Does it Swing? Microtiming Deviations and Swing Feeling in Jazz

TL;DR

This study investigates whether microtiming deviations in jazz recordings influence the perception of swing, finding that natural MTDs are not essential for the swing feeling, contrary to some expectations.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence that natural microtiming deviations do not significantly impact swing perception in jazz, challenging assumptions about their importance.

Findings

Quantized versions rated slightly higher in swing than original recordings.

Expanded MTDs led to lower swing ratings.

Inversion of MTDs had minimal impact on swing perception.

Abstract

Jazz music that swings has the fascinating power to elicit a pleasant sensation of flow in listeners and the desire to synchronize body movements with the music. Whether microtiming deviations (MTDs), i.e. small timing deviations below the bar or phrase level, enhance the feeling of swing is highly debated in the current literature. Studies on other groove related genres did not find evidence for a positive impact of MTDs. The present study addresses jazz music and swing in particular, as there is some evidence that microtiming patterns are genre-specific. We recorded twelve piano jazz standards played by a professional pianist and manipulated the natural MTDs of the recordings in systematic ways by quantizing, expanding and inverting them. MTDs were defined with respect to a grid determined by the average swing ratio. The original and manipulated versions were presented in an online survey and evaluated by 160 listeners with various musical skill levels and backgrounds. Across pieces the quantized versions (without MTDs) were rated slightly higher and versions with expanded MTDs were rated lower with regard to swing than the original recordings. Unexpectedly, inversion had no impact on swing ratings except for two pieces. Our results suggest that naturally fluctuating MTDs are not an essential factor for the feeling of swing.