AXMEDIS 2007 Conference Proceedings

The AXMEDIS International Conference series has been established since 2005 and is focused on the research, developments and applications in the cross-media domain, exploring innovative technologies to meet the challenges of the sector. AXMEDIS2007 deals with all subjects and topics related to cross-media and digital-media content production, processing, management, standards, representation, sharing, interoperability, protection and rights management. It addresses the latest developments and future trends of the technologies and their applications, their impact and exploitation within academic, business and industrial communities

An Overview on Networked Music Performance Technologies

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Moving sounds and sonic moves : exploring interaction quality of embodied music mediation technologies through a user-centered perspective

This research project deals with the user-experience related to embodied music mediation technologies. More specifically, adoption and policy problems surrounding new media (art) are considered, which arise from the usability issues that to date pervade new interfaces for musical expression. Since the emergence of new wireless mediators and control devices for musical expression, there is an explicit aspiration of the creative industries and various research centers to embed such technologies into different areas of the cultural industries. The number of applications and their uses have exponentially increased over the last decade. Conversely, many of the applications to date still suffer from severe usability problems, which not only hinder the adoption by the cultural sector, but also make culture participants take a rather cautious, hesitant, or even downright negative stance towards these technologies. Therefore, this thesis takes a vantage point that is in part sociological in nature, yet has a link to cultural studies as well. It combines this with a musicological frame of reference to which it introduces empirical user-oriented approaches, predominantly taken from the field of human-computer-interaction studies. This interdisciplinary strategy is adopted to cope with the complex nature of digital embodied music controlling technologies. Within the Flanders cultural (and creative) industries, opportunities of systems affiliated with embodied interaction are created and examined. This constitutes an epistemological jigsaw that looks into 1) “which stakeholders require what various levels of involvement, what interactive means and what artistic possibilities?”, 2) “the way in which artistic aspirations, cultural prerequisites and operational necessities of (prospective) users can be defined?”, 3) “how functional, artistic and aesthetic requirements can be accommodated?”, and 4) “how quality of use and quality of experience can be achieved, quantified, evaluated and, eventually, improved?”. Within this multi-facetted problem, the eventual aim is to assess the applicability of the foresaid technology, both from a theoretically and empirically sound basis, and to facilitate widening and enhancing the adoption of said technologies. Methodologically, this is achieved by 1) applied experimentation, 2) interview techniques, 3) self-reporting and survey research, 4) usability evaluation of existing devices, and 5) human-computer interaction methods applied – and attuned – to the specific case of embodied music mediation technologies. Within that scope, concepts related to usability, flow, presence, goal assessment and game enjoyment are scrutinized and applied, and both task- and experience-oriented heuristics and metrics are developed and tested. In the first part, covering three chapters, the general context of the thesis is given. In the first chapter, an introduction to the topic is offered and the current problems are enumerated. In the second chapter, a broader theoretical background is presented of the concepts that underpin the project, namely 1) the paradigm of embodiment and its connection to musicology, 2) a state of the arts concerning new interfaces for musical expression, 3) an introduction into HCI-usability and its application domain in systematic musicology, 4) an insight into user-centered digital design procedures, and 5) the challenges brought about by e-culture and digitization for the cultural-creative industries. In the third chapter, the state of the arts concerning the available methodologies related to the thesis’ endeavor is discussed, a set of literature-based design guidelines are enumerated and from this a conceptual model is deduced which is gradually presented throughout the thesis, and fully deployed in the “SoundField”-project (as described in Chapter 9). The following chapters, contained in the second part of the thesis, give a quasi-chronological overview of how methodological concepts have been applied throughout the empirical case studies, aimed specifically at the exploration of the various aspects of the complex status quaestionis. In the fourth chapter, a series of application-based tests, predominantly revolving around interface evaluation, illustrate the complex relation between gestural interfaces and meaningful musical expression, advocating a more user-centered development approach to be adopted. In the fifth chapter, a multi-purpose questionnaire dubbed “What Moves You” is discussed, which aimed at creating a survey of the (prospective) end-users of embodied music mediation technologies. Therefore, it primarily focused on cultural background, musical profile and preferences, views on embodied interaction, literacy of and attitudes towards new technology and participation in digital culture. In the sixth chapter, the ethnographical studies that accompanied the exhibition of two interactive art pieces, entitled "Heart as an Ocean" & "Lament", are discussed. In these studies, the use of interview and questionnaire methodologies together with the presentation and reception of interactive art pieces, are probed. In the seventh chapter, the development of the collaboratively controlled music-game “Sync-In-Team” is presented, in which interface evaluation, presence, game enjoyment and goal assessment are the pivotal topics. In the eighth chapter, two usability studies are considered, that were conducted on prototype systems/interfaces, namely a heuristic evaluation of the “Virtual String” and a usability metrics evaluation on the “Multi-Level Sonification Tool”. The findings of these two studies in conjunction with the exploratory studies performed in association with the interactive art pieces, finally gave rise to the “SoundField”-project, which is recounted in full throughout the ninth chapter. The integrated participatory design and evaluation method, presented in the conceptual model is fully applied over the course of the “SoundField”-project, in which technological opportunities and ecological validity and applicability are investigated through user-informed development of numerous use cases. The third and last part of the thesis renders the final conclusions of this research project. The tenth chapter sets out with an epilogue in which a brief overview is given on how the state of the arts has evolved since the end of the project (as the research ended in 2012, but the research field has obviously moved on), and attempts to consolidate the implications of the research studies with some of the realities of the Flemish cultural-creative industries. Chapter eleven continues by discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the conceptual model throughout the various stages of the project. Also, it comprises the evaluation of the hypotheses, how the assumptions that were made held up, and how the research questions eventually could be assessed. Finally, the twelfth and last chapter concludes with the most important findings of the project. Also, it discusses some of the implications on cultural production, artistic research policy and offers an outlook on future research beyond the scope of the “SoundField” project

Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Live Coding

Open Access peer reviewed papers on live coding published at the 1st International Conference on Live Coding (ICLC) in Leeds

The Presence of Groove in Online Songwriting Projects

Collaboration for groups with members who are disconnected by geography or time is convenient for many reasons, but remains a challenge due to time zone differences, network congestion, and the attenuation of nonverbal communication cues. Virtual collaborators engaging in creative work often deal with these challenges, even more so when tasked with expressing their emotions to distant partners. This study seeks to determine the social factors and tools that impact the quality of an online creative collaboration. Members of the Kompoz.com music composition community were surveyed to solicit projects that had the potential to be optimal collaborations. Judges listened to these songs and measured how much each song prompted them to move. This measure, called groove, was used as an indication of a successful collaboration. Judges assisted in selecting one case that was an exemplar of groove, and another that urged them to move much less, to stand as an exemplar of diminished groove. The comparative case method was used to compare and contrast the tools, social practices, and skills employed in each project, and offers guidelines for the design of and participation in online creative communities

Enjoy Playing! : Introducing a new technology-based together playing approach to complement traditional teaching in music schools : A study of an audio supported practice aid for first and second grade string instrument students

This thesis introduces and explores a new aural based approach for play-together education of first- and second-grade string instrument students in music school. The research problems are to create a music technology based teaching method and to study violin and play-together learning in the context of music technological applications. The theoretical background is based on new learning environments, blended learning and flipped classroom in music education. In this recent method, Playback Orchestra, the students practice their part with the support of an audio of the full score, in most cases the playback of a notation program. Hearing the audio supports learning the harmony, rhythm, and dynamic changes. The learning situation is a kind of a virtual play-together rehearsal: it is essential that playing continues without stopping at mistakes, which are corrected afterwards. The method is a learning by doing approach and the flow-like practicing strategy develops flexibility, which is essential in play-together situations. The Playback Orchestra method was tested with first (N=10) and second (N=4) grade string instrument students of a music school with a quasi-experimental study design. The test group (playback group) practiced a score with the support of an audio and the control group (no playback group) without it. The aim was to find out if there were differences between study groups in learning. The first research question was: which playing skills possibly benefit from the audio background, the performance as a whole, understanding the atmosphere, style and general structure of the music, right and left hand technique, reading the score, or play-together skills. The second research question was concerned with learning improvisation: does the audio background support starting the improvisation decisively, continuing it intensively and logically, finding and maintaining the flow and atmosphere, finding own ideas and showing independence and joy of playing, using relaxed movements and creating a general structure in the improvisation. Two professional violin teachers evaluated the play performances from video before and after a practice period and the quantitative analysis was made with SPSS 22 using general linear model and linear mixed model, which can be applied for small study groups. The results showed that when the piece of music to be learned was a main melody of a chamber music composition, the playback group had learned faster than the other group essential features connected with understanding the musical content: the style and atmosphere and the general structure of the music. The playback group had learned musical communication and leading a group by playing better than the no playback group. This finding was significant in large numbers. Concerning the instrument specific technique, audio background seemed not to have clear beneficial effects. However, the students learned to use singing bow style when practicing with the support of a CD track from film music better than without it, the difference was significant in large numbers. When the score to be learned was in baroque style, expressing terrace dynamics , an essential feature of the genre, benefited from the audio background in significant numbers. The improvisation study was a by-product when testing the learning of a musical tale with many sections in different keys, playing styles and atmospheres. The improvisation task was to describe storm by playing. The results showed that musical story telling in improvisation passage benefited from practicing the musical tale with the playback support. Because the study groups were small, the results cannot be widely generalised. However, the aural based approach seems to create a good basis for learning deep understanding of musical content. Further, because learning is fast, using the Playback Orchestra method makes possible for instrument teachers to create well-working play-together culture with large repertoires. The pedagogy of music institutions at its best includes both traditional and new learning environments, such as blended learning. New technological applications can benefit playing and play-together skills and lead to richer musical expression and joy of playing. More research and open-mindedness is needed in order to the new ways of thinking, using and developing new tools could be included in the curricula of music institutions. In this way using the traditional methods together with new approaches the appreciated Finnish music education system can develop and offer even better quality of education. ________________________________________ Keywords: string instrument education, orchestra teaching in music schools, technology-based music education, new music learning envi-ronments, blended learningTämän artikkelipohjaisen väitöstutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää kuulopohjaisen oppimismenetelmän toimivuutta musiikkikoulun ensimmäisen ja toisen perustason jousisoitinopiskelijoiden yhteismusisoinnin opetuksessa. Tutkimustehtävänä on luoda uutta instrumenttipedagogista tietoa ja kehittää musiikkiteknologiaa hyödyntävä menetelmä viulunsoiton ja yhteismusisoinnin opetukseen. Tutkimuksen teoreettisen taustan muodostavat uusien oppimisympäristöjen, kuten sulautuvan oppimisen (blended learning) ja käänteisen luokkahuoneen (flipped classroom) kaltaisten mallien tarkastelu musiikkikasvatukselliseen kontekstiin liitettynä. Tarkasteltavassa oppimismenetelmässä oppilas harjoittelee omaa soitto-osuuttaan soivan taustan tuella. Taustana käytetään useimmissa tapauksissa nuotinnusohjelman playbackiä. Taustan avulla opitaan kuulemalla musiikin harmonia, rytmikuviot, dynaamiset vaihtelut ja artikulaatiotavat. Menetelmää kutsutaan nimellä Playback Orchestra. Kysymyksessä on eräänlainen virtuaalinen yhteissoittoharjoitus, jota voidaan käyttää sekä kotona että omalla soittotunnilla harjoittelun tukena. Menetelmässä on olennaista soiton keskeytymätön jatkuminen orkesteriharjoitusten tapaan. Virheisiin ei takerruta tai pysähdytä vaan ne korjataan jälkeenpäin, mikä tukee yhteissoitossa tarvittavan joustavuuden kehittymistä. Koska soittamaan opitaan soittamalla, kysymyksessä on uutta teknologiaa hyödyntävä kokemuksellinen (learning by doing) tapa oppia. Playback Orchestra menetelmää testattiin tässä tutkimuksessa musiikkikoulun ensimmäisen (N=10) ja toisen perustason (N=4) jousioppilailla kvasi-eksperimentaalisella koeasetelmalla, jossa testityhmä (playback ryhmä) oli harjoitellut yhteissoittokappaletta soivan taustan tuella ja kontrolliryhmä (no playback ryhmä) ilman taustaa. Tutkimuksessa haluttiin selvittää, voidaanko koe- ja kontrolliryhmän välillä havaita eroja soittajien edistymisessä. Ensimmäinen tutkimuskysymys oli, mitkä soiton osa-alueet mahdollisesti hyötyvät soivan taustan antamasta tuesta: soittosuorituksen kokonaisuus, tyylin, tunnelman ja musiikin rakenteen hahmottaminen, vasemman ja oikean käden tekniikka, tai nuotinluvun ja yhteissoittotaitojen kehittyminen. Toiseksi tutkittiin, kehittyvätkö soittajien improvisaatiotaidot paremmin soivan taustan avulla kuin ilman sitä: onko testiryhmien välillä eroja improvisaation aloittamisessa, intensiivisessä ja johdonmukaisessa jatkumisessa, kehittyykö tunnelman tavoittaminen, soittajan keskittyneisyys ja itsenäisyys, omien ideoiden keksiminen, soittamisen ilo ja rentous soitossa. Tarkasteltiin myös, tapahtuiko improvisaatiojakson kokonaismuodon luominen paremmin soivan taustan tuella, vai ilman playback-taustaa harjoitelleilla soittajilla. Kaksi musiikkiopiston viulunsoitonopettajaa arvioi numeerisesti soittoesitykset videolta ennen ja jälkeen harjoittelujakson. Testitulokset analysoitiin kvantitatiivisesti SPSS 22 ohjelmalla käyttäen general linear model- testiä sekä pienille aineistoille soveltuvaa linear mixed model- testiä tulosten tulkitsemisen pohjaksi. Tutkimustulokset osoittivat, että harjoiteltaessa nuottia, joka oli yhteissoittokappaleen päämelodia, playback-taustan avulla harjoitellut ryhmä oppi toista ryhmää paremmin keskeisiä musiikin ymmärtämiseen liittyviä piirteitä, kuten tyylin ja tunnelman tavoittaminen ja kappaleen rakenteen hahmottaminen, sekä kehittyi musiikillisessa kommunikoinnissa tilastollisesti erittäin merkitsevästi paremmin kuin kontrolliryhmä. Ryhmien välillä ei havaittu merkitseviä eroja soittotekniikan kehittymisessä, poikkeuksena jousikäden soivan äänenmuodostuksen merkittävä parantuminen elokuvamusiikki-taustan kanssa harjoitelleilla toisen perustason viuluoppilailla. Barokkityylisessä orkesterikappaleessa, soivan taustan avulla opiskelleet oppilaat toteuttivat merkitsevästi paremmin tyylille ominaisen terassidynamiikan kuin verrokkiryhmän oppilaat. Improvisaatiotutkimuksessa testattiin soivan taustan toimivuutta lyhyessä musiikkisadun jaksossa, jossa tehtävänä oli kuvailla myrskyä soittamalla. Musiikkisatu koostui useista, tunnelmaltaan, sävellajeiltaan ja soittotavoiltaan erilaisista jaksoista. Tulosten perusteella voidaan todeta, että improvisaatioesityksen johdonmukainen jatkuminen, tarinan kerronta, toteutui paremmin playback-taustan avulla harjoitelleella ryhmällä. Vaikka tutkimuksen tulosten yleistettävyyttä rajoittaa tässä tutkimuksessa otannan pienuus, näyttää esitelty kuulopohjainen lähestymistapa luovan edellytykset syvällisemmälle musiikin ymmärtämiselle kuin traditionaaliseen paperinuotista opiskeluun rajoittuva oppimistapa. Tutkimuksessa kehitelty playback-menetelmä nopeuttaa oppimista ja antaa sen vuoksi soitonopettajille mahdollisuudet luoda riittävän laajoja ohjelmistoja toimivan yhteismusisoinnin kulttuurin rakentamiseksi. Musiikkioppilaitosten instrumenttipedagogiikka on parhaimmillaan kokonaisuus, jossa uudet oppimisympäristöt, teknologiset sovellukset ja sulautuvan oppimisen lähestymistavat voivat edistää oppilaan soiton ja yhteismusisoinnin taitoja sekä musiikillista ilmaisukykyä. Uuden oppimispedagogisen ajattelun ja teknologian sovittaminen musiikkioppilaitosten opetussuunnitelmiin vaatii jatkotutkimuksia ja ennakkoluulotonta lähestymistapaa liikkua erilaisia oppimisympäristöjä hyödyntäen ja niitä edelleen kehittäen. Traditioon nojaten ja uuteen ennakkoluulottomasti asennoituen voi arvostettu musiikkioppilaitosjärjestelmämme näin kehittää yhä laadukkaampaa opetusta. ________________________________________ Avainsanat: jousisoitinopetus, musiikkikoulun orkesteriopetus, musiikkiteknologia-avusteinen musiikinopetus, uudet musiikin oppimisympäristöt, sulautuva oppimine