The impact of digital technology on instruments, performances, notations and compositions - DAY 1

A two-day workshop with DigiScore research team (Prof. Craig Vear and Dr. Solomiya Moroz) and Matthew Lane, planned in conjunction with CIRMMT research Axes 1, 2, and 4

Workshops and Research Meetings

March 07, 2023

09:00 - 17:45

A-832 (8th floor), 527 Sherbrooke O.

takuto.fukuda [AT] mail.mcgill.ca

iCal

Description and Overview

Digital technology has greatly impacted the way we create and perform music. From digital musical instruments that offer new ways to produce and perform sounds, to digital scores that offer creative possibilities beyond traditional printed scores, the impact of digital technology on instruments, performances, notations, and compositions has been significant.

In the realm of musical instruments, digital instruments such as drum machines and Karlax offer a non-linear relationship between performing gestures and resulting sounds, independent from the physical laws that govern traditional acoustic instruments. This opens up new possibilities for expression and experimentation for musicians and composers.

In the realm of notation and composition, digital scores created using computer graphics offer composers the ability to lay out their compositions in new and innovative ways. This, in turn, has transformed the role of these tools from reproduction to production, impacting the way we perform music.

Performance practice has also been impacted by digital technology, with performers facing new challenges in their practice due to the encroachment of digital technologies into the concert space. Live electronics and interactive computers have led to the exploration of alternative performance practices.

Join us in this workshop series as we delve into the fascinating world of digital music-making and explore the various ways in which digital technology has impacted instruments, performances, notations, and compositions.

The "Digital Scores" project

Join us for a workshop on performance practice with Digital Scores! Our project blends practice-based research and cutting-edge theories on the impact of computational technology on music scores. We invite musicians of all backgrounds, including composers, performers, makers, designers, and coders, to participate.

During the closed workshop, you'll have the opportunity to perform and share digital score examples with peers from the department. Reflect on your experiences working with digital scores and evaluate the skills and training required for digital musicianship. After the workshop, join the post-performance discussion and Q&A and complete a questionnaire to evaluate the workshop's impact.

Don't miss the chance to perform the example pieces at the improv@CIRMMT event on March 9 from 7-9 pm at Marche à côté and be part of shaping the future of digital scores!

Schedule of Events

Day 1 - March 7

9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (A-820) - Workshop on performance practice with Digital Scores - Solomiya Moroz & Craig Vear (limited to 6 participants)
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. (A-832) - Lunch provided for participants registered for workshops in either the morning and/or afternoon.
1:00 - 2:00 p.m. (A-832) - Seminar on Digital Scores - Solomiya Moroz & Craig Vear
2:00 - 2:15 p.m. (A-832) - Coffee break
2:15 - 3:15 p.m. (A-832) - Round table on Digital Scores - Solomiya Moroz & Craig Vear
3:15 - 3:30 p.m. (A-832) - Coffee break
3:30 - 5:10 p.m. (A-832) - Presentations from CIRMMT members:
- 3:30: Yuval Adler, Goni Peles
- 3:50: Dr. Jean-Michaël Celerier
- 4:10: Coffee break
- 4:30: Martin Daigle
- 4:50: Alberto Acquilino, Ninad Puranik

Day 2 - March 8 (A-832)

2:00 - 3:30 p.m. - Bach Library workshop - Matthew Lane (limited to 15 participants)
3:30 - 3:45 p.m. - Coffee break
3:45 - 5:25 p.m. - Presentations from CIRMMT members:
- 3:45: Jay Marchand Knight, Kofi Oduro, Eldad Tsabary
- 4:05: Dr. Arlan N. Schultz
- 4:25: Coffee break
- 4:45: Erich Barganier
- 5:05: Jérémie Martineau

Registration and Call for Participation

These events are free and open to the general public with Registration.

*Although the registration deadline for presenters has passed, you may still register as a general attendee. Note that lunch can no longer be guaranteed for general attendees.*

Our research follows all ethical standards and has been approved by the European Research Commission and the University of Nottingham. Prior to participating, participants should read the consent info sheet and complete a consent form that will be provided.

