In this article we present an interactive toolkit for the extended vocal  performance of Attic tragic poetry in drama related to its prosodic aspects. We focus on the development of modules for the phonological articulation of the ancient text based on archeomusicological readings (related to music and language) in order to add aesthetic values to the modern performance of ancient Greek drama. These tools are based on prosodic elements (melodic, rhythmic) of the ancient text and are used to: a) detect the dynamic of the articulation, accent, pronunciation as well as the tonality/pitch of the actor’s voice (recited or sung), b) track the movements and gestures of the performer and c) combine the data which is collected by the above mentioned processes (a and b) to trigger interactive sound and speech processing during the performance in order to reintroduce the prosodic aspects of voice in ancient drama.

“Jazz mapping" is a multi-layered analytical approach to jazz improvisation. It is based on hierarchical segmentation and categorization of segments, or constituents, according to their function in the overall improvisation. The approach aims at identifying higher-level semantics oftranscribed and recorded jazz solos. At these initial stages, analytical decisions are rather exploratory and rely on the input of one of the authors and experienced jazz performer. We apply the method to two well-known solos, by Sonny Rollins and Charlie Parker, and discuss how improvisations resemble story-telling, employing a broad range of structural, expressive and technical tools, usually associated with linguistic production, experience, and meaning. We elucidate the implicit choices of experienced jazz improvisers, who have developed a strong command over the language and can communicate expressive intent, elicit emotional responses, and unfoldmusical “stories” that are memorable and enjoyable tofellow musicians and listeners. We also comment on potentialartificial intelligence applications of this work to music research and performance.

Τα τελευταία χρόνια, διάφορες εταιρείες σε συνεργασία με ερευνητικά εργαστήρια στο χώρο της Βιοακουστικής έχουν αναπτύξει λογισμικά ακουστικής ανάλυσης των καλεσμάτων των πουλιών, μέσω αυτόματης αναγνώρισης προτύπων, που ταυτοποιούν τη ρυθμική και μελωδική δομή του ‘‘τραγουδιού’’ τους σύμφωνα με τη βιολογική τους κατάταξη. Οι εφαρμογές αυτές ακολουθούν διαφορετική μεθοδολογία ως προς το κομμάτι της ανάλυσης και της αναγνώρισης, ωστόσο παρουσιάζουν κάποια κοινά μειονεκτήματα, όπως είναι η χαμηλή ακρίβεια, η έλλειψη μεθόδων επαγγελματικής ανάλυσης για μεγαλύτερο εύρος πουλιών, οι διάφορες τεχνικές δυσκολίες και η προϋπόθεση ύπαρξης εξειδικευμένου ανθρώπινου δυναμικού για την υλοποίησή τους. Στο πλαίσιο αυτής της ανακοίνωσης θα παρουσιάσουμε κάποιες από τις υπάρχουσες εφαρμογές και σημαντικές έρευνες πού έχουν πραγματοποιηθεί στο πεδίο αυτό, ενώ παράλληλα θα σχολιάσουμε τις επικρατέστερες μεθόδους και τεχνικές που χρησιμοποιούν. Εν συνεχεία θα αναφερθούμε στο πρόβλημα της καταγραφής και της συγκριτικής μελέτης μεγαλύτερου εύρους πουλιών, καθώς και στη δημιουργία μίας νέας εφαρμογής αναγνώρισης που μελλοντικά θα περιλαμβάνει την ελληνική ορνιθοπανίδα. Τέλος, θα συζητήσουμε τα οφέλη της εφαρμογής αυτού του τύπου λογισμικών στη σχολική εκπαίδευση και τον ηχητικό και μουσικό εγγραμματισμό στο πλαίσιο της ακουστικής οικολογίας.

This paper discusses a new method for encoding ByzantineMusic Neumatic Notation (especially the one developedduring the ‘transitory’ period 1670-1814). The Notation ofthis period is characterized by difficulties and peculiarities.The difficult access to Byzantine manuscripts and their deterioratedcondition, complicate reading. In addition, our incompleteknowledge of the interpretation of signs impedesthe comprehension of the musical text leading in results thatare often in dispute. The fact that sign unions are complexenough together with their presence in various places ina composition make electronic transcriptions the ultimatechallenge. Moreover, there does not exist a framework fordata encoding and analysis. This work presents a proposalfor the development of such a model for the old ByzantineNeumatic Notation in Python. The implementation of thisproject is still at an initial stage, and focuses, mostly, on theefficient digitization of old manuscripts. The system, eventhough fully functional, has certain limitations. Some signsare missing, and the musical text is created using microphotographies.Future developments of the program will focuson resolving these deficiencies and adding more features tothe system.

In this paper, we discuss the development and preliminary evaluation of a new educational tool, intended for noviceand advanced vocal students. The software, written in Max / MSP, aims to assist singing practice by providingusers with a visual substitute to their subjective auditory feedback. Under the guidance of their professional vocalinstructor, students can store in the software spectral representations of accurately produced sounds, creatingpersonalized Reference Sound Banks (RSBs). When students practice on their own, the software can be put intopractice, assisting them to match their current Voice Spectrum Harmonic Content to the stored RSBs one note at atime. Results of a preliminary evaluation showed that, when using this software, students achieve a larger numberof accurately produced sounds in a smaller amount of time.

A number of software applications for the practice of the singing voice have been introduced the last decades, but all of them are limited to equal tempered scales. In this work, we present the design and development of FONASKEIN, a novel modular interactive software application for the practice of singing voice in real time and with visual feedback for both equal and non-equal tempered scales. Details of the Graphical User Interface of FONASKEIN are given, along with its architecture. The evaluation results of FONASKEIN in a pilot experiment with eight participants and with four songs in various musical scales showed its positive effect in practice of the singing voice in all cases.

This paper deals with the acoustic analysis of timbral andrhythmic patterns of the Cicada Orni sound activity, collectedat the Plato Academy archaeological site during thesummer period of 2014, comprising the Tettix soundscapedatabase.The main purpose here is to use sound analysis for understandingthe basic patterns of cicada calls and shrillingsounds, and subsequently use the raw material providedby the Tettix database in a statistical modeling frameworkfor creating virtual sounds of cicadas, allowing the controlof synthesis parameters spanning micro, meso and macrotemporal levels.

In the present paper we aim to examine MusicTechnology through the lens of the ethical issuestypically raised in the field of Philosophy of Technologyregarding technological practices other than musiccomposition, performance, reproduction and distribution.With this analysis we will try not only to highlightseveral ethical facts about the practice of developing andusing digital tools for music but also to stress on the factthat Music Technology can be a platform for vigorousphilosophical meditation.

The present work investigates the concept of sound, in relation to the new means andsciences under different perspectives, ultimately providing an analysis of the newbornartistic movement of bioart. It deals with two parts. The first part of the study is basedupon reference, investigating the interconnection between art and science. Thismechanism is characterized by transformation processes in the interdisciplinarypractices that are applied mainly by various artists and movements of the second postworld war period. The expressive element seeks for an unworldly explanation throughaudio and visual conjunctions. This nature is obvious in Paul Klee’s reflections ofmusical elements in his paintings, Rimington’s attempts to marry audiovisual influencesin his “colour organs”, the experimentations of composers like Xenakis and Stockhausenat various locations with light and color proves the continuous quest to render sound bythe use of new means. Technology is a vital component of transformation as it enhancesthe syncretic creativity for various art domains like the ones that Fluxus deployed. ΝamJun Paik and Dick Higgins introduce radical techniques in their performances as theydetach their selves from the parameters that define composition and use the mind andpower of sentiment in order to identify reality aurally and optically. Towards the end ofthe 20th century we witness the appearance of new art forms like bioart. The humanbody, host of material and immaterial functions comes to the forefront of art practice. Itsrelation to elements such as oscillations and vibrations that express the energy flow areanalyzed through the model of spiritualism that came from eastern thought. The notionof digital embodiment is presented as a reminder, highlighting the importance oftechnology in biotechnology and genetics.The second part of the study involves an experiment. This is how the concept ofbiomusic is applied with the use of ECG data from the MIT PhysioNet database. Assound penetrates the entire human body, it can be analyzed in all of its phasma. Usingthat information we attempt to translate/transform that biological sound phenomena intomusic. The sound produced by the elaboration of data which result from biologicalfunctions, can be described as Biomusic. It can be transformed into frequencies relatedto time and be expressed into music themes. Sonification plays an important role in thisresearch as it constitutes a quick and precise rendering of the polymorphic information(in this case the E.C.G.) in musical notes. This modeling and musical attribution leads intwo distinguished results each one of them concerning different clinical cases (all databelong to a normal heart function and a pathological one). The invention of this novelsystem is suggested for the scientific as well as for the music discipline. It has the abilityto be implemented in an experimental form and obtain an educational character. Thetransformation process avoids compensation throughout the matching process inbetween E.C.G. functions and music, while focusing on the aesthetic factor at the sametime. Sound meets art in the world of Biomusic as it takes shape through technology,constituting a new medium to further evolve the model of ‘’biology into art’’transformation.

In this paper we propose the design and implementationof a Turing Test (TT) for the research of the singingvoice. Although the TT is mainly related to the researchfield of Artificial Intelligence (AI), being used both as acriterion and an operational guide by the scientists of thisfield, with the present paper we attempt to introduce arather different approach to the TT. Given the fact ofvarious disputes over the validity of the TT as a criterionof AI, one might argue that the TT is nothing more thana ‘philosophical fossil’, a left-over and remainder of pastand outdated philosophical assumptions about the natureof human intelligence. The problem of an unavoidablesubjectivity in the results of TT experiments hasstrengthen the question about the usefulness of the TT asa research means. Our goal is to introduce a new scopefor the use of the TT not as a criterion of intelligence butas an ‘instrument’ for tracing certain features of humanjudgment in various fields. Pretty much in the fashion ofa Transcendental philosophical stance, we face the TT asa procedure in which what is judged is judgement itself.Specifically, in the present paper we attempt to exhibitthe way in which a TT can be used to trace and highlightfeatures of human judgment regarding the singing voice.Are certain factors like culture, gender, age or familiaritywith music technology basic parameters of the way inwhich humans perceive and judge artificial and naturalsinging voice? Is the TT a worn off chapter in the historyof the philosophy of AI or could it be a brand new toolfor the research in fields like psychoacoustics, cognitivemusicology, social psychology of music and generallyfor the research on research itself?1 This is the kind ofquestions that we intend to raise concerning the future ofthe TT, starting with a paper for a possible ‘singingvoice TT’.

Background in Ancient Greek Music Theory and Philosophy. The foundation of musicology as agenuine discipline with a clear-cut subject matter and a well-defined terminology can be traced backto the writings of Aristoxenus of Taras, a pupil of Aristotle. However, its epistemological roots in harmonicsand origin in Pythagorean philosophy reach back until the 6th century. Ad interim the developmentof a melodic notation system acted as a crucial factor to grow musicology into a ̔science’ oflogical reasoning. Interestingly, and still without satisfactory explanation, notation as an adequatemedium of music was brusquely rejected by Aristoxenus.Background in Music Technology and Signal Processing. Besides the thought-provoking fact thatsignal processing as the foundation of modern music technology itself originates from the domain ofharmonic analysis and, similarly, became relevant to ̔musicology proper’ only by extension with adiscrete agency purely logic in nature—i.e. the computer—now, real-time pitch-tracking andpitch-shifting can be used to augment ancient instruments electronically in order to pose archaeologicalquestions and challenge sedimented hermeneutical interpretations.Aims. While re-enacting historical configurations, applied media theory provides an unconventionalframework to interlink both backgrounds anachronistically. In practice, the aim of the present interdisciplinaryapproach is to take issue with common exegeses of the rise of ancient Greek music theory,deliver testable hypotheses to corroborate a modified picture and finally to overcome the outdatedantithesis of Pythagorean vs. Aristoxenian views on music—i.e. numerology vs. phenomenology—propounded since the Hellenistic Period and still prevalent today.Main contribution. The historical background and epistemological circumstances that led to theformation of musicology as a separate field of knowledge are reviewed. During the course of discussiona "pre-Aristoxenian codec of notation" is uncovered and linked with scattered references to thebarbiton-lyre. The acoustical significance of its origin becomes ̔instrumental’ to augment a self-madereconstruction of such an instrument electronically. Hereby a perceptual model of melody isre-enacted that logically connects and unifies theoretical camps previously considered irreconcilable.The technology and methodology necessary to achieve this is described.Implications. Towards the end of the 5th century, many sources ascribe a revolutionary ̔new music’to the advent of frequent modulations and different ̔styles’ of playing techniques. Taking this revolutionseriously, the present paper constructs a history of hearing that proposes a rupture in the ancientGreek sonosphere. Accordingly, the changed strategy of listening is regarded the true cause of theAristoxenian separation of musicology. Today, the ̔kernel’ of this parting can be identified with themore general domain of "time-critical processes" in computation and signal processing whose applicationenables us to understand the subsequent reshaping of music theory and the radical remodellingof its philosophical conception. By extension, this lesson in mousikḗ may make us rethink music asstill a vital epistemological field and may encourage us to form a new research domain possibly calledcomputational archaeomusicology.

aspects on the interactive masks createdby the composer Georgia Spiropoulosfor the needs of the opera LesBacchantes (Ircam, 2010). Bacchae isan opera for a single performer, tapeand live electronics where the voice ofthe performer interprets four differentroles with the interactive environmentin Max/Msp. The virtual masks as ametaphor of Euripide’s dramaticpersonae and masks1 of the same actor.Are used as virtual scores whichregister the vocal trace of the performerand give further vocal agility,extensibility, mutation, multiplicationand augmented vocality.

