Verifying the frequency ratios in the musical scale of just intonation with "hear-and-see" learning tools

In engineering colleges, Acoustics often includes the musical scale topic, which is not very popular with most engineering students. In order to face this situation, this paper presents two alternative or complementary “hear-and-see” learning tools for the musical scale of just intonation. The first one combines the hearing of musical notes from an electric organ with the display on an oscilloscope from which the frequency ratios are inferred. Alternatively, the frequencies are computed in advance on the basis of the theoretical frequency ratios, and an audio editor allows to hear the resulting notes, while the PC screen can display similar graphs to those on the oscilloscope.Postprint (author's final draft

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

Sound Judgements: Music Education Framework for Guiding Digital Mixing Practice

Mixing is an intermediary process within audio production wherein the aesthetic and technical qualities of musical compositions are further enhanced and refined. Most music perceived via audio-playback devices is mixed to sound a certain way. By understanding why recordings ‘sound’ how they do, musicians, music educators, and novice mixers can acquire a greater appreciation for mixing while considering how this process might affect their own performance practices (Hodgson 2019; Fisher, 1998). Knowing how and what to listen for when mixing is highly subjective, as people experience and describe sounds differently. Indeed, mixing is illusory as listeners are presented with an apparent single acoustic phenomenon (the mix) with all the sounds blended to complement one another to sound aesthetically pleasing. This study introduces readers to a flexible music education learning framework involving principles, guidelines, and strategies which students and music educators of secondary and post-secondary levels may refer to when learning to mix. Such a framework outlines ways of listening, evaluating, and mixing sounds through reiterative decision-making processes. The researcher’s purpose of this study was to engage firsthand in mixing practice through autoethnography to experience, explore, and document the craft’s musical potentialities. One of the researcher\u27s primary goals as a novice mixer was thus to make musical arrangements ‘sound better.’ It is what constitutes ‘better’ that makes studying mixing practice mysterious and highly subjective, although mixing processes also involve objective, numerical, and scientific values (i.e., Hertz frequencies, decibels, etc.). Among the significant findings of the study were important insights into the elusive mixing goals of improving the ‘musicality’ of arrangements and exploring the skills and competencies necessary for students to learn how to mix with a technical and aesthetic mindset. Cultivating a sense of musicality within mixes is difficult, enigmatic, and an utmost mixing goal due to the lack of ‘one-size-fits-all’ solutions and the accessibility of mixing tools. Beginners might be overwhelmed if not provided with a learning framework for mixing that includes helpful guidelines and possible strategies to make sense of what they see, hear, and can do musically

Verifying the frequency ratios in the musical scale of just intonation with "hear-and-see" learning tools

In engineering colleges, Acoustics often includes the musical scale topic, which is not very popular with most engineering students. In order to face this situation, this paper presents two alternative or complementary “hear-and-see” learning tools for the musical scale of just intonation. The first one combines the hearing of musical notes from an electric organ with the display on an oscilloscope from which the frequency ratios are inferred. Alternatively, the frequencies are computed in advance on the basis of the theoretical frequency ratios, and an audio editor allows to hear the resulting notes, while the PC screen can display similar graphs to those on the oscilloscope

Interactive performance for musicians with a hearing impairment

How can we perceive music if we cannot hear it properly? The achievements of deaf musicians suggest it is possible not only to perceive music, but to perform with other musicians. Yet very little research exists to explain how this is possible. This thesis addresses this problem and explores the premise that vibrations felt on the skin may facilitate interactive music making. An initial interview study found that, while vibrations are sometimes perceived, it is predominantly the use of visual and physical cues that are relied upon in group performance to help stay in time and in tune with other players. The findings informed the design of two observation studies exploring the effects of i) artificial attenuation of auditory information and ii) natural deafness on performance behaviours. It was shown that profound congenital deafness affected the players’ movements and their gazes/glances towards each other while mild or moderate levels of attenuation or deafness did not. Nonetheless, all players, regardless of hearing level, reciprocated the behaviours of co-performers suggesting the influence of social factors benefitting verbal and non-verbal communication between players. Finally, a series of three psychophysical experiments was designed to explore the perception of pitch on the skin using vibrations. The first study found that vibrotactile detection thresholds were not affected by hearing impairments. The second established that the relative pitches of intervals larger than a major 6th were easy to discriminate, but this was not possible for semitones. The third showed that tones an octave apart could be memorised and identified accurately, but were confused when less than a perfect 4th apart. The thesis concludes by evaluating the potential of vibrotactile technology to facilitate interactive performance for musicians with hearing impairments. By considering the psychophysical, behavioural and qualitative data together, it is suggested that signal processing strategies in vibrotactile technology should take social, cognitive and perceptual factors into account

EDU-COM 2004 International conference: new challenges for sustainability and growth in higher education

EDU-COM 2004, an international conference held in Khon Kaen, Thailand from the 24th to the 26th November, 2004 took the theme: New Challenges for Sustainability and Growth in Higher Education. EDU-COM 2004 was sponsored and organised by Edith Cowan University, Khon Kaen University and Bansomdejchaopraya Rajabhat University/ The Conference was structured to address five sub-themes pertinent to the challenges facing higher education worldwide: • Collaboration between campus and community in Higher Education • Collaboration targeting multi-cultural and cross-cultural issues in Higher Education • Collaboration through new teaching and learning technologies in Higher Education • Collaboration for quality: valuing and evaluating performance in Higher Education • Collaboration for effective governance in Higher Education Contributors were invited to address on or more of these sub-themes. All papers published in these proceedings reflect the drive for richer learning experiences, improved learning environments and recognition of the importance of the local community as technology enables us to think globally. Predictably perhaps, e-education brought the most substantial response, a clear indication of the perceived potential for new technologies to influence teaching, learning and administration in higher education. The papers also highlight some of the challenges and emerging expectations for higher education in a world that is increasingly characterised by international alliances, partnerships and tensions – a search for sustainability and equity in a period of rapid social and technological change. The Proceedings are in 3 sections. Section 1 – Keynote Speakers; Section 2 – Academic Peer Reviewed Papers: Section 3 - “Work in Progress”. EDU-COM 2004 was attended by delegates from Australia, Botswana, Cambodia, China, Denmark, England, Hong Kong, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Lao, Myanamar, Singapore, Tanzania, Thailand, Vietnam