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MICRO - Human Bodily Micromotion in Music Perception and Interaction (completed)

How and why does music make us move? This project investigated how music influences what we may call micromotion, such as the tiny motion observed when people try to stand still.

You just can’t stand still

Not moving to dance music is near impossible, according to new research. Read a feature story about the MICRO project.

Aims and objectives

This project sought to investigate the close relationships between musical sound and human bodily micromotion. Micromotion is here used to describe the smallest motion that we can produce and experience, typically at a rate lower than 10 mm/s.

Example plots of the micromotion observed in the motion capture data of a person standing still for 10 minutes. Photo of a form with handwriting. — Example plots of the micromotion observed in the motion capture data of a person standing still for 10 minutes.

The last decades have seen an increased focus on the role of the human body in both the performance and the perception of music. Up to now, however, the micro-level of these experiences has received little attention.

This short video describes the MICRO project when it began in 2016:

The project completed most of its planned activities and several more:

The scientific results include many insights about human music-related micromotion. Results have been presented in one doctoral dissertation, two master theses, several journal papers, and at numerous conferences. As hypothesized, music influences human micromotion. This has been verified with different types of music in all the collected datasets. We have also found that music with a regular and strong beat, particularly electronic dance music, leads to more motion. Our data also supports the idea that music with a pulse of around 120 beats per minute is more motion-inducing than music with slower or faster tempi. In addition, we found that people generally moved more when listening with headphones. Towards the end of the project, we began studying whether there are individual differences. One study found that people who score high on empathic concern move more to music than others. This aligns with findings from recent studies of larger-scale music-related body motion.
Data collected from the project has been released openly in Oslo Standstill Database. The database contains data from all Championships of Standstill, the Headphones-Speakers study, and from the Sverm project that preceded MICRO.
Software developed during the project has been made openly available. This includes various analysis scrips implemented in Jupyter Notebooks. Several of the developed software modules have been wrapped up in the Musical Gestures Toolbox for Python.
The scientific results have inspired a series of artistic explorations, including several installations and performances with the Self-playing Guitars, Oslo Muscle Band, and the Micromotion Apps.
The project and its results have been disseminated widely, including many media appearances, such as newspaper stories and several interviews on national TV and radio.

Hear PhD fellow Agata Zelechowska talk about her latest study in the MICRO project:

Research approach

The project was inspired by recent theories of embodied music cognition and has had a multidisciplinary approach. The PI’s interdisciplinary background in musicology, informatics, and the performing arts, shaped the overarching ideas of the project.

The PhD project of Agata Zelechowska was of a music psychological nature. She was in charge of the study investigating differences between headphones and speakers. She also helped shape the focus on individual differences. The postdoctoral project of Victor Gonzalez Sanchez was focused on motion capture and advanced motion analysis. His background in biomechanics and signal processing was particularly important for understanding more about the fractal nature of human micromotion. The project of researcher Finn Upham added an extra dimension by focusing on respiratory patterns, research that will continue in a new project.

Several master’s students contributed to the MICRO project through their theses and as research assistants. Ashane da Silva worked on the sonification of micromotion patterns. Mari Lesteberg has developed a series of micromotion apps with accessibility in mind. Habibur Rahman helped with developing the self-playing guitars. Bálint Laczkó, Frida Furmyr, and Marcus Widmer contributed to the Musical Gestures Toolbox for Python. Augusto Dias and Pedro Lucas developed the MusicLab app for collecting micromotion data in ecological settings.

Scientific knowledge from the MICRO project was used in the development of several installations and performances. Here from an installation with the Self-playing guitars at Ultima 2017.

Impact

MICRO has been a basic research project, so its long-term effects remain to be seen. Some potential impacts:

The MICRO experiments are the first to systematically study human music-related micromotion and have already gained interest in the music cognition community.
The Oslo Standstill Database has been launched openly and according to the FAIR principles. It will hopefully be a resource for researchers in musicology, psychology, human movement science, informatics, animation, and beyond.
The developed software, particularly the new version of the Musical Gestures Toolbox, is already in use by other researchers studying music-related body motion.
All the media attention and artistic applications of the project have created a heightened interest in human micromotion, which may have a societal impact in the long run.

Image may contain: Event, Talent show, Stage. — Norwegian broadcaster NRK filming during one of the Championships of Standstill.

Open Research

MICRO has been an Open Research flagship project. This includes making the entire project as open as possible, but as closed as necessary. The project shares publications, data, source code, application, and other parts of the research process openly.

Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2024). Embodied music learning. In Theresa Schilhab & Camilla Groth (Ed.), Embodied Learning and Teaching using the 4E Cognition Approach: Exploring Perspectives in Teaching Practices. Routledge. ISSN 9781003341604. doi: 10.4324/9781003341604-21. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This chapter presents a pedagogical approach based on the author’s experience teaching interactive music technology design from an embodied music cognition perspective. The “musicking quadrant” is introduced as a framework to understand the experiences of those who make music in real-time (performers) and non-real-time (instrument makers, composers, producers), and those who experience music in real-time (perceivers) and non-real-time (analysts). New technologies challenge these roles and allow for new types of musical engagement that align with the 4E cognition perspectives.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2023). Standing still together: Reflections on a one-year-long exploration of human micromotion. In Clemens Wöllner & Justin London (Ed.), Performing Time. Synchrony and Temporal Flow in Music and Dance. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780192896254. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
How does it feel to stand still in silence with others for 10 minutes at a time? The current chapter reports on a study of a small group of musicians and dancers that used standstill as their regular "warm-up" activity over a year of working together. Motion capture data of the sessions reveal that each individual's quantity of motion remained similar over time, but self-reports indicate that the subjective experience of time and space changed radically. The participants developed a high spatiotemporal sensitivity and reported an increase in well-being after a year of standstill. They also reported that a 10-minute standstill helped with the mental preparation before both micromotion and regular performances.
Mari Lesteberg & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2022). MICRO and MACRO - Developing New Accessible Musicking Technologies. In Michael Iber & Kajetan Enge (Ed.), Audio Mostly 2022: What you hear is what you see? Perspectives on modalities in sound and music interaction. ACM Publications. ISSN 9781450397018. p. 147–150. doi: 10.1145/3561212.3561231. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This paper describes the development of two musical instrument prototypes developed to explore how non-haptic music technologies can be accessed from a web browser and how they can offer accessibility for people with low fine motor skills. Two approaches to browser-based motion capture were developed and tested during an iterative design process. This was followed by observational studies of two user groups: one with low fine motor skills and one with normal motor skills. Contrary to our expectations, we found that avoiding the use of buttons and mice did not make the apps more accessible for the participants with low fine motor skills. Furthermore, motion speed was considered more important for people with low motor skills than the size of the control action. The most important finding is that browser-based musical instruments using sensor-based and video-based motion tracking are not only feasible but allow for reaching much larger groups of people than previously possible. This may ultimately lead to both more personalized and accessible musical experiences.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Cagri Erdem (2022). Gestures in ensemble performance. In Renee Timmers, Freya Bailes & Helena Daffern (Ed.), Together in Music: Coordination, expression, participation. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780198860761. doi: 10.1093/oso/9780198860761.003.0014. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The topic of gesture has received growing attention among music researchers over recent decades. Some of this research has been summarized in anthologies on "musical gestures", such as those by Gritten and King (2006), Godøy and Leman (2010), and Gritten and King (2011). There have also been a couple of articles reviewing how the term gesture has been used in various music-related disciplines (and beyond), including those by Cadoz and Wanderley (2000) and Jensenius et al. (2010). Much empirical work has been performed since these reviews were written, aided by better motion capture technologies, new machine learning techniques, and a heightened awareness of the topic. Still there are a number of open questions as to the role of gestures in music performance in general, and in ensemble performance in particular. This chapter aims to clarify some of the basic terminology of music-related body motion, and draw up some perspectives of how one can think about gestures in ensemble performance. This is, obviously, only one way of looking at the very multifaceted concept of gesture, but it may lead to further interest in this exciting and complex research domain.
Byron Remache-Vinueza, Andrés Trujillo-León, Maria-Alena Clim, Fabián Sarmiento-Ortiz, Liliana Topon-Visarrea & Alexander Refsum Jensenius [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2022). Mapping Monophonic MIDI Tracks to Vibrotactile Stimuli Using Tactile Illusions. In Charalampos Saitis, Ildar Farkhatdinov & Stefano Papetti (Ed.), Haptic and Audio Interaction Design. Springer Nature. ISSN 9783031150197. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In this project, we propose an algorithm to convert musical features and structures extracted from monophonic MIDI files to tactile illusions. Mapping music to vibrotactile stimuli is a challenging process since the perceptible frequency range of the skin is lower than that of the auditory system, which may cause the loss of some musical features. Moreover, current proposed models do not warrant the correspondence between the emotional response to music and the vibrotactile version of it. We propose to use tactile illusions as an additional resource to convey more meaningful vibrotactile stimuli. Tactile illusions enable us to add dynamics to vibrotactile stimuli in the form of movement, changes of direction, and localization. The suggested algorithm converts monophonic MIDI files into arrangements of two tactile illusions: “phantom motion” and “funneling”. The validation of the rendered material consisted of presenting the audio rendered from MIDI files to participants and then adding the vibrotactile component to it. The arrangement of tactile illusions was also evaluated alone. Results suggest that the arrangement of tactile illusions evokes more positive emotions than negative ones. This arrangement was also perceived as more agreeable and stimulating than the original audio. Although musical features such as rhythm, tempo, and melody were mostly recognized in the arrangement of tactile illusions, it provoked a different emotional response from that of the original audio.
Raul Masu, Adam Pultz Melbye, John Sullivan & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2021). NIME and the Environment: Toward a More Sustainable NIME Practice. In Roger Dannenberg & Xiao Xiao (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. The International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This paper addresses environmental issues around NIME research and practice. We discuss the formulation of an environmental statement for the conference as well as the initiation of a NIME Eco Wiki containing information on environmental concerns related to the creation of new musical instruments. We outline a number of these concerns and, by systematically reviewing the proceedings of all previous NIME conferences, identify a general lack of reflection on the environmental impact of the research undertaken. Finally, we propose a framework for addressing the making, testing, using, and disposal of NIMEs in the hope that sustainability may become a central concern to researchers.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2021). Best versus Good Enough Practices for Open Music Research. Empirical Musicology Review. 16(1). doi: 10.18061/emr.v16i1.7646. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Music researchers work with increasingly large and complex data sets. There are few established data handling practices in the field and several conceptual, technological, and practical challenges. Furthermore, many music researchers are not equipped for (or interested in) the craft of data storage, curation, and archiving. This paper discusses some of the particular challenges that empirical music researchers face when working towards Open Research practices: handling (1) (multi)media files, (2) privacy, and (3) copyright issues. These are exemplified through MusicLab, an event series focused on fostering openness in music research. It is argued that the "best practice" suggested by the FAIR principles is too demanding in many cases, but "good enough practice" may be within reach for many. A four-layer data handling "recipe" is suggested as concrete advice for achieving "good enough practice" in empirical music research.
Balint Laczko & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2021). Reflections on the Development of the Musical Gestures Toolbox for Python. In Prithvi Ravi Kantan, Razvan Paisa & Silvin Willemsen (Ed.), Proceedings of the Nordic Sound and Music Computing Conference. Aalborg Universitetsforlag. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The paper presents the Musical Gestures Toolbox (MGT) for Python, a collection of modules targeted at researchers working with video recordings. The toolbox includes video visualization techniques such as creating motion videos, motion history images, and motiongrams. These visualizations allow for studying video recordings from different temporal and spatial perspectives. The toolbox also includes basic computer vision methods, and it is designed to integrate well with audio analysis toolboxes. The MGT was initially developed to analyze music-related body motion (of musicians, dancers, and perceivers) but is equally helpful for other disciplines working with video recordings of humans, such as linguistics, pedagogy, psychology, and medicine.
Agata Zelechowska, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2020). Standstill to the ‘beat’: Differences in involuntary movement responses to simple and complex rhythms, AM '20: Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Audio Mostly. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). ISSN 9781450375634. p. 107–113. doi: 10.1145/3411109.3411139. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Previous studies have shown that movement-inducing properties of music largely depend on the rhythmic complexity of the stimuli. However, little is known about how simple isochronous beat patterns differ from more complex rhythmic structures in their effect on body movement. In this paper we study spontaneous movement of 98 participants instructed to stand as still as possible for 7 minutes while listening to silence and randomised sound excerpts: isochronous drumbeats and complex drum patterns, each at three different tempi (90, 120, 140 BPM). The participants’ head movement was recorded with an optical motion capture system.We found that on average participants moved more during the sound stimuli than in silence, which confirms the results from our previous studies. Moreover, the stimulus with complex drum patterns elicited more movement when compared to the isochronous drum beats. Across different tempi, the participants moved most at 120 BPM for the average of both types of stimuli. For the isochronous drumbeats, however, their movement was highest at 140 BPM. These results can contribute to our understanding of the interplay between rhythmic complexity, tempo and music-induced movement.
Agata Zelechowska (2020). Poruszeni muzyką. Badania nad ruchem ciała w kontekście percepcji muzyki. In Julia Kaleńska-Rodzaj & Maria Chełkowska-Zacharewicz (Ed.), Psychologia Muzyki. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. ISSN 9788301213374. p. 87–104. Full text in Research Archive
Agata Zelechowska, Victor E. Gonzalez-Sanchez, Bruno Laeng & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2020). Headphones or Speakers? An Exploratory Study of Their Effects on Spontaneous Body Movement to Rhythmic Music. Frontiers in Psychology. 11(698). doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00698. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Previous studies have shown that music may lead to spontaneous body movement, even when people try to stand still. But are spontaneous movement responses to music similar if the stimuli are presented using headphones or speakers? This article presents results from an exploratory study in which 35 participants listened to rhythmic stimuli while standing in a neutral position. The six different stimuli were 45 s each and ranged from a simple pulse to excerpts from electronic dance music (EDM). Each participant listened to all the stimuli using both headphones and speakers. An optical motion capture system was used to calculate their quantity of motion, and a set of questionnaires collected data about music preferences, listening habits, and the experimental sessions. The results show that the participants on average moved more when listening through headphones. The headphones condition was also reported as being more tiresome by the participants. Correlations between participants’ demographics, listening habits, and self-reported body motion were observed in both listening conditions. We conclude that the playback method impacts the level of body motion observed when people are listening to music. This should be taken into account when designing embodied music cognition studies.
Agata Zelechowska, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Bruno Laeng, Jonna Katariina Vuoskoski & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2020). Who Moves to Music? Empathic Concern Predicts Spontaneous Movement Responses to Rhythm and Music. Music & Science. 3. doi: 10.1177/2059204320974216. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Moving to music is a universal human phenomenon, and previous studies have shown that people move to music even when they try to stand still. However, are there individual differences when it comes to how much people spontaneously respond to music with body movement? This article reports on a motion capture study in which 34 participants were asked to stand in a neutral position while listening to short excerpts of rhythmic stimuli and electronic dance music. We explore whether personality and empathy measures, as well as different aspects of music-related behaviour and preferences, can predict the amount of spontaneous movement of the participants. Individual differences were measured using a set of questionnaires: Big Five Inventory, Interpersonal Reactivity Index, and Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire. Liking ratings for the stimuli were also collected. The regression analyses show that Empathic Concern is a significant predictor of the observed spontaneous movement. We also found a relationship between empathy and the participants’ self-reported tendency to move to music.
Laura Bishop & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2020). Reliability of two infrared motion capture systems in a music performance setting. In Simone Spagnol & Andrea Valle (Ed.), Proceedings of the 17th Sound and Music Computing Conference. Axea sas/SMC Network. ISSN 9788894541502. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This paper describes a comparative analysis of tracking quality in two infrared marker-based motion capture systems: one older but high-end (Qualisys, purchased in 2009) and the other newer and mid-range (OptiTrack, purchased in 2019). We recorded performances by a string quartet with both systems simultaneously, using the same frame rate. Our recording set-up included a combination of moving markers (affixed to musicians’ bodies) and stationary markers (affixed to music stands). Higher noise levels were observed in Qualisys recordings of stationary markers than in OptiTrack recordings, as well as a greater spatial range, though OptiTrack recordings had a higher rate of outliers (“spikes” in the signal). In moving markers, increased quantity of motion was associated with increased betweensystem error rates. Both systems showed minimal withintrial drift but a reduction in recording accuracy and precision over the duration of the experiment. Overall, our results show that the older/high-end system (Qualisys) produced slightly lower-quality recordings than the newer/midrange system (OptiTrack). We discuss how our findings may inform researchers’ interpretations of motion capture data, particularly when capturing the types of motion that are important for performing music.
Cagri Erdem, Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Kyrre Glette, Michael Joseph Krzyzaniak & Frank Veenstra (2020). Air-Guitar Control of Interactive Rhythmic Robots. Proceedings of the International Conference on Live Interfaces (Proceedings of ICLI). p. 208–210. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This paper describes an interactive art installation shown at ICLI in Trondheim in March 2020. The installation comprised three musical robots (Dr. Squiggles) that play rhythms by tapping. Visitors were invited to wear muscle-sensor armbands, through which they could control the robots by performing ‘air-guitar’-like gestures.
Anna Xambó, Robin Støckert, Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Sigurd Saue (2020). Learning to Code Through Web Audio: A Team-Based Learning Approach. Journal of The Audio Engineering Society. ISSN 1549-4950. 68(10), p. 727–737. doi: 10.17743/jaes.2020.0019. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In this article, we discuss the challenges and opportunities provided by teaching programming using web audio technologies and adopting a team-based learning (TBL) approach among a mix of colocated and remote students, mostly novices in programming. The course has been designed for cross-campus teaching and teamwork, in alignment with the two-city master's program in which it has been delivered. We present the results and findings from (1) students' feedback; (2) software complexity metrics; (3) students' blog posts; and (4) teacher's reflections. We found that the nature of web audio as a browser-based environment, coupled with the collaborative nature of the course, was suitable for improving the students' level of confidence about their abilities in programming. This approach promoted the creation of group course projects of a certain level of complexity, based on the students' interests and programming levels. We discuss the challenges of this approach, such as supporting smooth cross-campus interactions and assuring students' preknowledge in web technologies (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) for an optimal experience. We conclude by envisioning the scalability of this course to other distributed and remote learning scenarios in academic and professional settings. This is in line with the foreseen future scenario of cross-site interaction mediated through code.
Jorge Poveda Yánez & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2020). Computer-based synaesthesia and the design of complex methods to approach multimodal realities of dance and music through technology. An interview with Alexander R. Jensenius, Deputy-Director of the RITMO Centre of Excellence of the University of Oslo. Revista de Humanidades Digitales. doi: 10.5944/rhd.vol.5.2020.27029. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
After producing ground-breaking computer-based tools to advance the study of human movement, such as the video-visualization techniques contained in the Musical-Gestures Toolbox, Alexander Refsum Jensenius has con-tinued to find more creative and analytical possibilities to intersect our understandings of music and dance. In the current context of technology-assisted misappropriation of tradi-tional songs and dances, I interviewed the Deputy Director of the RITMO Centre on how we might revert the link between new technol-ogies and intangible cultural heritage for the benefit of legitimate bearers. Furthermore, in this interview, Alexander out-lines the embodied and interdisciplinary ap-proach towards music that has grounded the course of his career but even more interesting-ly, he offers insights about the future of expe-riencing dance through technology and the possibility of dancing robots.
Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Sofia Dahl, Johannes Lunde Hatfield & Rolf Inge Godøy (2019). Characterizing movement fluency in musical performance: Toward a generic measure for technology enhanced learning. Frontiers in Psychology. 10. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00084. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Virtuosity in music performance is often associated with fast, precise, and efficient sound-producing movements. The generation of such highly skilled movements involves complex joint and muscle control by the central nervous system, and depends on the ability to anticipate, segment, and coarticulate motor elements, all within the biomechanical constraints of the human body. When successful, such motor skill should lead to what we characterize as fluency in musical performance. Detecting typical features of fluency could be very useful for technology-enhanced learning systems, assisting and supporting students during their individual practice sessions by giving feedback and helping them to adopt sustainable movement patterns. In this study, we propose to assess fluency in musical performance as the ability to smoothly and efficiently coordinate while accurately performing slow, transitionary, and rapid movements. To this end, the movements of three cello players and three drummers at different levels of skill were recorded with an optical motion capture system, while a wireless electromyogrphy (EMG) system recorded the corresponding muscle activity from relevant landmarks. We analyze the kinematic and coarticulation characteristics of these recordings separately and then propose a combined model of fluency in musical performance predicting music sophistication. Results suggest movements from expert performers' are characterized by consistently smooth strokes and scaling of muscle phasic coactivation. The explored model of fluency as function of movement smoothness and coarticulation patterns was shown to be limited by the sample size but serves as a proof of concept. Results from this study show the potential of a technology-enhanced objective measure of fluency in musical performance, which could lead to improved practices for aspiring musicians, instructors, and researchers.
Ximena Alarcón Diaz & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). “Ellos no están entendiendo nada” [“They are not understanding anything”]: embodied remembering as complex narrative in a Telematic Sonic Improvisation. In Morten Søndergaard & Laura Beloff (Ed.), Proceedings of RE:SOUND 2019. British Computer Society (BCS). doi: 10.14236/ewic/resound19.32. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
