16th Sound and Music Computing Conference SMC 2019 (28–31 May 2019, Malaga, Spain)

The 16th Sound and Music Computing Conference (SMC 2019) took place in Malaga, Spain, 28-31 May 2019 and it was organized by the Application of Information and Communication Technologies Research group (ATIC) of the University of Malaga (UMA). The SMC 2019 associated Summer School took place 25-28 May 2019. The First International Day of Women in Inclusive Engineering, Sound and Music Computing Research (WiSMC 2019) took place on 28 May 2019. The SMC 2019 TOPICS OF INTEREST included a wide selection of topics related to acoustics, psychoacoustics, music, technology for music, audio analysis, musicology, sonification, music games, machine learning, serious games, immersive audio, sound synthesis, etc

Music Information Retrieval Meets Music Education

This paper addresses the use of Music Information Retrieval (MIR) techniques in music education and their integration in learning software. A general overview of systems that are either commercially available or in research stage is presented. Furthermore, three well-known MIR methods used in music learning systems and their state-of-the-art are described: music transcription, solo and accompaniment track creation, and generation of performance instructions. As a representative example of a music learning system developed within the MIR community, the Songs2See software is outlined. Finally, challenges and directions for future research are described

Effects of Tonic Drone and Singing on the Pitch Accuracy of Middle and High School String Players

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of tonic drone, and tonic drone and singing on the intonation accuracy of middle school and high school string students in a classroom setting. Participants (N=58) in the study included middle and high school string players from two school districts in northern Mississippi. Tonic drone (n=22) and tonic drone and singing (n=36) groups were comprised of one middle school and one high school class each. One group performed pitch–matching exercises that include a tonic drone while the second group performed pitch-matching exercises that included the tonic drone and singing. A pretest and posttest were given to determine intonation accuracy prior to and following treatment. Three pitches, E, F-sharp, and G were addressed during the three-week treatment period. Analysis of collected data using repeated measures SPANOVA testing found no significant interaction between groups from pretest to posttest. Neither the tonic drone or the tonic drone and singing group showed significant positive improvement in pitch accuracy. T-tests indicated the drone only group was statistically more accurate when posttest scores were compared. Future study should extend the length of treatment

DMRN+16: Digital Music Research Network One-day Workshop 2021

DMRN+16: Digital Music Research Network One-day Workshop 2021 Queen Mary University of London Tuesday 21st December 2021 Keynote speakers Keynote 1. Prof. Sophie Scott -Director, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL. Title: "Sound on the brain - insights from functional neuroimaging and neuroanatomy" Abstract In this talk I will use functional imaging and models of primate neuroanatomy to explore how sound is processed in the human brain. I will demonstrate that sound is represented cortically in different parallel streams. I will expand this to show how this can impact on the concept of auditory perception, which arguably incorporates multiple kinds of distinct perceptual processes. I will address the roles that subcortical processes play in this, and also the contributions from hemispheric asymmetries. Keynote 2: Prof. Gus Xia - Assistant Professor at NYU Shanghai Title: "Learning interpretable music representations: from human stupidity to artificial intelligence" Abstract Gus has been leading the Music X Lab in developing intelligent systems that help people better compose and learn music. In this talk, he will show us the importance of music representation for both humans and machines, and how to learn better music representations via the design of inductive bias. Once we got interpretable music representations, the potential applications are limitless

Seeing Sounds: The Effect of Computer-Based Visual Feedback on Intonation in Violin Education

The fact that the violin is a fretless instrument brings along intonation problems both in its performance and in its education. The introduction of technology into educational environments day by day, has led to the need to try different methods besides the traditional methods for solving intonation problems. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of computer-based visual feedback on the student’s intonation on the violin. For this purpose, an 8-week experimental process was carried out with 8 violin students studying in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades of the music teaching undergraduate program in the 2021-2022 academic year. In the quantitative dimension of the research, which was designed with mixed method design, a pretest – post-test single-group experimental design was used. The quantitative data were collected with the intonation evaluation form and the qualitative data were collected with diaries and a semi-structured interview form. The dependent samples t-test was used in the analysis of the quantitative data, and descriptive analysis technique was used in the analysis of the qualitative data. In the implementation process of the study, students were given visual feedback only with Cubase VariAudio software. At the end of the study, it was seen that computer-based visual feedback contributed positively to the intonation skills of the students. The students stated that the study made an abstract situation concrete, offered an opportunity to make self-evaluation, contributed positively to the motivation and limited class hours, and that they wanted to use it while practicing on their own

An Investigation of the Influence of Fixed-do and Movable-do Solfège Systems on Sight-Singing Pitch Accuracy for Various Levels of Diatonic and Chromatic Complexity

