How musicians express intended bodily movement directions through acoustic features

Music often evokes spontaneous bodily movements in listeners, both generally and along specific vertical (e.g., bouncing) or horizontal (e.g., swaying) spatial directions. While prior studies have examined how music induces movement, little is known about how different movement directions are intentionally selected by musicians. This study investigates how musicians express intended bodily movement directions via acoustic features. Four professional musicians composed short musical excerpts using a digital audio workstation under three distinct expressive conditions: vertical, horizontal, and no condition (not intended to induce movement). Features of the excerpts were extracted using the MIR toolbox. ANOVAs revealed significant differences across conditions: excerpts intended to elicit vertical movement were characterized by higher pulse clarity and spectral fluctuation, while those intended to elicit horizontal movement exhibited more spectral regularity. These findings suggest that musicians express specific movement directions through distinct acoustic cues. Pieces’ musical profiles may therefore reflect differing movement affordances: “vertical” music emphasizes tactus-level accentuation and beat salience to support downward motion, while “horizontal” music relies on spectral smoothness and temporal regularity to facilitate lateral movement. A separate listener-rating experiment supported these interpretations. [Work supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant No. JP 22K18014.]