INTIMAL is a physical-virtual system for relational listening, exploring the role of the body as interface that keeps memory of place in migratory contexts. The system is developed to integrate the body movements of performers (and their voices) with an oral archive. The system has been informed and tested by nine Colombian migrant women in Europe in a telematic performance between the cities of Oslo, Barcelona and London. In the performance a “complex narrative” emerged, for both the improvisers and the audiences. In this paper, we describe the conditions of the narrative environment, and the embodied expressions that emerged. We reflect on how this distributed embodied expression—through technological mediated sound and movement interactions—might further aid processes of collective remembering and catharsis, in a context of conflict and gendered migration.
Anna Xambo Sedo, Robin Støckert, Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Sigurd Saue (2019). Facilitating Team-Based Programming Learning with Web Audio. In Anna Xambo Sedo, Sara R. Martin & Gerard Roma (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Web Audio Conference. NTNU. p. 2–7. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In this paper, we present a course of audio programming using web audio technologies addressed to an interdisciplinary group of master students who are mostly beginners in programming. This course is held in two connected university campuses through a portal space and the students are expected to work in cross-campus teams. The workshop promotes both individual and group work and is based on ideas from science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM), team-based learning and project-based learning. We show the outcomes of this course, discuss the students’ feedback and reflect on the results. We found that it is important to provide individual vs. group work, to use the same code editor for consistent follow-up and to be able to share the screen to solve individual questions. Other aspects inherent to the master (intensity of the courses, coding in a research-oriented program) and to prior knowledge (web technologies) should be reconsidered. We conclude with a wider reflection on the challenges and potentials of using web audio as a programming environment for beginners in STEAM and distance-learning courses.
Magdalena Luniewska, Katarzyna Chyl, Agnieszka Debska, Anna Banaszkiewicz, Agata Zelechowska & Artur Marchewka [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2019). Children With Dyslexia and Familial Risk for Dyslexia Present Atypical Development of the Neuronal Phonological Network. Frontiers in Neuroscience. ISSN 1662-4548. 13, p. 1–19. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2019.01287. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Learning to read changes the brain language system. Phonological processing is the language domain most crucial for reading, but it is still unknown how reading acquisition modifies the neural phonological network in children who either develop dyslexia or are at risk of dyslexia. For the two first years of formal education, we followed 90 beginning readers with (n = 55) and without (n = 35) familial risk of dyslexia who became typical readers (n = 70) or developed dyslexia (n = 20). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify the neural correlates of phonological awareness using an auditory rhyme judgment task. This task was applied when participants were starting formal education, and repeated 2 years later. By applying two alternative group splits, we analyzed the effects of dyslexia and the effects of familial risk of dyslexia separately. We found that the phonological brain network undergoes reorganization during the first 2 years of formal education. This process proceeds differently depending on the presence of a familial history of dyslexia and reading impairment. Typical readers without risk for dyslexia activate structures responsible for phonological processing already at the beginning of literacy. This group shows reduced brain activation over time during phonological processing, perhaps due to automatization of phonological skills. Children who develop reading impairment present a delay in the development of phonological structures such as the bilateral superior temporal gyri, left middle temporal gyrus, right insula and right frontal cortex, where we observed time and group interaction. Finally, typical readers with familial risk of dyslexia also present an atypical development of the neural phonological structures, visible both at the beginning of reading instruction and 2 years later. These children used a presumably efficient neural mechanism of phonological processing, based on the activation of the precentral and postcentral gyri, and achieved a typical level of phonological awareness.
Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). Analysis of the Movement-Inducing Effects of Music through the Fractality of Head Sway during Standstill. Journal of Motor Behavior. ISSN 0022-2895. doi: 10.1080/00222895.2019.1689909. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The links between music and human movement have been shown to provide insight into crucial aspects of human’s perception, cognition, and sensorimotor systems. In this study, we examined the influence of music on movement during standstill, aiming at further characterizing the correspondences between movement, music, and perception, by analyzing head sway fractality. Eighty seven participants were asked to stand as still as possible for 500 seconds while being presented with alternating silence and audio stimuli. The audio stimuli were all rhythmic in nature, ranging from a metronome track to complex electronic dance music. The head position of each participant was captured with an optical motion capture system. Long-range correlations of head movement were estimated by detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). Results agree with previous work on the movement-inducing effect of music, showing significantly greater head sway and lower head sway fractality during the music stimuli. In addition, patterns across stimuli suggest a two-way adaptation process to the effects of music, with musical stimuli influencing head sway while at the same time fractality modulated movement responses. Results indicate that fluctuations in head movement in both conditions exhibit long-range correlations, suggesting that the effects of music on head movement depended not only on the value of the most recent measured intervals, but also on the values of those intervals at distant times.
Anna Xambo Sedo, Sigurd Saue, Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Robin Støckert & Øyvind Brandtsegg (2019). NIME Prototyping in Teams: A Participatory Approach to Teaching Physical Computing. In Marcelo Queiroz & Anna Xambo Sedo (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. p. 216–221. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In this paper, we present a workshop of physical computing applied to NIME design based on science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education. The workshop is designed for master students with multidisciplinary backgrounds. They are encouraged to work in teams from two university campuses remotely connected through a portal space. The components of the workshop are prototyping, music improvisation and reflective practice. We report the results of this course, which show a positive impact on the students’ confidence in prototyping and intention to continue in STEM fields. We also present the challenges and lessons learned on how to improve the teaching of hybrid technologies and programming skills in an interdisciplinary context across two locations, with the aim of satisfying both beginners and experts. We conclude with a broader discussion on how these new pedagogical perspectives can improve NIME-related courses.
Artur Becker, Henrik Herrebrøden, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Kristian Nymoen, Carla Maria Dal Sasso Freitas & Jim Tørresen [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2019). Functional Data Analysis of Rowing Technique Using Motion Capture Data. In Grisha Coleman (Eds.), Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Movement and Computing. ACM Publications. ISSN 9781450376549. doi: 10.1145/3347122.3347135. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
We present an approach to analyzing the motion capture data of rowers using bivariate functional principal component analysis (bfPCA). The method has been applied on data from six elite rowers rowing on an ergometer. The analyses of the upper and lower body coordination during the rowing cycle revealed significant differ- ences between the rowers, even though the data was normalized to account for differences in body dimensions. We make an argument for the use of bfPCA and other functional data analysis methods for the quantitative evaluation and description of technique in sports.
Cagri Erdem, Katja Henriksen Schia & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). Vrengt: A Shared Body–Machine Instrument for Music–Dance Performance. In Federico Visi (Eds.), Music Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
What if a musician could step outside the familiar instrumental paradigm and adopt a new embodied language for moving through sound with a dancer in true partnership? And what if a dancer’s body could coalesce with a musician’s skills and intuitively render movements into instrumental actions for active sound-making?
Cagri Erdem, Katja Henriksen Schia & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). Vrengt: A Shared Body–Machine Instrument for Music–Dance Performance. In Marcelo Queiroz & Anna Xambo Sedo (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. p. 477–482. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This paper describes the process of developing a shared instrument for music–dance performance, with a particular focus on exploring the boundaries between standstill vs motion, and silence vs sound. The piece Vrengt grew from the idea of enabling a true partnership between a musician and a dancer, developing an instrument that would allow for active co-performance. Using a participatory design approach, we worked with sonification as a tool for systematically exploring the dancer’s bodily expressions. The exploration used a “spatiotemporal matrix,” with a particular focus on sonic microinteraction. In the final performance, two Myo armbands were used for capturing muscle activity of the arm and leg of the dancer, together with a wireless headset microphone capturing the sound of breathing. In the paper we reflect on multi-user instrument paradigms, discuss our approach to creating a shared instrument using sonification as a tool for the sound design, and reflect on the performers’ subjective evaluation of the instrument.
Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Correspondences Between Music and Involuntary Human Micromotion During Standstill. Frontiers in Psychology. 9. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01382. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The relationships between human body motion and music have been the focus of several studies characterizing the correspondence between voluntary motion and various sound features. The study of involuntary movement to music, however, is still scarce. Insight into crucial aspects of music cognition, as well as characterization of the vestibular and sensorimotor systems could be largely improved through a description of the underlying links between music and involuntary movement. This study presents an analysis aimed at quantifying involuntary body motion of a small magnitude (micromotion) during standstill, as well as assessing the correspondences between such micromotion and different sound features of the musical stimuli: pulse clarity, amplitude, and spectral centroid. A total of 71 participants were asked to stand as still as possible for 6 min while being presented with alternating silence and music stimuli: Electronic Dance Music (EDM), Classical Indian music, and Norwegian fiddle music (Telespringar). The motion of each participant's head was captured with a marker-based, infrared optical system. Differences in instantaneous position data were computed for each participant and the resulting time series were analyzed through cross-correlation to evaluate the delay between motion and musical features. The mean quantity of motion (QoM) was found to be highest across participants during the EDM condition. This musical genre is based on a clear pulse and rhythmic pattern, and it was also shown that pulse clarity was the metric that had the most significant effect in induced vertical motion across conditions. Correspondences were also found between motion and both brightness and loudness, providing some evidence of anticipation and reaction to the music. Overall, the proposed analysis techniques provide quantitative data and metrics on the correspondences between micromotion and music, with the EDM stimulus producing the clearest music-induced motion patterns. The analysis and results from this study are compatible with embodied music cognition and sensorimotor synchronization theories, and provide further evidence of the movement inducing effects of groove-related music features and human response to sound stimuli. Further work with larger data sets, and a wider range of stimuli, is necessary to produce conclusive findings on the subject.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). The Musical Gestures Toolbox for Matlab. In Emilia Gómez, Xiao Hu, Eric Humphrey & Emmanouil Benetos (Ed.), Proceedings of the 19th International Society for Music Information Retrieval Conference. Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique. ISSN 9782954035123. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The Musical Gestures Toolbox for Matlab (MGT) aims at assisting music researchers with importing, preprocessing, analyzing, and visualizing video, audio, and motion capture data in a coherent manner within Matlab.
Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Muscle activity response of the audience during an experimental music performance. In Stuart Cunningham (Eds.), Proceedings of the Audio Mostly 2018 on Sound in Immersion and Emotion. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). ISSN 9781450353731. doi: 10.1145/3243274.3243278. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This exploratory study investigates muscular activity characteristics of a group of audience members during an experimental music performance. The study was designed to be as ecologically valid as possible, collecting data in a concert venue and making use of low- invasive measurement techniques. Muscle activity (EMG) from the forearms of 8 participants revealed that sitting in a group could be an indication of a level of group engagement, while comparatively greater muscular activity from a participant sitting at close distance to the stage suggests performance-induced bodily responses. The self-reported measures rendered little evidence supporting the links between muscular activity and live music exposure, although a larger sample size and a wider range of music styles need to be included in future studies to provide conclusive results.
Charles Patrick Martin, Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Jim Tørresen (2018). Composing an ensemble standstill work for Myo and Bela. In Luke Dahl, Doug Bowman & Tom Martin (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Conference On New Interfaces For Musical Expression. Virginia Tech. p. 196–197. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This paper describes the process of developing a standstill performance work using the Myo gesture control armband and the Bela embedded computing platform. The combination of Myo and Bela allows a portable and extensible version of the standstill performance concept while introducing muscle tension as an additional control parameter. We describe the technical details of our setup and introduce Myo-to-Bela and Myo-to-OSC software bridges that assist with prototyping compositions using the Myo controller.
Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Charles Patrick Martin, Agata Zelechowska, Kari Anne Vadstensvik Bjerkestrand, Victoria Kristine Å Johnson & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Bela-based augmented acoustic guitars for sonic microinteraction. In Luke Dahl, Doug Bowman & Tom Martin (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Conference On New Interfaces For Musical Expression. Virginia Tech. p. 324–327. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This article describes the design and construction of a collection of digitally-controlled augmented acoustic guitars, and the use of these guitars in the installation \textit\{Sverm-Resonans\}. The installation was built around the idea of exploring `inverse’ sonic microinteraction, that is, controlling sounds by the micromotion observed when attempting to stand still. It consisted of six acoustic guitars, each equipped with a Bela embedded computer for sound processing (in Pure Data), an infrared distance sensor to detect the presence of users, and an actuator attached to the guitar body to produce sound. With an attached battery pack, the result was a set of completely autonomous instruments that were easy to hang in a gallery space. The installation encouraged explorations on the boundary between the tactile and the kinesthetic, the body and the mind, and between motion and sound. The use of guitars, albeit with an untraditional `performance’ technique, made the experience both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Many users reported heightened sensations of stillness, sound, and vibration, and that the `inverse’ control of the instrument was both challenging and pleasant.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Methods for Studying Music-Related Body Motion. In Rolf Bader (Eds.), Springer Handbook of Systematic Musicology. Springer Nature. ISSN 9783662550021. p. 805–818. doi: 10.1007/978-3-662-55004-5_38. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This chapter presents an overview of some methodological approaches and technologies that can be used in the study of music-related body motion. The aim is not to cover all possible approaches, but rather to highlight some of the ones that are more relevant from a musicological point of view. This includes methods for video-based and sensor-based motion analyses, both qualitative and quantitative. It also includes discussions of the strengths and weaknesses of the different methods, and reflections on how the methods can be used in connection to other data in question, such as physiological or neurological data, symbolic notation, sound recordings and contextual data.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska & Kari Anne Vadstensvik Bjerkestrand (2017). Exploring the Myo controller for sonic microinteraction. In Cumhur Erkut (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. Aalborg University Copenhagen. p. 442–445. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This paper explores sonic microinteraction using muscle sensing through the Myo armband. The first part presents results from a small series of experiments aimed at finding the baseline micromotion and muscle activation data of people being at rest or performing short/small actions. The second part presents the prototype instrument MicroMyo, built around the concept of making sound with little motion. The instrument plays with the convention that inputting more energy into an instrument results in more sound. MicroMyo, on the other hand, is built so that the less you move, the more it sounds. Our user study shows that while such an "inverse instrument" may seem puzzling at first, it also opens a space for interesting musical interactions.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). Expert Commentary: Pushing The Sensor Boundaries In Digital Musical Instruments. In Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Michael J. Lyons (Ed.), A NIME Reader: Fifteen Years of New Interfaces for Musical Expression. Springer Science+Business Media B.V.. ISSN 9783319472133. p. 402–403. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The Fingerphone, a reworking of the Stylophone in conductive paper, is presented as an example of new design approaches for sustainability and playability of electronic musical instruments.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Agata Zelechowska & Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez (2017). The Musical Influence on People's Micromotion when Standing Still in Groups. In Tapio Lokki, Jukka Pätynen & Vesa Välimäki (Ed.), Proceedings of the 14th Sound and Music Computing Conference 2017. Aalto University. ISSN 9789526037295. p. 195–200. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The paper presents results from an experiment in which 91 subjects stood still on the floor for 6 minutes, with the first 3 minutes in silence, followed by 3 minutes with mu- sic. The head motion of the subjects was captured using an infra-red optical system. The results show that the average quantity of motion of standstill is 6.5 mm/s, and that the subjects moved more when listening to music (6.6 mm/s) than when standing still in silence (6.3 mm/s). This result confirms the belief that music induces motion, even when people try to stand still.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). Exploring music-related micromotion. In Clemens Wöllner (Eds.), Body, Sound and Space in Music and Beyond: Multimodal Explorations. Routledge. ISSN 9781472485403. doi: 10.4324/9781315569628-3. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
As living human beings we are constantly in motion. Even when we try to stand absolutely still, our breathing, pulse and postural adjustments lead to motion at the micro-level. Such micromotion is small, but it is still possible to experience it in the body and it is also visible to others. This chapter reflects on such (un)conscious and (in)voluntary micromotion observed and experienced when one attempts to stand physically still, and how musical sound influences such micromotion.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). Sonic Microinteraction in "the Air". In Micheline Lesaffre, Pieter-Jan Maes & Marc Leman (Ed.), The Routledge Companion to Embodied Music Interaction. Routledge. ISSN 9781138657403. doi: 10.4324/9781315621364-47. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This chapter looks at the ways in which micromotion, the smallest controllable and perceivable human body motion, can be used in interactive sound systems. It presents a general taxonomy, followed by examples of how sonic microinteraction was designed and rehearsed in the scientific-artistic project Sverm. Here, the focus was on micromotion and microaction performed in “the air,” but the concepts developed by the project can also be transferred to other types of microinteraction.

