CSME 2022 Abstracts

Area 1 - Computer Supported Music Education
Full Papers

Area 1 - Computer Supported Music Education

Full Papers
Paper Nr: 1
Title:

Fostering Computational Thinking in Undergraduated Music Conservatory Students
Authors:

Marcella Mandanici
Abstract: This paper presents and discusses the syllabus of a music technology course at undergraduate level in a Music Conservatory. The aim of the course is to introduce the students to computational thinking through the use of Pure Data, a free visual programming environment for music production. Starting from very basic notions in music technology and in the use of the program, the students are guided towards the knowledge of the fundamental steps of computational thinking in music production. Simple musical structures such as pattern repetition, transposition, polyphony and chords are implemented with the use of loops, abstractions, cycles, pattern storage systems and timing controls. While students become acquainted with these processes, also creative group activities are proposed with the aim of exploring the potentialities of the numeric control of sound events and musical form.
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Paper Nr: 2
Title:

A Collaborative Digital Audio Workstation for Young Learners
Authors:

Adriano Baratè, Luca A. Ludovico and Giorgio Presti
Abstract: This paper presents the early results of the project titled “A Band in the Cloud”, conducted in cooperation between INDIRE, the agency of the Italian Ministry of Education for educational research and innovation, and LIM, the laboratory of sound and music computing of the University of Milan. The goal of the project is to foster the development of musical and extra-musical skills in young learners through a free web-based digital audio workstation. After presenting the state of the art and discussing the pedagogical aims of the initiative, we will describe the technical details of the platform and give details about the release plan.
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Paper Nr: 3
Title:

An Overview of Automatic Piano Performance Assessment within the Music Education Context
Authors:

Hyon Kim, Pedro Ramoneda, Marius Miron and Xavier Serra
Abstract: Piano is one of the most popular instruments among music learners. Technologies to evaluate piano performances have been researched and developed in recent years rapidly, including data driven methods using machine learning. Despite the demand from people and speed of the development, there are still gaps between the methods and the pedagogical setup for real use case scenarios due to lack of accuracy of methods, insufficient amount of training data or the biases in training machine learning models, ignoring actual use case of the technology and such. In this paper, we first propose a feedback approach in piano performance education and review methods for Automated Piano Performance Assessment (APPA). After that, we discuss about gaps between a feedback approach and current methods, emphasizing their music education application. As a future work we propose a potential approach to overcome the gaps.
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Paper Nr: 5
Title:

MusicBlocks: An Innovative Tool for Learning the Foundations of Music
Authors:

Beatrice Miotti, Luca Bassani, Enrico Cauteruccio and Marco Morandi
Abstract: The Italian National Guidelines (Miur, 2012) and in particular the legislative decree no. 60 highlight the competencies in the artistic and expressive field which students must acquire by the end of the first cycle of education. Indire in collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Education started research activities in order to support music teachers in the teaching activities and in the implementation of best practices in their classes. The research presented in this paper results from listening to teachers’ needs. It describes the ideation, realisation and future developments of the experimentation of MusicBlocks: a tool patented by the research group, which enables tangible music production, overcoming the difficulties deriving from learning how to play a musical instrument. MusicBlocks is an easy-to-use tool due to its structure especially conceived to be used by students as a stand-alone tool. Students can compose their own melody and listen to its execution by laying Lego® bricks. If this does not provide practical help to learn how to play an instrument, it surely helps to acquire the propaedeutic competences: rhythm, melody, and harmony, which are necessary in order to develop an interest in playing a musical instrument. Experimentations with MusicBlocks are currently undergoing in lower secondary schools, receiving a high degree of interest and appreciation from students and teachers.
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