Towards Machine Musicians Who Have Listened to More Music Than Us: Audio Database-led Algorithmic Criticism for Automatic Composition and Live Concert Systems

Databases of audio can form the basis for new algorithmic critic systems, applying techniques from the growing field of music information retrieval to meta-creation in algorithmic composition and interactive music systems. In this article, case studies are described where critics are derived from larger audio corpora. In the first scenario, the target music is electronic art music, and two corpuses are used to train model parameters and then compared with each other and against further controls in assessing novel electronic music composed by a separate program. In the second scenario, a “real-world” application is described, where a “jury” of three deliberately and individually biased algorithmic music critics judged the winner of a dubstep remix competition. The third scenario is a live tool for automated in-concert criticism, based on the limited situation of comparing an improvising pianists' playing to that of Keith Jarrett; the technology overlaps that described in the other systems, though now deployed in real time. Alongside description and analysis of these systems, the wider possibilities and implications are discussed

Composing the Sublime:Rituals in Electroacoustic Music

Can electroacoustic music concerts become places of ritual? This question is the starting point of an analytical and practical investigation of the societal interplay of electroacoustic music and the sublime experience of acousmatic listening. The research highlights a common emphasis on the spiritual qualities and social values between electroacoustic music and religious rituals. The aim is to elevate the acousmatic concert into a powerful process of transformation. Furthermore, the research expands the framework of electroacoustic music and suggests methods for further theoretical interrogation and artistic practice. A practice-based and qualitative methodological approach is adopted, including reflective journaling, fieldwork, studio composition and artistic collaboration. Additionally, the research draws inspiration from ethnomusicological and anthropological contexts to establish a link between the evocative and transcendental atmosphere of religious rituals and electroacoustic music concerts. At the core of the research is the creative practice: a portfolio of four substantial electroacoustic music compositions which draw upon the communal experience of listening in concerts, the communication between composer and audiences and their interaction with performance spaces and the rest of the physical and supernatural world

Mobile-Based Interactive Music for Public Spaces

With the emergence of modern mobile devices equipped with various types of built-in sensors, interactive art has become easily accessible to everyone, musicians and non-musicians alike. These efficient computers are able to analyze human activity, location, gesture, etc., and based on this information dynamically change, or create an artwork in realtime. This thesis presents an interactive mobile system that solely uses the standard embedded sensors available in current typical smart devices such as phones, and tablets to create an audio-only augmented reality for a singled out public space in order to explore the potential for social-musical interaction, without the need for any significant external infrastructure

Non-Standard Sound Synthesis with Dynamic Models

Full version unavailable due to 3rd party copyright restrictions.This Thesis proposes three main objectives: (i) to provide the concept of a new generalized non-standard synthesis model that would provide the framework for incorporating other non-standard synthesis approaches; (ii) to explore dynamic sound modeling through the application of new non-standard synthesis techniques and procedures; and (iii) to experiment with dynamic sound synthesis for the creation of novel sound objects. In order to achieve these objectives, this Thesis introduces a new paradigm for non-standard synthesis that is based in the algorithmic assemblage of minute wave segments to form sound waveforms. This paradigm is called Extended Waveform Segment Synthesis (EWSS) and incorporates a hierarchy of algorithmic models for the generation of microsound structures. The concepts of EWSS are illustrated with the development and presentation of a novel non-standard synthesis system, the Dynamic Waveform Segment Synthesis (DWSS). DWSS features and combines a variety of algorithmic models for direct synthesis generation: list generation and permutation, tendency masks, trigonometric functions, stochastic functions, chaotic functions and grammars. The core mechanism of DWSS is based in an extended application of Cellular Automata. The potential of the synthetic capabilities of DWSS is explored in a series of Case Studies where a number of sound object were generated revealing (i) the capabilities of the system to generate sound morphologies belonging to other non-standard synthesis approaches and, (ii) the capabilities of the system of generating novel sound objects with dynamic morphologies. The introduction of EWSS and DWSS is preceded by an extensive and critical overview on the concepts of microsound synthesis, algorithmic composition, the two cultures of computer music, the heretical approach in composition, non- standard synthesis and sonic emergence along with the thorough examination of algorithmic models and their application in sound synthesis and electroacoustic composition. This Thesis also proposes (i) a new definition for “algorithmic composition”, (ii) the term “totalistic algorithmic composition”, and (iii) four discrete aspects of non-standard synthesis

Map, Trigger, Score, Procedure: machine-listening paradigms in live-electronics

Since the advent of real-time computer music environments, composers have increasingly incorporated DSP analysis, synthesis, and processing algorithms in their creative practices. Those processes became part of interactive systems that use real-time computational tools in musical compositions that explore diverse techniques to generate, spatialize, and process instrumental/vocal sounds. Parallel to the development of these tools and the expansion of DSP methods, new techniques focused on sound/musical information extraction became part of the tools available for music composition. In this context, this article discusses the creative use of Machine Listening and Musical Information Retrieval techniques applied in the composition of live-electronics works. By pointing out some practical applications and creative approaches, we aim to circumscribe, in a general way, the strategies for employing Machine Listening and Music Information Retrieval techniques observed in a set of live-electronics pieces, categorizing four compositional approaches, namely: mapping, triggering, scoring, and procedural paradigms of application of machine listening techniques in the context of live-electronics music compositions

Computational composition strategies in audiovisual laptop performance

We live in a cultural environment in which computer based musical performances have become ubiquitous. Particularly the use of laptops as instruments is a thriving practice in many genres and subcultures. The opportunity to command the most intricate level of control on the smallest of time scales in music composition and computer graphics introduces a number of complexities and dilemmas for the performer working with algorithms. Writing computer code to create audiovisuals offers abundant opportunities for discovering new ways of expression in live performance while simultaneously introducing challenges and presenting the user with difficult choices. There are a host of computational strategies that can be employed in live situations to assist the performer, including artificially intelligent performance agents who operate according to predefined algorithmic rules. This thesis describes four software systems for real time multimodal improvisation and composition in which a number of computational strategies for audiovisual laptop performances is explored and which were used in creation of a portfolio of accompanying audiovisual compositions

Using the Fuzzy Inductive Reasoning methodology to improve coherence in algorithmic musical beat patterns

In the present work, the Fuzzy Inductive Reasoning methodology (FIR) is used to improve coherence among beat patterns, structured in a musical A-B form. Patterns were generated based on a probability matrix, encoding a particular musical style, designed by experts. Then, all possible patterns were generated and the most probables were selected. A-B musical forms were created and the coherence of the sequence was evaluated by experts by using linguistic quantities. The output pairs (A-B pattern and its qualification) were used as inputs to train a FIR system, and the variables that produce “coherent” outputs and the relations among them where identified as rules. The extracted rules are discussed in the context of the musical form and from the psychological perception.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author’s final draft

Electroacoustic music pre-1960: historicity and ideology

A search for the antecedents of early electroacoustic music. An Illustrative survey of ideologies and methodologies pertinent to the development of electroacoustic music of three influential musicians of the period: Varese, Stockhausen and Schaeffer. Illustrative assessment of major works from these composers during this period. The musico-political situation and the tensions between the main protagonists. The impact of the technology of mass communication on the culture of the twentieth century and its musical appropriation