Visualizing Expressive Performance in Tempo—Loudness Space

Abstract

This paper introduces a new method for an integrated display of tempo and loudness variations as measured in expressive music performance. This visualization technique includes data acquisition from both MIDI instruments and audio recordings, data reduction by smoothing measured performance data, and animated display on computer screen in synchrony with the music: A dot moves through a two-dimensional space of tempo (x axis) and loudness (y axis), leaving behind it a trajectory that may be interpreted as the intrinsic performance path of a particular performance. Snapshots of these trajectories can be used for detailed performance analyses. Expert performances of Chopin's E major Etude (op. 10, No. 3) and an algorithmic performance of Schubert's G flat major Impromptu (D. 899, No. 3) are compared with performances by famous pianists (Maurizio Pollini, Alfred Brendel). This method allows efficient display and analysis of large amounts of performance data and elucidates interactions between timing and dynamics