Real-time audio interaction in serious games for music learning

In this LBD, we present several Apps for playing while learning music or for learning music while playing. The core of all the games is based on the good performance of the real-time audio interaction algorithms developed by the ATIC group at Universidad de Ma ́laga (SPAIN).Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. This work has been funded by the Ministerio de Econom ıa y Competitividad of the Spanish Government under Project No. TIN2013-47276-C6-2-R and by the Junta de Andalucía under Project No. P11-TIC-7154

Socioeconomic processes of land degradation in Guadalajara province (Spain)

Merged with duplicate record 10026.1/662 on 01.02.2017 by CS (TIS)Despite the great growth and interest in the study of socioeconomic processes of land degradation in many parts of the world, relatively little attention has been paid to these in Spain. Foresters play an important part in the national strategy to solve the problems of land degradation. It might be expected that after the changes which restored political democracy in Spain in the late 1970s, a reorganization of the way the planning and implementation of soil and water conservation projects through reforestation would be effected. The reforestation agencies of the Government could have improved the effectiveness of conservation by acknowledging and dealing with the need to study the socioeconomic processes of land degradation and involve affected people in the decision making process in planning. This is the main problematic which the thesis addresses. The thesis considers the way issues of land degradation are studied, and how the results of these studies have been adopted and put into practice by Spanish foresters. The workings of the Spanish State and powerful economic interests are considered to be major players determining forestry practice and the outcome of conservation. Some of the most relevant methods in current planning for soil and water conservation, namely those stemming from practice and research into the promotion of participation of affected people, are largely absent from Spanish academic studies and/or planning circles for reforestation projects. The thesis considers the advantages and disadvantages of participatory and multidisciplinary approaches to research with the aim of providing an improved understanding of land degradation processes. The participatory approach is also appraised for its practical value to those involved in planning reforestation projects. The thesis concludes that the dilemma faced by successive Spanish Governments regarding reforestation is one of decision making in planning, involving not only powerful interests, but also those of the people affected. The mismatch between what in Governmental circles is acknowledged as necessary (the participation of the people affected in the decision making process for conservation) and its practice, is the result of the inadequate professional composition of planning teams. The introduction of social science specialists to all the stages of the planning cycle is necessary to improve understanding of the socioeconomic processes of land degradation. For such improvement to occur the perceptions of land users must be included. In so doing it will increase the possibilities of more successful soil and water conservation projects.Faculty of Science of the University of Plymouth,the British Council in Madri

Incorporating Uncertainty and Cero Values into the Valuation of Protected Areas and Species

Under the Spanish conservation law, compensation is envisaged for the damage associated with all actions that reduce the quantity or quality of protected areas and species. This paper provides a tool to evaluate the monetary equivalent of this damage. We conduct a contingent valuation exercise to estimate the existence value related to protected areas and species in Aragon. This estimate is then reconsidered including the possibility of zero bids and also the possibility of uncertain preferences for non-familiar goods. Considering these two effects, mean values are reduced significantly giving support to previous recommendations of dividing by two contingent valuation estimates from dichotomous choice question formats.natural heritage, contingent valuation, Spike model, uncertainty, Land Economics/Use, B23, C24, C42, C52, D62, Q26,

Modeling spectral changes in singing voice for pitch modification

We present an advanced method to achieve natural modifications when applying a pitch shifting process to singing voice by modifying the spectral envelope of the audio ex- cerpt. To this end, an all-pole spectral envelope model has been selected to describe the global variations of the spectral envelope with the changes of the pitch. We performed a pitch shifting process of some sustained vowels with the envelope processing and without it, and compared both by means of a survey open to volunteers in our website.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. This work has been funded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of the Spanish Government under Project No. TIN2013-47276-C6-2-R and by the Junta de Andalucía under Project No. P11-TIC-7154

Android app for automatic music composition

In this contribution, we present an Android App that generates music automatically replicating a specific contemporary genre, specifically rock music. The composition system is based on the analysis of a set of songs of the desired genre. The analysis results the automatic composition algorithm requires are exported to a JSON file that can be readily imported and parsed. The Android App developed creates a symbolic representation of the music generated for drums, bass and rhythm guitar that can be exported to a MIDI file or audio waveform. The evaluation results show that the automatic compositions generated are not distinguished amongst other excerpts created by human composers.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Gobierno de España, Proyecto TIN2016-75866-C3-2-R

Conducting a virtual ensemble with a kinect device

This paper presents a gesture-based interaction technique for the implementation of an orchestra conductor and a virtual ensemble, using a 3D camera-based sensor to capture user’s gestures. In particular, a human-computer interface has been developed to recognize conducting gestures using a Microsoft Kinect device. The system allows the conductor to control both the tempo in the piece played as well as the dynamics of each instrument set independently. In order to modify the tempo in the playback, a time-frequency processing-based algorithmis used. Finally, an experiment was conducted to assess user’s opinion of the system as well as experimentally confirm if the features in the system were effectively improving user experience or not.This work has been funded by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad of the Spanish Government under Project No. TIN2010-21089-C03-02 and Project No. IPT-2011-0885-430000 and by the Junta de Andalucia under Project No. P11-TIC-7154. The work has been done at Universidad de Malaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucia Tech

Music Learning Tools for Android Devices

In this paper, a musical learning application for mobile devices is presented. The main objective is to design and develop an application capable of offering exercises to practice and improve a selection of music skills, to users interested in music learning and training. The selected music skills are rhythm, melodic dictation and singing. The application includes an audio signal analysis system implemented making use of the Goertzel algorithm which is employed in singing exercises to check if the user sings the right musical note. This application also includes a graphical interface to represent musical symbols. A set of tests were conducted to check the usefulness of the application as musical learning tool. A group of users with different music knowledge have tested the system and reported to have found it effective, easy and accessible.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech