CSC475 Music Information RetrievalGreek Clarinet - Computational Ethnomusicology

George Tzanetakis

University of Victoria

2014

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Introduction

Definition

The main task of ethnomusicology is to explain music andmusic making with reference to the social, but in terms of themusical factors involved in performance and appreciation- J. Blacking, 1979.

Definition

Computational Ethnomusicology is the design, development,and usage of computer tools that have the potential to assistin ethnomusicological research. - Tzanetakis et al, 2007

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Motivation

Existing work in MIR has focused on popular music (forexample recommendation systems) or on classical music(for example score following and query-by-humming).

Large amounts of recordings that are practicallyimpossible to access without better tools

The majority of music is not written down but themajority of musicological research is based on notatedscores.

The development of inexpesnive sensors and actuatorshave enabled detailed analysis and synthesis ofperformance gestures used to generate music in additionto the music itself.

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Bartok, Seeger and the Mellograph

The origins of ethnomusicology can be traced to the handwritten transcription of Hungarian folk songs done by BelaBartok. Charles Seeger (the father of Pete Seeger) pioneeredthe study of ethnomusicology and the use of the Melograph,an electro-mechanic machine for the “transcription” ofnon-notated music.

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Bartok, Seeger, and the Mellograph

Audio recordings were also very important in the developmentof ethnomusicology as a field: “The only true notations arethe sound-tracks on the record itself”, Bartok.

Bela Bartok Charles Seeger Mellograph (pitch- time graph,volume - timegraph)

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Why MIR in CE ?

Detect and analyze information that would be difficultand time-consuming to do by hand (onsets, pitchcontours etc).

Scale to large data sets.

Provide visual represntations that can serve as “scores”for music that is not notated.

Leverage and adapt the large amount of existingtechniques and algorithms that have been developed(mostly for Western music).

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Some older work in CE

Ethnomusicologist James Kippen and computer scientistBernard Bel developed grammar rules for tabla playing using amaster-student paradigm. Lieberman (1970) manuallytranscribed large number of gamelan recordings and then usedcomputer techniques to calculate statistics about the pitchmaterial and search for patterns. Schloss (1987) did early workon the computer transcription of percussive music andproposed the “digital melograph”.

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Guidelines for CE Research

Collaboration with music scholars, not just engineers

Large collections

Design of domain-specific and culture-specific techniques

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Source separation and pattern detection of Duduk

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CompMusic (2011-)

Computational Models for the Discovery of the World’s Music,is a research project funded by the Europen Research Counciland coordinated by Xavier Serra from the Music TechnologyGroup of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. Theproject runs from 2011 to 2016.Five music cultures:

Hidustani (North India)

Carnatic (Sound India)

Turkish-makam (Turkey)

Arab-Andalusian (Maghreb)

Beijing Opera (China)

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Tasks

Pitch Contour

Tuning and pitch analysisTonic detectionMelodic motifsMelodic stability

Rhythm (typically onsets)

Rhythm similarity and style classificationDomain specific algorithm (for example clave-aware)Microtiming visualization and analysis

Transcription

Access, retrieval, browsing(for example Dunya from CompMusic)

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Example 1: Tarsos

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Tarsos: Pitch Histogram

Indonesian Sleandro scale

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Tarsos: vibrato analysis

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Example 3: Cantillion

Web interface for syntagmatic and paradigmatic analysis.It enables non-linear listening and viewing similarly to a score

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Cantillion: Torah Chant

Genesis 1:9

And God said “Let the waters be collected”

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Cantillion: Melodic gestures

Segmentation into melodic gestures is done based on the textby an expert (Dr. Daniel P. Biro from the School of Music,University of Victoria).

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Monophonic pitch extraction

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Recording-specific scale

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Cantillion: Hypothesis

Quantifying variation

The recitation of a particular piece of text from the Torahdepends on the surrounding music culture. More specificallywe will examine Marocco and Hungary.

Melodic similarity

Similarity between melodic fragments is calculated based ontheir associated pitch contour quantized using therecording-derived scale. Dynamic time warping (DTW) is usedfor calculating the alignment score.

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Cantillion: Mean Average Precision

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Cantillion: Distance Histograms

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Distance Histograms

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Example 3: Instantaneous tempo curves

Timing analysis of two performances of a composition for theKazakh dombra (time-stretched for alignment as they havedifferent durations) by Matt Wright:

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Example 4: Visualizing micro-timing

Original tap data and associated tempo curve for Afrocubanrecording with underlying clave pattern.

