Rule-based performative synthesis of sung syllables

In this demonstration, the mapping and the gestural control strategy developed in the Digitartic are presented. Digitartic is a musical instrument able to control sung syllables. Performative rule-based synthesis allows for controlling semi-consonants, plosive, fricative and nasal consonants with a same gesture, despite the structural differences in natural production of such vocal segments. A graphic pen tablet is used for capturing the gesture with a high sampling rate and resolution. This system alows for both performing various manners of articulation and having a continuous control over the articulatio

Digitartic: bi-manual gestural control of articulation in performative singing synthesis

Digitartic, a system for bi-manual gestural control of Vowel-Consonant-Vowel performative singing synthesis is presented. This system is an extension of a real-time gesture-controlled vowel singing instrument developed in the Max MSP language. In addition to pitch, vowels and voice strength controls, Digitartic is designed for gestural control of articulation parameters, including various places and manners of articulation. The phases of articulation between two phonemes are continuously controlled and can be driven in real time without noticeable delay, at any stage of the synthetic phoneme production. Thus, as in natural singing, very accurate rhythmic patterns are produced and adapted while playing with other musicians. The instrument features two (augmented) pen tablets for controlling voice production: one is dealing with the glottal source and vowels, the second one is dealing with consonant/vowel articulation. The results show very natural consonant and vowel synthesis. Virtual choral practice confirms the effectiveness of Digitartic as an expressive musical instrument

Words as Events: Cretan Mandinádes in Performance and Composition

"Words as Events introduces the tradition of short, communicative rhyming couplets, the mantinádes, as still sung and recited in a variety of performance situations on the island of Crete. Recently, these poems have also entered modern mass media and they are widely being exchanged as text messages by Cretans. Focusing on the multi-functionality of the short form, Sykäri demonstrates how the traditional register gives voice to individual experiences in spontaneous utterances. The local focus on communicative economy and artistry is further examined in a close analysis of the processes and ideals of composition. By analyzing how the “restrictions” of form and performative conventions in fact generate impulses of creativity, the author creates a theoretical approach that is sensitive to the special characteristics of the short, rhymed poetic traditions. In this interdisciplinary study, the reader is invited to become familiar with the current folklore theory of oral poetry, which has a long tradition in Finland. The author combines the results of earlier folkloristic and anthropological insights, and extends the theoretical concerns further to address questions of spontaneity and individual agency. The research data has been produced in communicative interactions during long-term fieldwork. As a result, the short, rhymed poetry, often neglected by scholars in earlier research paradigms, can now be seen in new light – specifically as dialogic poetry – through its extended, multi-layered dialogic qualities.

Khawhar Zai: Voices of Hope in the Bereavement Singing of Mizo Christians in Northeast India

The Mizo people of, Mizoram, Northeast India have been predominantly Christian since the 1930’s after a series of spiritual revivals that began in 1906. Today, the churches still have a prominent role in society, influencing many aspects of life as well as death. A Mizo death is sonically marked and signalled to the rest of the community by the singing of hymns in the home of the bereaved for at least three days and nights, drawing many members of the community to the home. The repertoire of hymns is called khawhar zai, composed by Mizo Christians between 1919 and 1930. This thesis studies the khawhar zai repertoire and its significance for grieving communities both at the time of its composition and in the modern Mizo context. It attempts to make an original contribution to ethnomusicological scholarship by exploring anthropological approaches to hope and nostalgia in the light of the theological fields of eschatology and evangelicalism. This is intended to develop an understanding of the expression of hope through funeral singing, particularly in the Mizo context but with wider implications for other Christian communities

Adding expressiveness to unit selection speech synthesis and to numerical voice production

