Estimation of Guitar Fingering and Plucking Controls based on Multimodal Analysis of Motion, Audio and Musical Score

This work presents a method for the extraction of instrumental controls during guitar performances. The method is based on the analysis of multimodal data consisting of a combination of motion capture, audio analysis and musical score. High speed video cameras based on marker identification are used to track the position of finger bones and articulations and audio is recorded with a transducer measuring vibration on the guitar body. The extracted parameters are divided into left hand controls, i.e. fingering (which string and fret is pressed with a left hand finger) and right hand controls, i.e. the plucked string, the plucking finger and the characteristics of the pluck (position, velocity and angles with respect to the string). Controls are estimated based on probability functions of low level features, namely, the plucking instants (i.e. note onsets), the pitch and the distances of the fingers (both hands) to strings and frets. Note onsets are detected via audio analysis, the pitch is extracted from the score and distances are computed from 3D Euclidean Geometry. Results show that by combination of multimodal information, it is possible to estimate such a comprehensive set of control features, with special high performance for the fingering and plucked string estimation. Regarding the plucking finger and the pluck characteristics, their accuracy gets lower but improvements are foreseen including a hand model and the use of high-speed cameras for calibration and evaluation.A. Perez-Carrillo was supported by a Beatriu de Pinos grant 2010 BP-A 00209 by the Catalan Research Agency (AGAUR) and J. Ll. Arcos was supported by ICT -2011-8-318770 and 2009-SGR-1434 projectsPeer reviewe

A Weighted Individual Performance-Based Assessment for Middle School Orchestral Strings: Establishing Validity and Reliability

The study established the validity and reliability of a weighted individual performance-based assessment tool within the utility scope of middle school orchestral strings. The following research questions guided this study: 1. What specific string-playing behaviors and corresponding criteria validate a weighted individual performance-based assessment tool for middle school orchestral strings? 2. What are the psychometric properties of the weighted individual performance-based assessment tool in authentic situations? For Research Question 1, the expert panel and I were able to 100% mutually agree on 10 string-playing behaviors: tempo, rhythm, tone, pitch, intonation, technique, bowing, dynamics, phrasing, and posture that created the DISAT. Being interdependent, these string-playing behaviors are relevant because they encompass every necessary facet of orchestral string performance (Zdzinski & Barnes, 2002). According to Zdzinski and Barnes (2002), an orchestral string performance assessment must evaluate each facet of a participant’s playing ability to rate the overall musicianship. Bergee and Rossin (2019) stated in their research that it is important to have various aspects of a performance utilized in a musical assessment. The DISAT obtained reliability of 0.872 by having enough variance between raters in the authentic situation. Linacre (2015) stated that reliability greater than 0.8 is acceptable to v distinguish separation between raters. Combined with the expert panel\u27s 100% mutual agreement on content validity, this proved the DISAT to be a valid and reliable assessment tool for individual performance-based orchestral strings assessment (AERA, APA, & NCME, 2014). The DISAT can be utilized by districts and middle school orchestral string music teachers in North Carolina. Being a consistent, objective tool, the DISAT can standardize our approach to middle school orchestral string music education assessment (AERA, APA, & NCME, 2014). The data collected by the DISAT could easily track the musical progression of students while giving opportunities for constructive, purposeful feedback

Perceptions of discrepancies between intentions and outcomes during music practice : differences among musicians with varied levels of experience and expertise

Errors are an inherent and necessary part of learning in all dimensions of human activity. In order to effectively encode and refine procedural memories, learners must experience attempts to accomplish goals, perceive discrepancies between the results of their attempts and their intended outcomes, and adjust their behavior to accommodate those discrepancies. The extent to which music practice results in positive changes in the quality of performance and extent of performers’ facility is in part a function of the precision of learners’ physical and auditory goals and learners’ discrimination of discrepancies between those goals and the outcomes their movements produce. We designed three experiments to examine musicians’ perceptions of their own others’ practice. In Experiment 1, immediately after recording individual practice sessions, high school, college, and professional musicians listened to their recordings and pressed a computer key to mark moments of discrepancy between what they had intended while practicing and what they heard on the recordings; in Experiment 2, the high school and professional participants from Experiment 1 repeated the task 2 years later; in Experiment 3, high school and professional participants heard practice recordings of four other violinists’ practice (two artist-level experts and two competent students), and pressed the key each time they heard a discrepancy between what they heard on the recordings and what they would have intended had they been the practicer. In Experiment 1, the mean rates of keypresses did not differ among the high school, undergraduate, graduate, and professional participants, although there were large within-group variances. When the high school and professional participants in Experiment 1 returned after 2 years and performed the same task with their original recordings, high school participants marked significantly more discrepancies, but the mean rate of keypresses among professionals did not increase. In Experiment 3, professionals marked significantly more discrepancies than did high school participants, but and the mean rates of keypresses within each group did not differ among recordings by professionals and high school musicians. These results are consistent with the notion that the precision of performance goals and the acuity of perceptual discrimination are central features of musical expertise.Musi

Musical Haptics

Haptic Musical Instruments; Haptic Psychophysics; Interface Design and Evaluation; User Experience; Musical Performanc