The musician-instrument relationship

A perspective from embodied cognition

IPEM
Ghent University

dr. Luc Nijs

Something about this presentation

Some context

Levels of embodiment

The Music Paint Machine

Expressiveness
The musician-instrument relationship

Why movement?

Tristan moves

Why movement?

Igudesman moves

Why movement?

expertise bodily motility

bodily motility expertise ??

The Musician - Instrument relation

integration

culture

subjectify

Personal style
Gestures

skill

Instrumental
Gestures

biology

objectify
Expressive
Gestures
Bodily
Communication

Musical Expressiveness

Musical Expressiveness

musical expressiveness

variability

push & pull between planned and ad hoc musical ideas/intentions

Musical Expressiveness

inner model

cerebral intentionality

practice

discursive
analysis

planned intentions

intuitive
understanding

ad hoc intentions
inspiration

intuitive
understanding

corporeal intentionality

practice & performance

coping

conscious
decisions

Musical Expressiveness

Musical Expressiveness

inner model

cerebral intentionality

practice

discursive
analysis

planned intentions

intuitive
understanding

ad hoc intentions
inspiration

intuitive
understanding

corporeal intentionality

practice & performance

coping

conscious
decisions

Musical Expressiveness

music making

musical space

actual world

virtual world

how

what

control/think the music

live the music

BENSON, B.E. (2003). The Improvisation of Musical Dialogue: A Phenomenology of Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
ECHARD, W. (2006). Sensible Virtual Selves: Bodies,Instruments and the Becoming- concrete of Music. In: Contemporary Music Review, 25(1/2): 7-16.
SZEKELY, M. (2003). Becoming-still: perspectives on musical ontology after Deleuze and Guattari. In: Social Semiotics, 13(2): 113-128.

Musical Expressiveness

live the music or indwell in the musical reality

direct involvement

musical instrument as a natural extension of the musician

Musical Expressiveness
mn*i

i*mc

musician +instrument

music

Nijs, L., M. Lesaffre & M. Leman (2013). The Musical Instrument as a Natural Extension of the Musician. In: Castellengo, M. & Genevois, H. Music
and its instruments. Sampzon, Editions Delatour France.

The Musician-Instrument Relation

The Musician - Instrument relation

Natural Extension

The musical instrument as a natural extension

Incorporate the
musical instrument
There no longer exist relations between us.
Some time ago
I lost my sense of the border between us.
Painting by
Gabriel Glikman

Just so, I play music, involuntarily.

The cello is my tool no more.
(Mstislaw Rostropovitch)

Ns, L., M. Lesaffre & M. Leman (2013). The Musical Instrument as a Natural Extension of the Musician. In:
Castellengo, M. & Genevois, H. Music and its instruments. Sampzon, Editions Delatour France.
Ns, L. (accepted). The merging of musician and musical instrument: incorporation, presence and the levels of
embodiment. In: M. Lesaffre, P.-J. Maes & M. Leman (forthcoming). Routledge Companion on Embodied Music
Interaction.

The Musician - Instrument relation

Components

The musical instrument as a natural extension

direct perception

Incorporate the
musical instrument

skill-based acting
optimal experience
bodily motility
Ns, L., M. Lesaffre & M. Leman (2013). The Musical Instrument as a Natural Extension of the Musician. In:
Castellengo, M. & Genevois, H. Music and its instruments. Sampzon, Editions Delatour France.
Ns, L. (accepted). The merging of musician and musical instrument: incorporation, presence and the levels of
embodiment. In: M. Lesaffre, P.-J. Maes & M. Leman (forthcoming). Routledge Companion on Embodied Music
Interaction.

