# Posture and ventilation in the playing of wind musical instruments: a pilot experiment

Nathan Ouvrai, Delphine Chadefaux, Baptiste Sandoz, Valérie Attali, Benoît Fabre

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Nathan Ouvrai, Delphine Chadefaux, Baptiste Sandoz, Valérie Attali, Benoît Fabre. Posture and ventilation in the playing of wind musical instruments: a pilot experiment. CFA 2025 - 17e Congrès Français d'Acoustique, Société Française d'Acoustique (SFA), Apr 2025, Paris, France. hal-05365442

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17ᵉ Congrès Français d'Acoustique

27-30 avril 2025, Paris

# Posture and ventilation in the playing of wind musical instruments: a
pilot experiment

N. OUVRAI<sup>a,b</sup>, D. CHADEFAUX<sup>c,d</sup>, B. SANDOZ<sup>c</sup>, V. ATTALI<sup>b</sup>, et B. FABRE<sup>a</sup>

<sup>a</sup> Sorbonne Université, CNRS, UMR 7190 LAM Institut d'Alembert, F-75005 Paris, France

<sup>b</sup> Sorbonne Université, Inserm, UMRs 1158, F-75013 Paris, France

<sup>c</sup> Arts et Métiers, Institut de Biomécanique Humaine Georges Charpak, F-75013 Paris, France

<sup>d</sup> Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, F-93430 Villetaneuse, France

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For wind instrumentalists, breath control is essential for sound production. It requires a "non-respiratory" use of muscles whose primary function is respiratory. These muscles also contribute to maintaining posture, resulting in an interaction between the ventilatory and postural systems. Observing that wind instrumentalists move to varying degrees while playing, depending on the instrument and the musical instruction, we aim to investigate the relationships between the musical task, breathing strategies, and movement, which involve temporal variations in posture. Are the musicians' movements intended to emphasize musical expression independently of the respiratory cycle? To explore this, we record various instrumental control parameters, acoustic signals, and biomechanical data during musical performance: mouth and instrumental pressure using pressure sensors, mouth position and opening area with a camera-mirror system attached to the instrument, radiated acoustic pressure using two microphones, and thoracic volume variations and postural oscillations of body segments with an optoelectronic motion capture system. We will present the results obtained during the musical performance on the transverse flute. The selected musical excerpt comes from an Etude chosen for its simple and regular musical structure, allowing the imposition of specific breathing instructions that alter the respiratory cycle period. The analyses will integrate instrumental control, the use of the respiratory and postural systems, and the musical structure.

# 1 Introduction

In wind instrument practice, breath control is essential for sound production. Wind instrumentalists use their respiratory system (respiratory muscles, ventilatory volumes) to control sound production. This results from the interaction between an exciter (air jet, reed, etc.) and a resonator. While different fingerings allow the instrumentalist to modify the resonances of the instrument's body, precise control of mouth pressure and lip positioning enables them to select the played note and finely control its characteristics to express their interpretation of the musical instruction. Breath control requires a "non-respiratory" use of muscles whose primary function is respiratory. These muscles also contribute to postural maintenance, leading to an interaction between the ventilatory and postural systems. Educational resources on breath control for wind instrumentalists are relatively extensive. However, there is very little information on the relationship between posture and musical performance beyond basic recommendations on instrument handling (see, for example, [1, 2, 3]). Additionally, from a medical perspective, wind instrument playing could contribute to the rehabilitation of individuals suffering from respiratory diseases. Within this context, this study aims to investigate the relationships between the respiratory system, the postural system, and musical performance.

The relationship between the use of the respiratory system and musical structure has already been studied. In flute playing, Cossette [4] demonstrated that controlling pitch and intensity via mouth pressure is independent of how this pressure is generated. She also showed that non-diaphragmatic inspiratory muscles are activated during exhalation while playing, allowing for the control of the elastic recoil of the respiratory system. This study highlights the role of inspiratory muscles in regulating mouth pressure during sustained musical performance [5]. Two years later, Cossette [6] sought to establish a relationship between hydrodynamic parameters (mouth pressure, flow rate, jet velocity, lip-to-labium distance) and respiratory parameters (air volumes, muscle activity). It was shown that the temporal evolution of hydrodynamic control parameters is

