One Sentence
This paper demonstrate a research method that explores the similarity between mother-infant communication and musicians’ communication in a duet.
“We have shown that significant change in synchrony of rhythmical paterning is observed immediately prior to points of change within a improvised jazz duet.”
Key Points
* If we can understand the principle fundamentals used by the naive human as it struggles to gain access to the human social world, then we have a basis for a general theory of communication in culture.
* The complex structural internplay is made possible by the same kind of intrinsic factors of the mind that enble musicians to play inventively together.
* The infant studies referred to show that we are born with a natural orientation towards rythmically co-ordinated interpersonal interaction, through which we communicate with those around us and gain access to the social world.
* In this sense the infant is able to affect, as well as appreciate, the behaviour of the mother, as he or she forms, with her, dynamic interactive narrative coloured by infectious emotions.
* … a shared pulse is the basis for any improvised musical interaction. It provides a central core around which both duettists construct a complex interplay of musical gestures, co-ordinating them according to the musicians’ developing ideas.
* Jazz musicians communicate with each other musically, both to promote their individual ideas in the music, and to pick up on cues provided by their companions.
* Proprioceptive cues, providing information about an individuals own body states, also contribute to auto-regulation, providing additional feedback (-> context!)
* As in the acquisition of any skilled means of communication, the jazz musician is, I propose, an individual who is rediscovering the infantile (and maternal) means of communication and expression and refining it through practice and study. Thus a musician is acting like an infant and not vice versa.
* In order for a change in the music to be made successfully, the 2 musicians must, it is supposed, synchronise their behavior in order that they make the same change at the same time… this is achieved through the articulation of accenting structure by one musician, and purposeful synchrony with that structure in the playing of the other.
* Rhythmic shape can be seen to be composed of three phrases. There is initially motion toward a goal, generating tension; the achievement of that goal, resulting in the release of tension built up in the previous phase; followed by a period of inactivity.
Take-Away
* What’s the equivalence of ‘pulse’ when it comes to device-to-device interaction?
-> Maybe it’s the device’s motion. Devices react to each other’s ‘pulses’, which dictates their interactional relationship. For example, a synchronized flipping motion can be used to register the ownership of both devices, as well as to indicate how the two devices are held or worn by the user. As another example, tilting the watch can create an elastic pulse that maps to an operation on the phone
* What can be discussed about duetting?
-> 1) content (division of labor/roles); 2) communication (how to read from each other); 3) context (how the user situate both devices)