La parla és una de les formes de comunicació més naturals i directes entre éssers humans, ja que codifica un missatge i també claus paralingüístiques sobre l’estat emocional del locutor, el to o la seva intenció, esdevenint així fonamental en la consecució d’una interacció humà-màquina (HCI) més natural. En aquest context, la generació de parla expressiva pel canal de sortida d’HCI és un element clau en el desenvolupament de tecnologies assistencials o assistents personals entre altres aplicacions. La parla sintètica pot ser generada a partir de parla enregistrada utilitzant mètodes basats en corpus com la selecció d’unitats (US), que poden aconseguir resultats d’alta qualitat però d’expressivitat restringida a la pròpia del corpus. A fi de millorar la qualitat de la sortida de la síntesi, la tendència actual és construir bases de dades de veu cada cop més grans, seguint especialment l’aproximació de síntesi anomenada End-to-End basada en tècniques d’aprenentatge profund. Tanmateix, enregistrar corpus ad-hoc per cada estil expressiu desitjat pot ser extremadament costós o fins i tot inviable si el locutor no és capaç de realitzar adequadament els estils requerits per a una aplicació donada (ex: cant en el domini de la narració de contes). Alternativament, nous mètodes basats en la física de la producció de veu s’han desenvolupat a la darrera dècada gràcies a l’increment en la potència computacional. Per exemple, vocals o diftongs poden ser obtinguts utilitzant el mètode d’elements finits (FEM) per simular la propagació d’ones acústiques a través d’una geometria 3D realista del tracte vocal obtinguda a partir de ressonàncies magnètiques (MRI). Tanmateix, atès que els principals esforços en aquests mètodes de producció numèrica de veu s’han focalitzat en la millora del modelat del procés de generació de veu, fins ara s’ha prestat poca atenció a la seva expressivitat. A més, la col·lecció de dades per aquestes simulacions és molt costosa, a més de requerir un llarg postprocessament manual com el necessari per extreure geometries 3D del tracte vocal a partir de MRI. L’objectiu de la tesi és afegir expressivitat en un sistema que genera veu neutra, sense haver d’adquirir dades expressives del locutor original. Per un costat, s’afegeixen capacitats expressives a un sistema de conversió de text a parla basat en selecció d’unitats (US-TTS) dotat d’un corpus de veu neutra, per adreçar necessitats específiques i concretes en l’àmbit de la narració de contes, com són la veu cantada o situacions de suspens. A tal efecte, la veu és parametritzada utilitzant un model harmònic i transformada a l’estil expressiu desitjat d’acord amb un sistema expert. Es presenta una primera aproximació, centrada en la síntesi de suspens creixent per a la narració de contes, i es demostra la seva viabilitat pel que fa a naturalitat i qualitat de narració de contes. També s’afegeixen capacitats de cant al sistema US-TTS mitjançant la integració de mòduls de transformació de parla a veu cantada en el pipeline del TTS, i la incorporació d’un mòdul de generació de prosòdia expressiva que permet al mòdul de US seleccionar unitats més properes a la prosòdia cantada obtinguda a partir de la partitura d’entrada. Això resulta en un framework de síntesi de conversió de text a parla i veu cantada basat en selecció d’unitats (US-TTS&S) que pot generar veu parlada i cantada a partir d'un petit corpus de veu neutra (~2.6h). D’acord amb els resultats objectius, l’estratègia de US guiada per la partitura permet reduir els factors de modificació de pitch requerits per produir veu cantada a partir de les unitats de veu parlada seleccionades, però en canvi té una efectivitat limitada amb els factors de modificació de les durades degut a la curta durada de les vocals parlades neutres. Els resultats dels tests perceptius mostren que tot i òbviament obtenir una naturalitat inferior a la oferta per un sintetitzador professional de veu cantada, el framework pot adreçar necessitats puntuals de veu cantada per a la síntesis de narració de contes amb una qualitat raonable. La incorporació d’expressivitat s’investiga també en la simulació numèrica 3D de vocals basada en FEM mitjançant modificacions de les senyals d’excitació glotal utilitzant una aproximació font-filtre de producció de veu. Aquestes senyals es generen utilitzant un model Liljencrants-Fant (LF) controlat amb el paràmetre de forma del pols Rd, que permet explorar el continu de fonació lax-tens a més del rang de freqüències fonamentals, F0, de la veu parlada. S’analitza la contribució de la font glotal als modes d’alt ordre en la síntesis FEM de les vocals cardinals [a], [i] i [u] mitjançant la comparació dels valors d’energia d’alta freqüència (HFE) obtinguts amb geometries realistes i simplificades del tracte vocal. Les simulacions indiquen que els modes d’alt ordre es preveuen perceptivament rellevants d’acord amb valors de referència de la literatura, particularment per a fonacions tenses i/o F0s altes. En canvi, per a vocals amb una fonació laxa i/o F0s baixes els nivells d’HFE poden resultar inaudibles, especialment si no hi ha soroll d’aspiració en la font glotal. Després d’aquest estudi preliminar, s’han analitzat les característiques d’excitació de vocals alegres i agressives d’un corpus paral·lel de veu en castellà amb l’objectiu d’incorporar aquests estils expressius de veu tensa en la simulació numèrica de veu. Per a tal efecte, s’ha usat el vocoder GlottDNN per analitzar variacions d’F0 i pendent espectral relacionades amb l’excitació glotal en vocals [a]. Aquestes variacions es mapegen mitjançant la comparació amb vocals sintètiques en valors d’F0 i Rd per simular vocals que s’assemblin als estils alegre i agressiu. Els resultats mostren que és necessari incrementar l’F0 i disminuir l’Rd respecte la veu neutra, amb variacions majors per a alegre que per agressiu, especialment per a vocals accentuades. Els resultats aconseguits en les investigacions realitzades validen la possibilitat d’afegir expressivitat a la síntesi basada en corpus US-TTS i a la simulació numèrica de veu basada en FEM. Tanmateix, encara hi ha marge de millora. Per exemple, l’estratègia aplicada a la producció numèrica de veu es podria millorar estudiant i desenvolupant mètodes de filtratge invers així com incorporant modificacions del tracte vocal, mentre que el framework US-TTS&S es podria beneficiar dels avenços en tècniques de transformació de veu incloent transformacions de la qualitat de veu, aprofitant l’experiència adquirida en la simulació