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Item A Pilot Study for Algorithmic Diction Detection for Use by Singers and Vocal Teachers(Studio Musica Press, 2021-01) Rathi, Bhawna; Hsu, Timothy Y.; Music and Arts Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologyThis paper introduces an algorithmic signal processing method to quantify vocal dic-tion using audio files that can potentially assist singers and teachers. Clear diction and pronunciation in singing is important for a variety of reasons and should be ex-ercised alongside the development of voice. In order to convey a clear verbal mes-sage, strong diction is needed. To accomplish this goal of diction detection, the in-terpretation of the consonants is of prime significance. The proposed algorithm works with features such as zero crossing rate, spectral spread, spectral flux and spectral centroid. In this paper, we offer a proposed framework and algorithm of dic-tion detection using modern applicable audio features and extraction techniques. Fu-ture approach for analysis of diction is also defined.Item How Do You Play When You’re Prey?(Bergen Open Access Publishing, 2021-04-20) Thomas, Natasha; Music and Arts Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologyCreativity is woven into the culture of Black America. Our histories and struggles as members of the minoritized African Diaspora are recorded and passed on in song and story, in movement and design. We are – and have been – the creators of an evolving culture that is simultaneously underestimated and desired by dominant culture. This othering poses real and pressing threats to our lives and livelihoods, as we are consumed and exploited to the point of erasure; and yet we keep creating. But why? What is creativity to the Black American living in such a predatory society? And how do I, as a Black creative minoritized in a Healing profession, engage with it? How do you play when you’re prey? These questions form the basis for an heuristic exploration into a video blog project entitled “Black Creative Healing,” where Black creatives are recorded engaging in conversation and collaboration over concepts relating to Blackness, Creativity, and the Healing process. Through arts-based analysis of past collaborations, available publicly on Youtube, I will investigate my own motivations, inspirations and roadblocks to the creative process as a Black healer. I will interrogate the directions and intentions laid bare by my creative endeavors and seek to define a central ethos by which other Black creatives may find themselves seen and encouraged, in the interest of finding balance between the “me” that is – and has been – prey, and the “me” that has only ever known – and been known by – play.Item Evaluating QRD Arrays generated with Shape Grammars(ACM, 2020-05) Dessi-Olive, Jonathan; Hsu, Timothy Y.; Music and Arts Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologyThis paper broadens the scope of on-going research that introduces rule-based methods for designing creative acoustic arrays: from single-frequency QRD-based panels to those which account for multiple design parameters such as frequency, absorption, and number of wells. Expanded parameters create more complex arrays that give acousticians a finely tuned and intentional acoustical response as it relates to these input rules. Numerical simulations show three-dimensional directivity responses for these shape grammar generated diffuser arrays. A visual complexity coefficient is presented to quantify the aesthetic component to designs of arrays of acoustic panels. Along with spatial simulated diffusion response, diffusion coefficients, and the visual complexity coefficient, designers and acousticians will be afforded ways to create both acoustical effective and visually interesting arrays.Item Break it then build again: An arts based duoethnographic pilot reconstructing music therapy and dance/movement therapy histories(Elsevier, 2021-04) Thomas, Natasha; Blanc, Valerie; Music and Arts Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologyThis arts-based duoethnographic project explores the phenomenon of a collaborative arts-based experience between a Dance/Movement Therapist and a Music Therapist. From a simultaneously personal and collaborative framework (duo ethnography), the researchers will explore the question of, “What emerges when a BC-DMT & MT-BC utilize their respective modalities in active creative collaboration to deconstruct the histories they have been taught?” Utilizing a critical lens rooted in healing justice and influenced by decolonial theory, the researchers name and begin to deconstruct the complicated histories of both clinical fields, attempting to embody and amplify the healing practices of movement and music that came long before the “founders” of dance/movement or music therapy as clinical fields. The researchers then engaged in an active arts-based collaboration, including individual reflective writing and collaborative dialogic reflection on insights gleaned from the literature gathering and integrative arts-based process. The researchers each speak from their own positionality. Possible implications of this project could be to encourage arts therapists to think critically about how they cross utilize artforms, and ways to more ethically and effectively engage with their own communities in culturally sustaining and co-creative ways.Item Sound Narrative: Honing a Deeper Understanding of Soundscapes(2020) Walzer, Daniel A.; Music and Arts Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologyThis essay reports on the pedagogical and curricular decisions guiding the creative activities in the author’s university course incorporating field recording, soundscape-based composition, and digital technology. In keeping with the issue’s theme of 21st-century composition, the article includes critical reflection and a consideration of the influence of R. Murray Schafer. It contextualizes the course in