Research | Hila Tamir Ostrover

Publications

Tamir-Ostrover, H., (2021) “The drifting sounds of Czernowin’s Sahaf: being carried away by sound”, Musik-Konzepte, vol. 194, pp. 40-61 [German].

Tamir-Ostrover, H., (2021) “The drifting sounds of Czernowin’s Sahaf: being carried away by sound”, Musik-Konzepte, vol. 194, pp. 40-61 [German].

Chaya Czernowin’s music often probes into the complex relationship between sound and our integrated bodily experience. This paper analyzes Czernowin’s chamber piece Sahaf from this perspective. Interviews with Czernowin reveal that the composer had a detailed image in mind while composing this piece. The paper traces the crossmodal correspondences of Sahaf’s sounds with vision, motion and spatial location in alignment with Czernowin’s imagery, while accounting for overarching processes and structure. For Czernowin the visual and sonic dimensions in Sahaf are woven together in an intricate and mutually-dependent way. The result is a self-reflective piece, in which crossmodality is not only a compositional tool but
also the subject of investigation. 📝

Tamir-Ostrover, H., “Ineffable Pain: Sound, Body and Trauma in Czernowin’s Pnima… Ins Innere”.

Tamir-Ostrover, H., “Ineffable Pain: Sound, Body and Trauma in Czernowin’s Pnima… Ins Innere”. (currently under review)

In this paper, I trace the embodiment of trauma in the performance gestures of Chaya Czernowin’s “Pnima… ins Innere”, by relying on a combination of research in embodied cognition and documented somatic reactions of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Czernowin’s critically acclaimed opera “Pnima… ins Innere” (Pnima, henceforth) deals with the trauma of the holocaust from the perspective of the ‘second generation’: the children of the survivors. It contains no spoken words, only fragmented utterances, and while there are two actors on the stage, they do not speak or sing. Instead, each character is represented musically by a battery of voices and instruments, so as to capture the polyphonic internal reality of the characters, according to Czernowin. Indications of Pnima’s extreme emotional profile can be found among audience comments, critical reviews and academic papers. It has been described as a “physical fabric of emotion” (Czernowin, 2006); said to be full of “emotional undertows” (Schleusener, 2000); and portrayed as “strong empathic resonances of experience: trauma transformed into sound” (Hiekel, 2010). I rely on ideas from embodied cognition in order to argue that the musical material in Pnima often enacts common physical reactions to trauma, and that by doing so it may trigger an empathic response in the performers and audience. I then translate these ideas to analyzing the dynamics between the dramatis personae and their musical expression, showing how Pnima is not only an opera about trauma, but about the possibility of empathically sensing the trauma of the other. (Draft available upon request)

Tamir-Ostrover, H. and Eitan, Z. (2015). “Higher is Faster: Pitch Register and Tempo Preferences”. Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 33(2), 179-198.

Tamir-Ostrover, H. and Eitan, Z. (2015). “Higher is Faster: Pitch Register and Tempo Preferences”. Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 33(2), 179-198.

While determining an appropriate tempo is crucial to music performers, composers and listeners, few empirical studies have investigated the musical factors affecting tempo choices. In two experiments we examined how aspects of musical pitch affect tempo choice, by asking participants (musically trained and untrained) to adjust the tempi of melodic sequences varying in pitch register and pitch direction, as well as sequences typically associated with specific registers in common period music. In Experiment 1, faster tempi were assigned to higher registers. Specific melodic direction (rise vs. fall) did not affect tempo preferences; nevertheless, pitch change in both directions elicited faster tempi than a repeating, unchanging pitch. The effect of register on tempo preference was stronger for participants with music training, and also (unexpectedly) for female participants. In Experiment 2, melodic figures typically related to lower and higher parts in common-period music were associated with slower and faster tempi, respectively. Results support a “holistic” notion of musical tempo, viewing the choice of proper tempo as determined by interactions among diverse musical dimensions, including aspects of pitch structure, rather than by rhythmic considerations alone. The experimental design presented here can be further applied to explore the effects of other musical parameters on tempo preferences. 📝

Tamir-Ostrover, H., Eitan, Z., & Clarke, E. F. (2012) “The Embodied Effect of Facial Expressions on Pianists’ Performance Interpretation”. Proceedings of the 12^th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition and the 8^th Trieannial Conference of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music, 2012, Greece. Cambouropoulos E., Tsougras C., Mavromatis P., Pastiadis K. (editors).

The notion that body gestures and facial expressions could
influence thinking and emotions has gained consistent
empirical and theoretical support (McNeill, 2005, Neidenthal,
2007). Yet, growing interest in embodied music cognition
notwithstanding, few studies have examined such effects in a
musical context. In particular, while performers’ facial
expressions have been shown to reliably convey aspects of
musical expression and structure to listeners (Thompson et al,
2005, 2007), no research has yet examined how performers’
interpretation itself is influenced by their own facial
expressions. We adapt a well-known paradigm to a musical setting (Strack, Martin, & Stepper, 1988). Our results suggest facial expressions may affect both performance and performers’ evaluation of the performed music.

Eitan, Z. and Tamir-Ostrover, H., (2019). “The Sound of an Endless Column”. In The Oxford Handbook of Sound and Imagination, Volume 1.

Eitan, Z. and Tamir-Ostrover, H., (2019). “The Sound of an Endless Column”. In The Oxford Handbook of Sound and Imagination, Volume 1.

We start the chapter with a survey of existing empirical studies of sound-space mappings—in particular, pitch/spatial height associations. Using Ligeti’s Endless Column as a case, we exemplify how music might challenge these mappings by pointing out contradictions in the associative link between the auditory dimension and spatial and motion features. These contradictions, we argue, can illustrate on the one hand novel opportunities for composers to use music-space correspondences to create paradoxical spaces while, on the other hand, demonstrate how the music-space correspondence revealed by empirical research could be used in the analysis of music. 📝

Ongoing Projects

Using Machine Learning to enhance motor skill acquisition in Piano Performance This recently launched interdisciplinary project uses machine learning coupled with smart sensors to develop a personalized approach to optimally guide piano practice, based on individual abilities, goals and body constraints. The system will trace performance using a combination of auditory data, MIDI data from the keyboard, and motion sensors, and will initially learn by observing expert pianists. (with Dr. Jason Friedman, Tel-Aviv University).

Piano Training for dexterity in patients with Parkinson’s disease – Deficits in hand and arm function may be present in people with Parkinson disease (PD) from diagnosis. As the disease progresses, these may have a significant impact on patients’ quality of life. This project develops and checks the efficacy of a novel piano training approach on maintaining and improving fine motor skills in PD. Our approach to piano training combines standard piano repertory and acquisition of musicianship skills with targeted etudes aimed at addressing the special needs of PD. (in collaboration with Sheba hospital’s clinic for movement disorders, and Dr. Jason Friedman, Tel-Aviv University).

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