An Expert System for Guitar Sheet Music to Guitar Tablature

This project applies analysis, design and implementation of the Optical Music Recognition (OMR) to an expert system for transforming guitar sheet music to guitar tablature. The first part includes image processing and music semantic interpretation to interpret and transform sheet music or printed scores into editable and playable electronic form. Then after importing the electronic form of music into internal data structures, our application uses effective pruning to explore the entire search space to find the best guitar tablature. Also considered are alternate guitar tunings and transposition of the music to improve the resulting tablature

Across the South: The origins and development of the steel guitar in western swing

In the early 1930s, the steel guitar, a Hawaiian invention of the late 19th century, was adopted by musicians in an emerging form of dance music known as western swing, a subgenre of country music. The design of the newly amplified instrument and the style of its players underwent continual change as the music of the genre evolved. However, in the 1950s, as the popularity of western swing declined, the steel guitar was completely supplanted by the pedal steel guitar and a new stylistic approach that it enabled. Through transcription and analysis the study offers new perspectives on what have been anecdotal observations surrounding the various stages in development of the steel guitar between 1935 and 1955.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Elder Conservatorium of Music, 201

The Long Lives of Old Lutes: The Cultural and Material History of the Veneration of Old Musical Instruments

This study examines the object biographies of musical instruments and the function of age in the cultural and material history of the lute. It follows the central question of why old instruments were valued more greatly than new ones and what measures had to be executed to adapt the objects to the ever-changing musical style. It traces the lute in its several cultural functions from the 17th to the 19th century: as a musical instrument, as a symbol, as a commodity, and as an object that had to be adapted, repaired, and altered by several generations of lute makers. This interdisciplinary approach uses a broad spectrum of sources from treatises, lute manuals, forewords in printed lute music, and depictions of lutes in literature, poetry, and visual arts to construct a narrative of the appreciation of old musical instruments. It investigates the material changes that were necessary to ensure their continued use by a profound study of more than 100 instruments in public and private collections. The different business models and prices in the trade of lutes are compared and connected to the common knowledge about old instruments and their brand characteristics among lute players. This study employs methods from musicology, organology, material culture studies, acoustics, economics, art history, technology, and digital humanities. This multivalent approach enhances the understanding of the general dynamics of commodities as status symbols, object biographies, and functional objects and connects them to the material and cultural history of objects using the lute as a case study.Die Studie untersucht die Objektbiografien von Musikinstrumenten und die Funktion des Alters für die kulturelle und materielle Geschichte von Lauteninstrumenten. Sie geht der zentralen Frage nach, warum alte Instrumente höher geschätzt wurden als neue und welche Maßnahmen ergriffen werden mussten, um die Objekte an den sich ständig verändernden Musikstil anzupassen. Sie verfolgt die Laute in ihren verschiedenen kulturellen Funktionen vom 17. bis zum 19. Jahrhundert: als Musikinstrument, als Symbol, als Gebrauchsgegenstand und als Objekt, das von mehreren Generationen von Lautenbauern angepasst, repariert und verändert werden musste. Der interdisziplinäre Ansatz nutzt ein breites Spektrum von Quellen wie Traktate, Lautenhandbücher, Vorworte in gedruckter Lautenmusik und Darstellungen von Lauten in Literatur, Poesie und bildender Kunst, um die Geschichte der Wertschätzung alter Musikinstrumente nachzuverfolgen. Anhand einer eingehenden Untersuchung von mehr als 100 Instrumenten in öffentlichen und privaten Sammlungen werden die Eingriffe untersucht, die notwendig waren, um ihre weitere Nutzung zu gewährleisten. Die unterschiedlichen Geschäftsmodelle und Preise im Handel mit Lauten werden verglichen und mit dem Wissensvorrat unter Lautenisten über alte Instrumente und deren Markencharakteristiken in Verbindung gebracht. Die Studie verwendet Methoden aus der Musikwissenschaft, der Organologie, der materiellen Kulturwissenschaft, der Akustik, der Ökonomie, der Kunstgeschichte, der Instrumentenbautechnologie und der Digital Humanities. Der multivalente Ansatz verbessert das Verständnis der allgemeinen Dynamik von Waren als Statussymbole, von Objektbiografien funktionaler Objekte und verbindet sie mit der materiellen und kulturellen Geschichte der Objekte am Beispiel der Laute

