CSME 2021 Abstracts

Area 1 - Computer Supported Music Education
Full Papers Short Papers

Area 1 - Computer Supported Music Education

Full Papers
Paper Nr: 1
Title:

WesterParse: A Transition-based Dependency Parser for Tonal Species Counterpoint
Authors:

Robert Snarrenberg
Abstract: This article describes the syntax parser that is a principal component of WesterParse, a software program designed to evaluate tonal species counterpoint in the version developed by Peter Westergaard (1975). The parser produces interpretations of the pitch-syntactic structure of simple tonal lines. The parser is written in Python and relies on the music21 toolkit. Given a simple tonal line of the sort found in Westergaardian counterpoint, the parser can evaluate its structure and report whether the line is valid. To do so, the parser compiles a set of possible syntactic interpretations. If asked, the program can display the interpretations in a notation program such as MuseScore. (A separate component of WesterParse is a voice-leading evaluator that can test the counterpoint of both simple and combined species for compliance with Westergaard’s rules of voice leading.) After providing a synopsis of Westergaard’s definition of simple tonal lines, the article describes the architecture of the software parser, the scanning process, and the central concept of dependency relations. The parsing operation is then illustrated using Fux’s Dorian cantus firmus, and a closer look is taken at the process for parsing transitions.
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Paper Nr: 2
Title:

The Tonnetz Environment: A Web Platform for Computer-aided “Mathemusical” Learning and Research
Authors:

Corentin Guichaoua, José L. Besada, Erica Bisesi and Moreno Andreatta
Abstract: We describe the Tonnetz web environment and some of the possible applications we have developed within a pedagogical workshop on mathematics and music that has been conceived for high-school students. This web environment makes use of two geometrical representations that constitute intuitive ways of accessing some theoretical concepts underlying the equal tempered system and their possible mathematical formalizations. The environment is aimed at enhancing “mathemusical” learning processes by enabling the user to interactively manipulate these representations. Finally, we show how Tonnetz is currently being adapted in order to lead computer-based experiences in music perception and cognition that will be mainly carried at universities. These experiences will explore the way in which geometrical models could be implicitly encoded during the listening process. Their outcome may reinforce educational strategies for learning mathematics through music.
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Paper Nr: 3
Title:

Sonidos Telemáticos: Network Remote Performance for Compositional Paradigm Shifting in Peruvian Musical Learning Practice
Authors:

José I. López Ramírez Gastón
Abstract: This paper explores the implementation of network data transmission for real-time remote musical performance as part of a set of strategies for paradigm shifting in Peruvian musical education. It describes the use of the [netsend] / [netreceive] objects in the Pure Data (Pd) visual programming language by the Ensamble de Laptops de la Universidad Nacional de Música – ELUNM, for the composition and execution of musical pieces developed by the creation of programs (patches) design for network distant performance interactivity through a server computer. This practice aims at bridging a technological and conceptual gap, in musical composition and performance, that has accompanied the history of musical education in the country, keeping computational thinking from becoming a tool for the construction of new creative expressions and the extension/reconfiguration of the musical arts.
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Paper Nr: 5
Title:

Restoring Eye Contact to the Virtual Classroom with Machine Learning
Authors:

Ross Greer and Shlomo Dubnov
Abstract: Nonverbal communication, in particular eye contact, is a critical element of the music classroom, shown to keep students on task, coordinate musical flow, and communicate improvisational ideas. Unfortunately, this nonverbal aspect to performance and pedagogy is lost in the virtual classroom. In this paper, we propose a machine learning system which uses single instance, single camera image frames as input to estimate the gaze target of a user seated in front of their computer, augmenting the user’s video feed with a display of the estimated gaze target and thereby restoring nonverbal communication of directed gaze. The proposed estimation system consists of modular machine learning blocks, leading to a target-oriented (rather than coordinate-oriented) gaze prediction. We instantiate one such example of the complete system to run a pilot study in a virtual music classroom over Zoom software. Inference time and accuracy meet benchmarks for videoconferencing applications, and quantitative and qualitative results of pilot experiments include improved success of cue interpretation and student-reported formation of collaborative, communicative relationships between conductor and musician.
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Paper Nr: 6
Title:

Songs in Music Education: Design and Early Experimentation of a Web Tool for the Recognition of Harmonic Changes
Authors:

Federico Avanzini, Adriano Baratè, Luca A. Ludovico and Marcella Mandanici
Abstract: This paper deals with Harmonic Touch, a Web platform designed to foster the practice of tonal harmony also in young children. The work focuses on one of the experiences provided by the framework, namely the gamification of harmonic change recognition in songs. The platform, specifically equipped with new features to accommodate the needs of teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been tested in two Italian schools in February 2021. Early experimental results about the main difficulties encountered by the children during the games are presented and discussed.
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Short Papers
Paper Nr: 4
Title:

Towards Accessible and Sustainable Learning of Real Time Electroacoustic Composition and Performance at Undergraduate Academic Level
Authors:

Andrea Bareggi and Simonetta Sargenti
Abstract: Electronic music undergraduate and graduate teaching is mainly characterized by a strong theoretical basis and the practical approach is often proposed during the last part of the academic programme. Also, the resources used for electronic music production are available in the last years of academic studies, but not during the early stage of the career of the musician who graduates in electroacoustic composition. Moreover, the recent pandemic situation and the need for online teaching has exacerbated some of these problems. Lack of specific material for each student and recording studios, the need of specific knowledge in analogical & digital electronics and programming languages potentially lead to inequality between different institutions with similar programmes. The goal of this research is the presentation of a practical workflow for ready-to-use tools in electroacoustic music teaching in Italian and French academic institutions. A sustainable approach in terms of availability of the tools (from an economic point of view and easiness of use) is proposed in this research work. The proposal is divided into an overview on the situation of the studies in the electroacoustic music domain in Italy and in France, a brief description of the tools proposed for a sustainable teaching and a practical example. This consists of two short instrumental pieces with live electronics.
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