The effect of synthesizer accompaniments on the perception of choral music
Creators: name: Haas, David Scott
Publisher: name: University of Iowa
Year: 2024
Subjects: Accompaniment
Choir
Choral
Music Production
Synthesizer
Technology

description: The purpose of this convergent mixed methods study was to investigate if addingsynthesizers to choral accompaniments had any effect on listener preferences. Specifically, I investigated whether replacing or supplementing piano accompaniment with digital synthesizers
description: evoked greater feelings of familiarity and preference. Participants (N = 371), including college
description: choir singers (n = 101), community choir singers (n = 90), and audience members (n = 180),
description: reported demographic information and their preferences for various music genres (i.e., classical,
description: choral, country, EDM, hip-hop, pop, and rock). They then listened to recordings of three paired
description: choral pieces (i.e., Britney Boykin’s “Music of Life,” Ryan Main’s “Dies Irae,” and Eric
description: Whitacre’s “Fly to Paradise”) that varied in only their accompaniment, with one example
description: utilizing exclusively piano and one incorporating a synthesizer. Participants indicated their
description: preferences using slider scales and open-ended responses.
description: Results indicated that listeners significantly favored piano accompaniments enhanced by
description: synthesized bass lines over those with just piano accompaniment. However, most participants
description: favored strictly piano accompaniments when the synthesizer replaced the piano entirely.
description: Although age and years of choral singing experience did not predict synthesized accompaniment
description: preference, small relationships emerged between genre preference and the enjoyment of specific
description: accompaniments. Individuals who enjoyed classical and choral music preferred traditional piano
description: accompaniment, while those favoring genres such as rock, EDM, and hip-hop preferred the
description: synthesizers. In addition, the extent to which individuals were familiar with the synthesizer
description: timbres significantly predicted how much they would enjoy synthesized accompaniments. When
description: considering how much participants preferred singing with one accompaniment type versus
description: another, audience members expressed a moderate preference to sing with piano accompaniments
description: v
description: enhanced by digital bass lines, and choral participants expressed a moderate preference to sing
description: with traditional piano accompaniment over a synthesizer replacement.
description: These findings offer new potential ways to merge the fields of digital music production
description: and choral music. The results of this study suggest that incorporating digital instrumentation into
description: choral accompaniments could diversify populations who might enjoy listening to choral music
description: and could encourage composers to implement digital accompaniments to create new and
description: compelling works. Training choral conductors to utilize this digital instrumentation could
description: provide them with tools to connect with audiences that may not regularly consume classical and
description: choral music. Although the exploratory nature of this study limits its generalizability, the
description: emergent trends provide ample opportunity for future research. Future researchers and
description: practitioners wishing to incorporate digital instrumentation into choral accompaniments might
description: begin by supplementing piano accompaniments in order to honor preexisting traditions while
description: exploring new possibilities for the future.