Researchers find way to improve musical performance

[atone]

afternoon

i told him about the thread.

borderpolice asked me to visit this thread about creativity and performance, the neurofeedback studies discussed were originally aimed at mitigating against the effects that performance anxiety can have on memory and attention - however it was also found that "flexing" these cognitive functions has important applications for "training" the creative process.

from the point of view of some psychologists, stage one of the creative process is conceptualised as divergent thinking - novelty seeking, brainstorming, lateral thinking etc. stage two of the creative process is conceptualised as convergent thinking, i.e. implementation of a novel concept employing skill, expertise and craft.

neurofeedback training for classical/jazz musicians carried out this summer, disclosed an improved flexibility of divergent thinking scores in the alternative uses task (Guildford, 1967). this task was one of the first ever creativity measures - in the task someone is asked to present as many as possible alternative uses for an everyday household object, e.g. a paperclip. flexibility of creative solutions to a problem indicates the amount of categories that the suggested uses fall into (the more categories the more divergent someone is).

alternative uses relates to music creation, a phrase is presented, and the musician identifies alternative uses of that phrase, one of which could go on to become a finished piece of music.

on a side note researchers in graz have found that divergent thinking is associated with a brief blocking of sensory input data, (possibly) allowing the brain the retrieve long term memory - also used in triggering emotion, again, an important part of creative processes and divergent thinking.

 

[mistersloane]

sounds, sizzle and kern, i love you.

What I found really interesting in particular about this study - I mean, there's been alot of tosh written about alpha and theta waves in the past, and alot of well dodgy hippies and industrial freaks promoting its use - is its application with regard music, I find the idea of using a sine wave to promote the concentration of the brain to music ( literally the application of music TO music ) very and profoundly logical, and kind of homeopathic.

 

[mistersloane]

borderpolice asked me to visit this thread about creativity and performance, the neurofeedback studies discussed were originally aimed at mitigating against the effects that performance anxiety can have on memory and attention - however it was also found that "flexing" these cognitive functions has important applications for "training" the creative process.

from the point of view of some psychologists, stage one of the creative process is conceptualised as divergent thinking - novelty seeking, brainstorming, lateral thinking etc. stage two of the creative process is conceptualised as convergent thinking, i.e. implementation of a novel concept employing skill, expertise and craft.

neurofeedback training for classical/jazz musicians carried out this summer, disclosed an improved flexibility of divergent thinking scores in the alternative uses task (Guildford, 1967). this task was one of the first ever creativity measures - in the task someone is asked to present as many as possible alternative uses for an everyday household object, e.g. a paperclip. flexibility of creative solutions to a problem indicates the amount of categories that the suggested uses fall into (the more categories the more divergent someone is).

alternative uses relates to music creation, a phrase is presented, and the musician identifies alternative uses of that phrase, one of which could go on to become a finished piece of music.

on a side note researchers in graz have found that divergent thinking is associated with a brief blocking of sensory input data, (possibly) allowing the brain the retrieve long term memory - also used in triggering emotion, again, an important part of creative processes and divergent thinking.

I don't suppose your name is Seth by any chance is it?

Would you recommend the use of this system outside of clinical trials? For example the biobeats people etc?

 

[borderpolice]

Incidentally, borderpolice, I would have thought polling people is about the worst possible way to measure whether or not something/one is ‘creative’. People voted Robbie Williams the best musician of the last millennium. Creativity is more than mere social desirability. In fact they’re probably largely opposed to one another.

I didnt equate creativity with social desirability, though i was phrasing myself carelessly, because i was in a rush. i said that the term "creative" is being used to describe somebody who produces something, but where it is not clear how he/she did it, or even what's at the heart of making the produce interesting (otherwise it would be termed "mechanic" or "algorithmic". the side-condition "desirability" is to distinguish creativity from random, unpredictable behaviour, which is not normally deemed creative.

Regarding R. Williams, let me just say that i doubt that the vote you mention did not ask about creativity. for a start, i don't think Williams writes his own songs. Was this communicated in the poll? I also doubt that this study, if there was one to speak of, was methodologically controlled.

 

[borderpolice]

borderpolice asked me to visit this thread about creativity a

Hello Atone!

 

[atone]

I don't suppose your name is Seth by any chance is it?

Would you recommend the use of this system outside of clinical trials? For example the biobeats people etc?

seth, no - actually i just changed my profile homepage link to my psychology site (plug, plug) where there's more media coverage (some of it still fairly hot off the press).

the main motivation for carrying out empirical trials is to present a strong critical validation of neurofeedback training - also the electrical signal produced by the brain (and the mappings between frequency band activity and real world outcomes) is not wholly understood, so to some extent these technologies are still in research mode.

having said that, development is also active with a few peak-performance applications already, ac-milan recently opened a mind room, and in a couple of music departments in the states sensori-motor-rhythm neurophysio has been timetabled for some years now - mainly with the aim of establishing sense of "presence" (i.e. being able to operate in the moment).

not sure about biobeats - binaural beats are some people looking at a not unrelated topic: entraining certain frequency bands in the brain's electrical signal to binaural sounds...

 

[gek-opel]

I was taking the piss out of Buick, and of course there are innumerable methods of live electronic performance, but never mind... and yes, there is no clear distinction between performance and composition, and even at the extreme poles each contains necessary aspects of the other. However I am still more interested in the stuff towards the compositional end, rather than the performance end.

But Re: The alternative use task... yes this sounds fucking incredible. But so far this only helps with divergent thinking tho? The ability to brainstorm with a given musical piece of information say and think of lots of different potential ways of using it. Not with the convergent stage? Would you say the divergent stage was the key to creativity, and the convergent aspect merely "craft"? Or have I misunderstood the nature of the convergent stage as merely implementation? For example in terms of writing a piece of music at which stage would determining the overall structure of the piece come?

 

[mistersloane]

I was taking the piss out of Buick, and of course there are innumerable methods of live electronic performance, but never mind...

I thought you'd had an aneurysm!

 

[Don Rosco]

Fascinating stuff. I'm particularly interested in the process of the training - it's a video game played with sensors attached to your head, but how does one 'Learn' how to operate it? Is it as simple as thinking 'Left' when you need to go left? Or is it a different kind of thought input? I know the simple 'Left'->left type games have been around for a while...

Either way, it's a fascinating area, for both the Brain Training aspect and the controlling digital input with your brain. Roll on the future.

 

[the undisputed truth]

one, nonetheless, that probably doesn’t tell us anything about dubstep.

Sure it does if you're referring to my comment. Just ask someone who knows.