Continuous self-report of engagement to live solo marimba performance

Laboratory-controlled experiments have demonstrated that expressive bodily movement (or lack thereof) can contribute positively (or negatively) to assessments of marimba performance. The experiment reported here investigates audience continuous self-report engagement responses gathered via the portable Audience Response Facility (pARF). The stimulus material was a solo marimba piece performed in a live concert. A female musician performed two musically similar sections within the piece in two different performance manners (deadpan and projected). The second-order standard deviation threshold method analysed signal reliability. As hypothesised, mean engagement responses were greater in the projected sample than the deadpan sample. Reliable signal was only observed in the projected sample. Difference between deadpan and projected sample mean engagement responses may be due to expressive bodily movement from the performance manner manipulation; alternatively, an order effect may be responsible. Experimentation in ecologically valid settings enables understanding of audience perception of music performance as it unfolds in time.