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Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2024). Sonic Design: Explorations Between Art and Science. Springer Nature. ISBN 9783031578922. 347 p. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-57892-2. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This edited volume is based on a selection of contributions at an international seminar organized in May 2022 to celebrate the achievements of Professor Godøy upon his retirement from the University of Oslo. The 17 chapters cover different approaches to sonic design practice and theory, giving readers historical backdrops and an overview of the current state of both artistic and scientific research in the field.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2022). Sound Actions: Conceptualizing Musical Instruments. MIT Press. ISBN 9780262544634. 304 p. doi: 10.7551/mitpress/14220.001.0001. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
A techno-cognitive look at how new technologies are shaping the future of musicking. “Musicking” encapsulates both the making of and perception of music, so it includes both active and passive forms of musical engagement. But at its core, it is a relationship between actions and sounds, between human bodies and musical instruments. Viewing musicking through this lens and drawing on music cognition and music technology, Sound Actions proposes a model for understanding differences between traditional acoustic “sound makers” and new electro-acoustic “music makers.” What is a musical instrument? How do new technologies change how we perform and perceive music? What happens when composers build instruments, performers write code, perceivers become producers, and instruments play themselves? The answers to these pivotal questions entail a meeting point between interactive music technology and embodied music cognition, what author Alexander Refsum Jensenius calls “embodied music technology.” Moving between objective description and subjective narrative of his own musical experiences, Jensenius explores why music makes people move, how the human body can be used in musical interaction, and how new technologies allow for active musical experiences. The development of new music technologies, he demonstrates, has fundamentally changed how music is performed and perceived.