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Example 4: Visualizing micro-timing

Bar-wrapping uses time stretching to visually separate timingchanges due to increasing/decreasing tempo and micro-timingchanges at each theoretical beat location. Each theoreticalbeat location is a line.

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Example 4: Visualizing micro-timing

Automatic analysis. Notice the slight consistent delay of thetap data for the last theoretical clave beat location.

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Future Direction 1: NIME for CE

Music is created by humans interacting with a wide assortmentof devices we call musical instruments. A lot of interestinginformation can be obtained by analyzing the gestures used tocreate the music. Using either direct or indirect sensors andcomputer analysis it is possible to extract performanceinformation that is not readily available from a recording.Such information can be used to study timing and dynamicnuances of expert performers, playing technique, andperformer identity among other topics. There is little workexplore instruments from around the world and even forWestern instruments most of it has focused on the piano.

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Example: Sensing for the Africal Gyil

Trail et all (NIME 2012)

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Future Direction 2: Pedagogy

Learning traditional world instruments can be a challenge asthere is no established pedagogy such as books and exercises.Expert players that can serve as mentors are few and in somecases disappearing. Computational ethnomusicology isultimately about using computer to better understand musicand music making. This understanding can be leveraged tocreate culture-specific and instrument-specific tools for musicpedagogy. For example pitch analysis can be used to teachmicro-tuning and pattern detection and time-stretchingtechniques can be used to isolate a particular phrase andpractice it at a slower tempo.

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Greek Clarinet Origins

Clarinet has been the dominant woodwind instrument inGreece for the last 180 years.

Introduced around 1834 in the area of Epirus and Thrace.Turkish-Gypsy musicians contributed to its over all ofGreece

Typically clarinet is played through the entire songperforming the introduction to the melody, playing quietlyand embellishing when there is singing , and repeating themelody between verses frequently including an extendedimprovised part (taksim).

Even though there is an extensive, Epirus specifictradition, greek clarinet players typically play a repertoireincluding tunes from many geographic areas in Greece.

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History

Nomadic musicians (Roma and Klezmorim) were responsiblefor the introduction of the clarinet to Greece as well asexposure through marching bands. Although a relativelyrecent arrival it has become the dominant woodwindinstrument in Greece.Despina Mazaraki, an authority on the clarinet in Greece saysthat initially the villagers did not want it, preferred the shrillsound of the zournas with daouli, rather than the soft sound ofthe clarinet accompanied by the lute.Until 1925 the clarinet was not allowed in Athens and playerscould only play in villages. Eventually it became a signifier oftechnological and cultural progress. Affluent families couldafford a, typically imported, clarinet but peasants still had todo with self-made zournas.

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What it replaced - I

FlogeraZourna

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What it replaced - II

Kaval

Gaida and Byzantine Chant

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Differences with classical clarinet playing

Embrace of separation of the three clarinet registers(chalumeau, clarino, altissimo) rather than striving foruniformity of timbre

Soft reeds (1, 1.5 versus 3,3.5,4)

Older Albert system of fingering rather than the standardcurrent Boehm system of fingering. Sliding andhalf-closing finger holes are easier on Albert System andfit more closely the untempered scales and modes used inGreek folk music

Expansion of melodies to utilize the expanded range ofthe clarinet (3-4 octaves)

Players are self taught - teacher plays, student immitates

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Albert vs Boehm clarinet

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Melodic devices

A large variety of melodic patterns/effects are utilized byGreek clarinet players. These include ornaments of virtuosityand expression, as well as melismata. Tremolos, trills andglissandi are also commonly utilized.Some players have experience with reading Byzantine neumenotation which is particularly suited for encoding such melodicdevices.

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Pragmatic adoption of technology

The clarinet became dominant replacing older woodwindinstruments because of its versatility, dynamic range,portability, and sturdiness.Greek clarinet players have a very pragmatic attitude towardtechnology. The use of Albert fingering might appearconservative (it also makes obtaining and servicing clarinetsmore challenging as Albert style clarinets are not manufacturedany more) but it has clear advantages for the music played.Other technologies are adapted enthusiastically such as theuse of heavy reverb and custom amplification microphoneunits (most greek clarinet (and several turkish) players usesensors that attach directly to the barrel made by a smallgreek company http://www.tap.com.gr/).

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http://www.tap.com.gr/

Players

PetroloukasHalkias

Vassilis Soukas

Vassilis Saleas

Giorgos Magkas

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