numèrica de vocals expressives.El habla es una de las formas de comunicación más naturales y directas entre seres humanos, ya que codifica un mensaje y también claves paralingüísticas sobre el estado emocional del locutor, el tono o su intención, convirtiéndose así en fundamental en la consecución de una interacción humano-máquina (HCI) más natural. En este contexto, la generación de habla expresiva para el canal de salida de HCI es un elemento clave en el desarrollo de tecnologías asistenciales o asistentes personales entre otras aplicaciones. El habla sintética puede ser generada a partir de habla gravada utilizando métodos basados en corpus como la selección de unidades (US), que pueden conseguir resultados de alta calidad, pero de expresividad restringida a la propia del corpus. A fin de mejorar la calidad de la salida de la síntesis, la tendencia actual es construir bases de datos de voz cada vez más grandes, siguiendo especialmente la aproximación de síntesis llamada End-to-End basada en técnicas de aprendizaje profundo. Sin embargo, gravar corpus ad-hoc para cada estilo expresivo deseado puede ser extremadamente costoso o incluso inviable si el locutor no es capaz de realizar adecuadamente los estilos requeridos para una aplicación dada (ej: canto en el dominio de la narración de cuentos). Alternativamente, nuevos métodos basados en la física de la producción de voz se han desarrollado en la última década gracias al incremento en la potencia computacional. Por ejemplo, vocales o diptongos pueden ser obtenidos utilizando el método de elementos finitos (FEM) para simular la propagación de ondas acústicas a través de una geometría 3D realista del tracto vocal obtenida a partir de resonancias magnéticas (MRI). Sin embargo, dado que los principales esfuerzos en estos métodos de producción numérica de voz se han focalizado en la mejora del modelado del proceso de generación de voz, hasta ahora se ha prestado poca atención a su expresividad. Además, la colección de datos para estas simulaciones es muy costosa, además de requerir un largo postproceso manual como el necesario para extraer geometrías 3D del tracto vocal a partir de MRI. El objetivo de la tesis es añadir expresividad en un sistema que genera voz neutra, sin tener que adquirir datos expresivos del locutor original. Per un lado, se añaden capacidades expresivas a un sistema de conversión de texto a habla basado en selección de unidades (US-TTS) dotado de un corpus de voz neutra, para abordar necesidades específicas y concretas en el ámbito de la narración de cuentos, como son la voz cantada o situaciones de suspense. Para ello, la voz se parametriza utilizando un modelo harmónico y se transforma al estilo expresivo deseado de acuerdo con un sistema experto. Se presenta una primera aproximación, centrada en la síntesis de suspense creciente para la narración de cuentos, y se demuestra su viabilidad en cuanto a naturalidad y calidad de narración de cuentos. También se añaden capacidades de canto al sistema US-TTS mediante la integración de módulos de transformación de habla a voz cantada en el pipeline del TTS, y la incorporación de un módulo de generación de prosodia expresiva que permite al módulo de US seleccionar unidades más cercanas a la prosodia cantada obtenida a partir de la partitura de entrada. Esto resulta en un framework de síntesis de conversión de texto a habla y voz cantada basado en selección de unidades (US-TTS&S) que puede generar voz hablada y cantada a partir del mismo pequeño corpus de voz neutra (~2.6h). De acuerdo con los resultados objetivos, la estrategia de US guiada por la partitura permite reducir los factores de modificación de pitch requeridos para producir voz cantada a partir de las unidades de voz hablada seleccionadas, pero en cambio tiene una efectividad limitada con los factores de modificación de duraciones debido a la corta duración de las vocales habladas neutras. Los resultados de las pruebas perceptivas muestran que, a pesar de obtener una naturalidad obviamente inferior a la ofrecida por un sintetizador profesional de voz cantada, el framework puede abordar necesidades puntuales de voz cantada para la síntesis de narración de cuentos con una calidad razonable. La incorporación de expresividad se investiga también en la simulación numérica 3D de vocales basada en FEM mediante modificaciones en las señales de excitación glotal utilizando una aproximación fuente-filtro de producción de voz. Estas señales se generan utilizando un modelo Liljencrants-Fant (LF) controlado con el parámetro de forma del pulso Rd, que permite explorar el continuo de fonación laxo-tenso además del rango de frecuencias fundamentales, F0, de la voz hablada. Se analiza la contribución de la fuente glotal a los modos de alto orden en la síntesis FEM de las vocales cardinales [a], [i] y [u] mediante la comparación de los valores de energía de alta frecuencia (HFE) obtenidos con geometrías realistas y simplificadas del tracto vocal. Las simulaciones indican que los modos de alto orden se prevén perceptivamente relevantes de acuerdo con valores de referencia de la literatura, particularmente para fonaciones tensas y/o F0s altas. En cambio, para vocales con una fonación laxa y/o F0s bajas los niveles de HFE pueden resultar inaudibles, especialmente si no hay ruido de aspiración en la fuente glotal. Después de este estudio preliminar, se han analizado las características de excitación de vocales alegres y agresivas de un corpus paralelo de voz en castellano con el objetivo de incorporar estos estilos expresivos de voz tensa en la simulación numérica de voz. Para ello, se ha usado el vocoder GlottDNN para analizar variaciones de F0 y pendiente espectral relacionadas con la excitación glotal en vocales [a]. Estas variaciones se mapean mediante la comparación con vocales sintéticas en valores de F0 y Rd para simular vocales que se asemejen a los estilos alegre y agresivo. Los resultados muestran que es necesario incrementar la F0 y disminuir la Rd respecto la voz neutra, con variaciones mayores para alegre que para agresivo, especialmente para vocales acentuadas. Los resultados conseguidos en las investigaciones realizadas validan la posibilidad de añadir expresividad a la síntesis basada en corpus US-TTS y a la simulación numérica de voz basada en FEM. Sin embargo, hay margen de mejora. Por ejemplo, la estrategia aplicada a la producción numérica de voz se podría mejorar estudiando y desarrollando métodos de filtrado inverso, así como incorporando modificaciones