The playing of an accent - Preliminary observations from temporal and kinematic analysis of percussionists

The movements and timing when playing an interleaved accent in drumming were studied for three professionals and one amateur. The movement analysis showed that the subjects prepared for the accented stroke by raising the drumstick up to a greater height. The movement strategies used, however, differed widely in appearance. The timing analysis showed two basic features, a slow change in tempo over a longer time span ("drift"), and a short ter variation between adjacent intervals ("flutter"). Cyclic patterns, with every fourth interval prolonged, could be seen in the flutter. The lengthening of the interval, beginning with the accented stroke, seems to be a common way for the player to give the accent more emphasis. A listening test was performed to investigate if these cyclic patterns conveyed information to a listener about the grouping of the strokes. Listeners identified sequences where the magnitude of the inter-onset interval fluctuations were large during the cyclic patterns.