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Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Bilge Serdar Göksülük, Jinyue Guo, Kari Anne Vadstensvik Bjerkestrand, Victoria Johnson & Rao, Shabari (2026). Stillness 2025 (Deichman): a group standstill performance with wearable physiology (Equivital). doi: 10.5281/zenodo.21964815. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
A dataset captured at the Stillness 2025 performance at Deichman Bjørvika in Oslo. 27 people took part in a 2-hour public standstill/walking performance on 9 October 2025. 16 of them wore Equivital EQ02 LifeMonitor chest sensors and are included in this dataset. Each vest logged 2-lead ECG (256 Hz), tri-axial accelerometer (256 Hz), thoracic respiration (25.6 Hz), beat-to-beat RR intervals, and a 15-second device summary (heart rate, body position, motion state, skin temperature, quality flags). A processed 5-second quantity-of-motion table is provided for all 16 participants. Timestamps are UTC, and every file is trimmed to the 2025-10-09 performance window; the multi-day pre-performance setup recordings are not part of this deposit.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Kari Anne Vadstensvik Bjerkestrand & Victoria Johnson (2026). Sverm: Motion capture of human micromotion during standstill. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.22045791. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This is an umbrella record for the artistic-research project Sverm (fourMs Lab, University of Oslo), in which musicians and dancers stood still on the floor for six to ten minutes at a time, and once for fifteen minutes, while their micromotion was tracked with a Qualisys infrared system.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2026). The Oslo Standstill Database: motion capture and multimodal recordings of human standstill and micromotion. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.21964888. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Umbrella record for the Oslo Standstill Database, a corpus of seven collections documenting human standstill and involuntary micromotion, gathered at the fourMs lab, RITMO Centre, and the Department of Musicology at the University of Oslo, 2011–2025.
Agata Zelechowska (2025). Riktig musikk til trening øker prestasjonene betydelig. [Internet]. Nettavisen. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Du blir beviselig raskere og bedre av en god spilleliste til trening, ifølge forskere. Velger du riktig er det faktisk umulig å stå stille.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2025). What happens in the body when you stand still? Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Professor Alexander Refsum Jensenius will talk about his decade-long exploration of human micromotion. Motion data from the 365 standstill sessions he carried out during 2023 reveals lots of biomechanical noise, but also some interesting signals.
Kristopher Schau & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2025). Nysgjerrige på: rytmens hemmeligheter. [Internet]. Nysgjerrige Norge. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
I denne episoden besøker Kristopher forskningssenteret RITMO ved Universitetet i Oslo. Der forsker de på alt fra trommeroboter og mikromusikalske problemstillinger til hvordan vi påvirkes av ventilasjonslyd. Han møter senterleder Alexander Refsum Jensenius som forteller om forskning i skjæringspunktet mellom musikk, bevegelse, psykologi og robotikk.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2024). Labprat #3: NM i stillstand. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Klarer du å stå stille til favorittlåta di? Prøv selv og vinn 1000kr! Folk sier ofte at det er umulig å ikke bevege seg til musikk, men stemmer det? Onsdag 3. april kan du teste deg selv når professor Alexander Refsum Jensenius – også kjent som Professor stillstand – inviterer til «NM i stillstand» her på Popsenteret. Vinneren kåres samme kveld på LAB.prat #3 med nettopp Alexander! Her får du også vite mer om hva som faktisk skjer i kroppen når vi hører på musikk. Som vanlig ledes kvelden av fasilitator og «MC» Dr. Kjell Andreas Oddekalv, også kjent som «Dr. Kjell» (eller hele Norges Kjelledegge som han selv liker å si) fra Hiphop orkesteret Sinsenfist. Sammen med Alexander inviterer han til en uformell samtale og Q&A om kroppsrytmer og hvordan de påvirkes av omgivelsene våre. I tidsrommet mellom stillstandkonkurransen og LAB.prat er Popsenteret åpent og du er velkommen til å besøke utstillingen vår og alt den har å by på!
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2024). Muskelmusikk. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Hva skjer i musklene når vi forsøker å stå stille? Hvordan kan men lage musikk fra kroppen. I pausen på Forsker Grand Prix vil jeg underholde med et sceneshow hvor jeg utforsker interaktive muskelarmbånd og en musikkhanske.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Sverre Lilleeng (2024). Professor stillstand. [Internet]. NRK. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2024). Stod stille hver dag i 10 minutter. [TV]. NRK Helgemorgen. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2024). Can doing nothing tell us everything? Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Can doing nothing tell us everything? Meet Professor Alexander Refsum Jensenius, a music researcher exploring the deep connections between sound, space, and the human body. Through his fascinating studies on stillness and motion, Alexander has discovered surprising insights into how we interact with our environment.
Torkild Jemterud, Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Guro Engvig Løseth & Kolbjørn Holthe (2024). ABELS KORK - Verdens største(?) musikkeksperiment. [Radio]. NRK. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Hvordan påvirker musikk oss? Hva skjer i hjernen vår når vi hører en melodi vi liker – eller misliker? Hvorfor reagerer vi forskjellig på ulike typer musikk? Og hvordan klarer et helt orkester å spille plettfritt sammen? Og forresten: trenger de egentlig å ha en dirigent? Hver fredag svarer panelet i Abels tårn på alle slags vitenskapelige spørsmål, store og små, fra lytterne. Noen vil langt ut i verdensrommet, og andre er mer opptatt av hva som skjer på kjøkkenbenken. Men musikk er noe vi alle har et forhold til. Den er rundt oss hele tiden, og det er mye å undre seg over når det gjelder musikk og hvordan den taler til oss på dype personlige plan. Derfor har Abels tårn og KORK gått sammen med RITMO og Universitetsbiblioteket for å lage en musikalsk utgave av det populære vitenskapsprogrammet. Vi introduserer: Abels KORK!
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2024). Hjernen i sentrum: Kunst. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Hvorfor er noen musikalske og andre ikke? Hvordan har det seg at kunst kan treffe oss så voldsomt - og så ulikt! Ulike kunstneriske uttrykk som musikk, malerkunst, litteratur, dans og teater kommer uten fasit og tolkes vidt forskjellig fra person til person. Er det hjernen som styrer dette? Det er åpenbart at hjernen vår er aktiv og ikke passiv når vi opplever kunst. Hvorfor er det sånn? Gir kunstneriske opplevelser god hjernetrim? Er kunst viktig for hjernehelsen?
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2023). Sound Actions: An Embodied approach to a Digital Organology. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
What is an instrument in our increasingly electrified world? In this talk I will present a set of theoretical building blocks from my forthcoming book on "musicking in an electronic world". At the core of the argument is the observation that the introduction of new music technologies has led to an increased separation between action and sound in musical performance. This has happened gradually, with pianos and organs being important early examples of instruments that introduced mechanical components between the performer and resonating objects. Today's network-based instruments represent an extreme case of a spatiotemporal dislocation between action and sound. They challenge our ideas of what an instrument can be, who can perform on them, and how they should be analyzed. In the lecture I will explain how we can use the concepts of action-sound couplings and mappings to structure our thinking about such instruments. This will be used at the heart of a new organology that embraces the qualities of both acoustic and electroacoustic instruments.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2023). Conceptualizing Musical Instruments. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
What is an instrument in our increasingly electrified world? In this talk I will present a set of theoretical building blocks from my recent book "Sound Actions". At the core of the argument is the observation that the introduction of new music technologies has led to an increased separation between action and sound in musical performance. This has happened gradually, with pianos and organs being important early examples of instruments that introduced mechanical components between the performer and resonating objects. Today's network-based instruments represent an extreme case of a spatiotemporal dislocation between action and sound. They challenge our ideas of what an instrument can be, who can perform on them, and how they should be analyzed. In the lecture I will explain how we can use the concepts of action-sound couplings and mappings to structure our thinking about such instruments.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2023). Explorations of human micromotion through standing still. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Throughout 2023, I will stand still for ten minutes around noon every day, in a different room each day. The aim is to collect data about my micromotion and compare it to the qualities of the environment. This project follows a decade-long exploration of human micromotion from both artistic and scientific perspectives. In the talk, I will present results from the annual Norwegian Championships of Standstill, where we have studied the influence of music on people's micromotion. I will also talk about how micromotion can be used in interactive music systems, allowing for conscious and unconscious control of musical sounds.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2023). Conceptualizing Musical Instruments. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
What is an instrument in our increasingly electrified world? In this talk I will present a set of theoretical building blocks from my forthcoming book on "musicking in an electronic world". At the core of the argument is the observation that the introduction of new music technologies has led to an increased separation between action and sound in musical performance. This has happened gradually, with pianos and organs being important early examples of instruments that introduced mechanical components between the performer and resonating objects. Today's network-based instruments represent an extreme case of a spatiotemporal dislocation between action and sound. They challenge our ideas of what an instrument can be, who can perform on them, and how they should be analyzed. In the lecture I will explain how we can use the concepts of action-sound couplings and mappings to structure our thinking about such instruments. This will be used at the heart of a new organology that embraces the qualities of both acoustic and electroacoustic instruments.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2023). Explorations of human micromotion through standing still. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Throughout 2023, I will stand still for ten minutes around noon every day, in a different room each day. The aim is to collect data about my micromotion and compare it to the qualities of the environment. This project follows a decade-long exploration of human micromotion from both artistic and scientific perspectives. In the talk, I will present results from the annual Norwegian Championships of Standstill, where we have studied the influence of music on people's micromotion. I will also talk about how micromotion can be used in interactive music systems, allowing for conscious and unconscious control of musical sounds.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2023). Exploring Human Micromotion Through Standing Still. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Moving slowly likely puts us into a special state of mind. Subjective reports from various practices including dance, Tai Chi and walking meditation suggest that slow movements can bring participants into a special state involving increased relaxation and awareness. Interestingly, relatively little research has been performed specifically to understand the underlying mechanisms and the possible applications of human slow movement. One reason might be that slow movements are not common in day-to-day life: when we want to move – for example to pick up our cup of coffee - we usually want to do it now. Some evidence suggests that humans tend to avoid moving slowly in different tasks, for example, when improvising movements together. The goal of this meeting is to bring together scholars and practitioners interested in slow movement, and to foster interdisciplinary research on this somewhat neglected topic.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2023). Still Standing: The effects of sound and music on people standing still. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Throughout 2023, I have been standing still for ten minutes around noon every day, in a different room each day. This project follows a decade-long exploration of human micromotion from both artistic and scientific perspectives. In the talk, I will present results from the annual Norwegian Championships of Standstill, where we have studied the influence of music on people's micromotion. I will also talk about how micromotion can be used in interactive music systems, allowing for the conscious and unconscious control of musical sounds.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2023). Still Standing: The effects of sound and music on people standing still. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Throughout 2023, I have been standing still for ten minutes around noon every day, in a different room each day. This project follows a decade-long exploration of human micromotion from both artistic and scientific perspectives. In the talk, I will present results from the annual Norwegian Championships of Standstill, where we have studied the influence of music on people's micromotion. I will also talk about how micromotion can be used in interactive music systems, allowing for the conscious and unconscious control of musical sounds.
Sofie Retterstøl Olaisen, Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Jonna Katariina Vuoskoski (2023). Una må danse når ho høyrer musikk: – Eit urgamalt instinkt. [Internet]. NRK. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Urgamle instinkt blir sett i sving når hjernen din oppfattar musikk. No kan forskarane også sjå danselysta i augo dine.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2023). Exploring large datasets of human, music-related standstill. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Throughout 2023, I will stand still for ten minutes around noon every day, in a different room each day. The aim is to collect data about my micromotion and compare it to the qualities of the environment. This project follows a decade-long exploration of human micromotion from both artistic and scientific perspectives. In the talk, I will present results from the annual Norwegian Championships of Standstill, where we have studied the influence of music on people's micromotion. I will also talk about how micromotion can be used in interactive music systems, allowing for conscious and unconscious control of musical sounds.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Christof Zürn (2023). Standing still with Alexander Refsum Jensenius. [Internet]. The Power of Music Thinking. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
What is the use of standing still for 10 minutes? I was asking myself when I saw a post on social media. It was a double picture of a man with a mobile phone around his neck displaying some data, and another picture showed the view he saw at that moment. I learned that he stood there for 10 minutes without any movement, listening to the sound that was already there. There were many pictures like this, and I decided to get in contact. So, today, we are in Oslo. We speak with Alexander Refsum Jensenius, a professor of music technology at the University of Oslo, a book author, a music researcher and researching musician working in the fields of embodied music cognition and new interfaces for musical expression. Alexander shares with us his experiences while performing and testing with artistic methods of embodied listening and how people experience music and sound. This goes from experiments with and without the conductor of a Symphony Orchestra to the sounds of our kitchen appliances. We talk about his motion capture lab, where a person’s exact location and micro-movements can be detected while they hear different kinds of music, and how the researchers can understand what moves them. Alexander shares insights about the Norwegian Championship of Stand Still, where until now, 1000s of people have participated, and the winner is the person with the lowest average velocity on standing the stillest over some time. Alexander explains the interplay of body and mind and reveals some secrets on how to move people, for example, on the dance floor or to calm them down. It all has to do with our bpm, the average heartbeat of about 60 beats a minute.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2023). Observing spaces while standing still. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Throughout 2023, I stand still for ten minutes around noon every day, in a different room each day. This project follows a decade-long exploration of human micromotion from both artistic and scientific perspectives. Previously, I have been interested in the impact of music. Now, I am listening to ventilation systems, elevators, and people walking and talking and reflecting on how they influence my body and mind. The aim is to understand more about the rhythms of the environment.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2022). Responsible Research and Innovation in Sound and Music Computing. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
My presentation will focus on how the ongoing shift to Open Research within the field of sound and music computing (SMC) promotes Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI).
Mari Lesteberg & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2022). MICRO and MACRO - Developing New Accessible Musicking Technologies. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This paper describes the development of two musical instrument prototypes developed to explore how non-haptic music technologies can be accessed from a web browser and how they can offer accessibility for people with low fine motor skills. Two approaches to browser-based motion capture were developed and tested during an iterative design process. This was followed by observational studies of two user groups: one with low fine motor skills and one with normal motor skills. Contrary to our expectations, we found that avoiding the use of buttons and mice did not make the apps more accessible for the participants with low fine motor skills. Furthermore, motion speed was considered more important for people with low motor skills than the size of the control action. The most important finding is that browser-based musical instruments using sensor-based and video-based motion tracking are not only feasible but allow for reaching much larger groups of people than previously possible. This may ultimately lead to both more personalized and accessible musical experiences.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2022). Erfaringer med å lage 3xMOOC. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
I denne presentasjonen vil jeg presentere hvordan vi gjennom årene har utviklet tre komplette nettkurs ved Universitetet i Oslo: Music Moves (2016), Motion Capture (2022) og Pupillometry (2023). Fokuset vil ligge på muligheter og utfordringer i video i utdanningssammenheng.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Kevin Ashley (2022). FAIR in Higher Education. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Between January 25th and 27th, FAIRsFAIR partners and stakeholders will meet for a series of concluding meetings to deep-dive into the results of FAIRsFAIR. We’ll analyse the impact that we managed to have on the European Research Community. We'll go once more through the tools, guidelines and best practices that we have produced and delivered to researchers, data stewards, decision makers and funders towards a better, more structured approach towards FAIR data management. We’ll take the recommendations we produced and the lessons we learnt and leave them as a legacy for future activities to come.
Byron Remache-Vinueza & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2022). Groundbreaking New Technology Allows People To Listen to Music Through Touch. [Internet]. SciTechDaily. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
An audio-tactile algorithm created by University of Malaga scientists conveys melodic information through vibration.
Byron Remache-Vinueza, Andrés Trujillo-León, Maria-Alena Clim, Fabián Sarmiento-Ortiz, Liliana Topon-Visarrea & Alexander Refsum Jensenius [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2022). Mapping Monophonic MIDI Tracks to Vibrotactile Stimuli Using Tactile Illusions. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In this project, we propose an algorithm to convert musical features and structures extracted from monophonic MIDI files to tactile illusions. Mapping music to vibrotactile stimuli is a challenging process since the perceptible frequency range of the skin is lower than that of the auditory system, which may cause the loss of some musical features. Moreover, current proposed models do not warrant the correspondence between the emotional response to music and the vibrotactile version of it. We propose to use tactile illusions as an additional resource to convey more meaningful vibrotactile stimuli. Tactile illusions enable us to add dynamics to vibrotactile stimuli in the form of movement, changes of direction, and localization. The suggested algorithm converts monophonic MIDI files into arrangements of two tactile illusions: “phantom motion” and “funneling”. The validation of the rendered material consisted of presenting the audio rendered from MIDI files to participants and then adding the vibrotactile component to it. The arrangement of tactile illusions was also evaluated alone. Results suggest that the arrangement of tactile illusions evokes more positive emotions than negative ones. This arrangement was also perceived as more agreeable and stimulating than the original audio. Although musical features such as rhythm, tempo, and melody were mostly recognized in the arrangement of tactile illusions, it provoked a different emotional response from that of the original audio.
Agata Zelechowska & Silje Pileberg (2021). Some music makes it impossible to stand still. Full text in Research Archive
Agata Zelechowska & Silje Pileberg (2021). Denne musikken gjør at du ikke klarer å stå i ro. Full text in Research Archive
Agata Zelechowska & Silje Pileberg (2021). Some music makes it impossible to stand still. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2021). Hvorfor leder åpenhet til bedre forskning? Full text in Research Archive
Raul Masu, Adam Pultz Melbye, John Sullivan & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2021). NIME and the Environment: Toward a More Sustainable NIME Practice. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This paper addresses environmental issues around NIME research and practice. We discuss the formulation of an environmental statement for the conference as well as the initiation of a NIME Eco Wiki containing information on environmental concerns related to the creation of new musical instruments. We outline a number of these concerns and, by systematically reviewing the proceedings of all previous NIME conferences, identify a general lack of reflection on the environmental impact of the research undertaken. Finally, we propose a framework for addressing the making, testing, using, and disposal of NIMEs in the hope that sustainability may become a central concern to researchers.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Hege Holm (2021). Hva får oss ut på dansegulvet? [Radio]. NRK P1. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Hva får oss ut på dansegulvet? Det er forsket på hva som skal til for at vi beveger oss til musikk. Det er helt spesielle rytmer som får kroppen vår til å bevege seg, enten vi vil eller ei. Professor med bakgrunn både fra musikk, fysikk og matematikk forklarer.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2021). Technology on the opera stage. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Solveig Isis Sørbø (2021). Lyd, stillhet, bevegelse og stillstand. [Radio]. Radiorakel. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Solveigs Speisa Musikk
