Teaching and Learning Music Technologically

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, multimedia technology has transformed all educational paradigms. In this mixed-methods study, the researcher shows the effects of inspiring instructional technologies on assimilating musical knowledge and developing performance concepts. Thus, assisted- technology learning is the foundation of inspiration to induce music performance and theory, hardening self-esteem as the core subject of this study. The researcher measures time and skills gathered over two years by a group of high school music students, assessing them with two variables: first, traditional conservatory instruction, and second, the MusicLab method. In addition, the researcher quantifies how technological tools intervene in fundamental musical knowledge and development in a greater or lesser time and what capacities are established more than others at the same phase with the two variables

Mapping Acoustic and Semantic Dimensions of Auditory Perception

Auditory categorisation is a function of sensory perception which allows humans to generalise across many different sounds present in the environment and classify them into behaviourally relevant categories. These categories cover not only the variance of acoustic properties of the signal but also a wide variety of sound sources. However, it is unclear to what extent the acoustic structure of sound is associated with, and conveys, different facets of semantic category information. Whether people use such data and what drives their decisions when both acoustic and semantic information about the sound is available, also remains unknown. To answer these questions, we used the existing methods broadly practised in linguistics, acoustics and cognitive science, and bridged these domains by delineating their shared space. Firstly, we took a model-free exploratory approach to examine the underlying structure and inherent patterns in our dataset. To this end, we ran principal components, clustering and multidimensional scaling analyses. At the same time, we drew sound labels’ semantic space topography based on corpus-based word embeddings vectors. We then built an LDA model predicting class membership and compared the model-free approach and model predictions with the actual taxonomy. Finally, by conducting a series of web-based behavioural experiments, we investigated whether acoustic and semantic topographies relate to perceptual judgements. This analysis pipeline showed that natural sound categories could be successfully predicted based on the acoustic information alone and that perception of natural sound categories has some acoustic grounding. Results from our studies help to recognise the role of physical sound characteristics and their meaning in the process of sound perception and give an invaluable insight into the mechanisms governing the machine-based and human classifications

Rockscapes:A Study of Forms in the Natural Formations of Hyderabad

Rock formations in the Deccan Plateau are very old; some of them are older than 2.5 million years. Geologically, rocks constitute of various mineral compositions within the core and these decide how they are shaped due to weathering over many years. These beautifully weathered landscapes are affected by the recent rapid urbanization. Thus by photographically studying the forms and divulging the inner souls, this project attempts to sensitize a viewer towards these rockscapes. Photographs are presented in square format to highlight the form and texture. As per the psychology of shapes, square is quite balanced and that encourages the viewer to move around within the frame. It provides a clutter free and simple composition. In addition, the images are printed in monochrome to eliminate the visual dominance of color, to emphasize form and texture, to feel the timelessness and to amplify the use of negative space. By grouping the images, the subject matter is presented to the viewer with intended emphasis – singles, sky, plants, shadow and radials

Proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on Folk Music Analysis, 15-17 June, 2016

The Folk Music Analysis Workshop brings together computational music analysis and ethnomusicology. Both symbolic and audio representations of music are considered, with a broad range of scientific approaches being applied (signal processing, graph theory, deep learning). The workshop features a range of interesting talks from international researchers in areas such as Indian classical music, Iranian singing, Ottoman-Turkish Makam music scores, Flamenco singing, Irish traditional music, Georgian traditional music and Dutch folk songs. Invited guest speakers were Anja Volk, Utrecht University and Peter Browne, Technological University Dublin

Input and Output in Oral Reading in English : the Interaction of Syntax, Semantico-pragmatics and Intonation

This dissertation provides an integrated linguistic description of reading intonation, in which input and output are equally considered. There are therefore two main points of interest. On the one hand, there are the medium-independent abstract presentation structures of words and syntactic structures, and their medium-dependent presentation via orthography and punctuation. On the other hand, there is a consideration of different reading performances, and of the fact that the written text can be orally presented in different ways. It is the aim of this thesis to compile these different modes of presentation and to pin down their assessment in a linguistic model. For this purpose, the presentation structural device of the ‘talk unit’ is modified and used for a systematic investigation of the interaction of syntax, semantico-pragmatics and discourse intonation (placement of tone unit boundaries, of nuclei as well as choice of tone movements and their situation in a speaker’s pitch range) in a corpus comprising typical domains of oral reading (Speech, News, Commentary, Fiction). This thesis also deals with the use of obtrusive pauses (segmentation, anticipation, hesitation) as well as with the respective influence of medium-independent presentation structures and punctuation on a reader’s own presentation in the spoken medium.In dieser Dissertation geht es um eine integrierte linguistische Beschreibung von Leseintonation, bei der Input und Output gleichermaßen berücksichtigt werden. Gegenstand der Untersuchung ist daher einmal die mediumunabhängige abstrakte sprachliche Kette von Wörtern und Strukturen und deren mediumabhängige Präsentation durch Orthographie und Interpunktion. Zum anderen wird berücksichtigt, dass es unterschiedliche Leseleistungen gibt, dass also die intonatorische Präsentation der geschriebenen Vorlage auf unterschiedliche Weise geschehen kann. Diese Variationsmöglichkeiten sowie deren Bewertung in einem linguistischen Modell zu erfassen hat sich die vorliegende Arbeit zum Ziel gesetzt. Hierzu wird das präsentationsstrukturelle Mittel der Redeeinheit (’talk unit’) modifiziert und eingesetzt für eine systematische Untersuchung der Interaktion von Syntax, Semantiko-Pragmatik und der Diskurs-Intonation (Platzierung der Sprechtaktgrenzen, der Nuklei sowie Wahl der Tonbewegungen und deren Platzierung im Stimmumfang eines Sprechers) anhand eines Korpus, das sich aus typischen Anwendungsbereichen des lauten Lesens zusammensetzt (Rede, Nachrichtentexte, Kommentare, fiktive Texte). Zusätzlich wird der Einsatz von auffälligen Pausen (Segmentierung, Antizipation, Zögern) untersucht sowie das Ausmaß des Einflusses von mediumunabhängigen Strukturen einerseits und mediumabhängigen graphischen Strukturen (Interpunktion) andererseits auf die Umsetzung im gesprochenen Medium

GIFs as floating signifiers

This paper investigates GIFs that use famous paintings and art collages in order to discern if their possible interpretations justify the label of ‘floating signifiers’. For this purpose, I explain what ‘floating signifier’ means and describe what happened with the term when it was correlated with the issues of information and digital materiality. Thus, in new media, the parallel term for ‘floating signifier’ is Hayles’s ‘flickering signifier’. In a subtle manner, GIFs represents perfect instantiation of both concepts. The paper also addresses the main “portrait” of GIFs, examining them in both online (Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook) and offline discursive contexts. The signifieds attributed to particular examples of GIFs, and to GIFs in general, delineate their profile in terms of floating signifiers