Cakewalk Sampling

We study the task of finding good local optima in combinatorial optimization problems. Although combinatorial optimization is NP-hard in general, locally optimal solutions are frequently used in practice. Local search methods however typically converge to a limited set of optima that depend on their initialization. Sampling methods on the other hand can access any valid solution, and thus can be used either directly or alongside methods of the former type as a way for finding good local optima. Since the effectiveness of this strategy depends on the sampling distribution, we derive a robust learning algorithm that adapts sampling distributions towards good local optima of arbitrary objective functions. As a first use case, we empirically study the efficiency in which sampling methods can recover locally maximal cliques in undirected graphs. Not only do we show how our adaptive sampler outperforms related methods, we also show how it can even approach the performance of established clique algorithms. As a second use case, we consider how greedy algorithms can be combined with our adaptive sampler, and we demonstrate how this leads to superior performance in k-medoid clustering. Together, these findings suggest that our adaptive sampler can provide an effective strategy to combinatorial optimization problems that arise in practice.Comment: Accepted as a conference paper by AAAI-2020 (oral presentation

THE RISE OF WAVETABLE SYNTHESIS IN COMMERCIAL MUSIC AND ITS CREATIVE APPLICATIONS

Wavetable synthesis is a powerful tool for music creation that helps composers and producers develop their own unique sounds. Though wavetable synthesis has been utilized in music since the early 1980s, advancements in computer technologies in the 2000s and the subsequent releases of software synthesizers in the late 2000s and early 2010s has led to the increased presence of wavetable synthesis in commercial music. This thesis chronicles a historical overview of the use of wavetable synthesis in commercial music and demonstrates the accessibility and power that wavetable synthesis delivers in music creation. The demonstration portion of this thesis features two original compositions in the style of electronic dance music (EDM) that prominently incorporate original wavetable instruments created from recordings of two motorized vehicles, as well as an overview of the processes of their creation

Tap Dance : The Heartbeat of American Dance Culture

Tap dance is an American dance form that, even today, continues to evolve and reinvent itself. This MFA thesis project is a thirteen-minute dance film with original music and choreography that examines and explores tap dance through the lens of Afrocentric and Eurocentric dance and cultural aesthetics, and how they have intermixed and been reinvented throughout tap dance’s history and evolution. I conducted research on Africanist and Eurocentric cultural aesthetics, tap dance history with a focus on America’s underlying racial relationships represented in the dance form’s development, cultural contexts of the various styles and sub-genres of tap dance, and technology used in producing creative content in the era of digital media. As an artistic response that is both highly engaging and entertaining, the film successfully represents and celebrates tap dance’s cultural diversity and promotes the cultural common ground found in the art form. In doing so, I aspire to generate a deeper understanding of tap dance’s cultural significance to a broader audience, and showcase how tap dance represents American dance culture

An Architecture for the Java VST Wrapper that supports the Implementation of Digital Sound Synthesis Algorithms in an Educational Environment

A framework to support the development, in an educational environment, of real-time, digital sound synthesis algorithms is proposed. Sound synthesis algorithms are an important subset of Digital Signal Processing (DSP), and are an excellent way of teaching the application issues of many DSP concepts. Steinberg’s Virtual Studio Technology (VST) is a very flexible format for creating digital sound synthesis and audio effect plugin applications. The company provides an associated C/C++ SDK, and an open source wrapper (jVSTwRapper) is available that allows the plugin code to be written in Java. However, the jVSTwRapper documentation is sparse, and examples bundled are difficult to extrapolate from, reducing its effectiveness in an educational context. A simpler architecture allows synthesis algorithms to implemented more easily, keeping the focus on the algorithms themselves and not on customising the supporting VST code. This paper proposes such an architecture, comprising a novel generalised voicing structure for the JVSTwRapper, taking advantage of the benefits that the Java language offers for students

Building Blocks of a National Style: An Examination of Topics and Gestures in Nineteenth-Century American Music as Exemplified in Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha

Even though America’s musical elite undertook a veritable boycott of American talent during the nineteenth century, efforts to define concert life along Germanic lines did not prevent the development of a distinctly American sound. The groundwork was laid in the first half of the century in folk songs, national airs, and popular tunes from minstrel shows. It came to fruition after the Civil War, and by the 1920s, all of the elements were in place for an easily recognizable “American Style.” The development of musical topics to evoke the idea of “American” was essential in establishing this style. Most topical studies focus on European art music. This study explores the roots of the topics and gestures that underlie the music of the United States — through an examination of popular songs, folk music, social dances, salon music, and orchestral works — that demonstrates how specific gestures were transformed into topics: signifiers of various peoples, regions, or social classes. It also details barriers to the establishment of a uniquely American style, including the nation’s cultural inferiority complex with regard to its European artistic heritage, the systematic dismissal of native-born talent, and the impact of critics, conductors, and patrons on the development of an American school of composition. Racism and classism are also addressed, as they too were factors in the nation’s search for its artistic identity. A “Dictionary of Topics” specific to American music and a topical analysis of Scott Joplin’s 1911 opera Treemonisha demonstrate not only how African-American topoi, Afro-Cuban rhythms, and European art music traditions combine in America’s classical music, but also how this combination led directly to the formation of an authentically American sound. The identification of previously overlooked racial and religious topics in the opera deepen our understanding of Joplin’s life, his beliefs, and ultimately contribute to a more nuanced understanding of Treemonisha

Cook, Will Mercer

Title: Papers, 1890-1985 Description: 8 linear ft. Notes: Scholar and diplomat. Includes papers related to Cook and also his parents, composer Will Marion Cook (1869-1944), and singer and actress Abbie Mitchell (1884-1960). The papers document Mercer\u27s dual careers as scholar of the French language and Francophone literature and as diplomat to Niger, Senegal, Gambia and to the United Nations. Papers concerning Will Marion include correspondence, business papers, writings, and sheet music. Among the papers of Mitchell\u27s are correspondence, programs, and a recording of Mitchell singing. Subjects: Actors and actresses; Mitchell, Abbie Authors; Cook, Will Mercer Briggs, Arthur Composers; Cook, Will Marion Cook, Marion A. Cook, Will Marion Diplomats; Cook, Will Mercer Educators; Cook, Will Mercer Gambia; Diplomatic and consular service; Cook, Will Mercer, ambassador Howard University; Faculty; Cook, Will Mercer Mitchell, Abbie Music; Collections; Cook, Will Marion Niger; Diplomatic and consular service; Cook, Will Mercer, ambassador Oral histories; Briggs, Arthur Oral histories; Cook, Will Mercer Senegal; Diplomatic and consular service; Cook, Will Mercer, ambassador Senghor, Leopold Singers; Mitchell, Abbie Translators; Cook, Will Mercer Location: Howard University, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center (Washington, DC) NIDS Fiche #: 4.72.15

Exploring the multi-generational influence of American ragtime music through the works of Charles Ives, William Walton and William Bolcom

Ragtime music is a style of popular music established in America that came to prominence between the years of 1896 and 1918. It is believed to have its roots in Blackface minstrel shows, it\u27s defining feature, the heavily syncopated rhythm, quickly becoming a stereotype of African-American music. This thesis will explore the multi-generational influence of American Ragtime music on the art-music world through the works of Charles Ives (1874-1954), William Walton (1902-1983), and William Bolcom (1938-). It will timeline the undulating influence of Ragtime music on these subsequent generations of composers, noting in particular the revivals of the 1940\u27s and late 1960 - 1970\u27s. This thesis will investigate the change and progression of Ragtime music\u27s associated meanings and their implications on the work of succeeding generations of composers, centering discussion on the issues of racism, cultural hegemony, and the stylistic bias underpinning both the segregation and amalgamation of \u27popular\u27 and \u27serious\u27 music. Examining one piece from the oeuvre of each composer listed, this thesis will discuss issues pertaining to both the ideology of Ragtime music, and the technical employment of its stylistic conventions

TheROOTS : Bridging the Gap Between Africa, Minstrelsy and Hip Hop

TheROOTS: Bridging the Gap between Afi ica, Minstrelsy and Hip Hop IS a thesis project written to look at the effects minstrelsy had on the early development of black dance in the United States, to pay tribute to Professor Sterling Stuckey\u27s research on slave culture, and the African-based tradition of the Ring Shout, which is performed in the Southern United States, as well as examine the contributions that African American, Jamaican, Afro-Brazilian and Puerto Rican culture, dance and music had on the early development of hip hop. The root of Hip Hop shows how artistic movements can be a vehicle for social change, cultural identity and passive/aggressive resistance against oppression

Mobile Advertising and Its Impact on the Customers Mind: Case of New Delhi (India)

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