Original title: Adaptive multi-frequency oscillator modeling of coordination recovery during rhythm switching in four-person drumming groups
Bavo Van Kerrebroeck, Alexander Demos, Marc Leman, Marcelo Wanderley +2 · September 2026
When musicians play together, they must keep the beat even when the rhythm changes suddenly. Researchers wanted to understand how groups of four drummers quickly get back in sync when switching between binary and ternary rhythms, meaning patterns based on two or three beats. They built a computer model of four connected oscillators, which are math tools that mimic rhythmic, repeating actions. In the model, drummers adjust both their timing and their playing speed based on their partners and a target beat. The model successfully mimicked real human groups, showing an initial stumble after a change cue followed by a recovery to steady group timing. The researchers discovered that harder, complex rhythms and binary meters actually led to weaker connections between players. However, drummers adapted their speed back toward their target faster during these complex rhythms. Ultimately, group coordination depends on balancing interpersonal connections with quick personal speed adjustments.
A group of four rowers are in a boat. They need to keep their oars in sync. Suddenly the coxswain calls for a different stroke pattern. At first, the oars clash. Each rower can adjust their stroke rate slightly based on the splash they hear from the others. In this paper, each drummer is like a rower, and they recover coordination by adapting their internal tempo while preserving how strongly they lock with their immediate partners versus the whole group.
When a group switches rhythm — say from 4/4 to 3/4 — the shared timing breaks and must be rebuilt. This study shows how four drummers do it: not by slavishly following a leader but by each member adjusting their internal sense of tempo while staying connected to their neighbors. Understanding this could help design better coordination strategies for any team that must stay in sync under changing conditions.
The model did not benefit from an individual spontaneous production rate dependent resonance term, which was omitted. The findings are specific to quartets and rhythm switching between binary and ternary meters; it is unclear if they generalize to larger groups or more complex rhythmic patterns. The model parameters were optimized for the specific experimental data, so its applicability to other drumming or coordination tasks is not tested.
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Adaptive multi-frequency oscillator modeling of coordination recovery during rhythm switching in four-person drumming groups — Bavo Van Kerrebroeck, Alexander Demos, Marc Leman et al. — PsyArXiv — doi:10.31234/osf.io/4zhtx_v2
Abstract licence: CC0
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper. This is a preprint, so it hasn't necessarily been peer reviewed.