del tracto vocal, mientras que el framework US-TTS&S desarrollado se podría beneficiar de los avances en técnicas de transformación de voz incluyendo transformaciones de la calidad de la voz, aprovechando la experiencia adquirida en la simulación numérica de vocales expresivas.Speech is one of the most natural and direct forms of communication between human beings, as it codifies both a message and paralinguistic cues about the emotional state of the speaker, its mood, or its intention, thus becoming instrumental in pursuing a more natural Human Computer Interaction (HCI). In this context, the generation of expressive speech for the HCI output channel is a key element in the development of assistive technologies or personal assistants among other applications. Synthetic speech can be generated from recorded speech using corpus-based methods such as Unit-Selection (US), which can achieve high quality results but whose expressiveness is restricted to that available in the speech corpus. In order to improve the quality of the synthesis output, the current trend is to build ever larger speech databases, especially following the so-called End-to-End synthesis approach based on deep learning techniques. However, recording ad-hoc corpora for each and every desired expressive style can be extremely costly, or even unfeasible if the speaker is unable to properly perform the styles required for a given application (e.g., singing in the storytelling domain). Alternatively, new methods based on the physics of voice production have been developed in the last decade thanks to the increase in computing power. For instance, vowels or diphthongs can be obtained using the Finite Element Method (FEM) to simulate the propagation of acoustic waves through a 3D realistic vocal tract geometry obtained from Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). However, since the main efforts in these numerical voice production methods have been focused on improving the modelling of the voice generation process, little attention has been paid to its expressiveness up to now. Furthermore, the collection of data for such simulations is very costly, besides requiring manual time-consuming postprocessing like that needed to extract 3D vocal tract geometries from MRI. The aim of the thesis is to add expressiveness into a system that generates neutral voice, without having to acquire expressive data from the original speaker. One the one hand, expressive capabilities are added to a Unit-Selection Text-to-Speech (US-TTS) system fed with a neutral speech corpus, to address specific and timely needs in the storytelling domain, such as for singing or in suspenseful situations. To this end, speech is parameterised using a harmonic-based model and subsequently transformed to the target expressive style according to an expert system. A first approach dealing with the synthesis of storytelling increasing suspense shows the viability of the proposal in terms of naturalness and storytelling quality. Singing capabilities are also added to the US-TTS system through the integration of Speech-to-Singing (STS) transformation modules into the TTS pipeline, and by incorporating an expressive prosody generation module that allows the US to select units closer to the target singing prosody obtained from the input score. This results in a Unit Selection based Text-to-Speech-and-Singing (US-TTS&S) synthesis framework that can generate both speech and singing from the same neutral speech small corpus (~2.6 h). According to the objective results, the score-driven US strategy can reduce the pitch scaling factors required to produce singing from the selected spoken units, but its effectiveness is limited regarding the time-scale requirements due to the short duration of the spoken vowels. Results from the perceptual tests show that although the obtained naturalness is obviously far from that given by a professional singing synthesiser, the framework can address eventual singing needs for synthetic storytelling with a reasonable quality. The incorporation of expressiveness is also investigated in the 3D FEM-based numerical simulation of vowels through modifications of the glottal flow signals following a source-filter approach of voice production. These signals are generated using a Liljencrants-Fant (LF) model controlled with the glottal shape parameter Rd, which allows exploring the tense-lax continuum of phonation besides the spoken vocal range of fundamental frequency values, F0. The contribution of the glottal source to higher order modes in the FEM synthesis of cardinal vowels [a], [i] and [u] is analysed through the comparison of the High Frequency Energy (HFE) values obtained with realistic and simplified 3D geometries of the vocal tract. The simulations indicate that higher order modes are expected to be perceptually relevant according to reference values stated in the literature, particularly for tense phonations and/or high F0s. Conversely, vowels with a lax phonation and/or low F0s can result in inaudible HFE levels, especially if aspiration noise is not present in the glottal source. After this preliminary study, the excitation characteristics of happy and aggressive vowels from a Spanish parallel speech corpus are analysed with the aim of incorporating this tense voice expressive styles into the numerical production of voice. To that effect, the GlottDNN vocoder is used to analyse F0 and spectral tilt variations associated with the glottal excitation on vowels [a]. These variations are mapped through the comparison with synthetic vowels into F0 and Rd values to simulate vowels resembling happy and aggressive styles. Results show that it is necessary to increase F0 and decrease Rd with respect to neutral speech, with larger variations for happy than aggressive style, especially for the stressed [a] vowels. The results achieved in the conducted investigations validate the possibility of adding expressiveness to both corpus-based US-TTS synthesis and FEM-based numerical simulation of voice. Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement. For instance, the strategy applied to the numerical voice production could be improved by studying and developing inverse filtering approaches as well as incorporating modifications of the vocal tract, whereas the developed US-TTS&S framework could benefit from advances in voice transformation techniques including voice quality modifications, taking advantage of the experience gained in the numerical simulation of expressive vowels

