Relative effectiveness of three diverse instructional conditions on seventh-grade wind band students' expressive musical performance

Thesis (D.M.A.)--Boston UniversityIn this study, the researcher examined the relative effectiveness of three diverse instructional conditions (aural model (AM), concrete musical instruction (CM), and verbal instruction using imagery/metaphor statements (MI)) on seventh-grade wind band students' expressive musical performance. This study was based, in part, on Woody's (2006a) research with adaptations to include developmentally appropriate instructional conditions for seventh-grade wind band students. In the AM condition, the aural model was recorded by an advanced pianist who synthesized elements from both the CM and MI conditions and exaggerated the expressive properties of loudness, tempo, and style/note duration. In the CM instructional condition, the researcher notated musical markings corresponding to the intended emotion on the printed score for three melodies. Finally, in the MI condition, high-quality examples of imagery/metaphor statements were gathered from experienced wind band instructors and the best-rated statement for each melody was utilized. Participants were enrolled in two seventh-grade wind band programs located in Cobb County, Georgia. Sixty randomly sampled, seventh-grade wind band musicians participated in an expressive performance procedure (EPP) consisting of a pretest recording, an instructional condition, and a posttest recording followed by computer analysis of the loudness, tempo and style/note duration expressive properties. Data were analyzed through matched pairs t-tests determining whether the instructional conditions affected statistically significant differences, from pretest to posttest scores (p < .05), on expressive music performance. Data were further analyzed using an ANCOVA and Tukey HSD post-hoc tests to examine statistically significant (p < .05) differences regarding the relative effectiveness of the three instructional conditions. The results of the matched pairs t-tests indicated the AM, CM, and MI instructional conditions affected the mean difference score sets with statistical significance. Furthermore, results suggested the AM and MI conditions were found to be significantly (p < .005) more effective in affecting the mean difference scores sets than the CM condition; however, the AM and MI conditions did not appear to be significantly more effective compared to one another. The analysis provided evidence supporting the notion that diverse instructional conditions may be effective alternatives for teaching expressive performance

Understanding Gesture Expressivity through Muscle Sensing

Expressivity is a visceral capacity of the human body. To understand what makes a gesture expressive, we need to consider not only its spatial placement and orientation, but also its dynamics and the mechanisms enacting them. We start by defining gesture and gesture expressivity, and then present fundamental aspects of muscle activity and ways to capture information through electromyography (EMG) and mechanomyography (MMG). We present pilot studies that inspect the ability of users to control spatial and temporal variations of 2D shapes and that use muscle sensing to assess expressive information in gesture execution beyond space and time. This leads us to the design of a study that explores the notion of gesture power in terms of control and sensing. Results give insights to interaction designers to go beyond simplistic gestural interaction, towards the design of interactions that draw upon nuances of expressive gesture

Enabling Audiovisual User Interfaces

“Enabling Audiovisual User Interfaces” was a 2-year project, supported by a Marie Curie EU fellowship, conducted at EAVI, Goldsmiths. During the project, I investigated how human-computer interactions can be audiovisualized in order to improve user experience and usability. To address this issue, a new UI paradigm was proposed – AVUI (AudioVisual User Interface). AVUI links interaction, sound and image, building upon the concept of Graphical User Interface (GUI) by adding interconnected sound and image. The research hypothesis was: the introduction of AVUI, integrating interrelated sonic and visual feedback, reacting to user interactions, would lead to more usable, accessible, playful and engaging UIs, as compared to a traditional GUI – particularly in use cases where accessibility and/or engagement were determinant. I applied AVUIs to case studies, which was the object of user testing. After reaching conclusions from these, I proposed an AVUI framework, including software modules and a set of best practices. Dissemination activities were also implemented