The relationship between tempo and delay and its effect on musical performance

 J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 88, Issue S1, pp. S71-S71 (1990);
(1 page) Bob Willey  Ctr. for Music Experiment, Q‐037, Univ. of California, La Jolla, CA 92093

A study was made into the effects of delayed auditory feedback on musical performance. Subjects heard their performance with various lengths of delay while playing at various tempi. This allowed for an investigation into the possible disturbing effects of delayed auditory feedback caused by different combinations of tempo and delay. Delay was most disturbing when its length was in a ratio with metronome beat length between 1:2 and 1:1. “Consonant” ratios were the least disturbing, with 2:1 and 3:1 as easy, or easier than the “fundamental” ratio of 1:1. This is in contradistinction to findings in speech research where the greatest disruption occurred when there is approximate equality between delay and syllable length. Research in delayed auditory feedback with speech has been more concerned with an absolute worst case for delay independent of rate. The results of this study are consistent with previous research that showed the most disturbing delay for music performance to be between 200 and 300 ms. In addition they support the hypothesis that disturbance depends on the ratio between the lengths of delay and beat. The implications for music performance are discussed, including the effect of pitch transformation during computer‐mediated improvisation.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.2029127