Collaborative composing environment

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-96).This thesis presents the design and implementation of Musicpainter, a networked graphical composing environment that encourages sharing and collaboration within the composing process. Instead of building a computer-assisted composing tool, Musicpainter aims to provide a social environment where users can gather and learn from each other. Our approach is based on sharing and managing music creation in small and large scale. At the small scale, users are encouraged to begin composing by conceiving small musical ideas, such as melodic or rhythmic fragments, all of which are collected and made available to all users as a shared composing resource. The collection provides a dynamic source of composing material that can be directly reused and it inspires users with more ideas. At the large scale, users can access full compositions that are shared as open projects. Users can listen to and change any piece if they want. The system generates an attribution list on the edited piece and thus allows users to trace how a piece evolves in the environment. Shared resource and open projects form the foundation of the social environment, and they create an opportunity for users to compose in a collaborative manner. A pilot study is conducted to verify our design. Thirty users downloaded the program and contributed a total of 90 partial or complete compositions. The statistics of basic user usage, a summary of user survey, and an analysis of the compositions created by selected users are presented in the thesis.Wu-Hsi Li.S.M

歌詞の談話構造のモデル化

Tohoku University乾健太郎課

AutoRhythmGuitar: Computer-aided Composition for Rhythm Guitar in the Tab Space

(Abstract to follow

African American Gospel Piano Style In The 21St Century: A Collective Case Study

The purpose of this study was to examine the African American gospel piano style in the 21st century, further examining the role of musical enculturation, transmission, and preservation through the lived experiences and perspectives as reported by five gospel pianists throughout the United States. A collective case study design (Stake, 1995) was used to explore how the gospel piano style is being learned, developed, transformed, transmitted, and preserved. Research questions focused on participants’ beliefs about the stylistic transformation of gospel piano in the 21st century and factors that influences those beliefs such as past and present stylistic developments. The data generation method included semi-structured interviews, artifacts, biographies, and recordings. Findings revealed that gospel piano is: (1) primarily learned informally through aural acquisition and listening to other gospel pianists and genres; (2) developed through experiential learning through church performance with assistance from mentors and supportive networks; (3) experienced transformation in the 21st century through evolution, commercialism, infusion of new genres, virtuosic musicianship; and (4) is being transmitted and preserved through teaching, technology, notation, and scholarship. These findings provide valuable insights into the African American gospel piano style for novice and practicing gospel pianists as they continue to develop and become efficient in the genre and for music educators interested in understanding this genre and style of performance practices

The effects of songs in the foreign language classroom on text recall and involuntary mental rehearsal

This study investigated the effect of music on text recall and involuntary mental rehearsal (din) with students from four college-level Beginning Spanish classes. Two groups heard texts as songs, one group heard the same texts as speech, and one group was the control group. For the text recall variable, a cloze test was administered at the end of each song treatment to determine total words recalled. Students from one of the music groups heard the melody of the song while testing. For the din variable, students were asked to report on the amount of this phenomenon experienced. Data was collected to answer the following questions: (1) Is there a significant increase in text recall when that text is learned through the use of songs?, (2) Is there a significant difference in delayed text recall for students who learned the text with song, as compared to those who learned the text with spoken recordings?, (3) Is there a significant difference in the recall results when one group of students from the song groups hears the melody of the song during the recall test?, and (4) Is there a significant difference in the occurrence of involuntary mental rehearsal after listening to song rather than text? Immediate recall of text showed higher scores for the music class in all three songs. This difference reached significance in Songs 1 and 3. Delayed text recall showed no significant difference between the classes. There was no advantage observed for the group that heard the background melody during testing. Overall results for the din occurrence showed a significant difference between the classes. Students in the classes that heard music reported a higher occurrence of this phenomenon than did those who heard only spoken text. Students of the melody group reported a significantly higher frequency than did students from the text group. These findings suggest that the use of songs in the foreign language classroom may aid memory of text. The results evidenced that the occurrence of the din is increased with music, and therefore may be a more efficient way to stimulate language acquisition

Exploring the Implementation of Online Non-Formal Project-Based Language Learning in the Indonesian Context

Proficiency in English is highly valued in Indonesia. Consequently, the low language attainment amongst learners despite years of compulsory English classes has been a cause for concern. This qualitative study explores the use of multiple Web 2.0 technologies (Facebook, WhatsApp, Google Docs, and LINE) to facilitate non-formal English language teaching and learning in Indonesia. Project-based language learning (PBLL) was chosen as the pedagogy to create meaningful opportunities for target language use and practice beyond the classroom. Taking on a dual role as a teacher and researcher, I carried out two rounds of data collection (four weeks each) which involved a total of 21 undergraduate students from across Indonesia. Participants were asked to collaboratively create the contents for an English learning website targeting elementary-school children. Adopting the role of a facilitator, I provided extensive support, guidance and encouragement. Rich online data were gathered from all of the Web 2.0 tools employed in the study. In addition, data were collected from a research diary, learners’ reflections, and post-study interviews. All data were subsequently analysed using qualitative content analysis within an interpretivist paradigm. The findings show that many learners may not be ready for, or readily engage with, the student-centred learning approach championed by PBLL. This is evidenced by generally low levels of learner participation. Learners reported several obstacles to their engagement during the project: language anxiety; external commitments beyond the project; and technological issues. A minority of participants who persevered, and participated actively, successfully produced their chosen artefact within the study time frame. PBLL afforded four types of language learning opportunities: form-focused instruction, peer review, interaction in the target language, and collaborative dialogue. Learners’ feedback reveals that they viewed their online non-formal PBLL experiences differently: What some learners considered positive aspects of the project, could be considered negative or challenging by others, and vice versa. Despite this, all learners agreed that the project benefited them albeit in different ways. The study makes a valuable contribution to the literature on PBLL, offering new insights regarding its integration into online teaching and learning in a non-formal context. The study is unique as it closely scrutinises both the complexities of implementing online PBLL in non-formal education and navigating various digital technologies in the process of language teaching and learning. The demands for English language learning in Indonesia and similar countries, are vast and consequently the implications of this study are relevant for a number of educational contexts. In recognition of this, strategies are suggested to assist the implementation of non-formal online PBLL in the future

A TRIPLE CASE STUDY OF TWO SAUDI AND ONE ITALIAN LANGUAGE LEARNERS\u27 SELF-PERCEPTIONS OF TARGET LANGUAGE (TL) SPEAKING PROFICIENCY

This triple case study examined the diverse ways in which two Saudis and one Italian English language learner (ELL) came to speaking proficiency according to his or her own perceptions and observations. The researcher conducted interviews of the two Saudi ELLs face-to-face and the one Italian ELL through Skype by asking 15 open-ended questions related to their English language learning experiences (narrative inquiry) specifically related to speaking proficiency from their beginning learning through the present. This study was not intended as a contrastive analysis. The researcher was a monolingual English speaker with beginning experience in Korean and Spanish, and was currently working to become proficient in Italian. She has taught English at the elementary level in South Korea for several years and has tutored Italian ELLs of all ages ranging from the elementary age through later adulthood. The researcher’s findings have indicated four categories identified as instrumental in these learners’ paths to speaking proficiency. The categories included authentic exposure to English through different mediums, frequent exposure through practice and repetition, interactive practice with peers and others at a higher level of speaking proficiency, and a reason to study English that motivated them and combined their interests whether it was through need, enjoyment or personal achievement