Computational Modelling and Quantitative Analysis of Dynamics in Performed Music

PhDMusical dynamics- loudness and changes in loudness - forms one of the key aspects of expressive music performance. Surprisingly this rather important research area has received little attention. A reason is the fact that while the concept of dynamics is related to signal amplitude, which is a low-level feature, the process of deriving perceived loudness from the signal is far from straightforward. This thesis advances the state of the art in the analysis of perceived loudness by modelling dynamic variations in expressive music performance and by studying the relation between dynamics in piano recordings and markings in the score. In particular, we show that dynamic changes: a) depend on the evolution of the performance and the local context of the piece; b) correspond to important score markings and music structures; and, c) can reflect wide divergences in performers' expressive strategies within and across pieces. In a preparatory stage, dynamic changes are obtained by linking existing music audio and score databases. All studies in this thesis are based on loudness levels extracted from 2000 recordings of 44 Mazurkas by Frederic Chopin. We propose a new method for efficiently aligning and annotating the data in score beat time representation, based on dynamic time warping applied to chroma features. Using the score-aligned recordings, we examine the relationship between loudness values and dynamic level categories. The research can be broadly categorised into two parts. The first investigates how dynamic markings map to performed loudness levels. Empirical results show that different dynamic markings do not correspond to fixed loudness thresholds. Rather, the important factors are the relative loudness of neighbouring markings, the inter-relations of nearby markings and other score information, the structural location of the markings, and the creative license exercised by the performer in inserting further interpretive dynamic shaping. The second part seeks to determine how changes in loudness levels map to score features using statistical change-point techniques. The results show that significant dynamic score markings do indeed correspond to change points. Furthermore, evidence suggests that change points in score positions without dynamic markings highlight structurally salient events or events based on temporal changes. In a separate bidirectional study, we investigate the relationship between dynamic mark- ings in the score and performed loudness using machine learning techniques. The techniques are applied to the prediction of loudness levels corresponding to dynamic markings, and to the classification of dynamic markings given loudness values. The results show that loudness values and markings can be predicted relatively well when trained across recordings of the same piece, but fail dismally when trained across a pianist's recordings of other pieces. The findings demonstrate that score features may trump individual style when modelling loudness choices. The analysis of the results reveal that form|such as the return of the theme - and structure - such as repetitions -influence predictability of loudness and markings. This research is a first step towards automatic audio-to-score transcription of dynamic markings. This insight will serve as a tool for expression synthesis and musicological studies.Queen Mary University of Londo

Exploring the views of postgraduates on higher education sustainability

Purpose. Research on student views of sustainability issues abounds in the literature. Student responses to university sustainability however, as a phenomenon taking place within the time and space of higher education, seem to be under-researched. This study explores how university sustainability is perceived by postgraduate students of the Educational Research and Sustainable Development programmes at the University of Exeter. The aim is to explore whether programme of study influences student response to university sustainability. Design/Methodology/Approach: An on-line questionnaire containing Likert type items was administered to the students of the two programmes. As university sustainability is a still evolving concept which lacks a well-established definition, the content of the questionnaire items was based on descriptions of university sustainability by major higher education stakeholders. Replies were coded and the resulting data were analysed statistically to explore the differences between the two groups. Findings. Programme of study is seen to influence sustainability knowledge, with sustainable development students scoring significantly higher in the knowledge scale than educational research students. The findings indicate a positive correlation between knowledge of and attitudes towards sustainability. The results compare favourably with findings of previous research, which supports infusion of sustainability content across the curriculum as a means of improving graduate sustainability literacy. Research Limitations. Exploring how programme of study impacts students' sustainability attitudes needs to be further researched as correlation does not necessarily indicate causality and factors other than academic experience might have influenced student performance. The convenience sample used for data collection and the relatively low response rate do not allow transferability or generalizability of the results. Practical Implications: As student voice is gradually becoming a crucial component for universities' development with the increase of tuition fees, the demand for a comprehensive understanding of student sustainability needs emerges. The study attempts to address this necessity through an investigation of postgraduate views on university sustainability. Moreover, a suggestion put forward by this paper is that assessment of the impact sustainability initiatives have on student experience might be more efficient if audits focus on university rather than universal sustainability issues. Originality/Value. The present study employs for the first time the term 'university sustainability' to denote sustainability practices taking place within the time and space of higher education. While past research has examined mainly undergraduates' opinions of sustainability, this study focuses exclusively on postgraduates as they have greater experience of higher education settings. Finally, by examining both attitudes and knowledge a holistic exploration of student response is attempted with the majority of the previous research focusing on either attitudes or knowledge

