Musical Gestures (2004-2007) (completed)

The Musical Gestures project explored the music-related body motion of performers and perceivers.

Dame i svart med armen rett ut i et blått rom. Foto.

About the project

This is a broadly conceived research project on music-related gestures based on the conviction that there are intimate links between music (understood as a sonic art) and gestures (understood as human bodily movement). There are many different types of music-related gestures in performance, dance, and other activities, but they all attest to the primordial role of human movement in music. We believe that our images of action are so ingrained in our images of musical sound that images of movement determine how we perceive, remember, imagine, learn, and make music.

The primary objective of the Musical Gestures project is to work towards a coherent theory of the relationship between musical sound, human gestures, and musical concepts, and there are some secondary objectives linked to this:

  • Refine techniques for capturing, processing, and representing music-related gestural information.
  • Classifying music-related gestures and developing useful overviews of gesture types within different contexts and styles.
  • Understanding gestural coding of music by exploring the links between sonorous and gestural images in musical memory and imagery.
  • Demonstrate practical applications of musical gestures as tools in performance, improvisation, composition, and music education.

The Musical Gestures project is a research project of the University of OsloDepartment of Musicology

Selected publications

Books / Dissertations

Book chapters

  • Haga, E (2008). Metoder for å analysere video-opptak av musikk og bevegelse. I: Gro Trondalen & Even Ruud (2008). Perspektiver på musikk og helse. 30 år med norskmusikkterapi.
  • Ruud, E. (2006). The Role of Music in the Development of Identity. In B. Stålhammar (Ed.) Music and Human Beings. Music and Identity. Örebro University, Universitetsbiblioteket.
  • Jensenius, A. R., R. Koehly, and M. M. Wanderley (2006). Building low-cost music controllers. In R. Kronland-Martinet, T. Voinier, and S. Ystad (Eds.), CMMR 2005, LNCS 3902, pp. 123–129. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. [Paper © Springer-Verlag]
  • Godøy, R. I., E. Haga, and A. R. Jensenius (2006). Playing ‘air instruments’: Mimicry of sound-producing gestures by novices and experts. In S. Gibet, N. Courty, and J.-F. Kamp (Eds.), Gesture in Human-Computer Interaction and Simulation: 6th International Gesture Workshop, GW 2005, Berder Island, France, May 18-20, 2005, Revised Selected Papers, Volume 3881/2006, pp. 256–267. Springer-Verlag GmbH. [Paper © Springer-Verlag]
  • Ruud, E. (2004). Musikkopplevelsen i selvpsykologisk lys. In G. Johansen, S. Kalsnes og Ø. Varkøy (Eds.). Musikkpedagogisk utfordringer, Oslo: Cappelen Akademnisk Forlag.
  • Godøy, R.I. (2004). Gestural Imagery in the Service of Musical Imagery. In A. Camurri & G. Volpe (Eds.): Gesture-Based Communication in Human-Computer Interaction: 5th International Gesture Workshop, GW 2003, Genova, Italy, April 15-17, 2003, Selected Revised Papers, LNAI 2915. Berlin: Springer Verlag, pp. 55-62. [Paper] (© Springer-Verlag)
  • Godøy, R.I. 2001. Imagined Action, Excitation, and Resonance. In R. I. Godøy & H. Jørgensen (Eds.): Musical Imagery: Swets & Zeitlinger, Lisse (Holland), pp. 237-250.

Journal Publications

  • Aksnes, H. and Ruud, E. (forthcoming 2008). Body-based schemata in receptive music therapy. Musicae Scientia, Spring 2008, accepted for publication.
  • Ruud, E. and T. Næss (2007). Audible Gestures: From Clinical Improvisation to Community Music Therapy. Nordic Journal of Music Therapy 16 (2)
  • Ruud, E. (2007). Kropp og gester i musikalske samhandlinger. Psyke og logos nr. 1, s. 122-138
  • Aksnes, H. (2007). Kropp og sinn i skjønn forening: Perspektiver på musikalsk mening. Svensk tidskrift för musikforskning.
  • Kvifte, T. (2007). “Categories and Timing: On the Perception of Meter.” Ethnomusicology. 51(1):64-84.
  • Godøy, R. I. (2006). Gestural-Sonorous Objects: embodied extensions of Schaeffer’s conceptual apparatus. Organised Sound, 11:2:149-157
  • Aksnes, H. and E. Ruud (2006). Metonymic Associations of Nature and Culture in a BMGIM Program. Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 15 (1), pp. 49-57.
  • Godøy, R.I. (2003). Motor-Mimetic Music Cognition. LEONARDO; 36 (4) pp. 317-319.

Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceedings

  • Jensenius, A. R. and N. Castagné and A. Camurri and E. Maestre and J. Malloch and D. McGilvray (2007). A Summary of Formats for Streaming and Storing Music-Related Movement and Gesture data. In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Enactive Interfaces, Grenoble, France. [Paper]
  • Godøy, R. I. (2007) Geometry and effort in gestural renderings of musical sound. Paper presented at the 7th International Workshop on Gesture in Human-Computer Interaction and Simulation 2007 (GW2007), Lisbon, Portugal, May 23-25, 2007.
  • Godøy, R. I. (2007) Chunking sound in listening and analysis. Paper presented at the Electronic Music Studies Conference 2007 (EMS07), Leicester, U.K., June 12-15, 2007.
  • Jensenius, A. R., A. Camurri, N. Castagne, E. Maestre, J. Malloch, D. McGilvray, D. Schwarz and M. Wright. (2007). Panel: the Need of Formats for Streaming and Storing Music-Related Movement and Gesture Data. In Proceedings of the 2007 International Computer Music Conference, Copenhagen. [Paper | Presentation]
  • Jensenius, A. R. (2006). Using motiongrams in the study of musical gestures. In Proceedings of the 2006 International Computer Music Conference, 6-11 November, New Orleans. [Paper] [Poster]
  • Marshall, M. T., N. Peters, A. R. Jensenius, J. Boissinot, M. M. Wanderley, and J. Braasch (2006). On the development of a system for gesture control of spatialization. In Proceedings of the 2006 International Computer Music Conference, 6-11 November, New Orleans. [Paper]
  • Jensenius, A. R., T. Kvifte, and R. I. Godøy (2006). Towards a gesture description interchange format. In N. Schnell, F. Bevilacqua, M. Lyons, and A. Tanaka (Eds.), Proceedings of New Interfaces for Musical Expression, NIME 06, IRCAM - Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, June 4-8, pp. 176–179. Paris: IRCAM - Centre Pompidou. [Paper] [Poster]
  • Kvifte, T. and A. R. Jensenius (2006). Towards a coherent terminology and model of instrument description and design. In N. Schnell, F. Bevilacqua, M. Lyons, and A. Tanaka (Eds.), Proceedings of New Interfaces for Musical Expression, NIME 06, IRCAM - Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, June 4-8, pp. 220–225. Paris: IRCAM - Centre Pompidou. [Paper]
  • Godøy, R.I. Gestural Sonorous Objects: Re-thinking Schaeffer's Typo-morphological concepts. Presented at EMS-05, 19-22 October, Montreal. (to be published in Organised Sound)
  • Jensenius, A.R., R. Koehly, and M. Wanderley. Building low-cost music controllers. In Pre-Proceedings, 3rd International Symposium on Computer Music Modelling and Retrieval, 26-28 September 2005, Pisa, Italy, pages 252–256, 2005.
  • Jensenius, A.R., R. I. Godøy, and M. M. Wanderley. Developing tools for studying musical gestures within the Max/MSP/Jitter environment. In Proceedings of the International Music Computer Conference, Barcelona 4-10 September, 2005, pages 282–285, 2005. [Paper]
  • Godøy, R.I, E. Haga, and A. R. Jensenius. 2005. Playing "Air Instruments": Mimicry of Sound-Producing Gestures by Novices and Experts. In Proceedings of Gesture Workshop, Vannes, 2005.

Conference Presentations

  • Jensenius, A. R. (2007). Musikkteknologi ... mer enn MIDI. Musikkteknologidagene 2007, Norges musikkhøgskole, 10.-11.10.2007.
  • Even Ruud og Tom Næss: Audible Gestures: Music Therapy With an Institutionalized Woman Diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia. Lecture, 7th European Music Therapy Congress, Eindhoven, 18.8.2007
  • Jensenius, A. R. (2007). NIME (nye instrumenter for musikalsk ekspressivitet) i komposisjon og improvisasjon. Norsk musikkforskerkonferanse, Norges musikkhøgskole, 10.08.2007.
  • Godøy, R. I. Temporal phenomena and enigmas in the perception and cognition of musical sound. Lecture at the workshop "The dimension of time and gene functioning: focus on the nervous system." Kristineberg Marine Research Station, Sweeden, June 7-12, 2007.
  • Godøy, R. I. Ecological Constraints on Chunking. Paper presented at the seminar "Embodied Rhythm Perception", Friday 27 April 2007, Department of Musicology, University of Oslo
  • Hansen, S. H. and A. R. Jensenius. Drum Pants. Audio Mostly 2006 - A Conference on Sound in Games, Interactive Institute, Piteå, Sweden, 10-11 October 2006
  • Godøy, R.I. Motor-mimetic images of musical sound. The 9th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, Bologna, August 22-26 2006
  • Godøy, R.I. Coarticulated gestural-sonorous objects in music.Second International Conference on Music and Gesture, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester (UK), July 20-23 2006.
  • Aksnes, H. Between soma and psyche: Music, motion and emotion. Second International Conference on Music and Gesture, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester (UK), July 20-23 2006.
  • Jensenius, A. R. (2006). Developing tools for analysing musical gestures. Second International Conference on Music and Gesture, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester (UK), July 20-23 2006.
  • Godøy, R.I. Gestural-sonorous awareness in musical imagery. International Conference on Music and Consciousness, July 17-19 2006, University of Sheffield, UK
  • Ruud, E. Listening to music as embodied perception – experiences with a new BMGIM-program. 5thNordic Music Therapy Conference, Stockholm June 15-18 2006
  • Casciato, C., A.R. Jensenius, and M. Wanderley. La mouvement libre de danse et la musique. ACFAS: L’interdisciplinarité dans les sciences et technologies de la musique, Montreal, 2006. [Poster]
  • Godøy, R.I, E. Haga, and A. R. Jensenius. Exploring Music-Related Gestures by Sound-Tracing. - A Preliminary Study. 2nd ConGAS International Symposium on Gesture Interfaces for Multimedia Systems, Leeds, May 9-10 2006 [Paper]
  • Casciato, C., A.R. Jensenius, and M. Wanderley. Studying free dance movement to music. Proceedings of the ESCOM Performance Matters! Conference, Porto, 2005. [Abstract: PDF]

Other related publications

  • Aksnes, H. Musikk som angst- og smertedempende middel, Musikkterapi nr. 2-91, pp. 5-33.
  • Aksnes, H. A Cognitive Approach to Musical Analysis: Metaphorical Projection in Music, Alf Gabrielsson, ed.: Proceedings of the Third Triennial ESCOM Conference, Uppsala University 1997, pp. 551-56.
  • Aksnes, H. Metonymic Associations in National Music: Hearings of Geirr Tveitt's Concerto no. 2 for Hardanger Fiddle and Orchestra, 'Three Fjords', Systematische Musikwissenschaft, vol. 7, no. 4, 2001, 367-78.
  • Aksnes, H. Music and its Resonating Body, Dansk Årbog for Musikforskning 2001, vol. XXIX, 2002, pp. 81-101.
  • Aksnes, H. Perspectives of Musical Meaning. A Study Based on Selected Works by Geirr Tveitt. Oslo: Unipub AS, 2002 (dr.art. dissertation, University of Oslo).
  • Godøy, R.I. Formalization and Epistemology. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press 1997.
  • Godøy, R.I. Knowledge in Music Theory by Shapes of Musical Objects and Sound-Producing Actions. In M. Leman (Ed.): Music, gestalt, and computing : studies in cognitive and systematic musicology. Berlin: Springer Verlag 1997, pp. 106-110.
  • Godøy, R.I. Crossmodality and conceptual shapes and spaces in music theory. In I. Zanos (Ed.): Music and Signs: ASCO Art and Science, Bratislava 1999, pp. 85-98.
  • Kvifte, T. (1989). Instruments and the Electronic Age. Towards a Terminology for a Unified Description of Playing Techniques. Oslo: Solum Forlag.
  • Schneider, A. & Godøy, R.I. Perspectives and Challenges of Musical Imagery. In R. I. Godøy & H. Jørgensen (Eds.): Musical Imagery: Swets & Zeitlinger, Lisse (Holland) 2001, pp. 5-26.
Published July 6, 2012 10:33 AM - Last modified Aug. 15, 2022 9:03 AM

Participants

Detailed list of participants