directly linked to musical structure, independently of the respiratory state in which the flautist plays. In other words, the instrumentalist adapts his breathing strategies according to the available respiratory volume while playing to control hydrodynamic parameters in response to musical demands. More recently, Vauthrin [7] investigated how flautists adapt breathing strategies according to the musical task. Beyond the field of musical performance, the interaction between the postural system and respiration has also been studied [8, 9, 10]. It has been shown that some muscles classified as respiratory also have a postural function. This is particularly the case for the diaphragm, which stabilizes during trunk rotation [11] or shoulder movement [12]. On the other hand, abdominal muscles, which are considered postural muscles, are active during forced expiration, as observed in wind instrument playing. Beyond the dual function of these muscles, the ventilatory and postural systems also interact at a skeletal level. The ribcage, an elastic structure, is connected to the lungs, which are also elastic. The lungs exert a retraction force, while the thoracic wall exerts an expansion force, generating a mechanical constraint. Moreover, since the ribcage is connected to the spine, it constitutes an element of the postural chain [13]. The ribcage also stabilizes the spine and limits its mobility [14]. Furthermore, both the spine and ribcage are involved in maximal expiration and inspiration [15]. At extreme ventilation amplitudes, spinal curvature is altered [16]. However, this modification is compensated by changes in cervical curvature and pelvic tilt [17]. These phenomena, observed in a strictly medical context, may be relevant for wind instrumentalists, who use their respiratory system to its extremes, sometimes reaching maximal inspiration and expiration.

These phenomena must be considered in a musical context. Indeed, during a flautist's performance, cyclic movements accompanying the music are observed. Are these movements related to the musical structure, or are they dependent on the respiratory cycle? In the playing of a melodic instrument like the flute, inhaling generates an interruption in the sound production, that a trained player will try to position in the melody in such a way that it
underlines the musical structure. Movements associated with the playing may as well be structured by the player in order to underline the musical structure. All three aspects (respiratory cycle, musical structure and movements) are intricately coupled. Therefore, specific musical conditions, experiments and analyses are necessary to disentangle them. As a preliminary step before a full-scale study, a pilot study is presented to investigate the potential relationship between ventilation, posture, and the musical structure of the performed piece. To achieve this, we based ourselves on various experimental setups that simultaneously record data related to posture, respiration, and musical performance. Additionally, the capture system used, integrating acoustic, biomechanical, and physiological measurement tools, is implemented to record kinematic signals from multiple body segments, thoracic volume variations, and flute playing control parameters. The analyses will correlate musical structure with postural dynamics.

## 2 Methods & Materials

This pilot study is carried out to gain a detailed understanding of the parameters of interest. Measurements are therefore performed on a single subject. To be as non-invasive as possible for the musician, a motion capture system, described in section 2.2.2, was preferred. The selected piece is an excerpt from an Etude in the Western classical repertoire. This choice provides a structured musical framework.

### 2.1 Musical piece and flautist

Most studies on the coupling between posture and ventilation rely on the analysis of periodic breathing cycles. The musical piece used in this study is an excerpt from the Etude No. 10 for flute by Briccialdi (1818–1881), a highly classical example of 19th-century Etude repertoire [18]. It was chosen for its specificity of having a perfectly regular temporal structure, leading the instrumentalist to maintain regular breathing cycles, even if not perfectly periodic. The harmonic and melodic structure of the piece shows groups of eight bars, each group being further divided into four-bar subgroups. This structure allows for data analysis in relation to these different time segments and enables the application of various respiratory constraints.

The instrumentalist has received over 15 years of musical training in a conservatory and has more than 10 years of orchestral experience. The flute used in the experiment, a common student model Yamaha YFL-381, was provided by the experimenter and equipped with sensors. Before the measurements, the subject was given a few minutes for familiarization. The flautist was instructed to play under several conditions, as follows : one condition with free playing and another with imposed breathing. In the free-playing condition, the instrumentalist breathes at will, with the score suggesting, through the presence of half

rests, an inhalation every two bars. In the second condition, the flautist was required to breathe every four bars, at the end of each line. To enforce this, the score was modified accordingly. It is noteworthy that this four-bars breathing pattern was deemed feasible by the composer, as it is the one imposed in the original score beyond the excerpt studied here. The imposed condition is translated on the musical score by removing the eighth-rests at bars 2, 6, 10 and replacing dotted quarter notes and eighth rests by half notes. The scores of the etude excerpt for both conditions are presented in Figure 1.

