Together in music: embodiment, multidimensionality, and musical-social interaction

Looking back at the diverse chapters of the “Together in music” volume, three main themes are identified that reoccur. These relate to the relevance of embodied in-the-moment interaction between musicians for the creative processes to develop, the rich multi-dimensionality of the group music-making experience at a micro-, meso-, and macro-level, and the close relationships between social and musical coordination. These themes highlight the need to advance research by investigating ensemble performance and creativity at multiple analytical levels, e.g. taking microtiming, social coordination, and identity into account, and by explicitly considering developments and emergence over time. Furthermore, these themes promote the advancement of methods and techniques to investigate ensemble music-making processes, several of which are identified and illustrated in the book, including pattern detection in behavioral interaction, visualization of relationships between musicians, and innovations in the measurement and analysis of entrainment behavior in timing and intonation.