Non-Isochronous Meter: A Study of Cross cultural practice, analytic technique, and implications for jazz pedagogy

This dissertation examines the use of non-isochronous (NI) meters in jazz compositional and performative practices (meters as comprised of cycles of a prime number [e.g., 5, 7, 11] or uneven divisions of non-prime cycles [e.g., 9 divided as 2+2+2+3]). The explorative meter practices of jazz, while constituting a central role in the construction of its own identity, remains curiously absent from jazz scholarship. The conjunct research broadly examines NI meters and the various processes/strategies and systems utilized in historical and current jazz composition and performance practices. While a considerable amount of NI meter composers have advertantly drawn from the metric practices of non-Western music traditions, the potential for utilizing insights gleaned from contemporary music-theoretical discussions of meter have yet to fully emerge as a complimentary and/or organizational schemata within jazz pedagogy and discourse. This paper seeks to address this divide, but not before an accurate picture of historical meter practice is assessed, largely as a means for contextualizing developments within historical and contemporary practice and discourse. The dissertation presents a chronology of explorative meter developments in jazz, firstly, by tracing compositional output, and secondly, by establishing the relevant sources within conjunct periods of development i.e., scholarly works, relative academic developments, and tractable world music sources. Bridging the gap between world music meter sources and theoretical musicology (primarily, the underlying perceptual and cognitive model which represents a topology of the structural premises of meter) the research acts to direct and inform a compositional process which directly accounts for an isomorphic link between structurally similar meters