“Curious inventions”: Carlo Farina's Capriccio stravagante

Carlo Farina's 1627 Capriccio Stravagante uses four violin-family instruments (violin, two violas, and a violoncello-range instrument) to mimic other instruments such as trumpets, shawms, organs, and guitars. This investigation seeks to equip the modern performer by framing the piece in the context of contemporary understandings and techniques. Carlo Farina and the Capriccio model the influence of emerging tastes for Italian practices and musicians in the courts of northern Europe, and for the violin as an individually idiomatic solo instrument. Marin Mersenne identified the violin's specific strength as its versatile ability to adopt the timbre and musical idioms of other instruments, as demonstrated in the Capriccio. One of the primary tasks facing the modern interpreter is to identify the instruments which Farina imitates throughout the piece. The Lira, for example, is not the lira da braccio but the hurdy-gurdy, and Il tremulant is not a string tremolo technique but an organ setting. Chapter V of this analysis examines each mimicked instrument in turn and considers their period performance practice and repertoire, extrapolating an application to violin-family instruments

Implementation of a computer-assisted method in teaching the Nyunga Nyunga Mbira

The study focuses on implementing computer-assisted instruction (CAI) as a method in teaching the nyunga nyunga mbira, to first-time music students at university. The research was undertaken at Midlands State University (MSU) in the Department of Music and Musicology I worked in the above department at MSU. I adopted the learner-centred and constructivist approach in my teaching. The study observed the cognitive load theory in multimedia, which calls for learning experiences commensurate to the mental capacities of students. Over- or under-loading students results in unfulfilled needs in teaching and learning. I enabled students’ involvement to give room to discovery learning. Through action research I aimed to find the efficacy of computer-assisted method, in teaching the mbira instrument. I chose 16 students (5 females and 11 males), on the basis of convenience and availability as music students. The 16 students covered 4 hours every week for two semesters, giving a total time of 128 hours of instruction and practice. The students were exposed to 10 nyunga nyunga mbira tunes. The method provided guidance to the playing of the instrument via the colour code (black, green and red) and audio playback. The method used a software based tuning guide for performers to tune their instruments. The method however requires adequate resources in basic computer skills, staff notation, rhythm and pitch prior to teaching. The study reveals that students need adequate materials and apt work (cognitive load theory) to avoid over and under loading them. Also playback enables students to gradually gain confidence as they learnt to play the tunes, the volume and tempo are adjustable to suit the needs of students. I discovered that the instructor should analyse and study each tune carefully so that complex tunes are taught at a later time after students have gained confidence in using the method. It was noted that materials for teaching should be sequenced from simple to complex to enable skills acquisition. All the students managed to play the 10 tunes at their own paces as their performance was above average. It is concluded that CAI requires sufficient guidance to reduce on instructor’s personal involvement. The method requires enough resources in terms skills of instructors, and purchase of requirements, in computers and notation software. It is practically feasible to apply CAI as a method in the tuition of the nyunga nyunga mbira. I recommend the use of the colour code instead of numbers as aide to sight-reading. Complex tunes require more time hence their introduction should be delayed. Basic knowledge in computers and music theory are critical for students to play mbira using CAI. The size of class should range 15-20 and a number more than 20 should be divided into two groups for adequate management of resources. I recommend that research be done with other mbira types played at universities.Art History, Visual Arts and Musicolog

Variations on the Loops: An investigation into the use of digital technology in music education in secondary schools

