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.

Four percussion players’ strategies for performing an accented stroke were studied by capturing movement trajectories.The players played on a force plate with markers on the drumstick, hand, and lower and upper arm. Therhythmic pattern – an ostinato with interleaved accents every fourth stroke – was performed at different dynamiclevels, tempi and on different striking surfaces attached to the force plate. The analysis displayed differencesbetween the movement trajectories for the four players, which were maintained consistently during all playingconditions. The characteristics of the players’ individual movement patterns were observed to correspond wellwith the striking velocities and timing in performance. The most influential parameter on the movement patternswas the dynamic level with increasing preparatory heights and striking velocity for increasing dynamic level. Theinterval beginning with the accented stroke was prolonged, the amount of lengthening decreasing with increasingdynamic level.

MUSICIANS OFTEN MAKE GESTURES and move their bodies expressing a musical intention. In order to explore to what extent emotional intentions can be conveyed through musicians' movements, participants watched and rated silent video clips of musicians performing the emotional intentions Happy, Sad, Angry, and Fearful. In the first experiment participants rated emotional expression and movement character of marimba performances. The results showed that the intentions Happiness, Sadness, and Anger were well communicated, whereas Fear was not. Showing selected parts of the player only slightly influenced the identification of the intended emotion. In the second experiment participants rated the same emotional intentions and movement character for performances on bassoon and soprano saxophone. The ratings from the second experiment confirmed that Fear was not communicated whereas Happiness, Sadness, and Anger were recognized. The rated movement cues were similar in the two experiments and were analogous to their audio counterpart in music performance.