Micro-delays in musical timing enhance the listeners' perception of 'swing' in jazz, study finds

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing, but so far it has been difficult for jazz musicians to actually define what'swing' is. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Germany think they have found out, after their study revealed that the rhythm is the result of micro-delays in musical timing. Traditionally, swing is thought to be added to a piece of music when quavers - notes that are an eighth of the duration of a whole note - are played with uneven lengths. The researchers played manipulated pieces of music to jazz musicians, to see if changes in timing affected their perception of its swing. It was found that when the notes on beat one and three were delayed by 30 milliseconds, the musicians were 7.48 times more likely to rate the music as having more swing. However, the microtiming deviations were so small that they were imperceptible to professional jazz musicians, suggesting they use them unconsciously.