Guillaume de Machaut and the mise en page of medieval French sung verse

The aim of this thesis is to examine what a study of the visual presentation of the fourteenth-century poet-composer Guilluame de Machaut's songs can tell us that studying them simply as pre-defined works cannot. This has involved two distinct, but related fields of enquiry. Firstly, I have developed of a way of considering the six manuscripts of Machaut containing what appear to be his complete works which focuses on the visual impact of each codex as a whole, from the materials used to the content it contains (text, images, music). This methodology, which draws on the works of such scholars as B. Cerquiglini (Eloge de la variante, 1989), S. Huot (From Song to Book, 1987), and D. Leech-Wilkinson (The Modern Invention of Medieval Music, 2002) and relies heavily on primary sources, is founded on the premise that each of the manuscripts is a complete and unique artefact, irrespective of who created it and for what purpose. Building on this, I argue that each manuscript can be considered a performance. When one of Machaut’s compositions (poetical, musical, or both) is preserved in more than one source, each such manuscript is considered as a performance in its own right. This performative approach allows for and indeed welcomes variations in interpretation and presentation, including those that appear to entail manipulations of the work itself, by performers as diverse as copyists (involved in internal, possibly mnemonic performance), oral interpreters (singing or reading out loud, either from memory or from a copy), editors (whatever their purpose and medium, be it a paper edition based on all sources or a digital edition of just one: perhaps these are the equivalent of today's copyists?), and readers (scholarly and leisurely, from any era). Having established this approach in my thesis, I then assess the role of the individuals involved in such a manuscript performance. The differing role of the scribes and the author in a manuscript's production is considered, particularly with reference to the manuscripts over whose compilation the author is perceived to have had some control. The role of the reader is considered in terms of the reception of the manuscript and especially the extent to which manuscript layout and design subconsciously ‘control’ reader interpretation. In the light of this I analyse the manuscript presentation of Machaut's songs in each of the six principal manuscripts transmitting his works, with particular focus on the literary works that contain musical notation, the Remede de Fortune and the Voir Dit, the series of lays set to music, and the Messe de Notre Dame. The methodology adopted throughout considers the visual impact of the presence of music on the manuscript page and assesses the extent of this impact both on the reader and on its relevance to manuscript design: what can the layout of the music tell us about the manuscript's readers, patrons and creators? This analysis offers insights as to the role of artists in the society of mid- and late-fourteenth-century France, the changing perceptions of words and music, and the role of reading, writing, and memory in society

Vivos Voco: A survey of recent research on voice transformation at IRCAM

cote interne IRCAM: Lanchantin11cInternational audienceIRCAM has a long experience in analysis, synthesis and transformation of voice. Natural voice transformations are of great interest for many applications and can be combine with text-to-speech system, leading to a powerful creation tool. We present research conducted at IRCAM on voice transformations for the last few years. Transformations can be achieved in a global way by modifying pitch, spectral envelope, durations etc. While it sacrifices the possibility to attain a specific target voice, the approach allows the production of new voices of a high degree of naturalness with different gender and age, modified vocal quality, or another speech style. These transformations can be applied in realtime using ircamTools TRAX. Transformation can also be done in a more specific way in order to transform a voice towards the voice of a target speaker. Finally, we present some recent research on the transformation of expressivity

Exegesis and eisegesis: the choral composer as scriptural interpreter with special reference to settings of the Magnificat

The central aim of this study is to demonstrate a unified approach to the analysis of settings of scripture which includes the disciplines of Biblical criticism, liturgical history and practice, and music theory and analysis. To accomplish this, the text of the Magnificat is examined in a purely Biblical hermeneutic framework. Three settings of the Magnificat are analyzed in their historical and musical contexts. The settings analyzed are by J. S. Bach, Charles Villiers Stanford, and Arvo Pärt. The aim of the analyses is to integrate Biblical hermeneutic approaches to the texts with the composers' musical approaches to the texts in order to surmise the spiritual and theological import which the composer places on the text. In other words, to find out where the composer is performing exegesis and where the composer is performing eisegesis. Conclusions include practical uses of such a method in the programming of choral music for ensemble performance

Drawing melodies: Evaluation of chironomic singing synthesis

Cantor Digitalis, a real-time formant synthesizer controlled by a graphic tablet and a stylus, is used for assessment of melodic precision and accuracy in singing synthesis. Melodic accuracy and precision are measured in 3 experiments for groups of 20 and 28 subjects. The task of the subjects is to sing musical intervals and short melodies, at various tempi, using chironomy (hand-controlled singing), mute chironomy (without audio feedback) and their own voices. The results show the high accuracy and precision obtained by all the subjects for chironomic control of singing synthesis. Some subjects performed significantly better in chironomic singing compared to natural singing, although other subjects showed comparable proficiency. For the chironomic condition, mean note accuracy is less than 12 cents and mean interval accuracy is less than 25 cents for all the subjects. Comparing chironomy and mute chironomy shows that the skills used for writing and drawing are used for chironomic singing, but that the audio feedback helps in interval accuracy. Analysis of blind chironomy (without visual reference) indicates that a visual feedback helps much in both note and interval accuracy and precision. This study demonstrates the capabilities of chironomy as a precise and accurate mean for controlling singing synthesis