Recently there has been increasing interest of scientists forthe performance of singing or reciting voices of the past inutilising analysis-synthesis methods. In the domain ofAncient Greek musicology indeed, where we find theroots of the occidental music, the main research has beendone mostly by scholars of classical Greek literature.However there is still is a vast territory for research inaudio performances to be carried out with the help of newdigital technologies.In this paper, we will present an attempt to decode arecited text of Ancient Greek tragedy and render it intosound. At the first paragraph of this article we underlinethe origin of music arising from the melodicity of speechin Ancient Greek tragedy. In the second paragraph, wedescribe the methodology we have used in order toanalyse the voice of S. Psaroudak&s, himself professor ofAncient Greek music, by an open source prosodic featureextraction tool based on Praat. We give a description ofthe prosodic analysis, implementation details and discussits feature extension capabilities as well. Last, we refer tothe difference between the Ancient and Modern Greekphonological system, the application of this research inmusic and further development.

Background in musicThis paper compounds an approach of music creation in ancient Greek tragedy in Greece, during the XXthcentury, focusing in the avant- guard composition techniques and especially in mixing instrumental, vocal ande/a (electroacoustic) means with a critical view on the works of Xenakis, Christou, Adamis and Vasiliadisconcerning the reforming of the micro-macro-musical structure.Background in compositionThis paper refers also, to a particular point of view in composition using e/a material in order to achieve thissound structure that conventional means could not create. This is an advantage of the e/a sound editing,based on the flexibility of handling the sound as a plastic material. This technical topic brings new aestheticand structural questions so at the conception of a work as at its realization too. A critical confrontation ofediting ready given samples to newly made.AimsDistinguishing the recorded playback music from the e/a material we realize the second one gives theopportunity to keep an eye open closer to the “ethos” of the text. Independently of specified styles andtechniques, the challenge transforming symbolism in abstract sound is risky and if stylized becomes guide tosuperficial performance so often in the (recent) past.Aiming to approve this interaction between music structure - aesthetic approach and text - sound, formcomes to be a servant of nowadays needs in realizing an ancient tragedy.ContributionAs the technological contribution in sound editing and composition leads to new fields of aesthetic andstructural quest it was expected to influence the music for theatre. Through these new tendencies thelimitation in serving the text is also the freedom to give the abstract and symbolic light of it. As directorswade into ancient tragic theme through contemporary hypocritical techniques and directing views, composersare capable to rely upon new technology.ImplicationsMoving away form the classical techniques for composing music for the ancient Greek tragedy based on theancient and Byzantin melos as it was seen the first half of the XXth century by many Greek composers andbringing the avant-garde techniques in combination to the new e/a media as a ritualistic reinforcement of thetext , this paper intends to focus on the new structures, means and compositional techniques through acomposer’s view . The above points that this novel study in e/a techniques may have many implications bothin musicological as in music theory domain. Firstly, because it scopes to redefine the compositional strategiesthrough the digital medium according the needs of the text and secondly because it introduces new aestheticapproaches that reinforce the “tragic| element through the e/a media.Aspects of musical structure and functionality of electroacoustic media in the performance of ancient Greek tragedy. A composers’ point of view Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif; text-shadow:auto; mso-fareast-language:JA;}

In the following essay we are going to analyse therelationship between sound and image in computermusic. We will be examining sound visualisationsoftware, and its evolution over the thirty-five yeartimespan in which it has existed. How we judge software,is based on aesthetic criteria, the way they were handeddown to us from theories of abstract painting (20thcentury avant-garde) , the theory of montage by SergeiEisenstein, of neurophysiology (synesthesia, muscularimages) and of the successful correspondence of thetwo media (pixel and music) in the works and theoryof James Whitney.

