Chrisoula Alexandraki

Exploring new perspectives in network music performance: The diamouses framework

Department of Applied Informaticsand MultimediaTechnological Educational Instituteof CreteEstavromenos 71500Heraklion, Crete, Greeceda@epp.teicrete.grThisarticlereportsontherecentresultsofaresearchand development project on network music perfor-mance (NMP), named DIAMOUSES. DIAMOUSESis more than a standalone application for real-timeexchange of audiovisual streams through the net-work, as it forms an open framework that aims toenable a wide range of applications and services forintuitive music expression and collaborative perfor-mance among geographically separated musicians.TherealizationoftheDIAMOUSESopenframeworkfor NMP addresses several technological issues andcontributes to the solution of a number of problemsrelating to human perception and human-computerinteraction. It also contributes to the establishmentof social connections between peers who collaboratethrough networks in which music is dynamicallycreated, negotiated, and exchanged on the fly. Thisarticle describes DIAMOUSES in terms of technicalorientation and validation, as well as in terms ofuser experience as revealed through a series of em-pirical studies. Collectively, these results provideuseful insights into a variety of research questionson NMP and into a number of issues pending furtherattention.

Collective Practices in Common Information Spaces: Insight From Two Case Studies

This research explores the design of practice toolkits as components, distinct from community management systems, allowing members of a virtual community to engage in the practice the community is about. Our analysis is informed by two case studies in different application domains each presenting alternative but complementary insights to the design of computer-mediated practice toolkits. The first case study describes how established practices in music performance are encapsulated in a suitably augmented music notation toolkit so as to support the learning objectives of virtual teams engaged in music master classes. The second case study presents experience with the development of a toolkit for engaging in the practice of vacation package assembly. This time the virtual team is a cross-organization virtual community of practice whose members streamline their efforts by internalizing and performing in accordance to a new (virtual) practice. Findings from the two studies reveal two distinct orientations in the design of practice toolkits. Specifically, in application domains where practices are well established (i.e., music performance), the toolkit serves as the medium for reconstructing an existing practice in virtual settings. In contrast, when cross-organization collaboration is involved (i.e., vacation package assembly), the toolkit should be designed so as to encapsulate a “meta”-practice, exhibiting both boundary and locality.

The MusiNet project: Towards unraveling the full potential of Networked Music Performance systems

The MusiNet research project aims to provide a comprehensive architecture and a prototype implementation of a complete Networked Music Performance (NMP) system. In this paper we describe the current status of the project, focusing on critical decisions regarding the systems architecture and specifications, the low delay audio and video coding techniques to be employed, the media relay design, and the synchronous and asynchronous collaboration algorithms to be adopted.

Collaborative music making as ‘remediated’ practice

This paper elaborates on and advances a proposition for framing collaborative music making as an assemblage of remediated practices. To this effect, we draw upon theories of agency and artifacts to anchor the concept of remediated practices. Then, by blending concepts from the Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Management Science scholarships, we establish the baseline for remediating music performance using new digital media. The above are demonstrated using a prototypical platform which enables online music ensembles to negotiate music making using computer-mediated boundary artifacts and generic cloud services.

Understanding Networked Music Communities through a Practice-Lens: Virtual 'Tells' and Cultural Artifacts

The paper investigates how practice-based studies can provide a lens for understanding the life of virtual communities. The domain of investigation is music interpretation lessons as conducted using the DIAMOUSES system for networked music performance. The practice-based framework proposed is built around two notions: technology inscribed structures and cultural artifacts appropriated or enacted. Qualitative analysis of interview data makes useful inroads to understanding what members are actually doing in virtual space and how their actions, reactions and social encounters are manifested or revived through the musiccommunity’s virtual ‘tells’ or remains.

The MusiNet project: Addressing the challenges in Networked Music Performance systems

This paper presents the progress in the MusiNet research project, which aims to provide a comprehensive architecture and a prototype implementation of a Networked Music Performance (NMP) system. We describe the Musinet client and server components, and the different approaches followed in our research effort in order to culminate in the most appropriate scheme in terms of delay and quality for the audio and video streams involved. We also describe the MusiNet user interface, which allows an integrated communication between the participants and the proposed NMP system.

Anticipatory Networked Communications for Live Musical Interactions of Acoustic Instruments

Performing music over computer networks requires highly reliable infrastructures with respect to latency elimination, bandwidth availability and error alleviation. Hence, commonly available networks or large communication distance cannot effectively cope with real-time, high-fidelity and uninterrupted musical communications. An intuitive solution to this problem can be offered by employing mechanisms for musical prediction and anticipation which can help mitigate technical impediments. The idea is that knowing in advance the evolution of a music piece can offer effective reduction of communication latencies and data rates. Furthermore, musical anticipation can be used to eliminate errors owing to data loss in the network transmission path. We present the development of a software prototype that uses anticipatory processes to support networked music performance. The adopted methodology is inspired by computer accompaniment systems, in which a software agent follows the performance of a human musician in real-time, by synchronizing a pre-recorded musical accompaniment to the expressive nuances of live interpretation. The paper presents an overview of relevant research initiatives, the computational approach implemented for anticipatory networked performances and an experimental validation that demonstrates current progress and reveals constraints and challenges pending further investigation.