Ancien·ne·s récipiendaires du financement Agile

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2024-2025

Tour 1 (Avril 2024)

Pierre Grandjean & Olivier Robin (Université de Sherbrooke)

• Titre du projet: Advancing Personal Sound Zones Set Up Using Spherical Microphones for Seamless Adoption in Music and Museology Fields
• Résumé: Personal Sound Zone (PSZ) is a technique to increase sound contrast between two or more dedicated areas. This project aims to enhance PSZ calibration using a spherical microphone array (SMA), such as Zylia and EigenMic which are currently dedicated to audio applications and used by many musicians, instead of complex microphone arrays, thus simplifying the process for the general public, such as musicians or museums. By combining these technologies with innovative calibration algorithms, using decentralized extrapolation of SMAs to map impulse response in the desired PSZ, and extrapolation to account for human body diffraction, it should enable users to easily use this technology. Real-world validation in musical or museum settings will showcase the system's effectiveness.
  
• Mots-clés: Acoustics, Engineering, Audio engineering, Music
• Rapport de résumé de fin de projet: À venir mai 2025

Andrea Gozzi, Dominic Thibault (Université de Montréal), Martha de Franciso & Gianluca Grazioli (McGill University)

• Titre du projet: Music performance in audio augmented reality: new acoustic spaces using bone conduction headphones
• Résumé: Bone conduction headphones (BCHs) primarily transmit the audio signal directly to the inner ear. By not obstructing the ear canal, the system facilitates the perception of two layers of sound: a seamless integration of unmediated and virtual sound, enhancing the realism of the latter. Our objective is to investigate musical practices employing virtual acoustics and real-time convolution of sounds produced by musicians, perceived by them through BCHs. Data collected and audiovisual recordings in the laboratory, during both ensemble and solo performances, will provided analysis never performed before on this research subject.
  
• Mots-clés: Audio Augmented Reality; Spatial Audio; Virtual Acoustics; Haptics; Music Performance
• Rapport de résumé de fin de projet: À venir mai 2025

Tour 2 (Octobre 2024)

Suresh Krishna, Fabrice Marandola and Marcelo Wanderley (McGill University)

• Titre du projet: Developing our new markerless, very short-latency, camera-based interface for musical expression
• Résumé: We have recently built a *markerless* position-tracker plus gesture and pose recognition device. Many landmarks can be tracked (21 for the hand), with a (short !) latency of up to 6 milliseconds (or less) between gesture initiation and OSC generation. The OSC command is currently being used via PureData to drive a mock-theremin with a gesture-sound latency of around 15 ms, a number that can be further reduced. The Agile grant will be used to generate more/better gesture-sound mappings for the device, incorporate gesture prediction for even shorter latency in percussion, and stimulate use of the technology in music creation.
• Mots-clés: AI, Psychophysics, Music creation, Music technology, Computer vision
• Rapport de résumé de fin de projet: À venir novembre 2025

2023-2024

Tour 1 (Avril 2023)

Liliana Araujo, Isabelle Cossette, Kristie Ibrahim, Selena Scheede-Bergdahl (McGill University) & Felipe Verdugo (U. de Montréal)

• Titre du projet: Physical readiness of music students post-pandemic
• Résumé: A new generation of musicians is beginning post-secondary studies with almost three years of their development under physical and social restrictions imposed by the pandemic, raising questions about their physical readiness to perform. This pilot study consists of a fitness screening with post-secondary music students to gather baseline data on levels of fitness (cardiovascular and respiratory capacity, strength, endurance), sedentary behavior, health literacy and injury status. This study will inform applied initiatives and generate new questions for research on musicians’ physical health, playing stamina and movement efficiency. The funding will support a student assistant and the acquisition of testing equipment.
  
• Mots-clés: physiology, biomechanics, psychology, music performance, exercise science
• Rapport de résumé de fin de projet: Araujo-Cossette-Ibrahim-ScheedeBergdahl-Verdugo - Agile Seed report 2023-24

Dominic Thibault, Caroline Traube, Sarah Lecompte-Bergeron (U. de Montréal), Sean Wood, Jean Rouat & Adam Mezaber (U. de Sherbrooke)

• Titre du projet: Embedded Neural Audio Synthesis for Musical Expression
• Résumé: In this project, we aim to study state-of-the-art generative AI techniques in the context of musical creation. Key to this interdisciplinary collaboration is the development of a proof-of-concept hardware implementation of a neural network-based synthesizer module capable of generating audio in real-time based on in-context model training.
  The Agile Seed Funding will be used to form an interdisciplinary team with expertise in electroacoustic music, machine learning, and electrical engineering. A knowledge gain in the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) is expected, resulting in an up-to-date literature review and interactive audio synthesis embedded on GPU-based platform.
  As AI-based generative models continue to produce increasingly astonishing results, the research potential in machine-controlled and machine-generated synthesis in a musical context is high. We aim to develop a long-term research project with artistic communities to extend literacy and autonomy of artists in the world of these generative machine learning processes.
  
