Deconstructing Speech: new tools for speech manipulation

My research at the London College of Communication is concerned with archives of recorded speech, what new tools need to be devised for its manipulation and how to go about this process of invention. Research into available forms of analysis of speech is discussed below with regard to two specific areas, feature vectors from linear predictive coding (LPC) analysis and hidden Markov-model-based automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems. These are discussed in order to demonstrate that whilst aspects of each may be useful in devising a system of speech-archive manipulation for artistic use. Their drawbacks and deficiencies for use in art – consequent of the reasons for their invention – necessitate the creation of tools with artistic, rather than engineering agendas in mind. It is through the initial process of devising conceptual tools for understanding speech as sound objects that I have been confronted with issues of semiotics and semantics of the voice and of the relationship between sound and meaning in speech, and of the role of analysis in mediating existing methods of communication. This is discussed with reference to Jean-Jacques Nattiez’s Music and Discourse: Towards a Semiology of Music (Nattiez 1987). The ‘trace’ – a neutral level of semiotic analysis proposed by Nattiez, far from being hypothetical as suggested by Hatten (1992: 88–98) and others, is present by analogy to many forms of mediation in modern spoken communication and the reproduction of music, and it is precisely this neutrality with regards to meaning that tools for manipulation of speech must possess, since the relationships between the sound of speech and its meaning are ‘intense’ (after Deleuze 1968

Computational and Robotic Models of Early Language Development: A Review

We review computational and robotics models of early language learning and development. We first explain why and how these models are used to understand better how children learn language. We argue that they provide concrete theories of language learning as a complex dynamic system, complementing traditional methods in psychology and linguistics. We review different modeling formalisms, grounded in techniques from machine learning and artificial intelligence such as Bayesian and neural network approaches. We then discuss their role in understanding several key mechanisms of language development: cross-situational statistical learning, embodiment, situated social interaction, intrinsically motivated learning, and cultural evolution. We conclude by discussing future challenges for research, including modeling of large-scale empirical data about language acquisition in real-world environments. Keywords: Early language learning, Computational and robotic models, machine learning, development, embodiment, social interaction, intrinsic motivation, self-organization, dynamical systems, complexity.Comment: to appear in International Handbook on Language Development, ed. J. Horst and J. von Koss Torkildsen, Routledg

'New Music' as Patriarchal Category

The term ‘material’ is highly conceptualized and important within New Music discourse. In many respects it could be seen as central. However, far from being a neutral term, ‘material’ and thus its position in (linguistic and musical) discourse is gendered as male. This, then, has consequences not just for the inclusion of, but the judgement between, women who wish to enter into the musical discourse and workplace as composers. This leads to the construction of gendered difference between female composers, and a process of immerization of those women who do meet the terms of the discourse. By a comparison of the music, and reception, of composers Rebecca Saunders and Jennifer Walshe I will explain how the musical discourse of material can be described as a practice of social closure which takes place under the auspicious label of musical quality, thereby highlighting that terms such as ‘material’ and ‘composer’ are used as barriers to exclude women from contemporary music practice. I will conclude by explaining how the male discourse of material functions to preserve the ‘New Music’ norm and retain the character of ‘New Music’ as historical and patriarchal category

Ideology of Form in Storytelling Theater: The Politics of Inter-medial Adaptation in Discovering Elijah, A Play about War

The performance Discovering Elijah, A Play about War (first performed in Israel in 2001), directed by Ruth Kanner as storytelling theater, is based on a literary-documentary text about the 1973 Yom Kippur War written by S. Yizhar, a notable Israeli writer. This is one of the instances in which Kanner's postdramatic search has generated unique directorial patterns that, while not precluding performances of written plays, rely on the power of words, mostly through adaptation of non-dramatic texts. The article focuses on the striking, unsettling performance Discovering Elijah, performed by the Ruth Kanner Theater Group, as a case study to a hermeneutic view according to which the ideology is embedded in the structure itself and becomes an "ideology of form." In this case, this phe­nomenon is inherently structured in theater which is created most dominantly through the inter-medial co-existence (or clash) of different sign- systems—telling (a reductive formulation of the epic principle) and show­ing. The spatial-anecdotal array by which the story of war is presented in the performance seems to intensify patterns of narrative logic which can be seen as a paradigm of Superstructure. But in the encounter between the narrative action and the physical-perceptual performative acts is em­bedded a constant tension between a need for an overall rationale for war and a concrete, appallingly incomprehensible experience. It is through this tension that the theater "strikes back," activating its opposing power

The Incognito of a Thief: Johannes Climacus and the Poetics of Self-Incrimination

In this essay, I advance a reading of Philosophical Crumbs or a Crumb of Philosophy, published by Søren Kierkegaard under the pseudonym Johannes Climacus. I argue that this book is animated by a poetics of self-incrimination. Climacus keeps accusing himself of having stolen his words from someone else. In this way, he deliberately adopts the identity of a thief as an incognito. To understand this poetics of self-incrimination, I analyze the hypothetical thought-project that Climacus develops in an attempt to show what it means to go further than Socrates. In my reading, I distinguish between a Socratic and a non-Socratic conception of education, both of which rely on an incognito. Socrates takes on the maieutic incognito of an ignorant bystander in order to force his interlocutors to turn inward so that the truth that is already within them can be born. In contrast, the non-Socratic education that Climacus advances as a hypothesis relies on what I call ‘the incognito as a true form’. It is an incognito insofar as it confronts the pupils with a paradox on which the understanding runs aground. It is a true form insofar as its immediate appearance is not a disguise, but a true form. This indirect mode of communication is necessary, without it pupils will not be able to encounter a truth that is not inherent within them. Climacus’ poetics of self-incrimination, I argue, tries to repeat this indirect mode of communication by adopting the incognito of a thief as a true form

Linguistic Harbingers of Betrayal: A Case Study on an Online Strategy Game

Interpersonal relations are fickle, with close friendships often dissolving into enmity. In this work, we explore linguistic cues that presage such transitions by studying dyadic interactions in an online strategy game where players form alliances and break those alliances through betrayal. We characterize friendships that are unlikely to last and examine temporal patterns that foretell betrayal. We reveal that subtle signs of imminent betrayal are encoded in the conversational patterns of the dyad, even if the victim is not aware of the relationship's fate. In particular, we find that lasting friendships exhibit a form of balance that manifests itself through language. In contrast, sudden changes in the balance of certain conversational attributes---such as positive sentiment, politeness, or focus on future planning---signal impending betrayal.Comment: To appear at ACL 2015. 10pp, 4 fig. Data and other info available at http://vene.ro/betrayal

Boylan's Fugue in 'Sirens'

Recent discoveries in genetic studies require a revision of the fugal structure in ‘Sirens.’ We hope we can shed light on some of the remaining unsolved questions by applying these studies to an interdisciplinary approach. We will put forward our point of view on the most controversial debate on music in Joyce: does this episode of Ulysses contain the eight parts of a fuga per canonem, as the author asserted, and how can we find these parts. Our study is based on the The Sirens Copybook manuscript authenticated by Michael Groden, as well as on the further analysis by two scholars, Daniel Ferrer and Susan Brown. We believe that the role of the character Blazes Boylan in ‘Sirens’ is crucial to divide the episode in eight parts chronologically. First of all, we must point out that some of the concepts that are being used for this interdisciplinary analysis are not unambiguous and depend on the field of study alluded to. A good example is the notion of “theme,” which appears in literature as the main subject of a text, but in music it is understood as a synonym for motif, the musical material that provides a work with its own identity. Some problems of interpretation arise when this term is applied in both music and literature without a clear distinction, such as in the discussion of the eight fugal parts in ‘Sirens.’ Two authors – Stuart Gilbert and Susan Brown – claim to identify these eight sections by mentioning the “themes.” Also, the accuracy of an interdisciplinary study depends on the meticulous use of homogenous sources for the musical concepts. If not, one may argue that the scholar quotes one dictionary or another depending on his/her own interests. Susan Brown recently established that Joyce’s musical knowledge was based on the Grove’s Dictionary of Music (in this paper we will be using the abbreviation GDM). Despite detractors of Brown’s thesis, like Michelle Witen, we believe that for all practical purposes this encyclopaedia is the most useful source for establishing a standardised musical terminology. Every definition of a musical term for this research has been taken from this source

Electronic Dance Music in Narrative Film

As a growing number of filmmakers are moving away from the traditional model of orchestral underscoring in favor of a more contemporary approach to film sound, electronic dance music (EDM) is playing an increasingly important role in current soundtrack practice. With a focus on two specific examples, Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run (1998) and Darren Aronofsky’s Pi (1998), this essay discusses the possibilities that such a distinctive aesthetics brings to filmmaking, especially with regard to audiovisual rhythm and sonic integration

Rhetoric and design

The relationship between rhetoric and design has been the subject of numerous scholarly publications in the last fifty years, but has not been addressed by scholars of engineering design. This paper argues that the relationship is important for theory and practice of design in all its varieties, principally by providing evidence from the literature that rhetoric and design share key characteristics. Both - are broadly applicable across subject matters - concern the particular and the probable - require invention and judgment, and - involve arrangement in space and time From ancient times through the Renaissance, rhetoric was a key element in education, and its methods were widely adapted to other arts, including design. Rhetoric's loss of status in modern times is explained, and its resurgence in the latter part of the 20th century is described through the works of three scholars that focus on the relationship between rhetoric and design. The conceptualization of these scholars is best represented in the view that rhetoric is design limited to words and design is rhetoric with an unlimited palette