Finn Upham, Agata Zelechowska, Victor Gonzalez & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2021). Quiet Breathing to Heard Music. Full text in Research Archive
Agata Zelechowska, Victor Gonzalez & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2021). Championship of Standstill: A paradigm to study involuntary responses to music with the use of motion capture. Full text in Research Archive
Raul Masu, Adam Pultz Melbye, John Sullivan & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2021). NIME Eco Wiki: A Crash Course. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In this workshop, hosted by the three NIME environmental officers, participants will be introduced to the NIME Eco Wiki, a repository for addressing environmental and sustainability issues within the NIME community. During the workshop, the participants will discuss how practices on the communal as well as the individual level may become more sustainable and they will create new additions and ideas for the Wiki.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2021). The experience of time and space in human standstill. Full text in Research Archive
Agata Zelechowska & Silje Pileberg (2021). Some music makes it impossible to stand still. Full text in Research Archive
Balint Laczko & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2021). Reflections on the Development of the Musical Gestures Toolbox for Python. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The paper presents the Musical Gestures Toolbox (MGT) for Python, a collection of modules targeted at researchers working with video recordings. The toolbox includes video visualization techniques such as creating motion videos, motion history images, and motiongrams. These visualizations allow for studying video recordings from different temporal and spatial perspectives. The toolbox also includes basic computer vision methods, and it is designed to integrate well with audio analysis toolboxes. The MGT was initially developed to analyze music-related body motion (of musicians, dancers, and perceivers) but is equally helpful for other disciplines working with video recordings of humans, such as linguistics, pedagogy, psychology, and medicine.
Agata Zelechowska, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2020). Standstill to the ‘beat’: Differences in involuntary movement responses to simple and complex rhythms. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Previous studies have shown that movement-inducing properties of music largely depend on the rhythmic complexity of the stimuli. However, little is known about how simple isochronous beat patterns differ from more complex rhythmic structures in their effect on body movement. In this paper we study spontaneous movement of 98 participants instructed to stand as still as possible for 7 minutes while listening to silence and randomised sound excerpts: isochronous drumbeats and complex drum patterns, each at three different tempi (90, 120, 140 BPM). The participants’ head movement was recorded with an optical motion capture system.We found that on average participants moved more during the sound stimuli than in silence, which confirms the results from our previous studies. Moreover, the stimulus with complex drum patterns elicited more movement when compared to the isochronous drum beats. Across different tempi, the participants moved most at 120 BPM for the average of both types of stimuli. For the isochronous drumbeats, however, their movement was highest at 140 BPM. These results can contribute to our understanding of the interplay between rhythmic complexity, tempo and music-induced movement.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Christian Ingebrethsen (2020). Kan en datamaskin lage den neste megahiten? [Radio]. NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Christian Ingebrethsen (2020). Musikk laget av kunstig intelligens. [TV]. NRK Dagsrevyen. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Christian Ingebrethsen (2020). Musikk laget av algoritmer utfordrer musikkbransjen: – Det er klart vi er bekymret. [Internet]. NRK.no. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Frank Sinatra har kommet med en ny sang 22 år etter sin død. Eller, har han egentlig det?
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Christian Ingebrethsen (2020). Nesten umulig å stå i ro til musikk. [Radio]. NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Christian Ingebrethsen (2020). Hvor vanskelig er det egentlig å la være å bevege seg til fengende musikk? [TV]. NRK Dagsrevyen. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Christian Ingebrethsen (2020). Klarer du å stå stille til favorittlåta di? [Internet]. NRK.no. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Christian Ingebrethsen (2020). Forskning om danselyst. [Radio]. NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Mari Lilleslåtten (2020). You just can’t stand still. [Internet]. HF-aktuelt. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Not moving to dance music is near impossible, according to new research.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Mari Lilleslåtten (2020). Du klarer faktisk ikke å stå stille. [Internet]. HF-aktuelt. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Å ikke bevege seg til dansemusikk, er så godt som umulig, viser ny forskning.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Bård Andersson (2020). Umulig å stå stille til musikk. [Journal]. KulturPlot. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Nå er det bevist: Det finnes en indre danseløve i oss alle. Ny forskning viser dessuten at den musikken som ikke får det til å rykke i dansefoten er norsk.
Monika Malec & Agata Zelechowska (2020). Pocztówka dźwiękowa. [Radio]. Polskie Radio Lublin. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2020). Hvorfor er åpen forskning bedre forskning? Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2020). Some Challenges of Citizen Science for Universities. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The potential of Citizen Science is high on the agenda in the discussion on the future of academic research. The European Commission’s Communication “A new ERA for Research and Innovation”, published in September 2020, states that “[...] the engagement of citizens, local communities and civil society will [help] achieve greater social impact and increased trust in science.” Citizens can contribute in diverse ways, ranging from data collection over data analysis to co-designing projects, and thereby bring academic research and its outcomes closer to society. However, Citizen Science also accentuates ethical and legal questions about ownership of the research process and outcomes, and poses challenges in terms of safeguarding research quality. Addressing these challenges and using the opportunities of Citizen Science will require universities to take the lead and consider the place of Citizen Science within their institutional strategies, as well as the support they offer to research staff. Engaging in inclusive and transparent science, Citizen Science and Open Science are becoming increasingly intertwined. Currently, Citizen Science is described by the European Commission as “both an aim and enabler of Open Science”. This joint workshop will discuss themes around institutional support for Citizen Science and offers an opportunity to transfer and share knowledge. The aim is to exchange experiences, lessons learnt, and explore common challenges. To support Citizen Science, the online workshop will discuss tools, guidelines and good practices from Open Science experiences as well. Participating universities will have the opportunity to share expertise, coordinate efforts and exchange advice on services, tools and legal and ethical issues.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Njord Vegard Svendsen (2020). Spelelystene. [Journal]. Khrono. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
For somme er ein arbeidsdag utan musikk utenkeleg.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2020). Video Visualization Strategies at RITMO. Full text in Research Archive
Agata Zelechowska (2020). What is musical entrainment? Full text in Research Archive
Agata Zelechowska (2020). Irresistible Movement: The Role of Musical Sound, Individual Differences and Listening Context in Movement Responses to Music. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Paul Arvid Jørgensen (2019). Kulturstripa: Musikken som beveger. [Radio]. NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Er du av typen som berre må danse når du høyrer ein viss type musikk? Paul Arvid Jørgensen har møtt ein forskar som ser på om vi menneske er fødd med dansefot, og om ein type musikk fører til meir rørsle enn en annan.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). Sound actions: An embodied approach to a digital organology. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
What is an instrument in our increasingly electrified world? In this talk I will present a set of theoretical building blocks from my forthcoming book on "musicking in an electronic world". At the core of the argument is the observation that the introduction of new music technologies has led to an increased separation between action and sound in musical performance. This has happened gradually, with pianos and organs being important early examples of instruments that introduced mechanical components between the performer and resonating objects. Today's network-based instruments represent an extreme case of a spatiotemporal dislocation between action and sound. They challenge our ideas of what an instrument can be, who can perform on them, and how they should be analyzed. In the lecture I will explain how we can use the concepts of action-sound couplings and mappings to structure our thinking about such instruments. This will be used at the heart of a new organology that embraces the qualities of both acoustic and electroacoustic instruments.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). Lecture-demo: Music-Related Micromotion. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This presentation will summarize findings from my research into music-related micromotion. This includes the smallest human motion that we can perform and perceive, typically measured at at a scale of millimeters. We have carried out a series of studies of such micromotion, in which people have been asked to try to stand still on the floor, both in silence and with (musical) sound. By measuring their bodily responses with different types of motion tracking and physiological devices we find a number of similarities between people's quantity and quality of motion. This has been the starting point for exploring the use of micromotion in musical practice, what I call 'sonic microinteraction'. This includes standstill performances with interactive sound and light. It also includes several installations with our ensemble of self-playing guitars. These are hybrid instruments, using digital sound-production through acoustically resonating guitars. They are controlled through inverse microinteraction, meaning that you need to focus on standing still to produce any sound. This challenges our traditional understanding of the affordance of musical instruments, and opens for both artistically and scientifically interesting perspectives.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Silvija Seres (2019). Ekspørt: Alexander Refsum Jensenius. [Radio]. LØRN Podcast. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Hva kan vi finne når vi analyserer folks dansebevegelser? Og hva er selvspillende gitarer? I denne episoden av #LØRN snakker Silvija med førsteamanuensis ved Institutt for musikkvitenskap ved Universitetet i Oslo, Alexander Refsum Jensenius, om NM i stillstand og kunst og teknologi. — Vi tror at det er noen dypt forankrede systemer som gjør at bevegelse og musikk er koblet sammen i hjernen vår. Så lyd og bevegelse har ikke skiller, forteller han.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). Sound actions: An embodied approach to a digital organology. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
What is an instrument in our increasingly electrified world? In this talk I will present a set of theoretical building blocks from my forthcoming book on "musicking in an electronic world". At the core of the argument is the observation that the introduction of new music technologies has led to an increased separation between action and sound in musical performance. This has happened gradually, with pianos and organs being important early examples of instruments that introduced mechanical components between the performer and resonating objects. Today's network-based instruments represent an extreme case of a spatiotemporal dislocation between action and sound. They challenge our ideas of what an instrument can be, who can perform on them, and how they should be analyzed. In the lecture I will explain how we can use the concepts of action-sound couplings and mappings to structure our thinking about such instruments. This will be used at the heart of a new organology that embraces the qualities of both acoustic and electroacoustic instruments.
Ximena Alarcón Diaz & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). "Ellos no están entendiendo nada" ("They are not understanding anything"): Listening to Embodied Memories of Colombian Migrant Women Reflecting on Conflict and Migration. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Exploring the role of the body as an interface that keeps memory of place, INTIMAL physical-virtual “embodied” system, integrates body movement, voice, and an oral archive, as an artistic platform for relational listening (Alarcón, 2019), using networking technologies for telematic sonic improvisatory performances, in the context of geographical migration. INTIMAL has been informed by a case study with nine Colombian migrant women in Europe, listening to their migrations, and to an oral archive with testimonies of conflict and migration by other Colombian migrant women.1 The first two interfaces created for the system: MEMENTO (a spoken word retrieval system), and RESPIRO (for transmission and sonification of breathing data), have been tested by the research participants in a telematic sonic improvisatory public improvisatory performance between the cities of Oslo, Barcelona, and London. In the performance, proposed as a shared dream, a “complex narrative” (Grishakova & Poulaki, 2019) emerged, for both the improvisers and the audiences. In this paper, we describe the conditions of the narrative environment, and the embodied expressions that emerged—including body movement, voice, spoken word, and breathing—establishing connections between gendered migration, and Colombian conflict. We reflect on how distributed improvisatory embodied expression, and relational listening through technological mediations, aids the process of collective remembering (Wertsch, 2001), in a complex context of conflict and migration.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). Technology and the voice. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). Exploring the Spatiotemporal Matrix in Music-Dance Performance. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
I will present the spatiotemporal matrix, a system for categorizing human actions into different spatial and temporal levels: micro, meso, macro. Most regular human actions would be categorized as meso-meso, that is, medium-sized motion within a timespan that fits our short-term memory. Exploring combinations of micro and macro levels in both space and time is challenging, but is also conceptually, practically and artistically interesting. I will show an example of this from the music-dance performance Sverm, and explain how the matrix was informed by my research into the effect of music on the micromotion observed when people try to stand still.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). Hva kan kroppslig stillstand si om opplevelsen av musikk? Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Erik Lieungh (2019). #26 Music Research. [Radio]. Open Science Talk. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In this episode, we talk about Music Research, and how it is to practice open research within this field. Our guest is Alexander Jensenius, Associate Professor at the Department of Musicology - Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion (IMV) at the University of Oslo. He is also behind MusicLAb, an event-based project where data is collected, during a musical performance, and analyzed on the fly.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). Reflections from a Carpentries Train the Trainer Workshop. [Journal]. Carpentries.org. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In this post, Alexander Refsum Jensenius shares thoughts and takeaways from a recent Train the Trainer Workshop
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). Experimenting with Open Research Experiments. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Is it possible to do experimental music research completely openly? And what can we gain by opening up the research process from beginning to end? In the talk I will present MusicLab, an open research project at the University of Oslo. The aim is to explore new methods for conducting research, research communication, and education. Each MusicLab event is organized around a public music performance, during which we collect data from both musicians and audience members. Here we explore different types of sensing systems that work in real-world contexts, such as breathing, heartbeat, muscle tension, or motion. The events also contain an edutainment element through panel discussions as well as "data jockeying" in the form of live data analysis. The collected data is made publicly available, and forms the basis for further analysis and publications after the event. Opening up the research process is conceptually, practically, and technologically challenging for everyone involved. The benefit is that it has helped us solve a number of issues when it comes to GDPR and copyright. It has also pushed our research in directions that we previously had never thought about, and helped us communicate this to new users.
Anna Xambo Sedo, Robin Støckert, Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Sigurd Saue (2019). Facilitating Team-Based Programming Learning with Web Audio. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In this paper, we present a course of audio programming using web audio technologies addressed to an interdisciplinary group of master students who are mostly beginners in programming. This course is held in two connected university campuses through a portal space and the students are expected to work in cross-campus teams. The workshop promotes both individual and group work and is based on ideas from science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM), team-based learning and project-based learning. We show the outcomes of this course, discuss the students’ feedback and reflect on the results. We found that it is important to provide individual vs. group work, to use the same code editor for consistent follow-up and to be able to share the screen to solve individual questions. Other aspects inherent to the master (intensity of the courses, coding in a research-oriented program) and to prior knowledge (web technologies) should be reconsidered. We conclude with a wider reflection on the challenges and potentials of using web audio as a programming environment for beginners in STEAM and distance-learning courses.
Solveig Isis Sørbø, Matthew Good & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). RITMO + UB = MusicLab. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
MusicLab er et samarbeidsprosjekt mellom UB og RITMO og en pilot på åpen forskning ved UiO. Konseptet kombinerer live musikk, live forskning og vitenskapsformidling. Det er mye vi har fått til med MusicLab, men i slikt nybrottsarbeid støter man også på nye typer utfordringer. Hvor langt kan man trekke åpenheten?
Artur Becker, Henrik Herrebrøden, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Kristian Nymoen, Carla Maria Dal Sasso Freitas & Jim Tørresen [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2019). Functional Data Analysis of Rowing Technique Using Motion Capture Data. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
We present an approach to analyzing the motion capture data ofrowers using bivariate functional principal component analysis(bfPCA). The method has been applied on data from six elite rowersrowing on an ergometer. The analyses of the upper and lower bodycoordination during the rowing cycle revealed significant differences between the rowers, even though the data was normalized toaccount for differences in body dimensions. We make an argumentfor the use of bfPCA and other functional data analysis methods forthe quantitative evaluation and description of technique in sports.
Agata Zelechowska & Maria Lokna (2019). Vi er konstant absorbert i en annen verden. Full text in Research Archive
Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Henrik Herrebrøden, Jostein Olimstad & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). Effects of acoustic pacing on the smoothness of rowing movements. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The influence of acoustic stimuli and feedback in sport has been explored as means of optimizing technique, in particular during training. Interactive and adaptive acoustic systems have been evaluated for rowing, with results showing a significant increase in boat velocity. However, assessment of the effects of acoustic feedback and pacing in the technical aspects of rowing is still scarce. Previous studies on the smoothness of the stroke force profile have shown that smoothness metrics can qualitatively reflect movement coordination. In this study, we quantify and compare hand movement smoothness from rowers performing under three acoustic conditions: silence, verbal instructions, and acoustic pacing.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). Scientific Computing Use Case: RITMO. Full text in Research Archive
Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez (2019). MICRO: Human Bodily Micromotion in Music Perception and Interaction. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This talk will highlight links between music and human movement, aiming at providing insight into crucial aspects of human perception, cognition, and sensorimotor systems. It will analyze responses to a wide range of music and sound features, exploiting concepts such as the groove, embodied music cognition, and entrainment. Victor will be glad to discuss potential implications of movement-analysis research for embodiment perspectives on technologically enabled conceptual learning.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). Developing the self-playing guitars. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The AAAI project holds a final workshop showcasing instruments developed and techniques explored. The workshop also consists of a performance with new pieces for augmented guitars, violins, double basses, ukuleles, as well as six self-playing guitars.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). The RITMO Centre at University of Oslo. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). Tutorial: Musical Gestures Toolbox. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
An intensive PhD-level training course on sound and motion analysis with experts in sound and music computing from the Nordic countries.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Cagri Erdem, Agata Zelechowska, Qichao Lan, Julian Peter Fuhrer & Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez (2019). Entraining Guitars. Full text in Research Archive
Ximena Alarcón Diaz, Paul Boddie, Cagri Erdem, Eigil Aandahl, Elias Sukken Andersen & Eirik Dahl [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2019). Sensing Place and Presence in an INTIMAL Long-Distance Improvisation. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
