Singer-songwriter Alex Whorms and doctoral researcher Dana Swarbrick met while attending McMaster University. Last year, they collaborated to produce a concert research study at McMaster’s renowned LIVELab, a state of the art performance theatre and research facility, to study social bonding between performers and audience members at live music events. The concert-study involved both in-person and livestreaming audiences, a specially designed set list, and motion capture technology worn by the band and audience. Surveys were conducted during the concert to determine how manipulated audience participation influenced a sense of connection between the audience and Alex’s band.

We talked about:

• Neel’s experiment writing a chord progression in Mixolydian in preparation for our upcoming songwriting challenge. BONUS: Neel also made an explainer video with his keyboard to better show his process.
• The Mindful Harmony online app to help you write chord progressions – let us know how it works for you!
• Dana’s background with music cognition and music psychology
• McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind
• The effects of audience participation, with sing- and clap-alongs, compared to no audience participation on audience engagement and connectedness with the musicians and the other audience members
• Measuring audience and performer movements through motion capture technology
• The potential role of stage banter on audience engagement and Alex’s performance
• Alex and Dana on answering the big “so what?” about this research
• How many variables go into audience enjoyment (HINT: it’s a very complex question with many variables to measure and study)

Check out the concert: