238,037 research outputs found

    From Local to Global Analysis of Music Time Series

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    Local and more and more global musical structure is analyzed from audio time series by time-series-event analysis with the aim of automatic sheet music production and comparison of singers. Note events are determined and classified based on local spectra, and rules of bar events are identified based on accentuation events related to local energy. In order to compare the performances of different singers global summary measures are defined characterizing the overall performance. --

    Dynamical systems theory for music dynamics

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    We show that, when music pieces are cast in the form of time series of pitch variations, the concepts and tools of dynamical systems theory can be applied to the analysis of {\it temporal dynamics} in music. (i) Phase space portraits are constructed from the time series wherefrom the dimensionality is evaluated as a measure of the {\pit global} dynamics of each piece. (ii) Spectral analysis of the time series yields power spectra (fν\sim f^{-\nu}) close to {\pit red noise} (ν2\nu \sim 2) in the low frequency range. (iii) We define an information entropy which provides a measure of the {\pit local} dynamics in the musical piece; the entropy can be interpreted as an evaluation of the degree of {\it complexity} in the music, but there is no evidence of an analytical relation between local and global dynamics. These findings are based on computations performed on eighty sequences sampled in the music literature from the 18th to the 20th century.Comment: To appear in CHAOS. Figures and Tables (not included) can be obtained from [email protected]

    Registral Space as a Compositional Element: A New Analytic Method Applied to the Works of Ligeti, Josquin, and Beethoven

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    The motion of a musical work through registral space is an important element of the listening experience. However, the tools developed for analysis of registral space are limited in number and are generally geared toward the study of 20th century music, where register is more frequently engaged with as an important component of musical structure. In this dissertation, I outline a new method I have created for the analysis of registral space and apply it to three compositions from different stylistic periods: György Ligeti's Continuum (1968), Josquin's "Benedictus" from his Missa L'homme armé super voces musicales (c. 1490-5), and Beethoven's Bagatelle in G major, Op. 126, No. 2 (1824). In so doing, I show how registral form can contribute equally, along with parameters such as melody and harmony, to the meaning of a composition. The first chapter of this dissertation outlines and demonstrates the analytic procedure using a short passage from Frédéric Chopin's C minor étude from Op. 25. Registral space, a conceptual, two-dimensional space created by the coordinates of pitch and time, is represented graphically where pitch is notated along the vertical axis and time along the horizontal axis. From the pitch graph, I define and quantify four types of registral space: positive, upper negative, lower negative, and inner negative space. This data is then used to create a series of graphs that elucidates a composition's registral form at both global and local levels. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 contain full analyses of the Ligeti, Josquin, and Beethoven works respectively. Though these pieces are written in different styles, they share a number of common features with regard to the treatment of registral space. For example, all three pieces exhibit self-similarity at multiple structural levels. Additionally, they each appear to have been conceived with deliberate consideration of the pitch shape's placement within the range of the piece, often employing some form of registral centering or balancing. By considering registral space in a new and meaningful way, this method of analysis can be applied to a diverse body of music and reveals aspects of musical structure that might otherwise remain hidden

    Building Ontario’s music economies

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    The Effect of Explicit Structure Encoding of Deep Neural Networks for Symbolic Music Generation

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    With recent breakthroughs in artificial neural networks, deep generative models have become one of the leading techniques for computational creativity. Despite very promising progress on image and short sequence generation, symbolic music generation remains a challenging problem since the structure of compositions are usually complicated. In this study, we attempt to solve the melody generation problem constrained by the given chord progression. This music meta-creation problem can also be incorporated into a plan recognition system with user inputs and predictive structural outputs. In particular, we explore the effect of explicit architectural encoding of musical structure via comparing two sequential generative models: LSTM (a type of RNN) and WaveNet (dilated temporal-CNN). As far as we know, this is the first study of applying WaveNet to symbolic music generation, as well as the first systematic comparison between temporal-CNN and RNN for music generation. We conduct a survey for evaluation in our generations and implemented Variable Markov Oracle in music pattern discovery. Experimental results show that to encode structure more explicitly using a stack of dilated convolution layers improved the performance significantly, and a global encoding of underlying chord progression into the generation procedure gains even more.Comment: 8 pages, 13 figure

    'Not enough music': a critique of music education in schools in England

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    This paper presents a critical overview of music education in schools in England, both generally and historically up to the end of 2019. It was decided early on that justice could not be done to all the nations of the UK - Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales - with their respective rich and important music cultures; neither could there be an international comparative analysis: while these two perspectives are important, it would have required a book rather than a monograph to fully explore these dimensions. This monograph was researched and written by me from late 2016 to late 2019. It started as a short article, maybe 3000 to 5000 words, for a journal, but as I read more, visited places and researched more deeply and widely, I realized that a short journal article would not do justice to the subject. I was also persuaded that the finished work should be written in accessible English and should reach a much wider readership than a narrowly academic journal article would allow. So it is now a research monograph, 29,000 words long and with over 100 references. I consider the current state of teaching and learning in music education by drawing on national and local research projects including online web research, observations, and visits to institutions, as well as on my own insights and experience. The visits included a variety of schools and colleges, interviews, and attendance at key conferences, along with phone conversations and personal discussions with people in music and music education, and extensive reading of major texts and reports. The monograph includes historical perspectives as well as considering the social, political and economic aspects of music education, including issues related to the substantial inequality in access to instrument learning and the variable quality of the reach and provision of music education in schools. It attempts to offer a balanced view, exploring the negative aspects but also featuring positive coverage of the many successful initiatives at local and national level, often promoted by schools, government policy, concert halls, universities and music colleges, music professional bodies, charities and other third sector organizations. It also seeks to explore and celebrate the many important manifestations of music in the public domain in England, as a background to questioning, along with music reports and professional organizations attached to the cultural and creative industries, why music education in schools has increasingly suffered underfunding, decreased provision and lowered status in the school curriculum, when England has such a world-renowned, diverse and rich music culture. Relevant developments and research on music and arts education at De Montfort University are also discussed and Dr Austin Griffiths, my colleague and member of the Education Studies staff, was invited to write a special analysis of elite music education based on his ongoing research
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