Psychophysics of Musical Rhythms and the Riddle of Swing

Nonlinear dynamics offers a vast toolbox of techniques for
time series analysis. Can they be used to clarify questions of musicology and
particularly the role of microtiming deviations in musical performances and in
psychophysical experiments? While some have claimed that the
phenomenon of swing in jazz performances can be felt but not explained,
others tried to attribute it to microtiming deviations or so-called participatory
discrepancies between different instruments. Can we clarify the controversial role of
microtiming deviations for the swing feel? We are answering this question using time
series analysis and temporally manipulated MIDI-recordings whose swing
feel was rated by professional jazz musicians[1]. We thereby demonstrate that certain
systematic microtiming deviations between musicians do enhance and are relevant for
the swing feel in jazz [2].

[1] G. Datseris et al., Microtiming Deviations and Swing Feel in Jazz, Sci. Rep. 9, 19824 (2019)
[2] C. Nelias et al., to be publ.