PLXTRM : prediction-led eXtended-guitar tool for real-time music applications and live performance

peer reviewedThis article presents PLXTRM, a system tracking picking-hand micro-gestures for real-time music applications and live performance. PLXTRM taps into the existing gesture vocabulary of the guitar player. On the first level, PLXTRM provides a continuous controller that doesn’t require the musician to learn and integrate extrinsic gestures, avoiding additional cognitive load. Beyond the possible musical applications using this continuous control, the second aim is to harness PLXTRM’s predictive power. Using a reservoir network, string onsets are predicted within a certain time frame, based on the spatial trajectory of the guitar pick. In this time frame, manipulations to the audio signal can be introduced, prior to the string actually sounding, ’prefacing’ note onsets. Thirdly, PLXTRM facilitates the distinction of playing features such as up-strokes vs. down-strokes, string selections and the continuous velocity of gestures, and thereby explores new expressive possibilities

Towards a Dynamic Model of the Palm Mute Guitar Technique Based on Capturing Pressure Profiles Between the Guitar Strings

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Technological Support for Highland Piping Tuition and Practice

This thesis presents a complete hardware and software system to support the learning process associated with the Great Highland Bagpipe (GHB). A digital bagpipe chanter interface has been developed to enable accurate measurement of the player's nger movements and bag pressure technique, allowing detailed performance data to be captured and analysed using the software components of the system. To address the challenge of learning the diverse array of ornamentation techniques that are a central aspect of Highland piping, a novel algorithm is presented for the recognition and evaluation of a wide range of embellishments performed using the digital chanter. This allows feedback on the player's execution of the ornaments to be generated. The ornament detection facility is also shown to be e ective for automatic transcription of bagpipe notation, and for performance scoring against a ground truth recording in a game interface, Bagpipe Hero. A graphical user interface (GUI) program provides facilities for visualisation, playback and comparison of multiple performances, and for automatic detection and description of piping-speci c ngering and ornamentation errors. The development of the GUI was informed by feedback from expert pipers and a small-scale user study with students. The complete system was tested in a series of studies examining both lesson and solo practice situations. A detailed analysis of these sessions was conducted, and a range of usage patterns was observed in terms of how the system contributed to the di erent learning environments. This work is an example of a digital interface designed to connect to a long established and highly formalised musical style. Through careful consideration of the speci c challenges faced in teaching and learning the bagpipes, this thesis demonstrates how digital technologies can provide a meaningful contribution to even the most conservative cultural traditions.This work was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) as part of the Doctoral Training Centre in Media and Arts Technology at Queen Mary University of London (ref: EP/G03723X/1)

The BazerBow: a multimodal exploration of mimetic design principles

The BazerBow was forged from mimetic design principles to engage the audience, often overlooked in digital musical instrument design. This thesis represents a line of enquiry to develop a set of mimetic design principles through a process of music practice and research. These principles pull from five prongs of a cycle of development: mimetic theories (Cox, 2016; Maes et al., 2014; Malloch and Trevarthen, 2009; Szalavitz and Perry, 2010), digital musical instrument design, mimetic design, prototyping of BazerBows and an examination of the prototypes. Mimetic theories were amalgamated with existing digital musical instrument design research to yield initial mimetic design principles. BazerBow prototypes were produced using these principles and then explored and tested to evaluate and improve the efficacy of the mimetic design. The test phase consisted of five performance sessions that included unique real-time response sliders, questionnaires, and post-performance discussions. The data analysis, including a novel Average Distribution Method, showed that the BazerBow prototype was imbued with mimetic potential eliciting a more significant mimetic response from the audience than a commercially available keyboard. The outcome of this thesis is a collection of mimetic design principles that offer a formative toolkit in guiding instrument design towards carefully considering audience response. In addition, the novel real-time slider method and ADM analysis could be easily adapted for use in other research contexts. Significantly, there has been no previous application of mimetic theories to DMI design or creation of design principles based on mimetic theory, so this constitutes new knowledge, contributing to existing digital musical instrument design. These mimetic design principles will be continually improved and tested in the future through this iterative process, imbuing new and exciting instruments with mimetic potential

'GXtar' : an interface using guitar techniques

National audienc