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Assessing creativity in computer music ensembles: a computational approach

Over the last decade Laptop Orchestras and Mobile Ensembles have proliferated.
As a result, a large body of research has arisen on infrastructure, evaluation, design
principles and compositional methodologies for Computer Music Ensembles
(CME).
However, little has been addressed and very little is known about the challenges
and opportunities provided by CMEs for creativity in musical performance.
Therefore, one of the most common issues CMEs have to deal with is the lack of
a systematic approach to handle the implications of the performative paradigms
they seek to explore, in terms of their creative constraints and affordances.
This is the challenging goal this thesis addresses, and for attaining so it first
seeks to find a common ground in the strategies developed for assessing creativity
in different performative setups, for later proposing an informed pathway for
performative engagement in CMEs.
Our research combines an exploratory stage and an experimental stage. The
exploratory stage was informed by out artistic praxis with our own CME, the
Barcelona Laptop Orchestra. Through the study of the multi-user instruments developed
over the past years, we identified the creative constraints and affordances
provided by different performative paradigms. Informed by the findings provided
by our artistic research, the experimental stage addressed the study of musical
creativity through the performance analysis on specifically designed multi-user
instruments. For such purpose we proposed a novel computational methodology
to evaluate the creative content of a musical performance.
Two experiments were conducted to incorporate our computational methodology
into ecologically valid scenarios, aimed at a better understanding of the
relationship between topologies of interdependence and creative outcome. For
both experiments, we captured performance data from ensemble improvisations,
from where the creativity metrics were then computed. As a preliminary step,
we investigated the performative engagement and sharing of musical ideations in
an ensemble scenario. In a further step, we computed the creativity attributes to
comparatively evaluate performances under different scenarios.
The findings provided quantitative evidence of the differences between musical
creativity in individual, ensemble and interdependent scenarios. Additionally,
the findings point out what strategies performers adopt to best keep their own musical
voice in interdependence scenarios, and what novel creative behaviors may
be promoted through new topologies of interdependence. Our findings shed light
on the nature of performers’ creative behavior with interdependent multi-user instruments,
and show that the introduced methodology can have applications in the
broader context of analysis of creativity in musical performance. / Durant la darrera d`ecada les Laptop Orchestras i els Mobile Ensembles han proliferat
arreu. Com a conseq¨u`encia d’aix`o, ha aparegut un volum considerable de
recerca al voltant de la infraestructura, l’avaluaci´o, els principis de disseny i les
metodologies composicionals per ensembles de computadors (CMEs).
Tanmateix, poc coneixem dels reptes i oportunitats que els CMEs ens ofereixen
respecte de la creativitat en la pr`actica musical. En conseq¨u`encia, un dels
reptes que la majoria de CMEs han d’encarar ´es la manca d’una estrat`egia sistem`
atica per preveure i abordar les implicacions dels paradigmes performatius a
explorar, respecte de les seves limitacions i possibilitats creatives.
Aquest ´es el repte que adrecem en aquesta tesi, i per assolir-lo primer tractem
d’establir un denominador com´u en les estrat`egies desenvolupades per avaluar la
creativitat en diversos entorns performatius, per despr´es proposar un itinerari que
permeti assolir una adequada involucraci´o creativa en els CMEs.
La nostra recerca ha combinat una fase explorat`oria i una d’experimental. La
fase explorat`oria s’ha fonamentat en la praxi art´ıstica duta a terme en el nostre
propi CME, la Barcelona Laptop Orchestra. A trav´es de l’estudi dels instruments
multi-usuari desenvolupats durant els darrers anys, hem identificat les potencialitats
i restriccions presents en diversos paradigmes performatius. Basats en els
resultats de la nostra recerca art´ıstica, la fase experimental s’ha centrat en l’estudi
de la creativitat musical a trav´es de l’an`alisi interpretatiu en instruments multiusuari
desenvolupats a tal efecte. A tal fi, hem proposat una nova metodologia
computacional per avaluar el contingut creatiu d’una execuci´o musical.
Hem dut a terme dos experiments incorporant la nostra m`etrica en escenaris
realistes, a fi de comprendre millor la relaci´o entre topologies d’interdepend`encia i
resultat creatiu. Per ambd´os experiments, hem recollit informaci´o d’improvisacions
en grup, d’on hem calculat les m`etriques de creativitat. Com a pas previ, hem investigat
en grau d’involucraci´o i la compartici´o d’ideacions musicals en escenaris
col lectius. Tot seguit, hem calculat els atributs de creativitat per comparar execucions
musicals en diferents escenaris.
Els resultats proporcionen una evid`encia quantitativa de la difer`encia entre la
creativitat musical en escenaris d’execuci´o musical individual, en grup i interdependent.
Addicionalment, ens il lustren quines estrat`egies adopten els m´usics per
mantenir la seva pr`opia individualitat musical en escenaris d’interdepend`encia, i
quins nous comportaments creatius podem promoure a trav´es de noves topologies
d’interdepend`encia. Els resultats obtinguts aporten nova llum en la natura del
comportament creatiu dels m´usics amb instruments multi-usuari interdependents,
i mostren que la metodologia presentada pot tenir aplicacions en el context m´es
ampli de l’an`alisi de la creativitat musical en l’execuci´o musical.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:TDX_UPF/oai:www.tdx.cat:10803/359392
Date22 January 2016
CreatorsComajuncosas, Josep M.
ContributorsJordà Puig, Sergi, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Departament de Tecnologies de la Informació i les Comunicacions
PublisherUniversitat Pompeu Fabra
Source SetsUniversitat Pompeu Fabra
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typeinfo:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Format294 p., application/pdf
SourceTDX (Tesis Doctorals en Xarxa)
RightsL'accés als continguts d'aquesta tesi queda condicionat a l'acceptació de les condicions d'ús establertes per la següent llicència Creative Commons: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/, info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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