This paper we report on an interdisciplinary project for modelingGreek chant with real-time vocal synthesis. Building on previousresearch, we employ a hybrid musical instrument: Phonodeon(Georgaki et al. 2005), consisting of a MIDI-accordeon coupled toa real-time algorithmic interaction and vocal synthesis engine.The synthesis is based on data provided by the AOIDOS programdeveloped in the Department of the Computer science of theUniversity of Athens, investigating Greek liturgical chantcompared to bel canto singing. Phonodeon controls expressivevocal synthesis models based on formant synthesis andconcatenated filtered samples. Its bellows serve as hardwarecontrol device that is physically analogous to the human breathingmechanism [georgaki, 1998a], while the buttons of the right handcan serve multiple functions. This paper focuses on a particularaspect of control, namely that of playing in the traditional nontemperedand flexible interval structure of Greek modes (ήχοι:echoi) while using the 12-semitone piano-type keyboard of theleft hand. This enables the musical exploration of the relationshipbetween the spectral structure of the vocal timbre of Greek chantand characteristic intervals occuring in the modal structure of thechant. To implement that, we developed techniques forsuperimposing interval patterns of the modes on the keyboard ofthe phonodeon. The work is the first comprehensive interactivemodel of antique, medieval and modern near-eastern tunings. Thetechniques developed can be combined with techniques for othercontrol aspects, such as timbre and vocal expression control,phoneme or (expressive/ornamental/melodic pattern, inflection)sequence recall and combination, data record on/off, or others,which form part of the phonodeon project. This research can findapplications in many computer music fields such asalgorithmically controlled improvisation, microtonal music, musictheory and notation of (algorithmic/computerized) real-timeperformance, and computer modeling of experimental or nonwesternmusical styles.

The scope of this article is to present the diachronic value of Xenakis’ technological thought in computer musicresearch and creation of our days within a comparative and critical approach. On the one hand, we will refer to the maindomains of Xenakis’ contributions to Music Technology: the conquest of the computer as a tool for logicaltransformations of symbols into music and a laboratory of automation for certain compositional tasks on meta-musicaland compositional design issues; his pedagogical and compositional approach by the sound-design system UPIC as aninterface between musician and machine; his granular approaches of sound synthesis as a link between algorithms andthe creation of new sounds; the multi-sensoring approach of the conception of Polytopes where he combines varioustechnological tools in order to achieve a kind of a total art work.On the other hand, we will exalt the impact of his research in current music technology (use of the granular model inmodern synthesizers, the marriage between sound and light in modern interactive performances, the design of new userfriendlytools for the music education, etc).At the same time, we will discuss in which way many of the headmasters of computer music research have beenprofoundly affected by Xenakis’ technological and epistemological approach.

This paper presents research on controlling synthetic voice via a MIDI accordion. As motivation for this research served the goal of reviving "lost instruments", that is of using existing traditional instruments “lost” to new music genres as interfaces to control new types of sound generation in novel and future genres of music.We worked with a MIDI-accordion, because it provides expressive control similar to the human breath through the mechanism of the bellows. The control interface of the two hands is also suited for characteristics of the singing voice: The right hand controls the pitch of the voice as traditionally used, while the left hand chooses combinations of timbres,phonemes, longer phonetic units, and different kinds of vocal expression. We use a simple model of phonemes, diphones and timbre presets. We applied this to a combination of sample based synthesis and formantbased synthesis. Our intention is to extend the work to physical models. A further goal of this research is to bridge the gap between ongoing research in the domain of synthesis of the singing voice with that of experimentation in novel forms of artistic performance, by examining different ways of interpreting synthesized voices via the MIDI accordion.

Greek electroacoustic music, born in the New Music environment of the sixties and developed among fruitful and critical periods, seems to be in expansion in our days. In this article we present a brief overview of the genesis and evolution of the electroacoustic music in Greece since 1967 until today, exposing three crucial periods. In the second section we present the works, the means and aesthetics of representative composers of the most recent period (1990-2005). In the last section we focus on the pedagogical and institutional development of the Greek electroacoustic music during the last fifteen years, as well as on the diversity of styles and techniques of works presented in various events in Athens and other places in Greece. We also stress the lack of an official institute for the archiving, creation and expansion of the electroacoustic music, and the indifference of the cultural authorities to cultivate such kind of music.

In this paper we will discuss current research on the synthesis of the singing voice, its technical problems and esthetic issues, and the perspective of creating a vocal synthesizer which could be accessible to composers, musicians and musicologists, as a creative tool for composing, performing, and interpreting forgotten voice techniques of various cultures and bygone times.

In this poster we present the architecture of a new music interface for blind musicians,integrated in the WEDELMUSIC1 environment which is under development at ILSP2. Our scope is tofacilitate the access of visually impaired persons to musical databases (scores, audio and MIDI files)via Internet and give them the possibility to edit and create musical scores.