<figure><img src="image_3.png" /><figcaption>(a) Original excerpt</figcaption></figure>

(b) Modified excerpt (4 bars) : In addition to the removal of the half rests in measures 2, 6, and 10, the constraint of breathing only every 4 measures is imposed. The rest of the score follows the same logic.

<caption>FIGURE 1 – Excerpt from the Etude No. 10 for Flute by Briccialdi</caption>

### 2.2 Measurements

Acoustic, respiratory, and stabilometric parameters are measured simultaneously. The experiment took place in a room (13.3mx6.7mx3.5m) at the Georges Charpak Institute of Human Biomechanics at ENSAM in Paris. Prior to the experiment, the subject signed a consent form (registration number : RCB : 2020-A01357-32) approved by an ethics committee.

#### 2.2.1 Acoustical

To estimate the performance control parameters, the setup used by de la Cuadra [19] and Vauthrin [7] is adopted. This system allows for the recording of the instrumentalist's mouth pressure, instrument pressure, radiated pressure, and lip aperture. The mouth pressure is recorded using an Endevco 8507 pressure sensor with a sampling frequency of 51,200 Hz, connected to the mouth via a thin (0.5 mm internal diameter) and short (approximately 10 cm) tube. After a few minutes of playing, the subject did not experience any discomfort from the tube, and it did not interfere with his performance. The pressure inside the instrument is
<figure><img src="image_4.png" /><figcaption>FIGURE 2 – Score of the first four bars of Briccialdi’s etude, followed by the acoustic pressure inside the instrument, as well as the pitch and two performance control parameters : mouth pressure and airflow. The Y-coordinate of the pitch corresponds to the reference octave : 0 for A440, 1 for A880, and 2 for A1760. The vertical lines indicate the beginning of each breath.</figcaption></figure>

also measured using an Endevco pressure sensor placed in the instrument's headjoint cork. Additionally, the flute is equipped with a GoPro Hero4 camera, recording at 120 frames per second, to capture a frontal view of the lips for estimating lip aperture and a profile view to estimate the distance between the lips and the labium. Finally, the radiated pressure is recorded using two Neumann KM184 cardioid microphones with a sampling frequency of 42,000 Hz, placed 1 meter from the flautist. Figure 2 presents the acoustic pressure in the instrument, pitch, mouth pressure, and estimated expired airflow through the lips during the first four bars of the piece played by the subject. The pitch is estimated with the algorithm YIN, developed by Alain de Cheveigné [20]. Consistent with the findings of [19, 7, 4, 21], mouth pressure increases as the pitch of the note rises. The expired airflow between the lips was estimated using the air jet velocity multiplied by the musician's lip aperture area, given by

$$Q = v_{jet} * S_{mouth}. \qquad (1)$$

The jet velocity is calculated using Bernoulli's equation

$$v_{jet} = \sqrt{\frac{2 p_m}{\rho}}, \qquad (2)$$

with $p_m$ the measured mouth pressure.

### 2.2.2 Respiratory & Stabilometry

The respiratory parameters of interest are the variations of the thoracic volume. These variations are measured using an optoelectronic plethysmographic (OEP) motion capture system. This system consists of 14 infrared cameras that track the 3D position of 132 retro-reflective markers

over time, including 87 markers placed on the chest wall. Volumes are then calculated using Gauss's method, as used by Cala in [22]. The collected data are sampled at 200 Hz, allowing for a 3D reconstruction of the instrumentalist using the Nexus Vicon software.

<figure><img src="image_5.png" /><figcaption>FIGURE 3 – Musician viewed from the front. Marker setup used during the experiment. There are also markers on the subject's back.</figcaption></figure>

In addition to the 87 retro-reflective markers on the chest wall, 45 markers are placed on various body segments : 9 on the head, 6 on each arm, 9 on each leg, and 3 on each foot. The marker placement is a combination of the setup used by Cala [22] for the trunk markers and the one used by Clavel [16] for the other limbs and joints. These markers allow for the calculation of motion in the anteroposterior plane of different segments. This study focuses on the pelvic motion (movement of the hips) and the cervical spine (neck). To determine the anteroposterior and mediolateral axes, calculations were performed based on the six foot markers. Then, kinematic frames were defined. A head frame ($F_{head}$) was established using markers placed on the head, a thorax frame ($F_{thor}$) was defined using markers positioned on the T4 vertebrae, the manubrium, and the acromion, and a pelvis frame ($F_{pelvis}$) was determined based on four markers placed on the anterior and posterior iliac spines. Additionally, a subject frame ($F_{sub}$) was defined based on the anteroposterior, mediolateral, and vertical axes. The motion at the cervical spine and pelvis were then computed using frames associated with different anatomical segments. Cervical spine motion was calculated as the angle between $F_{head}$ and $F_{thor}$, while pelvic motion was defined as the angle between $F_{pelvis}$ and $F_{sub}$. Finally, the kinematic signals were filtered using a sixth-order low-pass Butterworth filter with a cutoff frequency of 4 Hz.

