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This master thesis describes early attempts at using electroglottography (EGG) to capture such changes in vocal fold vibration patterns that could be of interest to teachers of contemporary commercial music. After initial explorations, focus is placed on detecting potentially detrimental phonation; more specifically on the pressed quality often associated with loud singing in high register (belting). FonaDyn, a program written in the SuperCollider language, is used to detect pressedness using an algorithm based on K-means clustering of Fourier components of EGG cycles. Results indicate that pressedness affects phonation in ways detectable using EGG. Changes caused by pressedness seem to vary between registers and this variation is similar between subjects. Detection of pressedness in a subject is quite successful when training the algorithm on the same subject, but not always across subjects. / Denna masteruppsats beskriver inledande försök att använda elektroglottografi (EGG) för att avläsa sådana förändringar i stämbandens vibrationsmönster som skulle kunna vara av intresse för sånglärare inom icke-klassisk stil. Tidiga undersökningar leder till att fortsatt fokus läggs på att detektera fonationstyper som kan orsaka röstskador; mer specifikt den typ av pressad röstkvalitet som ofta förknippas med stark sång i högt register (s.k. belting). FonaDyn, ett datorprogram skrivet i språket SuperCollider, används för att detektera pressad fonation med hjälp av K-means-klustring av EGG-cykler baserat på deras Fourierkomponenter. Resultaten indikerar att pressad fonation går att urskilja med hjälp av EGG. Kännetecknen för pressad fonation tycks skilja sig mellan röstregister och denna skillnad är snarlik hos olika försökspersoner. Programmet klarar av att känna igen pressad fonation hos samma person som algoritmen tränats på men inte alltid om algoritmen tränats på en annan sångare.

The legacy KTH Music and Singing Synthesis Equipment (MUSSE) system, developed decades ago, is no longer compatible with contemporary computer systems. Nonetheless, the fundamental synthesis model at its core, known as the source-filter model, continues to be a valuable technology in the research field of voice synthesis. In this thesis, the author re-implemented the legacy system with the traditional source-filter model and the modern platform SuperCollider. This re-implementation led to great enhancements in functionality, flexibility and performance. The most noteworthy improvement introduced in the new system is the addition of notch filters, which is able to simulate anti-resonances in the human vocal tract, thereby allowing a broader range of vocal nuances to be reproduced. To demonstrate the significance of notches in vowel synthesis, a subjective auditory experiment was conducted. The results of this experiment clearly show that vowels synthesized with notches sound much more natural and closer to real human voice. The work presented in this thesis, the new MUSSE program with notch filters, will serve as a foundation to support general acoustics research at TMH in the future. / Den äldre KTH Music and Singing Synthesis Equipment (MUSSE) -systemet, som utvecklades för decennier sedan, är inte längre kompatibelt med samtida datorsystem. Trots det fortsätter den grundläggande syntesmodellen vid dess kärna, känd som källa-filtermodellen, att vara en värdefull teknik inom forskningsområdet för röstsyntes. I den här avhandlingen har författaren återimplementerat det äldre systemet med den traditionella källa-filtermodellen och den moderna plattformen SuperCollider. Denna återimplementering ledde till betydande förbättringar i funktionalitet, flexibilitet och prestanda. Den mest anmärkningsvärda förbättringen som infördes i det nya systemet är tillägget av notch-filter, som kan simulera anti-resonanser i den mänskliga röstkanalen och därmed möjliggöra en bredare uppsättning vokala nyanser att återskapas. För att visa betydelsen av notch-filter i vokalsyntes utfördes en subjektiv auditiv undersökning. Resultaten av denna undersökning visar tydligt att vokaler som syntetiseras med notch-filter låter mycket mer naturliga och liknar den verkliga mänskliga rösten. Arbetet som presenteras i denna avhandling, det nya MUSSE-programmet med notch-filter, kommer att fungera som en grund för att stödja allmän akustikforskning vid TMH i framtiden.

Techniques for algorithmic musical composition or generative music working directly with the frequencies of the sounds being played are rare today as most approaches rely on mapping of discrete states. The purpose of this work is to investigate how self organizing audio can be created in realtime based on pitch information, and to find methods that give both expressive control and some unpredictability. A series of experiments were done using SuperCollider and evaluated against criteria formulated using music theory and psychoacoustics. One approach was utilizing the missing fundamental phenomenon and pitch detection using autocorrelation. This approach generated unpredictable sounds but was too much reliant on user input to generate evolving sounds. Another approach was the Kuramoto model of synchronizing oscillators. This resulted in pleasant phasing sounds when oscillators modulating the amplitudes of audible oscillators were synchronized, and distorted sounds when the frequencies of the audible oscillators were synchronized. Lastly, swarming behavior was investigated by implementing an audio analogy of Reynolds’ Boids model. The boids model resulted in interesting independently evolving sounds. Only the boids model showed true promise as a method of algorithmic composition. Further work could be done to expand the boids model by incorporating more parameters. Kuramoto synchronization could viably be used for sound design or incorporated into the boids model.

Fractus I is a composition for trumpet in C and live electronic sound. The electronics were primarily created using SuperCollider, an environment and programming language for real time audio synthesis. This project investigates SuperCollider's pattern and task functionality as a means of supporting and enriching the compositional process. Fractus I develops several different code architectures in order to randomize as well as synchronize various musical elements. The piece exploits SuperCollider as both an audio synthesis tool and a performance conduit. Additionally, the nature of SuperCollider's patterns and tasks influences the form and content of the composition. The project underscores SuperCollider as a powerful, versatile and open-ended tool for musical composition and examines future directions and improvements.