This thesis examines how nine teachers in four New Zealand secondary schools are using digital technology in music education in order to gain a greater understanding of how it is used, why it is used and what constraints may exist that hinder implementation. This thesis contends that although there was evidence of considerable use of digital technology in the schools, particularly in composition activities, a range of factors are influencing the choices teachers are making as to how they are using it. Despite the potential digital technology may have to transform classroom activities in music education, usage, in most cases, remains fundamentally conservative and heavily informed by traditional Western art music practices. A multi-site case study approach guided this investigation. Initial descriptive numerical data were gathered from teacher and student questionnaires. Further data came from the semi-structured interviews with teachers and small groups of students in each of the four cases. Findings from the data showed that although the teachers participating in the study had a range of digital technology available to them and they made use of it on a regular basis, a range of factors influenced the choices they made when using it in their classrooms. Amongst this range of factors influencing the choices they made, the most important appeared to be the requirements of an external examination system that is remains informed by Western art music practices and in particular on the cognitive dimensions of analysis, harmony, music history, traditional aural skills and an understanding of music notation and theory. Even though there are specific references to a range of styles and genres in the mandated national curriculum, Western art music practices remain most important to most of the teachers. Findings from the student data showed that the students participating in this study appeared to have a high level of digital literacy and were able to use digital technology in both formal and informal learning situations. A number of the students also discussed and demonstrated their informal music learning skills in performance and composition activities. For these students, contemporary music practices are very important to them and if they do not receive the information they need at school they know how to access it using a range of digital devices in an informal learning environment. This thesis contends that to be a successful music educator in the 21st century, the ability to work with Western art music practices and contemporary music practices is becoming an increasingly important skill

Proceedings of the 19th Sound and Music Computing Conference

Proceedings of the 19th Sound and Music Computing Conference - June 5-12, 2022 - Saint-Étienne (France). https://smc22.grame.f

Toddler music: a socio-cultural/historical examination of the musical development of two-year-olds and their carers in a child development laboratory classroom

The purpose of this study was to describe the music and musical practices two-year-olds, their caregivers, and I chose to purposefully engage in together, how this engagement reflected what was valued in various communities of practice they participated in in daily life, how this engagement reflected what music and musical practices they had access to, how access was given or obtained, and the ways musical practice was transformed in an early childhood classroom through mutual participation and negotiation of cultural meanings. The theoretical framework of this study is provided by the socio-cultural/historical learning theories of Barbara Rogoff (Transformation of Participation Perspective), Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger (Situated Learning, Peripheral Participation, and Communities of Practice), as well as Lev Vygotsky (The Historical Child) and Jerome Bruner (Humans Predisposition to Culture). The following research questions were investigated: 1. How do the members of a two-year-old Child Development Laboratory (CDL) classroom share, negotiate, and transform musical understanding and activity through participation in a musical community of practice? 2. What are the cultural meanings behind what is shared and how are these meanings negotiated and transformed? 3. How do values and access influence what is shared, negotiated, and transformed musically in this CDL classroom? 4. What musical understandings and activities are brought into the CDL classroom and how are these musical understandings and activities shared, negotiated, and transformed? iii An interpretive, ethnographic research methodology was employed. Complete observer, observer participant, and participant observer data generation methods were employed through generating field notes and video recordings over five months in an intact classroom of two-year-olds and their teachers in an early childhood center housed at a large Midwestern university. Interviews with 10 parents, two teachers, and the associate director of the center were also conducted. Codes were developed that described the development of rapport between myself and the participants, the sociocultural aspects of the musical play the children, teachers, and myself engaged in alone and together, and personal and communal recurrences that centered on musical activity between participants. Four themes related to theories of sociocultural development that formed the conceptual framework of the study were observed during the data generation process. 1. Music play occurred when singing, recorded music, and musical instruments were introduced into play. 2. Music play involving singing, recorded music, and playing instruments transformed activity. 3. Music play that was introduced into activity was altered and expanded upon by the introduction of others’ ideas. 4. The participants understood why I was there and because of this interacted with me with musical intention during play. iv Four themes related to how spontaneous music play changed and was changed by sociocultural interactions among the participants emerged from analysis of the data. These included: 1. Spontaneous music play was the result of intentional acts between participants. 2. Spontaneous music play was the result of intersubjectivity between participants. 3. Spontaneous music play was the result of neural fabulation. 4. Spontaneous music play became recurrent through the development of a musical “We.” Implications for research and pedagogy in early childhood education were identified for early childhood educators, music educators interested in early childhood music education, and music educators who work with early childhood educators. These implications focus on the nature of spontaneity in daily sociocultural interactions through music play in early childhood settings