Mapping sustainability assessment and reporting in the UK tertiary education : A whole-institution perspective on sustainability assessment and reporting tools

A plethora of assessment and reporting ‘tools’1 has become available for the improvement of sustainability performance in Further and Higher Education(FHE). As the profile of sustainability reporting and assessment continues to rise, the market of FHE sustainability assessment and reporting tools is expanding with more than a hundred ‘tools’ in use by UK FHE institutions, as identified at the initial phase of this research. Navigating through this increasingly complex landscape often seems a daunting task. In response, the EAUC has initiated this project to help sustainability professionals critically evaluate those tools and facilitate their institutions’ orientation in sustainability assessment and reporting. The project has achieved three main results: - Firstly, tools of importance to the UK FHE sector have been identified and are presented in the form of a guide providing an overview of each (pp. 11-30). - Secondly, these diverse tools have been ‘mapped’ under a whole institution approach framework, as modelled by LiFE (a self-assessment and reporting mechanism developed by the EAUC). They are colour coded according to their level of alignment with the LiFE criteria. This ‘mapping’ allows identification of emphases or gaps in the FHE sustainability coverage for each tool. Institutions are thus provided with a whole institution visual analysis of the scope and impact of tools they might have in place or are considering adopting. (Appendices A and B display these maps). - Thirdly, a ‘Dashboard’ has been developed to compile all the tools and systematize their comparison and analysis. The dashboard tools also include an allocated score on the basis of its coverage of the whole institution sustainability, as defined by LiFE. (Section Dashboard Methodology: pp. 9-10). The Dashboard provides a mechanism for creating customised ‘baseline’ maps which will include all an institution’s tools to identify gaps and further drive performance (Appendix A) Our study features alternative tools that go beyond eco-efficiency, addressing areas of FHE sustainability such as teaching and research. Having said that, it is crucial to stress that this research does not endorse any of the tools, which were chosen on the basis of their frequency of use and importance to the EAUC members. In other sectors, there is a tendency for tools to harmonize with each other, creating a common language of indicators which enables institutions to better communicate and compare their sustainability performance. We have tried to do the same for the FHE sector. The EAUC will continue to work closely with institutions through an approach which recognises the importance of both external tools and internal programmes to performance improvement, assessment and reporting. This research also communicates the merits of combining both internal and external approaches within a whole institution framework. In the spirit of the EAUC’s approach, we take this opportunity to highlight that the success of this project is impingent upon the support and participation of our member institutions. Thus, we invite feedback, ideas and contributions which will help to shape this co-creation between the EAUC and its members. To get involved or for further information, please contact Iain Patton at [email protected]

On the Adoption of Standard Encoding Formats to Ensure Interoperability of Music Digital Archives: The IEEE 1599 Format

With this paper, we want to stimulate the discussion about technologies for inter-operation between various music datasets and collections. Among the many standards for music representation, IEEE 1599 is the only one which was born with the exact purpose of representing the heterogeneous structures of music documents, granting full synchronization of all the different aspects of music (audio recordings, sheet music images, symbolic representations, musicological analysis, etc). We propose the adoption of IEEE 1599 as an interoperability framework between different collections for advanced music experience, musicological applications, and Music Information Retrieval (MIR). In the years to come, the format will undergo a review process aimed at providing an updated/improved version. It is now the perfect time, for all the stakeholders, to come together and discuss how the format can evolve to better support their requirements, enhancing its descriptive strength and available tools. Moreover, this standard can be profitably applied to any field that requires multi-layer and synchronized descriptions

StemGen: A music generation model that listens

End-to-end generation of musical audio using deep learning techniques has seen an explosion of activity recently. However, most models concentrate on generating fully mixed music in response to abstract conditioning information. In this work, we present an alternative paradigm for producing music generation models that can listen and respond to musical context. We describe how such a model can be constructed using a non-autoregressive, transformer-based model architecture and present a number of novel architectural and sampling improvements. We train the described architecture on both an open-source and a proprietary dataset. We evaluate the produced models using standard quality metrics and a new approach based on music information retrieval descriptors. The resulting model reaches the audio quality of state-of-the-art text-conditioned models, as well as exhibiting strong musical coherence with its context.Comment: Accepted for publication at ICASSP 202