INTIMAL is an interactive system for relational listening, which integrates physical-virtual interfaces for people to sonically improvise between distant locations. The aim is to embrace two key aspects in the context of human migration: the sense of place and the sense of presence. This paper reflects on the use of INTIMAL in a long-distance improvisation between the cities of Oslo, Barcelona and London in May 2019. This improvisation was performed by nine Colombian migrant women, who had been involved in a research process using the Deep Listening® practice developed by Pauline Oliveros. Here we describe the performance setting and the implementation of the first two interfaces of the system: MEMENTO, an “embodied” navigator of an oral archive of Colombian women’s testimonies of conflict and migration; and RESPIRO, a sonification system that transmits and sonifies live, breathing signals between distant locations. We reflect on how the two interfaces facilitated and challenged the improvisers’ listening experiences and connections.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Rodrigo Schramm, Lamberto Coccioli, Clara Mancini & Michael J. Lyons (2019). Ethics at NIME. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This workshop is intended to discuss how we think about and handle research ethics at NIME conferences. A number of NIME papers involved studies on/with humans. Most of these are on volunteering adults, but there are also examples of studies with children, and with patients. We also see an interest in the community to carry out research on/with animals. NIME’s current ethical guidelines do not take these perspectives into account. The Steering Committee therefore sees the need to develop better and more up-to-date ethical guidelines for the conference. This is to create an increased awareness about the needs for ethical considerations in the community, but also as guidelines for reviewers and conference chairs. NIME is proud of being a very heterogeneous community, covering people working in a large number of different scientific disciplines, artistic practices, as well as R&D in the industry. Needless to say, this breadth of perspectives also means that it is difficult to impose the same guidelines on all studies. NIME researchers also have to abide to a number of different regulations at institutional, regional, national, continental and international levels. The workshop will consist of short introductions to some challenges faced when carrying out research on/with humans and animals, in both scientific and artistic contexts. This will be followed by group-based brainstorming and a final plenary discussion.
Cagri Erdem, Katja Henriksen Schia & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). Vrengt: A Shared Body–Machine Instrument for Music–Dance Performance. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Andrew McPherson, Anna Xambo Sedo, Dan Overholt, Guillaume Pellerin & Ivica Ico Bukvic [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2019). Open Research Strategies and Tools in the NIME Community. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This workshop is intended for discussing how we can develop more and better strategies and tools for opening up research processes and results within the NIME community. The development of more openness in research has been in progress for a fairly long time, and has recently received a lot of more political attention through the Plan S initiative, The Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), EU's Horizon Europe, and so on. The NIME community has been positive to openness since the beginning, but still has not been able to fully explore this within the community. We call for a workshop to discuss how we can move forwards in making the NIME community (even) more open throughout all its activities.
Cagri Erdem, Katja Henriksen Schia & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). Vrengt: A Shared Body–Machine Instrument for Music–Dance Performance. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Sophus Bugges Salong: Rytmer og følelser. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Hvorfor opplever vi rytmer og tid slik vi gjør? "RITMO Senter for tverrfaglig forskning på rytme, tid og bevegelse" vil gi oss svaret.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Silvija Seres (2018). #89: Alexander Jensenius: Slik danser du din egen musikk. [Internet]. Oslo Business Forum. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Hvordan kan teknologi og musikk bli til noe veldig spennende? Og hva er unikt med måten vi beveger oss på? Dagens podkastgjest er førsteamanuensis i musikkteknologi, Alexander Jensenius. I episode #89 av podkastserien ‘De som bygger det nye Norge med Silvija Seres’ snakker Jensenius om hvordan tverrfaglighet mellom uvanlige fag og disipliner åpne nye måter å tenke på. Han snakker også om hvordan han bruker «motion capture» til å studere mennesker i bevegelse, hva rytme betyr for mennesker og hans beste råd til unge forskere.
Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Analysing the synchronisation of COM motion with music in human standing. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Introduction Postural stability have been the focus of a number of studies on fall prevention and sports, with an emphasis on walking dynamics1 . Fewer studies have aimed at understanding the influence of sound stimuli in standing posture sway 2. Although the vestibular system plays a fundamental role in the control of postural stability, it has also been shown to be key in embodied cognition processes 3. It is in part through the vestibular system that music activates motor areas in the brain to induce movement, while body movement enhances the cognitive processing of sound and music 3. This study explored the influence of music on postural control by measuring synchronization between body center of mass (COM) sway with music. Methods 7 women (32 ± 4.39 years, 1.73 ± 0.04 m, mean ± SD), and 5 men (29.67 ± 4.63 years, 1.81 ± 0.04 m) participated in the study. Participants were asked to stand still for 6 minutes as they were presented with alternating segments of silence and music. COM movements were measured from the position of a passive marker placed in the midline of the sacrum, recorded using an infrared motion capture system. Radial and vertical COM movements were cross-correlated with the pulse clarity, RMS, and spectral centroid of the stimuli. Results Paired samples t-test revealed differences in COM radial and vertical sway between silent and music conditions to be significant at the 0.05 level. A repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant effect of the stimuli on COM sway (p < 0.05). The effect of the stimuli on the lag of maximum cross-correlation (delay) between COM radial sway and RMS was shown to be significant (p < 0.05). Differences in delay between pulse clarity and COM vertical sway were significant between stimuli (p < 0.05 ). Discussion Results suggest that the effect of RMS in music-induced postural sway might be predominant in the radial plane, with anticipatory behavior observed for stimuli with low RMS. Vertical sway correspondence patterns suggest anticipatory vertical motion to music spectral centroid. A more robust understanding of a range of music features and their links with induced movement could lead to insight into the role of the vestibular and sensory systems in balance control. References 1 Cimolin, V., Galli, M. (2014). Summary measures for clinical gait analysis: A literature review. Gait & Posture 39, 1005-1010. 2 Ross, J. M., Warlaumont, A. S., Abney, D. H., Rigoli, L. M., and Balasubramaniam, R. (2016). Influence of musical groove on postural sway. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance Advance online publication. 3 Todd, N. P. (1999). Motion in music: A neurobiological perspective. Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal 17, 115–126.
John MacCallum:, Teoma Naccarato, Baptiste Caramiaux, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Sarah Fdili Alaoui & Amy LaViers [Show all 10 contributors for this article] (2018). Panel: What Escapes Computation in Interactive Performance? Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Can we better understand the complex process of human music perception through a standardisation of the quantification of involuntary correspondences between motion and music? Exploring the frequency-domain and time-domain links between sound and motion signals in a systematic manner might encourage international and interdisciplinary collaboration, boosting developments in the field and knowledge transferability.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Introduction to Musical Gestures Toolbox for Matlab. Full text in Research Archive
Charles Patrick Martin, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska, Cagri Erdem & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Stillness under Tension. Full text in Research Archive
Julian Peter Fuhrer, Kyrre Glette & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Interactive Animation of the RITMO Logo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In this project the logo of RITMO is installed in an interactive animation. It is able to move in accordance with the frequency band of an audio input stream. That is to say, the RITMO logo interacts with the rhythmical streams of music.
Anne Danielsen & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Rytme i tid og rom. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Hvilken type IKT-kompetanse trenger humanister og samfunnsvitere? Full text in Research Archive
Charles Patrick Martin, Mari Lesteberg, Karolina Jawad, Eigil Aandahl, Anna Xambó & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Stillness under Tension. Full text in Research Archive
Einar Duenger Bøhn, Anna Colette Smajdor & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Humaniora og teknologi. Full text in Research Archive
Agata Zelechowska, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). How music moves us? Studying human body micromotion in music perception. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Music has the power to influence not only our thoughts and emotions, but also various physiological processes in our bodies. Furthermore, it often encourages physical movement of the listener. While there are numerous studies describing spontaneous psychophysiological responses to music that are linked with emotions, spontaneous body movement to music has became a topic of exploration relatively recently. Mostly, it has been studied in the context of free dance (Burger et al., 2013) or synchronization to musical rhythm while performing repetitive movements such as walking (Styns et al., 2007). But what can we observe if the participants are just standing still? In our project “MICRO - Human Bodily Micromotion in Music Perception and Interaction” we focus on movements so small that they can be unnoticed both by observer and performer, and that can happen involuntarily. This is what we call “micromotion” of the human body. To see how these small movements are affected by music, we develop different experiments using mainly motion capture technology, but also physiological measures such as electromyography (EMG). In this presentation I would like to describe some of our research methods, findings and plans. In one of the experiment paradigms, disguised as the “Norwegian Championship of Standitill”, we invite groups of participants to the laboratory and ask them to stand as still as possible while we present them with segments of selected music or silence. The head motion of each participant is captured using an infrared optical system. In 2012, 91 subjects stood on the floor for 3 minutes in silence and 3 minutes listening to music of increasing level of rhythmicality and energy (Jensenius et al., 2017). In 2017, 71 participants listened to 6 minutes consisting of segments of silence alternating with electronic dance music (EDM), classical Indian music or Norwegian fiddle music. In both studies we observed higher mean quantity of motion of the participants (QoM) in music condition compared to silence condition, and the effect was driven mostly by EDM. We also observed correlations between QoM and participant’s age, height and standing strategy (locked knees), although these results are mixed between the two studies. The future goal is to look more closely into specific features in music that correspond with observed movement, to search for signs of rhythmic entrainment, and to see what demographic and psychological factors might contribute to interpersonal differences in music induced body micromotion. References: Burger, B., Thompson, M. R., Luck, G., Saarikallio, S., & Toiviainen, P. (2013). Influences of rhythm-and timbre-related musical features on characteristics of music-induced movement. Frontiers in psychology, 4, 183. Jensenius, A. R., Zelechowska, A., & Gonzalez Sanchez, V. E. (2017). The Musical Influence on People's Micromotion when Standing Still in Groups. In Proceedings of the SMC Conferences (pp. 195-200). Aalto University. Styns, F., van Noorden, L., Moelants, D., & Leman, M. (2007). Walking on music. Human movement science, 26(5), 769-785.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Kan musikk påvirke stillstanden din? Forskning.no. ISSN 1891-635X. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Det er umulig å stå stille. Kroppen lever og beveger seg hele tiden. Selv om man forsøker å stå i ro, klarer man det ikke helt. Så hvor stille står vi egentlig? Og hvordan påvirker musikk oss når vi står stille?
Eskil Olaf Vestre, Anne Danielsen, Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Justin London, Katja Henriksen Schia & Filip Abramczyk (2018). Rytmen er en danser. [Journal]. Ballade. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Lars Adde & Lars O. Flydal (2018). Forskningsmøte mellom musikk og medisin. [Journal]. Vårt Land. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Tverrfaglig nytte: Forskning på kroppens rytmer og bevegelser har skapt nye diagnoseverktøy som gjør at cerebral parese kan påpekes tidligere.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Anne Danielsen, Justin London, Katja Henriksen Schia & Filip Abramczyk (2018). Intellectual warm-up: "Rhythm". Full text in Research Archive
Katja Henriksen Schia, Cagri Erdem, Qichao Lan & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Music-Dance Performance: "Rhythm". Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Solveig Isis Sørbø & Jakob Arvola (2018). MusicLab - et nytt konsept for forskning og forskningsformidling. [Radio]. NRK Klassisk. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Forskerbloggen: Hvorfor får man lyst til å danse til musikk? [TV]. NRK. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Fremtiden er analog - perspektiver på humaniora og teknologi. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Ny musikkforskning ved RITMO. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). The recording and use of videos from music events – how to balance ethical requirements and FAIR principles using data from live concerts, music performances and the like? Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Åpen forskning - et humanistisk-teknologisk perspektiv. Full text in Research Archive
Olivier Lartillot, Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Toril Haugen (2018). Mobilen finner musikk når du beveger hånden. [Internet]. Forskning.no. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). The importance of "nothing": studying human music-related micromotion. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
How much do people move when they try to stand still? Does listening to music influence your micromotion? Can we use micromotion in human-computer interaction? In this presentation, music technologist Alexander Refsum Jensenius (RITMO, UiO) will share some results from his research on human cognition on the boundaries between the conscious and the unconscious, the voluntary and the involuntary.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Studying "nothing": complexities of human music-related micromotion. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
How much do people move when they try to stand still? Does listening to music influence your micromotion? Can we use micromotion in human-computer interaction? In this presentation, music technologist Alexander Refsum Jensenius (RITMO, UiO) will share some results from his research on human cognition on the boundaries between the conscious and the unconscious, the voluntary and the involuntary.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Kari Anne Vadstensvik Bjerkestrand, Victoria Johnson, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska & Francesca R. Jensenius (2018). Sverm-Pluck. Full text in Research Archive
Robert Jack, Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Kari Anne Vadstensvik Bjerkestrand, Agata Zelechowska & Charles Patrick Martin [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2018). Sverm-Resonans: interactive installation with resonating guitars and Bela. [Internet]. Bela blog. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Sverm-Resonans is an interactive installation developed for the Ultima Contemporary Music Festival in Oslo which features 6 suspended guitars, each fitted with an actuator, distance sensor and a Bela.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). The Musical Gestures Toolbox for Matlab. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The Musical Gestures Toolbox for Matlab (MGT) aims at assisting music researchers with importing, preprocessing, analyzing, and visualizing video, audio, and motion capture data in a coherent manner within Matlab.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Njål Sparbo, Sagar Sen & Elisabeth Edvardsen (2018). Breath, breathing and the sensing of breathing. Full text in Research Archive
Anne Danielsen & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). The Norwegian Centre of Excellence RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Yngve Vogt (2018). Musikkprogram kan avsløre cerebral parese. [Internet]. Apollon. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Musikkforsker har laget et dataprogram for å måle bevegelsene til dansere. Nå bruker medisinere verktøyet hans til å avsløre om små babyer har cerebral parese.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Comments on Open Science - Do we need a national action plan? Full text in Research Archive
Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Muscle activity response of the audience during an experimental music performance. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This exploratory study investigates muscular activity characteristics of a group of audience members during an experimental music performance. The study was designed to be as ecologically valid as possible, collecting data in a concert venue and making use of low-invasive measurement techniques. Muscle activity (EMG) from the forearms of 8 participants revealed that sitting in a group could be an indication of a level of group engagement, while comparatively greater muscular activity from a participant sitting at close distance to the stage suggests performance-induced bodily responses. The self-reported measures rendered little evidence supporting the links between muscular activity and live music exposure, although a larger sample size and a wider range of music styles need to be included in future studies to provide conclusive results.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Michael Francis Duch, Jørgen Langdalen, Tone Åse, Edvine Larsen & Tone Pernille Østern (2018). Kunsten å forske. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Hva er kunstnerisk forskning? Hvorfor heter det kunstnerisk utviklingsarbeid og ikke kunstnerisk forskning når det heter det i andre land? Er det sånn at kunstnerisk forskning skiller seg fra all annen type forskning, og i så fall hvorfor?
Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Charles Patrick Martin, Kari Anne Vadstensvik Bjerkestrand & Victoria Johnson (2018). Stillness under Tension. Full text in Research Archive
Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Charles Patrick Martin, Agata Zelechowska, Kari Anne Vadstensvik Bjerkestrand, Victoria Johnson & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Bela-based augmented acoustic guitars for sonic microinteraction. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This article describes the design and construction of a collection of digitally-controlled augmented acoustic guitars, and the use of these guitars in the installation \textit\{Sverm-Resonans\}. The installation was built around the idea of exploring `inverse’ sonic microinteraction, that is, controlling sounds by the micromotion observed when attempting to stand still. It consisted of six acoustic guitars, each equipped with a Bela embedded computer for sound processing (in Pure Data), an infrared distance sensor to detect the presence of users, and an actuator attached to the guitar body to produce sound. With an attached battery pack, the result was a set of completely autonomous instruments that were easy to hang in a gallery space. The installation encouraged explorations on the boundary between the tactile and the kinesthetic, the body and the mind, and between motion and sound. The use of guitars, albeit with an untraditional `performance’ technique, made the experience both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Many users reported heightened sensations of stillness, sound, and vibration, and that the `inverse’ control of the instrument was both challenging and pleasant.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). How I try to do it FAIR. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Motion Capture in Music Performance, Perception and Interaction. Full text in Research Archive
Charles Patrick Martin, Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Jim Tørresen (2018). Composing an ensemble standstill work for Myo and Bela. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This paper describes the process of developing a standstill performance work using the Myo gesture control armband and the Bela embedded computing platform. The combination of Myo and Bela allows a portable and extensible version of the standstill performance concept while introducing muscle tension as an additional control parameter. We describe the technical details of our setup and introduce Myo-to-Bela and Myo-to-OSC software bridges that assist with prototyping compositions using the Myo controller.
Charles Patrick Martin, Anna Xambó, Federico Visi, Fabio Morreale & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Stillness under Tension. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Stillness Under Tension is an ensemble standstill work for Myo gesture control armband and Bela embedded music platform. Humans are incapable of standing completely still due to breathing and other involuntary micromotions. This work explores the expressive space of standing still through an inverse action-sound mapping: less movement leads to more sound. Four performers stand as still as possible on stage, each wearing a Myo armband connected to a Bela embedded sound processing platform. The Myo is used to measure the performers movement, and the muscle activity in their forearm which they can use--both voluntarily and involuntarily--to control a synthesised sound world. Each performer uses one Myo and Bela in a musical space defined by their physical position and posture while standing still.
Anne Danielsen & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). UiOs innovasjonspris til RITMO ved Anne Danielsen og Alexander Refsum Jensenius. [Journal]. Ballade. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Får prisen for tverrfaglig, banebrytende og innovativt arbeid.
Lisbet Jære, Anne Danielsen & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). På sporet av rytmen. [Internet]. Uniforum. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Hvorfor får vi lyst til å bevege oss når vi hører musikk? Vinnerne av UiOs innovasjonspris, Anne Danielsen og Alexander Refsum Jensenius, finner forhåpentligvis svaret når de fordyper seg i mennesket og rytmens mysterier.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Dans i musikkfaget i skolen. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Aslaug Olette Klausen (2017). Vil finne magien i musikken. [Journal]. Morgenbladet. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Nytt forskningsprosjekt skal studere mikrobevegelser, og skaper ekte eksperimentell musikk.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). From resonating strings to autonomous electronic instruments - towards a new organology. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Vi lever i en spennende tid, med stadig nye varianter av både akustiske og elektroniske instrumenter. Disse passer sjelden inn i de tradisjonelle organologiske fremstillingene, noe som gjør at det er behov for en mer systematisk diskusjon av hvordan man kan klassifisere både instrumenter (i utvidet forstand) og dere spilleteknikk. I denne presentasjonen vil jeg forklare hovedelementene i en ny organologi som jeg holder på å utvikle, med utgangspunkt i det jeg kaller "handling-lyd-koblinger".
