Data and code from: Motor origins of timbre in piano performance

Creativity in the arts, such as painting and musical performance, hinges on the ability to produce a wide spectrum of perceptual experiences. In music, it has long been believed that the timbre of tones can be altered by nuanced movements of performers. Previous studies have described relationships between fundamental elements of auditory perceptions (e.g., loudness, tempo) and physical movements (e.g., force, speed), but it remains unknown whether and how delicate features of perceptual experiences, such as tone timbre, are manipulated through dexterous motor skills. Here, we bridge this gap using a two-fold experimental approach. First, our listening test revealed that the timbral qualities pianists intended to express in piano playing were perceived as intended by both pianists and musically untrained individuals, with pianists showing a greater perceptual sensitivity to different timbres. Second, through a motor behavioral experiment using a non-contact, high-resolution sensing syst..., , # Data and code from: Motor origins of timbre in piano performance

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.95x69p8z3](10.5061/dryad.95x69p8z3)

## Description of the data and file structure

The datasets were collected as part of two experimental studies investigating the relationship between piano performance and perceptual experiences.

Study 1: Pianists played a short excerpt from No. 1 of \"Hanon the Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises\" under multiple expression conditions. For each performance, features of the key movements were recorded, and evaluation scores were obtained from the listening experiment. The data (data_study1.mat) provide information linking performers, condition, expression, movement features, and perceptual ratings.

Study 2: Participants completed a discrimination task in which they compared two sound sources (LargeAcc vs. SmallAcc). The dataset contains trial-level information, including whether SmallAcc was presented first, and whether the participant judged the first-presen...,