Eirik Jacobsen

• Danielsen, Anne; Brøvig, Ragnhild; Bøhler, Kjetil Klette; Câmara, Guilherme Schmidt; Haugen, Mari Romarheim & Jacobsen, Eirik [Show all 13 contributors for this article] (2024). There’s More to Timing than Time: Investigating Musical Microrhythm Across Disciplines and Cultures. Music Perception. ISSN 0730-7829. 41(3), p. 176–198. doi: 10.1525/mp.2024.41.3.176. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The TIME project: Timing and Sound in Musical Microrhythm (2017–2022) studied microrhythm; that is, how dynamic envelope, timbre, and center frequency, as well as the microtiming of a variety of sounds, affect their perceived rhythmic properties. The project involved theoretical work regarding the basic aspects of microrhythm; experimental studies of microrhythm perception, exploring both stimulus features and the participants’ enculturated expertise; observational studies of how musicians produce particular microrhythms; and ethnographic studies of musicians’ descriptions of microrhythm. Collectively, we show that: (a) altering the microstructure of a sound (“what” the sound is) changes its perceived temporal location (“when” it occurs), (b) there are systematic effects of core acoustic factors (duration, attack) on microrhythmic perception, (c) microrhythmic features in longer and more complex sounds can give rise to different perceptions of the same sound, and (d) musicians are highly aware of microrhythms and have developed vocabularies for describing them. In addition, our results shed light on conflicting results regarding the effect of microtiming on the “grooviness” of a rhythm. Our use of multiple, interdisciplinary methodologies enabled us to uncover the complexity of microrhythm perception and production in both laboratory and real-world musical contexts.

• Danielsen, Anne & Jacobsen, Eirik (2023). “Hard” or “Soft”: Shaping Microtiming through Sonic Features in Jazz-Related Groove Performance. Journal of Jazz Studies (JJS). 14(2). doi: 10.14713/jjs.v14i2.258. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Recent research has shown that the shape, timbre, and intensity of a sound influence the perception of its timing at the micro level of rhythm. In this case study of contemporary Norwegian jazz, we investigate to what extent jazz musicians intentionally use sonic features to shape the micro level of rhythm in their performances. First, we provide an overview of existing research into microrhythm in jazz and auditory perception studies. Then we present results from interviews with five expert jazz musicians about how playing techniques and sound qualities of specific instruments are utilized to influence the perception of timing. We also analyze two selected performances by the musicians to explore the effects of interaction between sonic features and timing in a musical context. The article concludes by discussing the results in the context of findings from empirical research into microlevel auditory perception regarding the perceptual center of sounds (P-center) and auditory stream segregation. The study demonstrates the need to move related research beyond the temporal domain, and to cultivate a more holistic approach to what constitutes groove in jazz and related genres.

• Danielsen, Anne; Nymoen, Kristian; Langerød, Martin Torvik; Jacobsen, Eirik; Johansson, Mats Sigvard & London, Justin (2021). Sounds familiar(?): Expertise with specific musical genres modulates timing perception and micro-level synchronization to auditory stimuli. Attention, Perception & Psychophysics. ISSN 1943-3921. doi: 10.3758/s13414-021-02393-z. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Musical expertise improves the precision of timing perception and performance – but is this expertise generic, or is it tied to the specific style(s) and genre(s) of one’s musical training? We asked expert musicians from three musical genres (folk, jazz, and EDM/hip-hop) to align click tracks and tap in synchrony with genre-specific and genre-neutral sound stimuli to determine the perceptual center (“P-center”) and variability (“beat bin”) for each group of experts. We had three stimulus categories – Organic, Electronic, and Neutral sounds – each of which had a 2 Å~ 2 design of the acoustic factors Attack (fast/slow) and Duration (short/long). We found significant effects of Genre expertise, and a significant interaction for both P-center and P-center variability: folk and jazz musicians synchronize to sounds typical of folk and jazz in a different manner than the EDM/hip-hop producers. The results show that expertise in a specific musical genre affects our low-level perceptions of sounds as well as their affordance(s) for joint action/synchronization. The study provides new insights into the effects of active long-term musical enculturation and skill acquisition on basic sensorimotor synchronization and timing perception, shedding light on the important question of how nature and nurture intersect in the development of our perceptual systems.

View all works in NVA

• Jacobsen, Eirik (2024). Julemusikk som inntektskilde. [Radio]. NRK Nyhetsmorgen. Full text in Research Archive
• Jacobsen, Eirik (2024). Hva gjør man når sosiale medier blir for mye? [Internet]. Kontekst. Full text in Research Archive
• Jacobsen, Eirik (2024). Trist julemusikk. [Radio]. NRK Nyhetsmorgen. Full text in Research Archive
• Jacobsen, Eirik (2024). Både indieband og Taylor Swift er avhengige av sosiale medier. [Internet]. UiO. Full text in Research Archive
• Jacobsen, Eirik (2024). Artister må dele mer enn før. [Radio]. NRK Nyhetsmorgen. Full text in Research Archive
• Jacobsen, Eirik (2024). Artister må dele mer enn før: - Kan føles litt klaustrofobisk. [Internet]. NRK. Full text in Research Archive
• Jacobsen, Eirik (2024). Artister SOME. [TV]. NRK Dagsrevyen. Full text in Research Archive
• Jacobsen, Eirik (2024). The Music Talkshow: Halloween Film Music Special. [Radio]. Radio Nova. Full text in Research Archive
• Jacobsen, Eirik (2024). Trist julemusikk. [TV]. NRK Dagsrevyen. Full text in Research Archive
• Klungnes, Kristina Mariell Dulsrud & Jacobsen, Eirik (2024). The Music Talkshow: Halloween Film Music Special. [Radio]. Radio Nova. Full text in Research Archive
• Jacobsen, Eirik (2023). The Music Talkshow: Music and Social Media. [Radio]. Radio Nova. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  I denne episoden av "The Music Talkshow" på Radio Nova snakker Eirik Jacobsen om forskningen sin på indie-musikk og sosiale medier gjennom en samtale med to musikere.

• Jacobsen, Eirik (2023). Playful Authentication: Strategies for Self-Presentation of Indie Music on Social Media. Full text in Research Archive
• Brøvig-Hanssen, Ragnhild; Johansson, Mats Sigvard; Sandvik, Bjørnar; Jacobsen, Eirik; Aareskjold-Drecker, Jon Marius & Danielsen, Anne (2022). Musical rhythm. Qualitative investigations. Full text in Research Archive
• Jacobsen, Eirik (2022). Playful Authentication - The Presentation of Independent Music Projects on Social Media. Full text in Research Archive
• Jacobsen, Eirik (2022). Social Media as Promotional Media: Independent Music and the Art of Promotion. Full text in Research Archive
• Jacobsen, Eirik (2024). Independent and Dependent: Negotiations Between Contemporary Indie Music and Social Media. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In his dissertation, Eirik Jacobsen is concerned with the encounter between independent music culture and social media technology. The thesis focuses on the distributional and relational labor involved in carrying out musical projects and explores how independent artists and bands make use and sense of social media technology. This involves a theoretical and empirical investigation of how indie artists form and maintain relations in their socioeconomic networks, as well as the significance of social media for shaping and expressing social identities. The study employs an ethnographic and qualitative approach, involving interviews with local indie performers in Oslo, Norway, as well as critical content analyses of social media material. The study is situated in the fields of popular music and media studies and seeks to understand in what ways technological developments within social media have been crucial for local indie musicians in the context of the contemporary music industry, as well as what it signifies for local indie music as a sociocultural concept.

View all works in NVA