Investigating the cello position, bow motion and cellist posture using motion capture

Cello position and playing posture are of great importance in the cello learning process as well as for the players’ technique. To gain more information on this topic, a study is conducted in which advanced cellists are recorded using optical motion capture technology to examine their posture, cello position and bow movement. In addition, this study aims to find a position of the cello in which it can be played comfortably by both human players and an instructed robotic arm. Therefore, a cello is mounted on a custom-made holding structure in which it can be held immobile during playing. Participants are invited to play several bowing exercises on open-strings and music excerpts from cello literature. The bowing actions and the sitting parameters are compared between the cellists. While the exercises contribute to the data collection of bowing motions to apply to the robotic arm, the music excerpts are used to analyze the playing posture and to allow participants to evaluate their comfort during playing. These investigations will gather information regarding the cello position and the bowing action to inform artificial playing setups as well as introduce systematic methodologies for artistic and educational purposes on the topic of cello posture.