From quantitative empirï to musical performology: Experience in performance measurements and analyses

The term performology is introduced to describe the performer's " attempted control " of an acoustical instrument or a sound device. Four examples of performance analyses are discussed, three based on repeated MIDI recordings (Yamaha Disklavier grand and upright) and the last one based on repeated anechoic flute recordings. The development of procedures and methodology for studying music performances has been heavily influenced by existing technology. Ortman (1929) made a lot of observations by visual inspection of piano players and developed a measuring device based on a mechanical pantograph. New digital data technology including the MIDI data protocol has increased the possibilities to get reliable performance data in an easy way, far away from the qualitative opto-mechanical studies by Ortman. However, it is still a challenge to establish reliable data acquisition systems and procedures, define system precisions, and evaluate data reliability. Repp (1999) has combined old and new techniques for the procedure of subjective evaluation and synthesizer simulations in the comparison of more than 100 recorded performances of the opening of Chopin's Etude in E major in an attempt to judge performance quality. One conclusion is " that very different patterns of timing and dynamics are aesthetically acceptable for the same music, " which is in agreement with the statement in Tro (1998): " we may even have to accept a number of equally ranked families of phrasing patterns, or velocity contours, in the evaluation of performance quality. "