This thesis presents tools and components necessary to further develop an implementation of a method. The method attempts to use the non invasive electroglottographic signal to locate rapid transitions between voice registers. Implementations for sample entropy and the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) implemented for the programming language SuperCollider are presented along with tools necessary to evaluate the method and present the results in real time. Since different algorithms have been used, both for clustering and cycle separation, a comparison between algorithms for both of these steps has also been done. / Denna rapport presenterar verktyg och komponenter som är nödvändiga för att vidareutveckla en implementation av en metod. Metoden försöker att använda en icke invasiv elektroglottografisk signal för att hitta snabba övergångar mellan röstregister. Det presenteras implementationer för sampelentropi och den diskreta fourier transformen för programspråket SuperCollider samt verktyg som behövs för att utvärdera metoden och presentera resultaten i realtid. Då olika algoritmer har använts för både klustring och cykelseparation så har även en jämförelse mellan algoritmer för dessa steg gjorts.

This thesis examines the composition of three different musical works through the use of my constraint-based patterns. I have explored the patterns through spreadsheets and also SuperCollider: a software for algorithmic composition and audio synthesis. The aim is to find how the patterns can be used to reach clear contrasts while maintaining coherence in the music, as well as finding challenges and possibilities within the patterns, while exploring how evaluation of the artistic results can contribute to improved methods. While I see the main method as autoethnographical, with the core focus on composing, I have also used feedback from other composers, and through focus groups, as a way to collect data. Throughout this thesis I describe my process of constructing patterns and composing music, accompanied by my reasoning and relevant feedback. My results from analyzing feedback, score and patterns are that while some ways of using the patterns are well suited for achieving contrast and coherence, problems arose related to (among other things) musical form and predictability. Evaluation through feedback and interviews resulted in a better understanding of the patterns, and different workflows allowed for different viability in the evaluation. The most valuable insight is that the greater the amount of composition parameters which are controlled through constraint-based patterns, the simpler each individual composition parameter has to be in order to reach contrasting results that I find satisfying. My conclusion is that I can therefore design each individual composition parameter with high coherence to reach contrasting results when the composition parameters are applied on the same musical structure.

Det digitala har de senaste åren blivit en allt större del av vårt samhälle och baserat på de fler och fler oumbärliga funktioner som digitaliseras ser dess roll knappast ut att minska.  Detta arbete undersöker hur närvaron av våra digitala enheter kan användas på nya sätt i konsertanta sammanhang. Arbetet utgår från tre stycken som alla använder webbläsaren för att tillämpa live-elektronik och således öppnar upp möjligheten att framföra dessa stycken utan någon tidigare erfarenhet av exempelvis Max/MSP, SuperCollider eller liknande. Ingen ytterligare utrustning än ens egna smarta telefon eller dator behövs heller vilket återkopplar till idén om att använda våra vardagliga digitala enheter som de kreativa verktyg de potentiellt sätt kan vara. / <p>Bifogad ljudfil till verket "Berätta inte för någon, berätta för alla" framförs av KammarensembleN. Bifogad ljudfil till verket "Kvartett för solo-violin" framförs av Karin Hellqvist.</p>

<p>Bilaga: 1 CD.</p>

Electroacoustic music is often regarded as not being sufficiently accessible to the general public because of its sound-based abstract quality and the complexity of its language. Live electronic music introduces the figure of the performer as a gestural bodily agent that re-enables our multimodal perception of sound and seems to alleviate the accessibility dilemma. However, live electronic music generally lacks the level of detail found in studio-based fixed media works, and it can hardly be transferred outside the concert hall situation (e.g. as a video recording) without losing most of its fresh, dynamic and unpredictable nature. Recent developments in 3D simulation environments and game audio technologies suggest that alternative approaches to music composition and distribution are possible, presenting an opportunity to address some of these issues. In particular, this Portfolio of Compositions proposes the use of real and virtual space as a new medium for the creation and organisation of sound events via computer-simulated audio-sources. In such a context, the role of the performer is sometimes assumed by the listener itself, through the operation of an interactive-adaptive system, or it is otherwise replaced by a set of automated but flexible procedures. Although all of these works are sonic centric in nature, they often present a visual component that reinforces the multimodal perception of meaningful musical structures, either as real space locations for sonic navigation (locative audio), or live visualisations of physically-informed gestural agents in 3D virtual environments. Consequently, this thesis draws on general game-audio concepts and terminology, such as procedural sound, non-linearity, and generative music; but it also embraces game development tools (game engines) as a new methodological and technological approach to electroacoustic music composition. In such context, space and the real-time generation, control, and manipulation of assets combine to play an important role in broadening the routes of musical expression and the accessibility of the musical language. The portfolio consists of six original compositions. Three of these works–Swirls, Alice - Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady, and Alcazabilla–are interactive in nature and they required the creation of custom software solutions (e.g. SonicMaps) in order to deal with open-form musical structures. The last three pieces–Singularity, Apollonian Gasket, and Boids–are based on fractal or emergent behaviour models and algorithms, and they propose a non-interactive linear organisation of sound materials via real-time manipulation of non-conventional 3D virtual instruments. These original instrumental models exhibit strong spatial and kinematic qualities with an abstract and minimal visual representation, resulting in an extremely efficient way to build spatialisation patterns, texture, and musical gesture, while preserving the sonic-centric essence of the pieces.