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Jonas Hartford Sundquist (2017). Forsker på musikk - ved å stå stille. [Internet]. Khrono. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Hvor stille kan du egentlig å stå når du hører på musikk? Det forsøker Alexander Refsum Jensenius å finne svar på.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Lars O. Flydal (2017). Leter etter magien i musikken. [Journal]. Vårt Land. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Alexander Refsum Jensenius leter etter det magiske i musikken. Hans drøm er å hente ut kroppens egen musikk.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). The importance of "nothing": studying human music-related micromotion. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This presentation will focus on my research on human micromotion in musical contexts. My scientific research has focused on understanding more about the phenomenon of human standstill and how music influences our micromotion when standing still. My artistic research has focused on the exploration of micromotion in music and dance performance, and particularly how it is possible to set up systems for sonic microinteraction. My two separate "tracks" of research, the scientific and artistic, have positively reinforced each other, shedding light on a level of musical expressivity on the boundary between the conscious and the unconscious, the voluntary and the involuntary.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). Micro, Meso, Macro: Music-related body motion at different spatiotemporal levels. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Performance of acoustic instruments is often happening at a spatiotemporal micro-level. Violin performance, for example, is based on an extreme control of the spatial placement of the left-hand fingering and the right-hand bow strokes. Even though there are exceptions, many digital musical instruments (DMIs) are based on meso- or macro-level control, that is, fairly large and slow control actions compared to acoustic instruments. In this talk I will present a theoretical framework for sound-producing actions and a related organological model. This will be exemplified with some of my empirical results of music-induced dancing, "air instrument" performance and sonic microinteraction.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). Online tools that will kickstart creativity. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Music making has moved into the cloud. In this lecture-demonstration, Alexander Refsum Jensenius will show various tools for online music making, ranging from simple sound makers to advanced music programming. He will talk about the possibilities and limitations of various technologies, and propose a framework for understanding how online music making will shape the future of music.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). How Build An Eco-System? Panel discussion on how to best support a Norwegian music/tech eco-system. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Aslaug Olette Klausen (2017). Tar roboter over musikken? [Journal]. Ballade. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Ja, mener musikkforsker, som samtidig mener dette gir mer plass til mennesker.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Jørgen Svarstad (2017). Han brukte fire år på å få forskningsstøtte. [Internet]. Forskerforum. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Alexander Refsum Jensenius synes ikke det er bortkastet tid å skrive søknader til Forskningsrådet som blir avvist.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska & Kari Anne Vadstensvik Bjerkestrand (2017). Exploring the Myo controller for sonic microinteraction. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This paper explores sonic microinteraction using muscle sensing through the Myo armband. The first part presents results from a small series of experiments aimed at finding the baseline micromotion and muscle activation data of people being at rest or performing short/small actions. The second part presents the prototype instrument MicroMyo, built around the concept of making sound with little motion. The instrument plays with the convention that inputting more energy into an instrument results in more sound. MicroMyo, on the other hand, is built so that the less you move, the more it sounds. Our user study shows that while such an "inverse instrument" may seem puzzling at first, it also opens a space for interesting musical interactions.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Margaret Louise Fotland (2017). European Open Data Champions. [Internet]. SPARC Europe. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
A research paper without accompanying data is incomplete.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Tejaswinee Kelkar (2017). Improvisation for Linnstrument, voice and Mogees. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). Fremtidens musikk. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Charles Patrick Martin, Kari Anne Vadstensvik Bjerkestrand & Victoria Johnson (2017). Sverm-Muscle. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Kari Anne Vadstensvik Bjerkestrand, Marco Donnarumma, Are Brean & Jo C. Bruusgaard (2017). Panel: Biophysical Music. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
"Biophysical Music" is volume 1 of the new concept "MusicLab", a series of events exploring the science of music from different perspectives. The idea is to mix research and edutainment through hands-on workshops, intellectual warm-ups, performances and data jockeying.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). From Interactive music-dance to clinical tool for cerebral palsy. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Jensenius will talk about the unlikely story of how his basic music research has led to medical innovation. In 2005 he developed a method for visualizing the movements of dancers – motiongrams – with a set of accompanying software tools. Now this method is at the core of CIMA – Computer-based Infant Movement Assessment – a clinical system currently being tested in hospitals around the world, with the aim of detecting early-born infants' risk of developing cerebral palsy.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). Introduction to the SoundTracer Project. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Tellef Kvifte, Kjell Tore Innervik, Charles Patrick Martin, Ragnhild Brøvig-Hanssen & Trond Lossius [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2017). Panel: New Interfaces for Musical Expression. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Charles Patrick Martin, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska & Victoria Johnson (2017). Sverm-Resonans. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). Åpen forskning - et humanistisk-teknologisk perspektiv. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). Kognisjon, musikk og teknologi. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Agata Zelechowska & Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez (2017). The musical influence on people’s micromotion when standing still in groups. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). Åpen forskning - et humanistisk-teknologisk perspektiv. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). Musikk og bevegelse. Full text in Research Archive
Agata Zelechowska (2017). Combining eye-tracking and motion capture to study human bodily micromotion in music perception. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In order to understand how we perceive music, we should always consider that this process starts in our bodies being exposed to sound. Thus, the cognitive processing of sound cannot be treated as separate from the functioning of the body. During the last decades there has been a growing focus on embodied music cognition, and the role of the human body in both perception and production of music has been widely studied. However, not much research has been devoted to what we might call “micromotion” of the human body in the musical context – the tiniest, often involuntary and unconscious movements that occur during music listening. The human body is never completely still as there are many physiological processes that induce small-scale movement. The question, then, is whether such micromotion is altered when we are exposed to music? Here I would like to present my design of a set of small experiments that will shed some light on how human micromotion is influenced by musical sound. Methodologically, I will use a combination of motion capture and portable eye-tracking glasses. Each experiment will be designed to test a different subject, such as the differences between listening to music via headphones and via loudspeakers or the importance of the low-frequency region (bass sound) in inducing body movement. The aim of these small and exploratory studies will be to understand more about the effects of musical sound on human micromotion in particular and music cognition in general.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). Touching the digital: acoustic resonances in an electronic world. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The presentation will reflect on the installation piece "Sverm-resonans". As opposed to a traditional instrument, these guitars are “played” by trying to stand still. The living body interacts with an electronic sound system played through the acoustic instrument. In this way, Sverm-Resonans explores the meeting points between the tactile and the kinesthetic, the body and the mind, and between motion and sound.
Charles Patrick Martin, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Tejaswinee Kelkar, Agata Zelechowska, Stig Johan Berggren & Christina Hopgood [Show all 14 contributors for this article] (2017). Ensemble Metatone - Improvised Touchscreen Performance. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). Quantitative Video analysis for Qualitative Research. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). Fremtidens musikk. Full text in Research Archive
Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). The influence of music in people's standstill. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). Humanities and technology - with a musicological twist. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). Status musikkteknologi ved UiO: forskning og undervisning. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). Musikk og bevegelses-laben ved Institutt for musikkvitenskap. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2016). Åpen forskning – et humanistisk-teknologisk perspektiv. Full text in Research Archive
Bo Zhou & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2016). The Musical Gestures Toolbox – Towards Digital Musicology in Matlab. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2016). The Influence of Music on Human Standstill. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This paper reports on a study of how music influences people standing still, with the aim to investigate: (a) How (much) people move when standing still in silence? (b) How (much) musical sound influences people's standstill? A total of 103 participants (mean age 25 years, equal gender balance) were recruited to the study, which was presented as a "championship" of standstill. The participants each wore a reflective marker on their head, and its position was recorded using a state-of-the-art motion capture system. The task was to stand still on the floor for 6 minutes, 3 minutes in silence and 3 minutes with music. The musical stimuli were 7 excerpts of 20-40 seconds duration, ranging from slow, non-rhythmic music for the first excerpts to dance music at the end. After omitting subjects with with incomplete data sets, 91 participants have been included in the study. The analysis shows that the average quantity of motion (QoM), calculated as the cumulative distance travelled for each of the head markers, was 6.5 mm/s (std: 1.6 mm/s) for the entire data set. For the 3-minute parts without music we found an average QoM of 6.3 mm/s (std 1.4 mm/s), as opposed to 6,6 mm/s (std 2,2 mm/s) for the part with music. The results are even more clear when looking at individual stimuli, with a QoM of 6,8 mm/s (std 2,3 mm/s) for the last dance music example. Contrary to our expectations, no particular spatiotemporal differences were found in the motion patterns for different musical excerpts. The study confirmed the level of micromotion found in human standstill (6.5 mm/s QoM) found in our previous longitudinal studies. The study also confirmed our expectation that people spontaneously move to music, even when specifically trying to stand still. The study did not, however, confirm any spatiotemporal differences for the different musical material. Future studies will include looking systematically at how musical features influence both the quantity and quality of standstill.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Tina Aasen (2016). Den nye luksusen den absolutte tyssnad... [Journal]. Henne. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
De rikeste har skjønt det. De kjøper seg fri fra mas og bråk, på flyplasser, i eget hjem og på ferie. Må vi være rike for å få ro?
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2016). Musikk som beveger. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Hvorfor beveger du deg til musikk? Hva er det med dansemusikk som får deg til å danse? Hvor stille sitter du egentlig på en klassisk konsert? Alexander Refsum Jensenius vil svare på disse spørsmålene og fortelle mer om sin forskning på luftgitarister, discodansere, pianister og dirigenter. Utgangspunktet for forskningen er erkjennelsen av at musikkopplevelsen i bunn og grunn er kroppslig fundert. Vi opplever ikke musikk bare med ørene, alle sansene er involvert når vi "lytter". Ved å bruke bevegelsessporing som metode, er det mulig å systematisk studere hvordan folk responderer på musikk. Resultatet er ny kunnskap om musikalsk mening, fra et kroppslig perspektiv.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2016). Why does technology help music become more human? Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Tora Hope (2016). Mennesket er avhengig av rytme. [Internet]. Framtida.no. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
– Folk som kallar seg tonedøve og umusikalske spelar utmerka luftpiano, seier musikkforskar Alexander Refsum Jensenius. Over 4000 personar vil lære kva han har å seie om musikk og rørsle.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Niklas Aune Johnsen (2016). Hvordan påvirkes musikk og dans av hverandre? [Radio]. NRK P1 Kveldsåpent. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2016). Embodied Musical Cognition - Challenges and Possibilities. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2016). Crossing the Boundaries between Humanities and Technology: Challenges and Opportunities. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2016). Musikk, dansefot og gåsehud. [Radio]. NRK P1 Kveldsåpent. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2016). Slik påvirker musikk og dans oss. [Internet]. Helseinfo. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2016). Musikk som beveger. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Hvorfor beveger du deg til musikk? Hvorfor tramper du takten forsiktig på jazzkonsert, men danser vilt og uhemmet på en mørk og svett klubb? Og, hvor stille sitter du egentlig på en klassisk konsert? Musikkforsker Alexander Refsum Jensenius vil svare på disse spørsmålene og fortelle mer om sin forskning på luftgitarister, discodansere, pianister og dirigenter.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Kristine Hellem Aanstad (2016). Musikkforsker: Pussig at man må sitte stille på klassisk konsert. [Journal]. Aftenposten. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
For mange er det naturlig å begynne å bevege på seg hvis man hører musikk. Men det er ikke alltid greit.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2016). Exploring Music-related Micromotion in the Artistic-Scientific Research Project Sverm. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This presentation will focus on my work on human micromotion in musical contexts. My scientific research has focused on understanding more about the phenomenon of human standstill and how music can influence our micromotion when standing still. My artistic research has focused on the exploration of micromotion in music and dance performance, and particularly how it is possible to set up systems for artistic microinteraction. Most importantly, even though it makes sense to talk about these as two separate "tracks" of research, the scientific and artistic, they have in fact been highly intertwined. It would not have been possible to achieve neither the scientific nor artistic outcomes without a true artistic-scientific research process.
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Kristian Nymoen (2016). Muskel- og bevegelsesmusikk. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Michael Francis Duch (2016). Edges. Full text in Research Archive
Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2016). Åpen forskning - et humanistisk-teknologisk perspektiv. Full text in Research Archive
Agata Zelechowska, Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Bruno Laeng & Jonna Katariina Vuoskoski (2020). Irresistible Movement: The Role of Musical Sound, Individual Differences and Listening Context in Movement Responses to Music. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This dissertation examines the phenomenon of spontaneous movement responses to music. It attempts to grasp and illustrate the complexity of this behaviour by viewing it from different perspectives. Unlike most previous studies on music and body movement, this dissertation places the focus on barely visible manifestations of movement, such as those that may occur when listening to music while standing still. The point of departure is a reflection on movement responses to music and why such responses are considered universal among humans. This is followed by a discussion on the different approaches to studying how music ‘inspires’ movement, and an overview of the different factors that can potentially contribute to the emergence of movement responses to music. The first goal of the empirical research was to verify the common conception that ‘music makes us move’ and examine whether such movement responses can be involuntary. Three of the five included papers show that music can, indeed, make people move, even when they try to stand as still as possible. The second goal is to explore different factors that contribute to movement responses to music. Throughout the included papers, several topics are examined, including rhythmic complexity, tempo, music genres, individual differences and playback systems. The theoretical chapters show how these topics fit into three broader components of the music experience: music, listener and context. Overall, the results suggest that several factors seem to increase movement responses to music: the clear underlying pulse in the sound stimuli, the rhythmic complexity, a tempo of around 120 beats per minute, listening on headphones rather than speakers and high empathy of the listener. All in all, this dissertation contributes to bridging several gaps in the literature on music-related body movement. It also broadens the perspective on why, how and when music moves us.
Sembapperumaarachchige Silva & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2020). Sonification of Standstill Recordings. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The goal of this thesis was to develop and experiment with a set of sonification tools to explore participant data from standstill competitions. Using data from the 2012 Norwegian Championship of Standstill, three sonification models were developed using the Max/MSP programming environment. The first section of the thesis introduces sonification as a method for data exploration and discusses different sonification strategies. Momentary Displacement of the position was derived from the position data and parameter mapping methods were used to map the data features with sound parameters. The displacement of position in the XY plane or the position changes along the Z-Axis can be mapped either to white-noise or to a sine tone. The data variables control the amplitude and a filter cut-off frequency of the white noise or the amplitude and frequency of the sine tone. Moreover, using sound spatialization together with sonification was explored by mapping position coordinates to spatial parameters of a sine tone. A “falling” effect of the standing posture was identified through the sonification. Also audible were the participants’ breathing patterns and postural adjustments. All in all, the implemented sonification methods can be effectively used to get an overview of the standstill dataset.
Bo Zhou & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2016). Video analysis of music-related body motion in Matlab. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Today, there are several toolboxes which can work on audio, motion, or other sensor data. These toolboxes are very useful to provide characteristic analysis of audio and motion. Unfortunately, the analysis is done separately by different toolboxes. This results in inconvenience when we want to work on these data simultaneously. So developing a toolbox which integrates the existing toolboxes is necessary. The main goal of the project is to integrate these toolboxes in Matlab and provide video analysis combined with audio and motion capture data. This would be important for our interdisciplinary research on music and motions through fourMs as well as for external work on e.g. analyzing video recording for early child diagnosis of cerebral palsy. This project presents the development of a toolbox for Matlab entitled “Musical Gestures (MG) Toolbox”. This toolbox is aimed for solving pressing needs for the video analysis of music-related body motion since video source recorded by regular video camera is a very good option for studying motion. The term music-related body motion refers to all sorts of body motion found in music performance and perception. It has received a growing interest in music research and behavioral science over the last decades. Particularly, with the rapid development of modern technology, various motion capture systems make it possible to further study music-related body motion. Matlab has been chosen as the platform since it is readily available, and there are already several pre-existing toolboxes to build on. This includes the “Motion Capture (MoCap) Toolbox” [1] developed for the analysis and visualization of Motion Capture data, which is aimed specifically for the analysis of music-related body motion. The “Music Information Retrievel (MIR) Toolbox” [2] is another relevant toolbox, which is developed for the extraction of musical features from audio data and the investigation of relationships between sound and music features. While the two above mentioned toolboxes are useful for studying motion capture data and audio, respectively, they are very differently designed, and it is not possible to make combined analysis of audio and motion capture data. Furthermore, there is no integration with video analysis. The MG Max toolbox [3] has been developed for music-related video analysis in the graphical programming environment Max/Msp/Jitter, with a number of novel visualization techniques (motiongrams, motion history images, etc.). These techniques are commonly used in music research, but are not currently available in Matlab. The main contributions of this project consist of two following things. One is to integrate the MoCap toolbox and MIR toolbox, and provide simple preprocessing on different input data. Another is to provide several video analysis techniques to study music-related body motion in the toolbox. These video analysis techniques include motiongram, optical flow, eulerian video magnification. With these techniques, the developed MG toolbox for Matlab could provide reliable and quantitative analysis of music-related body motion based on video.

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Tags: musicology, music technology, music cognition, embodiment

Published July 4, 2016 11:16 AM - Last modified Oct. 16, 2025 4:00 PM

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Alexander Refsum Jensenius

Data

Financing

The project was financed by The Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo.

Duration

2016–2021

Participants

Alexander Refsum Jensenius University of Oslo
Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez University of Oslo
Agata Zelechowska University of Oslo
Finn Upham University of Oslo
Ashane da Silva
Mari Lesteberg
Bálint Laczkó
Pedro Lucas Bravo
Augusto Dias
Frida Furmyr
Marcus Widmer
Habibur Rahman

Detailed list of participants

MICRO - Human Bodily Micromotion in Music Perception and Interaction (completed)

You just can’t stand still

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Research approach

Impact

Open Research

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Contact

Data

Financing

Duration

Participants

Involved research groups