Sight-singing, recognized as an essential music skill, remains one of the weakest components in music education. Past studies investigating the most effective of the two most common sight-singing systems--the fixed-do and movable-do solfège systems--provide inconclusive results for music with medium to high levels of diatonic and chromatic complexity. The purpose of this quantitative, ex post facto study was to investigate the influence of diatonic and chromatic complexity on sight-singing pitch accuracy for college music major students in a Northern California urban area who have trained in either the fixed-do or movable-do solfège systems, and who had piano experience before or beginning at age 12. There were three independent variables (solfège system, diatonic complexity, and chromatic complexity), one dependent variable (pitch accuracy), and one control variable (piano learning experience). Participants included 85 volunteer qualified music major students, 45 trained in fixed-do and 40 trained in movable-do. Participants were recorded sight-singing nine test passages, each containing one of three levels of diatonic complexity and one of three levels of chromatic complexity. The recordings were analyzed by a computerized scoring system to determine pitch accuracy for each sung note. Results were analyzed using a one-way ANOVA and a three-way ANOVA 2x(3x3) with repeated measures. Participants trained under the fixed-do solfège system had statistically higher sight-singing pitch accuracy overall and at all three levels of diatonic and chromatic complexity with very large effect sizes. There were no statistically significant two-way or three-way interactions among the three factors: solfège system, diatonic complexity, and chromatic complexity. These findings suggest that the fixed-do solfège system is more effective for music with diatonic and chromatic complexity

Incorporating Aural Skills in The Teaching of Middle and High School Instrumental Ensembles

University undergraduate instrumental music students possess a variety of abilities in ear-training regardless of their ability to perform on their major instrument. Some students may have received prior aural skills instruction in their middle and high school ensembles; their teachers may have included singing activities in their rehearsals. Scholarly research indicates incorporating aural skills in the teaching of instrumental ensembles improves students’ abilities in sight-reading, error detection, sense of tonality, and intonation. The purpose of this thesis is to identify the extent to which aural skills activities are being taught in U.S. middle and high school instrumental classrooms, and to advocate for their use by creating resources and example lessons for future classroom implementation. To discover what aural skills content middle and high school teachers include in their ensemble rehearsals, a survey was created to investigate current teaching practices of secondary instrumental teachers, with an emphasis on aural skills activities. The survey, written in QuestionPro, was distributed through the “Band Directors Group” on Facebook, a professional development community with over 25,000 members. The total number of participants in this study was 281 instrumental middle and high school teachers. The results of the survey indicate that a majority of teachers do include aural skills in their ensemble teaching. However, teachers wish they could include more aural skills in their ensembles, but lack the rehearsal time or resources to successfully implement these lessons prevent its implementation. Survey participants provided a list of published method books and resources they currently use as well as a short list of repertoire performed by their ensembles in the past year. Example exercises and sample lessons were created from these resources and repertoire to encourage teachers to discover creative ways to teach aural skills to their students

Direction of mistuning, magnitude of cent deviation, and timbre as factors in musicians\u27 pitch discrimination in simultaneous and sequential listening conditions

The main purpose of this study was to investigate high school and college wind instrumentalists’ pitch discrimination when judging pitch pairs separated by 0, 5, 7.5, and 10 cents. Participants listened via headphones to a pre-recorded two section perception test; each section (one sequential and one simultaneous) containing 56 tone pairs. Each pair consisted of an in-tune reference tone followed by a test tone of the same pitch (B-flat4 or E4), which was either identical in tuning or altered to one of six mistunings. Tones also varied in timbre (square or sawtooth wave) with the reference and test tones being either the same or different in timbre. Participants circled on an answer sheet whether test tones were lower, the same, or higher than their paired reference tones. The main effects of pitch, timbre, presentation order, and cent deviation were significant (p \u3c .05). Participants were significantly more accurate identifying mistunings at the 10 and 7.5 cent levels than at the 5 and 0 cent levels. Responses were least accurate when stimuli were in-tune. Different timbre pairs resulted in more correct responses than same timbre pairs and participants correctly identified the tunings and mistunings for the B-flat pitch pairs significantly more often than the E pitch pairs. Simultaneously presented pairs resulted in more accurate responses than sequentially presented pairs. University students responded more accurately than high school students at all levels of mistuning. In the timbre and cent deviation interaction, the different timbre pairs were correctly identified at a higher rate than were the same timbre pairs, except at 0 cent deviation where the reverse occurred. The pitch by cent deviation interaction produced the largest effect size of all (partial ƞ2 = .66). Participants responded more accurately to E when it was flat than when it was sharp and more accurately to B-flat when it was sharp than when it was flat, a finding that is inconsistent with listeners’ general tendency to discriminate flat better than sharp in previous research

The spectral atom : cohesion of spectral particles in the music of Alvin Lucier.

Listeners often associate the music of Alvin Lucier with the practice of experimental music due to his unorthodox means of composition. By viewing his work in this way, whether consciously or subconsciously, his music is often treated as aleatoric. This classification ignores the compositional stimulus that fuels the creation of his music. Lucier’s compositions are driven by the exploitation of one facet (or phenomenon) of sound. These sound phenomena take the form of spectral particles: vibrating media, acoustics, and psychoacoustics. The spectral particles uncovered in his pieces combine to form a spectral atom. By analyzing four of Alvin Lucier’s works, Twonings,Silver Streetcar for the Orchestra,I am Sitting in a Room, andStill and Moving Lines of Silence in Families of Hyperbolas, I intend to extrapolate their spectral particles. A combination of these spectral particles will inform the spectral atom of the work in question