Representation Strategies in Two-handed Melodic Sound-Tracing

Abstract

This paper describes an experiment in which the subjects performed a sound-tracing task to vocal melodies. They could move freely in the air with two hands, and their motion was captured using an infrared, marker-based system. We present a typology of distinct strategies used by the recruited participants to represent their perception of the melodies. These strategies appear as ways to represent time and space through the finite motion possibilities of two hands moving freely in space. We observe these strategies and present their typology through qualitative analysis. Then we numerically verify the consistency of these strategies by conducting tests of significance between labeled and random samples.