Music means movement: musings on methods for movement analysis in music

Abstract

This article addresses the intersection of technical, analytical and artistic approaches to perceiving and measuring musical movement. The point of view taken is situated between the development and application of technological tools, the design and running of exploratory experiments, and the musical performance moment, where perception of the body and its movements constitutes an integral part of the experience. Through a use-case that is shared with other artists and researchers, a wide range of necessary developments, both conceptually and in software is shown. The tools and the methods generated are juxtaposed with the realisation that movement analysis is merely one possible usage of acquired data. Artistic translations provide alternate ways of generating meaning from movement data, in particular when translating musical actions to pieces that span multiple modalities. With the proposed multi-perspective methodology, ways and means are sketched out that address the inherent multiplicity of domains involved in music performance and perception.