Academic literature on the topic 'Musical accompaniment'

A goal of Artificial Intelligence is to develop computational models of what would be considered intelligent behaviour in a human. One such task is that of musical performance. This research specifically focuses on aspects of performance related to the performance of musical duets. We present the research in the context of developing a cooperative performance system that would be capable of performing a piece of music expressively alongside a human musician. In particular, we concentrate on the relationship between musical structure and performance with the aim of creating a structural interpretation of a piece of music by analysing features of the score and performance. We provide a new implementation of Lerdahl and Jackendoff’s Grouping Structure analysis which makes use of feature-category weighting factors. The multiple structures that result from this analysis are represented using a new technique for representing hierarchical structures. The representation supports a refinement process which allows the structures to be disambiguated at a later stage. We also present a novel analysis technique, based on the principle of phrase-final lengthening, to identify structural features from performance data. These structural features are used to select from the multiple possible musical structures the structure that corresponds most closely to the analysed performance. The three main contributions of this research are:1- An implementation of Lerdahl and Jackendoff’s Grouping Structure which includes feature-category weighting factors; 2- A method of storing a set of ambiguous hierarchical structures which supports gradual improvements in specificity; An analysis technique which, when applied to a musical performance, succeeds 3- in providing information to aid the disambiguation of the final musical structure. The results indicate that the approach has promise and with the incorporation of further refinements could lead to a computer-based system that could aid both musical performers and those interested in the art of musical performance.

Thesis (M.M.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007.<br>The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on April 4, 2008) Includes bibliographical references.

The five-course guitar was used as an instrument of accompaniment from the mid-sixteenth to the late-eighteenth century, yet its importance in this role has largely been overlooked in scholarship to date. While there are some isolated studies of individual sources, this is the first comprehensive study of the substantial body of extant guidelines with a view to understanding the styles of accompaniment on the instrument and how their practices developed during this period. This thesis documents the chronological development of the performance practices in such a way that parallels may be drawn between these sources and treatises for other instruments of accompaniment. Guitar accompaniments were, however, also strongly influenced by the performance practices associated with alfabeto chord symbols. Thus, to enable an understanding of the more idiomatic characteristics of guitar accompaniment stemming from alfabeto practices, a detailed evaluation of the true sophistication of the language of alfabeto is provided for the first time. This study provides a complete re-evaluation of the five-course guitar as an instrument of accompaniment; it challenges the past relegation of the instrument to ‘light’ or ‘frivolous’ musical repertoires; and it highlights the various approaches that were adopted in diverse performance contexts.

<p> Franz Liszt was a famed composer who broadened the boundaries of piano technique in the nineteenth century. One of his more popular compositions, the <i>Tarantella</i>, found in his <i>Ann&eacute;es de p&egrave;lerinage </i>, was published in 1861 within the collection <i>Venezia e Napoli </i>.1 Liszt admired melodies he heard during his travels in Switzerland and Italy and often arranged and composed from his ideas and experiences. Tarantellas were thought to be dances that were played by various musicians to influence dance and cure diseases. They are played at a quick tempo and contain a simple single melody with short repetitive patterns. The Italian-inspired <i> Tarantella</i> was similar to his other works in borrowing of melodies from other composers&rsquo; works. However, this piece is unusual. Although it is called a tarantella, it does not fully reflect the standard characteristics of a tarantella. Liszt&rsquo;s <i>Tarantella</i> is a folk-like dance with a fast-upbeat tempo in a traditional Italian style, but contains a lyrical section in the second half which he called Canzona Napolitana. This is a departure from the traditional form of a tarantella. This paper discusses Franz Liszt&rsquo;s compositional choices of style and organization in his <i> Tarantella</i> and how he altered the traditional tarantella folk-dance by including a Canzona Napolitana. Other tarantellas will be discussed to compare the similarities and differences between Liszt and other composers. </p><p>

Raven's Song is an original musical dramatizing the conflict between paganism and Christianity. The play revolves around a woman who has become disillusioned by her people and her gods. The only gods she has ever known were blood-thirsty, appeased only by the blood and entrails of human sacrifice. Therefore, Raven resists all religion. Through providential circumstances, she is married into a Christian family and is overwhelmed by their love, and the kindness of their God. In search for truth, Raven begins to question her disbelief. All men search for truth in their own way, and all, at one time, will question the existence and nature of God. The play does not presume to answer these questions, but allows each participant to decide for himself, as Raven must decide for herself.

