Thesis (M.A.)--University of Alberta, 2010. / Title from PDF file main screen (viewed on Feb. 8, 2010). A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Department of Music, University of Alberta. Includes bibliographical references and discography.

Improvisation is regarded as the most sublime element in the jíbaro folk music tradition of Puerto Rico. This tradition originated by the jíbaro, the simple rural farmer of Puerto Rico's heartland, involves the complicated art of improvising in décima, a ten-line poetic form, as well as improvisation of melodic lines played on the cuatro, a small guitar-like instrument. Since jíbaro improvisation is an art that is transmitted orally and involves a seemingly spontaneous act, it might seem odd to talk about a theory of improvisation within this style of music. My ethnographic research however has revealed that improvisation in jíbaro music is actually a highly structured performance practice and involves an informal theory that is based on the knowledge of archetypal patterns that generate and organize jíbaro improvisations.Recent theories of music which establish parallels between music, language, and cognition (Lerdhal and Jackendoff; Clarke; Gjerdingen) have lead me to believe that improvisation in jíbaro music is generated by the combination of archetypal patterns that create a musical syntax. These patterns are stored in minds of jíbaro performers as cognitive schemas. My study is also based on the work of Puerto Rican scholars Luis M. Alvarez and Angel Quintero who have identified African rhythmic patterns as the generative musical source in many styles of Puerto Rican folk music. By combining theories of music and ethnographic methods, this paper will provide a greater understanding of orally transmitted cultural expressions, which utilize improvisation, as well as give insight to the cognitive processes that shape this performance practice.

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Cette thèse propose l’introduction de scénarios temporels pour guider ou composer l’improvisation musicale homme-machine. Ce travail étudie la dialectique entre planification et réactivité dans les systèmes interactifs dédiés à l’improvisation : des systèmes informatiques pouvant générer de la musique en relation directe avec le contexte produit par une situation de concert. On cherche ici à appréhender l'improvisation pulsée et dite « idiomatique ». En s’appuyant sur l’existence d’une structure formalisée antérieure à la performance dans de nombreux répertoires improvisés (une « grille d’accords » par exemple) ces travaux proposent : un modèle d’improvisation guidée par un « scénario » introduisant des mécanismes d’anticipation ; une architecture temporelle hybride combinant anticipation et réactivité et permettant la synchronisation du rendu multimédia avec une pulsation non métronomique ; et un cadre pour composer des sessions d’improvisation idiomatique ou non à l’échelle du scénario en exploitant la généricité des modèles. Ces recherches ont été menées en interaction constante avec des musiciens experts, en intégrant pleinement ces collaborations au processus itératif de conception des modèles et architectures. Ceux-ci ont été implémentés dans le système ImproteK, utilisé à de nombreuses reprises lors de performances avec des improvisateurs. Au cours de ces collaborations, les sessions d'expérimentations ont été associées à des entretiens et séances de réécoute afin de recueillir de nombreuses appréciations formulées par les musiciens pour valider et affiner les choix technologiques. / This thesis focuses on the introduction of authoring and controls in human-computer music improvisation through the use of temporal scenarios to guide or compose interactive performances, and addresses the dialectic between planning and reactivity in interactive music systems dedicated to improvisation. An interactive system dedicated to music improvisation generates music on the fly, in relation to the musical context of a live performance. We focus here on pulsed and idiomatic music relying on a formalized and temporally structured object, for example a harmonic progression in jazz improvisation. The same way, the models and architecture we developed rely on a formal temporal structure. This thesis thus presents: a music generation model guided by a ''scenario'' introducing anticipatory behaviors; an architecture combining this anticipation with reactivity using mixed static/dynamic scheduling techniques; an audio rendering module to perform live re-injection of captured material in synchrony with a non-metronomic beat; and a framework to compose improvised interactive performances at the ''scenario'' level. This work fully integrated frequent interactions with expert musicians to the iterative design of the models and architectures. These latter are implemented in the interactive music system ImproteK that was used at various occasions during live performances with improvisers. During these collaborations, work sessions were associated to listening sessions and interviews to gather numerous judgments expressed by the musicians in order to validate and refine the scientific and technological choices.

