Echoes influence the tempo of a rhythmical pattern

Musicians' interpretations of a piece are influenced by the acoustics of the room in which they perform, though studies are not unanimous on how acoustic parameters affect musical interpretation. Instead of considering the influence of the global and complex acoustics of a room, the present study focuses on early reflections and, in particular, the impact of a single one on a basic rhythmic pattern. An experimental protocol in which participants were asked to play a rhythmic pattern while hearing an echo in addition to the direct sound was set up for this purpose. The echoes used in the experiment have long delays and are therefore not directly linked to common acoustic environments. The results reveal that this echo has an influence on the tempo produced by the participants: when the delay of the echo is shorter than the inter onset interval between two notes, people tend to accelerate. If the delay is longer, people tend to slow down. This study is an attempt to investigate musical adaptations to an acoustic environment in the case of rhythmic reproduction.