## 3 Results

Respiratory, stabilometric, and acoustic measurements for two distinct musical conditions were conducted on a
flautist. The proposed musical instruction included two conditions : one in which the subject was free to breathe at will and another in which the breathing moments were imposed within the musical structure. The accumulation of various data allows for the study of the subject's respiratory strategy and the evaluation of relationships between postural adjustments, the respiratory cycle, and the musical structure. Figure 4 presents some of the recorded data and their initial analyses.

Regarding the respiratory strategy, it is first observed that during the execution without a breathing constraint (free condition), the subject inhales every two bars, except for the first four bars, which are performed in a single respiratory cycle. However, two distinct types of inspirations can be identified : a large inspiration (approximately 3.5 liters) separates the groups of four bars, while a smaller inspiration (around 1.5 liters) occurs in the middle of each four-bar group. This respiratory pattern thus appears to highlight the musical structure in groups of four bars, with the smaller inspirations corresponding more to an instrumental necessity than to a musical phrasing requirement. In agreement with the findings of Vauthrin [7], it can also be hypothesized that the first four-bars group is played within a single respiratory cycle because the subject's respiratory volume remains above his functional residual capacity (FRC) (approximately 26.3 L according to resting data before and after the presented excerpt) after the execution of the first two bars, hence not encouraging the flautist to take a breath at that moment. All following breaths occur at respiratory volumes below FRC. Furthermore, it can be noted that the tempo taken during the execution with the breathing constraint is faster than in the free version (57 seconds for imposed breathing versus 61 seconds for the free playing), likely due to the anticipation of a possible instrumental difficulty in adhering to the constraint.

The relationships between posture, musical structure, and respiration can also be discussed based on the presented data. The neck and hip angles were selected for their distinct evolutions. Under the imposed breathing condition, hip movements exhibit a cyclic pattern synchronized with both the respiratory and musical cycles, involving a flexion of more than 5 degrees at the start of each inspiration. By comparison, hip movement in the unconstrained breathing condition shows such a flexion only at the very beginning of the performance. While movement still exhibits a slightly cyclic nature throughout the execution, it is significantly less pronounced than in the imposed breathing condition. Moreover, even though a similar pattern is observed between the two conditions, another hypothesis would be that no hip flexion occurs during inspiration in the middle of the four-bar group, as these inspirations are smaller. Conversely, neck movement displays a dual periodicity : one with a period of approximately 1.6 seconds corresponding to the duration of the half note, and another broader periodicity corresponding to the respiratory cycle duration. Thus, the presented data suggest that neck and hip movements are

linked to the respiratory cycle and the musical structure.

These initial observations are based on the analysis of selected body segment movements for demonstration purposes and deserve further investigation. They should also be extended to other instrumentalists. However, they clearly illustrate the potential of the collected data.

## 4 Conclusion

The experiment conducted is a combination of studies examining specific parameters individually. The setup and protocol implemented allow for the measurement and correlation of the musician's movement during musical performance with variations in thoracic volume and control parameters. The analyses performed indicate that the musician's posture and movements depend not only on the musical structure but also on respiration. Additional analyses, such as measuring respiratory muscle activity using electromyography or monitoring heart rate with an electrocardiogram, could be conducted to complement the findings of this pilot study. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that the setup established in this experiment, incorporating three types of measurements (acoustic, physiological, and biomechanical), enables the acquisition of novel results. These findings should be extended on a larger scale in future research.

## Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Isabelle Cossette and Thomas Similowski for their insightful discussions. They also wish to express their gratitude to the participant for agreeing to take part in the experiment and to Benjamin Veron for his invaluable assistance in preparing the study.

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<figure><img src="image_6.png" /><figcaption>FIGURE 4 – Representation of pitch, chest wall volume and hips and neck angle for two conditions. The top figure corresponds to the condition where breathing is imposed. The bottom figure corresponds to the free breathing condition.</figcaption></figure>

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