführenden. Vorwort von Richard Strauss [The basics of conducting from the perspective of a musician]. Berlin: Ed. Adler.
13.
EkmanP. (1982). Emotion in the Human Face (2nd ed.). Cambridge: University Press.
14.
EkmanP.FriesenW.V. (1981). The repertoire of nonverbal behavior: Categories, origins, usage, and coding. In KendonA. (ed), Nonverbal communication, interaction, and gesture. Selections from semiotics (pp. 57–105). The Hague etc.: Mouton Publishers.
15.
FindleyJ.M.GilchristJ.D. (2003). Active vision: The psychology of looking and seeing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
16.
FriedmanH.S.PrinceL.M.RiggioR.E.DiMatteoM.R. (1980). Understanding and assessing nonverbal expressiveness: The Affective Communication Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 3912, 333–51.
17.
GabrielssonA. (1999). The performance of music. In DeutschD. (ed), The psychology of music (2nd ed., pp. 501–602). San Diego: Academic Press.
18.
GalkinE.W. (1988). A history of orchestral conducting in theory and practice. New York: Pergamon Press.
19.
GregoryR.L. (1977). Eye and brain. The psychology of seeing (3rd ed.). London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
20.
GrosbayneB. (1973). Techniques of modern orchestral conducting (2nd ed.). Cambridge/MA: Harvard University Press.
21.
HarrisF.E. (1999). The communication of musical feeling and its implications for preparing future conductors. Dissertation Abstracts International, University Microfilms No. 9937858.
22.
HoldenR. (2003). The technique of conducting. In BowenJ.A. (ed), The Cambridge companion to conducting (pp. 3–16). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
23.
IzardC.E. (1997). Emotions and facial expressions: A perspective from differential emotions theory. In RusselJ.A.Fernandez-DolsJ.M. (eds), The psychology of facial expression (pp. 57–77). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
24.
KempA. (1996). The musical temperament. Psychology and personality of musicians. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
25.
KendonA. (ed) (1981). Nonverbal communication, interaction, and gesture. Selections from Semiotica (Introduction: Pp. 1–53). The Hague etc.: Mouton Publishers.
26.
KondraschinK. (1989). Die Kunst des Dirigierens. Geleitwort von B. Haitink [The art of conducting]. München: Piper.
27.
KrumhanslC.L.SchenckD.L. (1997). Can dance reflect the structural and expressive qualities of music? A perceptual experiment on Balanchine's choreography of Mozart's Divertimento No. 15. Musicae Scientiae, 111, 63–85.
28.
MayneR.G. (1992). An investigation of the use of facial expression in conjunction with musical conducting gestures and their interpretation by instrumental performers. Dissertation Abstracts International, University Microfilms No. 9238229.
29.
PriceH.E.ByoJ.L. (2002). Rehearsing and conducting. In ParncuttR.McPhersonG.E. (eds), The science and psychology of music performance (pp. 335–51). New York: Oxford University Press.
30.
PoggiI. (2002). The lexicon of the conductors face. In McKevittP.NuallainS.O. (eds), language, vision, and music: Selected papers from the 8th International Workshop on the Cognitive Science of Natural Language Processing Galway, Ireland 1999 (pp. 271–84). Advances in Consciousness Research. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
31.
ProvineR.R. (1989). Faces as releasers of contagious yawning: An approach to face detection using normal human subjects. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 27, 211–4.
32.
ProvineR.R. (1997). Yawns, laughs, smiles, tickles, and talking: Naturalistic and laboratory studies of facial action and social communication. In RussellJ.A.Fernández-DolsJ.M. (eds), The psychology of facial expression (pp. 158–75). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
33.
RaschR. A. (1988). Timing and synchronization in ensemble performance. In SlobodaJ.A. (ed), Generative processes in music: The psychology of performance, improvisation, and composition (pp. 70–90). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
34.
RudolfM. (1995). The grammar of conducting: A comprehensive guide to baton technique and interpretation (3rd ed.). New York: Schirmer Books.
35.
RussellJ.A.Fernández-DolsJ.M., (eds) (1997). The psychology of facial expression. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
36.
ScherchenH. (1929). Lehrbuch des Dirigierais [Handbook of conducting]. Mainz: Schott.
37.
SchullerG. (1997). The complete conductor. New York: Oxford University Press.
38.
SchiinemannG. (1913). Geschichte des Dirigierens [History of conducting]. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel.
39.
SerranoJ.G. (1993). Visual perception of stimulated conducting motions. Dissertation Abstracts International, University Microfilms No. 9422818.
40.
SousaG. (1988). Musical conducting emblems: An investigation of the use of specific conducting gestures and their interpretation by instrumental performers. Dissertation Abstracts International, University Microfilms No. 8820356.
41.
SzendreiA. (1952). Dirigierkunde [Handbook of conducting]. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel.
42.
ThompsonW.F.RussoR.A. (2006). Facial expressions of pitch structure. In BaroniM.AddessiA.R.CaterinaR.CostaM. (eds), Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition (pp. 1141–3). Bologna University Press.
43.
TjornehojK.A.S. (2001). An investigation into me use and effectiveness of video modeling of conductive for pre-service music educators. Dissertation Abstracts International, University Microfilms No. 9994530.
44.
TraueH.C. (1998). Emotion und Gesundheit. Die psychobiologische Regulation durch Hemmungen [Emotion and health]. Heidelberg, Berlin: Spektrum.
45.
VanWeeldenK. (2002). Relationships between perception of conducting effectiveness and ensemble performance. Journal of Research in Music Education, 5012, 165–76.
46.
VinesB.W.KrumhanslC.L.WanderleyM.M.LevitinD. (2006). Cross-modal interactions in the perception of musical performance. Cognition, 101, 80–113.
47.
WöllnerC. (2007). Zur Wahrnehmung des Ausdrucks beim Dirigieren. Eine experimentelle musikpsychologische Untersuchung [The perception of expressiveness in conducting. An experimental music-psychological investigation]. Berlin: Lit-Verlag.