In the field of musical expression, the complex relationship between improvisation and the cognitive processes that underlie creativity presents a fascinating yet challenging puzzle, prompting this thesis to explore the connection between musical improvisation and creative cognition among musicians. Focusing on the development of robust methods for feature extraction and representation, it utilizes unsupervised Machine Learning (ML) techniques to project improvisations from a prime melody into a high-level latent space. The methodology involves iterative analysis employing Variational Autoencoder (VAE) models, initially pre-trained with a larger dataset and fine-tuned with a musical improvisation dataset provided by the Max Plank Institute. Evaluation encompasses Evidence Lower Bound (ELBO) loss metric and dimensionality reduction techniques like Principal Component Analysis (PCA), t-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE), Multidimensional Scaling (MDS), and Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP) to explore latent space representations. The results reveal that experienced musicians exhibit a greater divergence from the prime melody compared to amateurs. Moreover, professionals’ samples demonstrate more refined clustering and nuanced adjustments between improvisations projected in the latent space. / Inom musikaliska uttryck är det komplexa förhållandet mellan improvisation och de kognitiva processer som ligger till grund för kreativitet ett fascinerande men utmanande pussel, vilket föranleder denna avhandling att utforska sambandet mellan musikalisk improvisation och kreativ kognition bland musiker. Avhandlingen fokuserar på utvecklingen av robusta metoder för extraktion och representation av funktioner och använder oövervakade maskininlärningstekniker (ML) för att projicera improvisationer från en huvudmelodi till ett latent utrymme på hög nivå. Metoden innebär iterativ analys med hjälp av VAE-modeller (Variational Autoencoder), som ursprungligen förutbildades med ett större dataset och finjusterades med ett dataset för musikalisk improvisation från Max Plank Institute. Utvärderingen omfattar förlustmåttet Evidence Lower Bound (ELBO) och dimensionalitetsreducerande tekniker som Principal Component Analysis (PCA), t-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE), Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) och Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP) för att utforska latenta rymdrepresentationer. Resultaten visar att erfarna musiker uppvisar en större avvikelse från huvudmelodin jämfört med amatörer. Dessutom visar professionella musiker mer raffinerade kluster och nyanserade justeringar mellan improvisationer som projiceras i den latenta rymden.

Vienos svarbiausių šių dienų švietimo kaitos sąlygų – kūrybiškas tinkamų užduočių pateikimas mokykloje, naujų mokymo(si) santykių ir pedagoginės veiklos formų paieška bei ugdytinių kompetencijų ugdymas(is) ir plėtojimas. Improvizacija būdinga liaudies kūrybai bei kai kurioms profesionalioms meno šakoms: muzikai, poezijai, teatrui. Muzikos improvizacija gali būti fiksuojama garso įrašu, bet negali būti pakartota. Magistro darbo „Muzikinės improvizacijos naudojimo ypatumai 5–8 progimnazijos klasių neformaliajame švietime“ tikslas – ištirti 5–8 progimnazijos klasių muzikinės improvizacijos naudojimo neformaliajame švietime ypatumus. Šiam tikslui pasiekti buvo iškelti šie uždaviniai: atskleisti muzikinės improvizacijos ir neformaliojo švietimo sintezės problematiką; išsiaiškinti mokinių ir mokytojų požiūrį į muzikinę improvizaciją; ištirti muzikinės improvizacijos naudojimo ypatumus neformaliojo švietimo veikloje; nustatyti moderniųjų technologijų naudojimą improvizuojant. Tyrimo objekas – muzikinės improvizacijos naudojimas neformaliajame švietime. Tyrimas buvo vykdytas III etapais: I etapas – anketinė mokytojų ir mokinių apklausa. Anketa muzikos mokytojams buvo siekiama išsiaiškinti mokytojų požiūrį į muzikinės improvizacijos naudojimą neformaliajame švietime. Mokytojų apklausoje dalyvavo 17 Vilniaus mieto progimnazijose neformaliajai veiklai vadovaujančių mokytojų. Anketa, skirta neformaliąja muzikine veikla užimtiems mokiniams, buvo siekta surinkti informaciją, kurią... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Some of the most important conditions of nowadays education change are creative presentation of the appropriate tasks in school, discovery of new learning relations and pedagogic forms and development and cultivation of students’ competencies. Improvisation is a characteristic of folk art, as well as of some professional arts industries: music, poetry and theater. Musical improvisation can be recorded by audio, but can not be repeated. The purpose of master thesis “Features of Musical Improvisation Application in non-formal Education of 5 – 8 Progymnasium Grades” is to explore the features of musical improvisation use in non-formal education of 5 – 8 progymnasium grades. To achieve this goal the following objectives have been set: identify problems of musical improvisation and non-formal education synthesis, ascertain students’ and teachers’ attitude towards musical improvisation, examine the features of musical improvisation use in non-formal education activities, and determine the use of high-tech while improvising. Research object – use of musical improvisation in non-formal education. The study was carried out in III phases. Phase I – Questionnaire survey for teachers and students. Questionnaire for teachers was used to ascertain teachers' attitude towards the use of musical improvisation in non-formal education. 17 teachers, who are leading non-formal education activities in Vilnius city progymnasiums, participated in this questionnaire. Questionnaire for students was... [to full text]

Music has been shown to positively impact people living with advanced dementia, triggering fleeting recall and recollection and impacting emotional responses. Research and practice have focused on opportunities for people to engage with music by listening to playlists of favourite songs, revisiting existing skills by playing music, or by engaging in group music sessions or music therapy. Research has primarily focused on music and melodic sound, however our day-to-day lives are filled with ambient sound, soundscapes and percussive sound. Research in this area is limited. As is research in how to promote creative engagement with sound for those who do not have any existing musical skills. This paper will discuss a project to adapt an innovative electronic musical instrument, The AirSticks, invented by a professional musical performer for use in his own practice, to suit the needs of people living with advanced dementia. It will provide insights into workshops with a group of residents at two care homes and show the impact on one person in particular as she engaged in an emotive improvisation with the musician.

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