• Mots-clés: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Music Creation, Audio Synthesis, Embedded Systems
• Rapport de résumé de fin de projet: Thibault-Traube-LecompteBergeron-Wood-Rouat-Mezaber - Agile Seed report 2023-24

Isabelle Cossette, Liliana Araujo & Ninad Puranik (McGill University)

• Titre du projet: The Performance Simulator: Building software robustness and scenario diversification for improved user-friendliness
• Résumé: Over the last years, a performance simulator has been acquired and used to mimic performances while recording the playing of training musicians. The long-term goal of this facility is to provide performance opportunities close to in-vivo situations (currently lacking for many students) in which physiological/psychological data will be gathered to inform the development of pedagogical tools. Currently, while the hardware is functional, the software and the limited library of scenarios need fine-tuning. This funding seeks support to develop a robust and user-friendly software, a diversified library of performance contexts and to collect user feedbacks – all through students’ hire.
  
• Mots-clés: Software Programming, Sound and Video Recording and Editing, Performance Sciences, Music Performance Pedagogy, Virtual Reality
• Rapport de résumé de fin de projet: Cossette et al - Agile Seed report 2023-24

Jason Noble (McGill University), Takuto Fukuda (Concordia) & Caroline Traube (U. de Montréal)

• Titre du projet: Exploring the Semantics of “Timbre-Textures” with Granular Synthesis
• Résumé: We are studying meanings listeners associate with musical sounds in contemporary music. In previous studies, participants rated excerpts of contemporary music on semantic scales. In the present study, we invert the task: participants produce their own musical sounds in response to semantic prompts, using a Max patch. They position cursors on 2D surfaces to modify inharmonicity, pitch ambitus, central pitch height, and attack density, emulating the soundworlds of sound mass and granular synthesis composers (e.g., Ligeti, Xenakis, Truax). We seek funding to pay participants and hire RAs (who will be CIRMMT students) to run subjects and help with statistical analysis. 
  
• Mots-clés: musical semantics, music perception, sound synthesis, granular synthesis, contemporary music
• Rapport de résumé de fin de projet: À venir juillet 2024

Tour 2 (Octobre 2023)

Elizabeth Zimmerman, John Mac Master, Carolina Meloto, Isabelle Cossette, Scetlana Komarova, Theodora Nestorova, Sara Hashemi & Yu-Yao Chang (Université McGill)

• Titre du projet: Effect of muscle activity and jaw movement during singing on vibrato and oral health
• Résumé: Singers precisely control the position of their jaw; however, it is not known how jaw movement and muscle activity affect vibrato quality and oral health. Jaw overuse is associated with increased risk of painful temporomandibular disorder (pTMD), causing disabling pain in orofacial muscles and/or the jaw joint. This study is an intersection of music pedagogy and oral health in singers. The aim is to measure jaw movement (MOCAP) and orofacial muscles activity (sEMG) during singing and relate it to vibrato regularity (audio analysis) and oral health (pTMD diagnostic criteria).
  
• Mots-clés: Singing, vibrato regularity, orofacial pain, muscle activity, jaw movement
• Rapport de résumé de fin de projet: Zimmerman et al. - Agile Seed report 2023-24

Olivier Robin, François Grondin, Loïc Boileau (Université de Sherbrooke) & Eric Desmarais (Sporobole)

• Titre du projet: Evaluation of Bluetooth 5.1 for setting up wireless loudspeaker arrays that could be automatically located and cross-calibrated
• Résumé: Sound field synthesis (SFS) using loudspeaker arrays calls for a precise knowledge of loudspeakers positions and of the acoustic environment. It requires substantial installation effort and limits the use of SFS to prescribed configurations. Also, an array can only be extended by connecting (wiring) more devices to a central hub. Bluetooth 5.1 specification introduced positioning capabilities. Being built in an Internet of Things paradigm, Bluetooth 5.1 allows a mesh network in which all devices communicate with each other. The research project aims to evaluate the potential of Bluetooth 5.1 to create wireless, self-locating and cross-calibrating loudspeaker arrays.
  
• Mots-clés: Audio engineering, IoT, Sound Field Synthesis, Beamforming
• Rapport de résumé de fin de projet: Robin et al. - Agile Seed report 2023-24

2022-2023

Tour 1 (avril 2022) - aucune demande

Tour 2 (octobre 2022)

Jérémie Voix, Tigran Avestissian (ÉTS) & L. Alexis Emelianoff (independent)

• Titre du projet: Fundamental research on magnetoacoustics
• Résumé: The National MagLab is a cutting-edge magnetics research facility in the USA that allows researchers in academia and industry to conduct experiments for free.
  We propose to initiate a relationship with the NML and conduct experiments to investigate magnetic materials and processes for the eventual creation of new musical instruments and sonic processes. Kinetic, electromagnetic, and magnetic activity can all be transduced to sound with piezo, induction, and conventional microphones. Extracting and organizing sound from magnetic sources allows a new insight into the behavior of energy and matter, as well as creating a new, elusive language for music.
  https://nationalmaglab.org/
  
• Mots-clés: magnetics, acoustics, new instruments, new soundworlds
• Rapport de résumé de fin de projet: Emelianoff-Voix-Avestissian: Agile Seed Report 2022-23