the broader context of modern compositional activities in university settings. The author’s creative practice informs much of the pedagogical framework as a soundscape-based composer.Item Blurred lines: Practical and theoretical implications of a DAW-based pedagogy(Intellect, 2020-08-01) Walzer, Daniel; Music and Arts Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologyDigital audio workstations (DAWs) occupy a prominent space in the creative arts. Songwriters, composers, producers, and audio engineers use a combination of software and virtual instruments to record and make music. Educators increasingly find DAWs useful for teaching concepts in signal flow, acoustics and sound synthesis, and to model analogue processes. As the creative industries shift to primarily software-based platforms, the identities, roles, and responsibilities of the participants intersect and blur. Similarly, networked technologies change the space and place of creative activity. Now, the ‘studio’ exists virtually anywhere. For educators working with students, these changing paradigms present a series of challenges. This article explores the DAW’s possibilities across three areas: space and place, theory and identity, and pedagogy. The article advocates for a less technocratic model of teaching and learning with DAWs in favour of an approach that cultivates a balance of aesthetic awareness and creativity.Item A Dynamic Representation Solution for Machine Learning-Aided Performance Technology(Frontiers, 2020-05) Palamara, Jason; Deal, W. Scott; Music and Arts Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologyItem Community-Based Referential Music Making with Limited-Resource Adolescents: A Pilot Study(Oxford, 2020) Thomas, Natasha; Music and Arts Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologyBlack/African American adolescents from limited-resource communities face challenges and circumstances that are unique to their racialization and socioeconomic status; this merits community-engaged resources, such as community music therapy, that are equally unique in creating culturally responsive opportunities for limited-resource adolescents to engage socially with peers and experience meaningful success in a safe, supportive environment. The purpose of this study was to pilot and explore the feasibility of and behavioral processes in a community-based referential music-making intervention for limited-resource adolescents labeled as “at-risk.” The methods consisted of a concurrent nested (embedded) mixed methods design based on the principles of participatory actions research (PAR), during which qualitative data were collected during 8 focus group style music-making sessions. Quantitative data assessing self-efficacy were collected prior to first and following the 8th music-making session. The validity of quantitative results was challenged by the lowered reading level of participants and a high amount of mis-labeled (and thus unusable) data. Qualitative data suggest 3 themes, including creating community, artistic prioritization, and pride. All results were impacted by issues, such as inconsistent attendance and malfunctioning recording equipment. Nevertheless, participants expressed a collective desire to share their work with their community group. Discussion points are raised including how participants in this community music therapy-based approach were able to create and direct their own stories. The implementation of community music therapy approaches seems a valuable way to bring authentic representations of limited-resource adolescent participants into clinical practice.Item Considering Telematic Tools for Conferences(Stony Brook University, 2019) Deal, Scott; Smith, Rodney; Meng, Chuiyuan; Vice, Matt; Music and Arts Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologyParticipation in conferences is an elemental component of professional life throughout the world. Two problems offset the social synergy gained from attending a far-away gathering of like-minded people. The first is the highly pronounced carbon footprint from air travel, and the second is the expense involved to participate in a conference which may be on another continent. These factors prevent many from participating who could otherwise benefit as well as contribute. As videoconferencing becomes more common and more sophisticated, it will serve as an alternative that not only benefits constituencies, but will expand the reach of a conference to more communities. This paper outlines a rationale, ideas, and a blueprint for a video conferencing toolkit intended to merge both on-site and on-line participants, via tailored applications and best practices. These include high grade audio/video capabilities common to telematic artists, in addition to integral components and practices of online presence that address issues of event management, social networking, collaboration-communication, information exchange, and asynchronous presence.Item The Legacy of the “Cyprus Codex” (MS. Torino J.II.9): Creating New Technologies and Compositions through a Collaborative Process(2019) Sammoutis, Evis; Sheppard Skaerved, Peter; Hsu, Timothy; Music and Arts Technology, School of Engineering and TechnologyMS. J.II.9 (also known as the “Cyprus Codex”) is an anonymous Codex composed in the court of Nicosia in the first part of the 15th century during Cyprus’s Frankish period and the Lusignan Dynasty. It is the only known Codex of Western music in the region and one of the few exclusively French codices known from that time. Its style lies in the threshold between Ars Nova and Ars Subtilior with unique features. Composer Evis Sammoutis, violinist Peter Sheppard Skaerved and Music technology professor Timothy Hsu have built a collaboration inspired by the legacy of MS. J.II.9. This resulted in the creation of new bows and techniques of performing the violin and the creation of new compositions based both on the material from MS. J.II.9 and technological advancements.