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Quantifying Musical Micro-Motion: Applying Optical Flow Analysis to Audiovisual Abstract Animation

Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This is an accepted article with a DOI pre-assigned that is not yet published.Abstract Optical flow analysis, initially developed for computer vision, has expanded its applications into various domains. While traditional models of musical expression focus on the impact of music on listeners, they often show less interest in what the music itself expresses or fail to fully elucidate the complexities associated with this sphere. Moreover, these models tend to be coarse and predominantly top-down, categorising music based on standard emotion theories using general musical dimensions, without considering the intricacies of perceptual abstraction and idiosyncratic processing. In contrast, contemporary computer software allows for a more nuanced exploration of music aesthetics by integrating music visualisation into optical flow analysis. This introductory paper aims to explore the potential of this integration, extending the application of algorithmic music visualisation to serve as a tool for feature detection and audiovisual priming at a finer scale. Optical flow analysis facilitates the collection and evaluation of data that transcends intuitive audiovisual experience, offering an "objective" understanding of aesthetic dimensions. By analysing micro-motion and micro-expression in abstract animations of the acoustic spectrum, this approach opens avenues to subtleties previously unexplored and deemed “ineffable.” Through two case studies involving Aphex Twin’s “Bucephalus Bouncing Ball” and Frédéric Chopin’s third prelude, this paper demonstrates the potential of optical flow analysis in uncovering hidden layers of meaning in music expression.
DOI: 10.5920/jcms.1519
Author: Gerald Moshammer
Institution: Mahidol University
Language: English
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4410696762
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