Sistemas de acompanhamento musical automatizado são de grande utilidade como ferramentas didáticas. Com eles, um aluno de música consegue ensaiar uma peça musical sendo acompanhado pelo computador, com a liberdade de tocar na velocidade em que desejar e, além disso, de cometer erros acidentais ou desvios intencionais em relação ao esperado (definido em partitura). Um sistema de acompanhamento musical deve ter as habilidades de analisar a execução ao vivo de um músico (pré-processador da entrada), comparar os eventos recebidos com os de uma partitura pré-carregada (rastreador), gerar o acompanhamento conforme o andamento inferido (acompanhador) e sintetizar os sons relativos a esse acompanhamento (sintetizador). O trabalho apresentado neste texto consistiu em estudar diversas técnicas relativas ao problema de acompanhamento musical, implementar alguns algoritmos baseados na literatura abordada, validar a qualidade obtida com tais algoritmos e disponibilizar um sistema de código aberto modular com mais de uma alternativa de algoritmo para cada módulo. Além disso, foi desenvolvido um elemento adicional para o sistema - o MetaRastreador - que combina todas as técnicas de rastreamento implementadas, executando-as em paralelo e obtendo uma maior confiabilidade nas informações extraídas da entrada, considerando diversas opiniões diferentes sobre a posição do músico na partitura.<br>Automated musical accompaniment systems are very useful as didactic tools. With them, a music student can rehearse a musical piece being accompanied by the computer, with the freedom to play at the desired speed and, moreover, to perform accidental errors or intentional deviations from the expected (defined by a musical score). A musical accompaniment system should have the skills to analyze the live performance of a musician (input preprocessor), compare the events received with those of a preloaded score (matcher), generate the accompaniment according to the inferred tempo (accompaniment), and synthesize the sounds related to this accompaniment (synthesizer). The work presented in this text consisted of studying several techniques related to the musical accompaniment problem, implementing some algorithms based on the literature, validating the quality obtained with such algorithms, and providing a modular open source system with more than one alternative algorithm for each module. Furthermore, an additional element was developed for the system - the MetaMatcher - that combines all the tracking techniques implemented by running them in parallel and obtaining a greater reliability in the information extracted from the input, considering several different opinions about the position of the musician in the musical score.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo investigar perspectivas e impasses de mobilização de conhecimentos musicais em graduandos nas situações de colaboração pianística. Três bacharelandos em piano foram investigados em três diferentes modalidades de colaboração: instrumental, coral e vocal solo. A metodologia qualitativa se valeu do estudo de caso para a descrição dos dados, coletados através de entrevistas, registro de ensaios, aulas, exames institucionais e performances públicas. Os conceitos de Charlot (2000) sobre mobilização de conhecimentos e o modelo de Santos (2007) foram os fundamentos que nortearam a pesquisa. O modelo de Santos (2007) revelou-se passível de ser empregado no estudo, principalmente no que se refere às diferenças apontadas acerca do ciclo de investigação e de autorregulação, que se revelou distinto entre os participantes investigados. As perspectivas e impasses de mobilização de conhecimentos revelaram-se nas diferentes maneiras de perceber e abordar a atividade de colaboração com as quais os participantes estavam envolvidos, imbuídos tanto de suas crenças como de valores demonstrados. O estudo colocou em evidência dois fatores: (i) a influência que experiências prévias sistematizadas (ou seja, já aprendidas) e formas de interesse pessoal exercem nesta vertente de prática musical e (ii) a importância de se investigar o que já existe em termos de conhecimentos vivenciados (e sistematizados) nas experiências dos estudantes de graduação a fim de se buscar relacionar formas de conhecimento com maneiras de aprender.<br>The present work aimed to investigate perspectives and deadlocks of musical knowledge mobilization in undergraduate at pianistic collaboration situations. Three piano bachelors were investigated in three different types of collaboration: instrumental, choral and vocal solo. Qualitative methodology relied on case study for the data description, collected through interviews, rehearses registration, classes, institutional exams and performances. Charlot’s (2000) concepts about knowledge mobilization and Santos’ (2007) model were guide references of this research. Santos’ (2007) model proved to be capable of being employed in this study, mainly for the differences pointed out about research and self-regulation cycle, which proved to be distinct among the investigated participants. The knowledge mobilization perspectives and impasses was revealed at the different ways to understand and address the collaboration activity to which the participants were involved, imbued of their beliefs and stated values. The study showed two factors: (i) the influence exercised by former experiences (already learned) and personal interest in this aspect of musical practice and (ii) the importance of investigating what is already known in terms of experienced knowledge (systematized) of undergraduate students in order to relate forms of knowledge and ways of learning.