Timing in music: Performance and experience
Alf Gabrielsson · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1987
The only variable over which a music performer has practically complete control, regardless of which instrument he uses, is the duration of the sound events, as well as of “nonsound” events. Timing may therefore be considered as the most important tool available to the performer. Generally seen, timing can be related to four different phenomena: tempo, different classes of durations, articulation, and deviations from mechanical regularity. The musical score provides only limited information about all these aspects. Empirical studies of music performances reveal that the variations in these variables are much larger and much more frequently occurring than what is usually realized. They are used in order to influence the listener's experience of the music with regard to the perceived structure as well as regarding the motional-emotional qualities of the music. The systematic investigation of these questions is only in its initial stage and faces many difficulties, not the least concerning the proper ways of identifying and measuring the suggested experiential variables. Examples will be given from ongoing research.