50 research outputs found
The Speckled Cellist: Classification of Cello Bowing Styles using the Orient Specks
Cello bowing techniques are classified by applying supervised machine learning methods to sensor data from two inertial sensors called the Orient specks â one worn on the playing wrist and the other attached to the frog of the bow. Twelve different bowing techniques were considered, including variants on a single string and across multiple strings. Results are presented for the classification of these twelve techniques when played singly, and in combination during improvisational play. The results demonstrated that even when limited to two sensors, classification accuracy in excess of 95% was obtained for the individual bowing styles, with the added advantages of a minimalist approach
Wooden Musical Instruments - Different Forms of Knowledge: Book of End of WoodMusICK COST Action FP1302
International audienceMusical instrument are fundamental tools of human expression that reveal and reflect historical, technological, social and cultural aspects of times and people. These three-dimensional, polyma-teric objects-at times considered artworks, other times technical objects-are the most powerful way to communicate emotions and to connect people and communities with the surrounding world. The participants in WoodMusICK (WOODen MUSical Instrument Conservation and Knowledge) COST Action FP1302 have aimed to combine forces and to foster research on wooden musical instruments in order to preserve, develop and disseminate knowledge on musical instruments in Europe through inter-and transdisciplinary research. This four-year program, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), has involved a multidisciplinary and multinational research group composed of curators, conservators/restorers, wood, material and mechanical scientists, chemists, acousticians, organologists and instrument makers. The goal of the COST Action was to improve the knowledge and preservation of wooden musical instruments heritage by increasing the interaction and synergy between different disciplines
An investigation of audio signal-driven sound synthesis with a focus on its use for bowed stringed synthesisers
This thesis proposes an alternative approach to sound synthesis. It seeks to offer traditional string players a synthesiser which will allow them to make use of their existing skills in performance. A theoretical apparatus reflecting on the constraints of formalisation is developed and used to shed light on construction-related shortcomings in the instrumental developments of related research. Historical aspects and methods of sound synthesis, and the act of musical performance, are addressed with the aim of drawing conclusions for the construction of algorithms and interfaces. The alternative approach creates an openness and responsiveness in the synthesis instrument by using implicit playing parameters without the necessity to define, specify or measure all of them. In order to investigate this approach, several synthesis algorithms are developed, sounds are designed and a selection of them empirically compared to conventionally synthesised sounds. The algorithms are used in collaborative projects with other musicians in order to examine their practical musical value. The results provide evidence that implementations using the approach presented can offer musically significant differences as compared to similarly complex conventional implementations, and that - depending on the disposition of the musician - they can form a valuable contribution to the sound repertoire of performers and composers
Violin Augmentation Techniques for Learning Assistance
PhDLearning violin is a challenging task requiring execution of pitch tasks with the left hand
using a strong aural feedback loop for correctly adjusting pitch, concurrent with the right hand
moving a bow precisely with correct pressure across strings. Real-time technological assistance
can help a student gain feedback and understanding helpful for learning and maintaining
motivation. This thesis presents real-time low-cost low-latency violin augmentations that can
be used to assist learning the violin along with other real-time performance tasks.
To capture bow performance, we demonstrate a new means of bow tracking by measuring bow
hair de
ection from the bow hair being pressed against the string. Using near- eld optical
sensors placed along the bow we are able to estimate bow position and pressure through linear
regression from training samples. For left hand pitch tracking, we introduce low cost means for
tracking nger position and illustrate the combination of sensed results with audio processing
to achieve high accuracy low-latency pitch tracking. We subsequently verify our new tracking
methods' e ectiveness and usefulness demonstrating low-latency note onset detection and
control of real-time performance visuals.