The Musician - Instrument relation

Motility

intuitive understanding
live the music,
not think it!

expressive interaction

direct involvement
embodied interaction

direct perception & skill-based acting

corporeal imitation

corporeal articulation

prediction!! action-perception couplings

musical instrument

bodyschema I can
bodily motility
My body is an original motility
without which there would be neither space nor time

The Musician - Instrument relation

intuitive understanding
direct involvement
embodied interaction
flow experience

musical instrument

live the music,

not think it!

expressive interaction

presence
direct perception & skill-based
acting positive emotional
condition
corporeal imitation
corporeal articulation

extended
action-perception
couplings
prediction!!

bodyschema I can core

bodily motility

proto

My body is an original motility

without which there would be neither space nor time

The Musician - Instrument relation

direct involvement

flow experience
presence

positive emotional
condition

extended
core

bodily motility

proto

The Musician - Instrument relation

flow experience
presence
extended

3rd-order embodiment

core

2nd-order embodiment

proto

1st-order embodiment

Metzinger, T. (2014). First-order embodiment, second-order embodiment, third-order embodiment: From spatiotemporal self-location to
minimal phenomenal selfhood. In: L. Shapiro (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Embodied Cognition, (pp. 272-286). London: Routledge.
Haans, A., & IJsselsteijn, W. A. (2012). Embodiment and telepresence: Toward a comprehensive theoretical framework. Interacting with
Computers, 24(4): 211-218.

Levels of Embodiment

3rd-order embodiment
body image

2nd-order embodiment
body schema

1st-order embodiment
body morphology
degrees of freedom
bodily motility

phenomenological

I am a certain body

meaningfulness

functional

I use my body in a certain way

prediction & reward

physical

I have a certain body

morphological computation

Levels of Embodiment
1st-order embodiment
morphological computation

skeleton (e.g. type and number of limbs)

muscles (e.g. elasticity)
degrees of freedom (e.g. shape of joints)
interaction:

passive, based on environment-body connection

instrument:

extend the bodys morphology

affect egocentric coordination (posture and movements)
constrain degrees of freedom
affect muscle tension

Levels of Embodiment
2nd-order embodiment
body schema - prediction

model morphological interactions

comparison of different action possibilities (low level procedures)
prediction & error minimisation
interaction:

control & flexibility

instrument:

modify action repertoire

new action-perception couplings
need for flexibility and fast adaptation

Levels of Embodiment
3rd-order embodiment
body image - subjective experience

conscoius assumptions about the body

higher-rode consciousness: long-term conception of the body
primary consciousness: remembered presents (invariants!)
interaction:
instrument:

embedded in
open up meaningful world
allow the inaction of musical intentions

Levels of Embodiment

incorporation of the musical instrument

3rd-order embodiment

incorporation into the body image

2nd-order embodiment

incorporation into the body schema

1st-order embodiment

morphological congruence

The Music Paint Machine

applying the theory

The Music Paint Machine

OVERVIEW of the SYSTEM

painting
sound

movement

movement

The Music Paint Machine

FEATURES

beyond monitoring in function of

merely providing information

incorporation of the
instrument

active role (controller)

motile body

The Music Paint Machine

OBJECTIVE & GOALS

stimulate & facilitate learning to play a musical instrument

musical creativity * playfulness * flow experience

embodied understanding * body movement * multimodality

optimal relationship with instrument * unity of body and

instrument as controller

The Music Paint Machine

OBJECTIVE & GOALS

optimal relationship with instrument

first order embodiment physical bodily freedom

second order embodiment functional action-perception

third order embodiment phenomenological body consciousness

The Musician - Instrument relation

integration

culture

Personal style
Gestures

skill

Instrumental
Gestures

Expressive
Gestures
Bodily
Communication

biology

Conclusion

musical expressiveness relies on an embodied interaction with the music

in music performance, an embodied interaction with the music requires

the instrument to become like an natural extension (incorporation)

incorporation of the instrument must happen on different levels of embodiment

interactive technologies might support this process of incorporation

Thank you!

looking forward to your questions, remarks,

luc.nijs@ugent.be - www.lucnijs.be - www.musicpaintmachine.be