Biographies

Craig Vear is Professor of Music and Computer Science at the University of Nottingham split between music and the mixed reality lab. His research is naturally hybrid as he draws together the fields of music, digital performance, creative technologies, Artificial Intelligence, creativity, gaming, mixed reality and robotics. He has been engaged in practice-based research with emerging technologies for nearly three decades, and was editor for The Routledge International Handbook of Practice-Based Research, published in 2022. His recent monograph The Digital Score: creativity, musicianship and innovation, was published by Routledge in 2019, and he is Series Editor of Springer’s Cultural Computing Series. In 2021 he was awarded a €2Million ERC Consolidator Grant to continue to develop his Digital Score research.

Solomiya Moroz is a Canadian-Ukrainian musician, composer and researcher, based in the UK. She has a PhD in music composition from the University of Huddersfield and a Master’s in Live Electronics from the Conservatory of Amsterdam. Her work tends to progress towards the expansion of music-specific media and the role of the musicians within them. Currently, she is working as a research fellow in embodied music cognition on the Digital Score project at the University of Nottingham. Recent premiers of her compositions have been performed by Ensemble Apparat, accordionist Teodoro Anzellotti, Quasar saxophone quartet, Bozzini string quartet and accordion duo XAMP. She has also performed as a flautist with various ensembles and presented her music in Canada, the UK, the US, and Europe. Her projects and research have been supported by Canada Council for the Arts and Fonds Québécois de la Recherche sur la Société et Culture.

CIRMMT Members Presentations

Yuval Adler (CIRMMT, McGill University), Goni Peles (Open Scores Lab, Bath Spa University)

Title: Streaming Digital Score Performances: What We Can Learn from Esports

Abstract: Digital scores lend themselves well to streaming online music making to a live audience. We presented a performance using our browser-based multiplayer music game ScoreCraft at the online improv@CIRMMT event in March 2022. We will discuss lessons learned following the analysis of our work using esports as a model, based on T. L. Taylor’s Watch me play: twitch and the rise of game live streaming (2018).

Dr. Jean-Michaël Celerier (postdoctoral researcher at Concordia University)

Title: Scoring interactivity with ossia score

Abstract: This presentation will be a short tour of the system for authoring and executing interactive scores, ossia score, freely available on https://ossia.io. Both a domain-specific visual language for intermedia notation, and a cross-platform scoring system compatible with most media art protocols and systems - OSC, DMX, MIDI, with support for live and dynamic audio and video processing, it allows composers to clearly express the semantics of their intermedia systems, installations, and scores all while keeping a playful approach to score authoring.

Martin Daigle (McGill University)

Title: Acoustic instruments with Machine Learning software

Abstract: This presentation demonstrates the ease of use for augmenting acoustic instruments with the use of Machine Learning software. Projects like FluCoMa, and SP-Tool allow performers and composers to integrate ML features within their creative works. This presentation will demonstrate the simple steps which allow users to train a large corpus of sounds which then can be triggered by an active input from any instrument. Within the buffer size (256 samples), the machine will compare the performance and the corpus to trigger the closest-sounding sample. Other features such as training the system to recognize specific sounds will be explored in the context of Martin Daigle’s artistic research.

Alberto Acquilino (McGill University), Ninad Puranik (McGill University)

Title: Technology-Enhanced Musical Instrument Pedagogy.

Abstract: The proposed research aims to develop new technologies for teachers of variable-pitch musical instruments. Learning to play these instruments requires a complex coordination of muscle movements, and beginner musicians often have no idea of what a correct sound should sound like, as they rely solely on auditory feedback. The project aims to offer visual feedback to help musicians learn proper technique. The project seeks to create low-cost digital technologies that offer real-time visualization of technical skills. The Technology Acceptance Model is used to ensure that the proposed interfaces and exercises are useful and easy to use in pedagogical settings.