To help tackle the challenge of intonation, we used our pitch estimation to develop low latency
pitch correction. Using expert performers, we veri ed that fully correcting pitch is not
only disconcerting but breaks a violinist's learned pitch feedback loop resulting in worse asplayed
performance. However, partial pitch correction, though also linked to worse as-played
performance, did not lead to a signi cantly negative experience con rming its potential for
use to temporarily reduce barriers to success. Subsequently, in a study with beginners, we
veri ed that when the pitch feedback loop is underdeveloped, automatic pitch correction did
not signi cantly hinder performance, but o ered an enjoyable low-pitch error experience and
that providing an automatic target guide pitch was helpful in correcting performed pitch
error
Travelling Wave Control of Stringed Musical Instruments
PhDDespite the increasing sophistication of digital musical instruments, many performers, composer
and listeners remain captivated by traditional acoustic instruments. Interest has
grown in the past 2 decades in augmenting acoustic instruments with sensor and actuator
technology and integrated digital signal processing, expanding the instrumentâs capabilities
while retaining its essential acoustic character. In this thesis we present a technique, travelling
wave control, which allows active control of the vibrations of musical strings and yet has been
little explored in the musical instrument literature to date. The thesis seeks to demonstrate
that travelling wave control is capable of active damping and of modifying the timbre of
a musical string in ways that go beyond those available through the more conventional
modal control paradigm. However, we show that travelling wave control is highly sensitive to
nonlinearity, which in practical settings can lead to harmonic distortion and even instability
in the string response. To avoid these problems, we design and build a highly linear optical
string displacement sensor, and investigate the use of piezoelectric stacks to actuate the
termination point of a string. With these components we design and build a functioning
travelling wave control system which is capable of damping the vibrations of a plucked
string without adversely affecting its timbre. We go on to show that by deliberately adding
nonlinearity into the control system, we are able to modify the timbre of the string in a
natural way by affecting the evolution of the modal amplitudes. The results demonstrate the
feasibility of the concept and lay the groundwork for future integration of travelling wave
control into future actuated musical instruments
Recommended from our members
On the playability of stringed instruments
As first noticed by Helmholtz, strings vibrate in a âV-shapeâ when they are bowed correctly and a full tone is produced, where the vertex of the âVâ shuttles back and forth along the visible envelope of the stringâs motion. If the instrument is bowed incorrectly, i.e. the instrument does not âspeakâ, then this âHelmholtz motionâ is not produced, and the shape of the string as it vibrates will be quite different. The goal of this research is to gather experimental data from a stringed instrument and use it in the on-going development of a theoretical model of the mechanics of the bowed string, which can be used to investigate which aspects of the violin, strings or bow influence the ease with
which this âHelmholtz motionâ can be produced. The design, testing and application of a robotic bowing machine are described, which has allowed the speed and force of a bow as it plays a cello to be controlled. Extensive measurements of various aspects of the motion of a cello string being bowed by the bowing machine are presented, and
compared with predictions from nominally similar theoretical models. Although certain models do reflect the qualitative behaviour seen in experiment under some conditions, all show vast room for improvement. Aspects of theoretical predictions that are at odds with experimental results, and would therefore impede efforts to use theoretical modelling in the design of a more âplayableâ violin, are subsequently described. Shortcomings of each model are attributed to physical defects of the theories underpinning them, and various modifications are discussed and tested.This project was financially supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Music conducting pedagogy and technology : a document analysis on best practices
This document analysis was designed to investigate pedagogical practices of music conducting teachers in conjunction with research of technologists on the use of various technologies as teaching tools. I sought to discern how conducting teachers and pedagogues are applying recent technological advancements into their teaching strategies. I also sought to understand what paths research is taking about the use of software, hardware, and computer systems applied to the teaching of music conducting technique. This dissertation was guided by four main research questions: (1) How has technology been used to aid in the teaching of conducting? (2) What is the role of technology in the context of conducting pedagogy? (3) Given that conducting is a performative act, how can it be developed through technological means? (4) What technological possibilities exist in the teaching of music conducting technique? Data were collected through music conducting syllabi, conducting textbooks, and research articles. Documents were selected through purposive sampling procedures. Analysis of documents through the constant comparative approach identified emerging themes and differences across the three types of documents. Based on a synthesis of information, I discussed implications for conducting pedagogy and made suggestions for conducting educators.Includes bibliographical references
Volume 24, Number 03 (March 1906)
Making a Modern Conservatory of Music: What an Endowment is Doing for the Institute of Musical Art, New York City
Polyphonic Music as Related to Modern Art and Education in Music
John Knowles Paine: The First of the Great American Composers
Medieval Musical Entertainment
Pianoforte Four-Hand Compositions
Secret of Successful Work
Some Mistakes in Teaching
How to Prepare and Conduct Class Meetings
Abt Vogler
Poems a Musician Should Know, with Suggestions for Their Studyhttps://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/etude/1511/thumbnail.jp