Suresh Krishna, Fabrice Marandola (McGill University) & Simone Della Bella (Université de Montréal)

• Titre du projet: Music Performance: bridging scientific, musicological and artistic approaches
• Résumé: Unlike music perception, there is relatively little scientific literature that focuses on music performance. We aim to develop a quantitative process model of music performance, based on data collected from musicians (of different degrees of expertise) as they perform music both in the lab and live, and during sight-reading, memorized performance of familiar pieces, ensemble performance, improvisation, etc. The data streams will include gaze- and pupil-tracking, autonomic measures, motion capture, audiovisual recordings, and motor timing. In particular, we will explore the correlates of musical attributes like piece difficulty/familiarity, surprise, musical expertise, the feeling of flow, and perceived/self-experienced quality of performance. 
• Mots-clés: psychology, cognitive science, musicology, computational modeling, psychophysiology
• Rapport de résumé de fin de projet: Krishna-Dalla Bella-Marandola: Agile Seed Report 2022-23

2021-2022

Tour 1 (avril 2021)

Jean Rouat, Olivier Robin, Patrick O'Donoghue (Université de Sherbrooke) & Olivier Valentin (McGill University)

• Titre du projet: Sounds of onomatopoeias 
• Résumé: Complex relationships exist between sounds, colors and shapes. Onomatopoeias, sometimes called 'sound words' phonetically imitate or imply the sound that they describe, but their fundamental underlying mechanisms have been scarcely studied. This project aims to study the effect of letter spacing in simple onomatopoeias on the sound they suggest. A protocol including a web interface has been setup, in which participants must vocalize various onomatopoeias (AAAAA, A A A), these vocalizations being recorded and later analyzed in terms of emitted frequency versus letter spacing. The project aims to initiate online testing, including gathering and analysis of results.
• Mots-clés: Acoustics, Sound perception, Auditory neuroscience
• Rapport de résumé de fin de projet: Rouat-Robin-O'Donoghue-Valentin Agile Seed Report 2021-22

Tour 2 (septembre 2021)

Myriam Boucher, Dominic Thibault (Université de Montréal) & Fabrice Marandola (McGill University)

• Titre du projet: Polytope XXI : Développement d'une sculpture-instrument percussive électroacoustique
• Résumé: Projet en recherche-création visant la construction d’un instrument monumental augmenté par l'électroacoustique et destiné à être jouée par l'ensemble à percussion Sixtrum. L'instrument prendra la forme d’une harpe géante audio-lumineuse occupant l'espace scénique, une structure autoportante composée de câbles lumineux sur lesquels les musiciens jouent. Le financement Agile Seed permettra de rechercher les matériaux et technologies les plus efficaces pour le développement dudit instrument. Nos pistes de recherches nous amènent présentement à rechercher les matériaux des câbles utilisés (acier, nylon ou autre), les systèmes d’accroches, les composantes électroacoustique (transducteurs, micro piézoélectriques, câbles, amplificateurs audio) et les dispositifs lumineux (DEL, DMX).
• Mots-clés: Musique mixte, lutherie numérique, audiovisuel, traitement du signal audionumérique, architecture.
• Rapport de résumé de fin de projet: Boucher-Marandola-Thibault: Agile Seed Report 2021-22 

2020-2021

Tour 1 (avril 2020)

Alain Berry, Lévy Leblanc, Olivier Robin (Université de Sherbrooke) & Philippe-Aubert Gauthier (UQAM)

• Titre du projet: A concrete explanation to sound directivity of musical instruments and musicians/instruments interaction with rooms 
• Résumé: Jürgen Meyer often demonstrated the interaction between music and acoustics using concrete examples (a musical ensemble plays a piece for the same audience but in different rooms). This project follows this idea. Two players of the same instrument play the same piece in either a hemi-anechoic or a reverberant room (side-by-side rooms, a musician per room). Three objectives are pursued (1) defining five ideal pieces and instrument (2) 3D-printing sound directivity patterns of chosen instruments and (3) preparing a didactic document for the event. People will be able to see and hear sound directivity, while better understanding room-instrumentalist relationships.
• Mots-clés: room acoustics, musical acoustics, performers playing techniques
• Rapport de résumé de fin de projet: Berry-Leblanc-Robin-Gauthier Agile Seed Report 2020-21 Round 1

Tour 2 (septembre 2020)

Jeremy Cooperstock, David Marino, Max Henry & Pascal Fortin (McGill)

• Titre du projet: Conveying paralinguistic cues and context while teleconferencing
• Résumé: Teleconferencing is essential for conducting remote work, and COVID-19 has made such technology truly ubiquitous. Major teleconferencing platforms offer a degraded conversational experience due to a loss of essential contextual information. Lost features include: ambient noise, or various paralinguistic cues such as eye contact. Our study aims to supplement such lost non-verbal features with multimodal stimulation, providing a greater sense of contextual awareness and mutual understanding to conversation partners. An example is developing visualizations that convey ambient noise and facial cues to interlocutors when they are in situations where such cues may be hidden, such as during a conference presentation.
• Mots-clés: Human computer interaction, psychology, audio signal processing, linguistics
• Rapport de résumé de fin de projett: to come