Online Music Distribution

This Chapter analyses multiple aspects of on-line music distribution, investigating the major problems, the different approaches and business models, considering the different points of view and perspectives, presenting the emerging technologies and Digital Rights Management standards, analysing issues for rights clearing, Intellectual Property protection, content retrieval and metadata management.

Possibilities, Limitations, and the Future of Audiovisual Content Protection

This chapter explains the fundamental principles of audiovisual content protection. It explains the basic knowledge that is needed to understand the fundamentals of digital rights management (DRM) systems and their problems. Starting with a general introduction about copyright and content protection, available protection technologies are described and analyzed. The basic concepts of DRM solutions are explained and problems discussed. Potentials and practical limitations are analysed based on the digital music industry value chain. An outlook is given on solutions that are under development and that stronger consider the needs of the customers. In the conclusion, future solutions are discussed.

Challenges of Designing a Markup Language for Music

XML-based languages for music have constraints not applicable to typical XML applications such as for standard text documents or data sets. Music contains numerous simultaneous events across several dimensions, including time. The Document Model for a piece of music would thus look very different from serialised text documents. Most existing XML-based music markup languages mark music typography, following the print traditions of music scores. A general music markup language should include much more than mere print. Some of the challenges designing an XML-based markup language for music are considered. An SVG-based Music Symbol Design Grid is proposed to meet the challenge of music typology. An XML-based Music Symbol Language is used to design symbols on this grid. Resulting symbols are positioned in 3D Music Space, which is introduced to address the challenge of topography.

Optical Music Imaging

This paper presents the applications and practices in the domain of music imaging for musical scores (music sheets and music manuscripts), which include music sheet digitisation, optical music recognition (OMR) and optical music restoration. With a general background of Optical Music Recognition (OMR), the paper discusses typical obstacles in this domain and reports currently available commercial OMR software. It reports hardware and software related to music imaging, discussed the SharpEye optical music recognition system and provides an evaluation of a number of OMR systems. Besides the main focus on the transformation from images of music scores to symbolic format, this paper also discusses optical music image restoration and the application of music imaging techniques for graphical preservation and potential applications for cross-media integration.

How Technology Can Support Culture and Learning

From the authors’ perspective, technology is both a tool and a developing factor which can foster cul-ture and learning development. This chapter focuses on the inter-relations that interleave education, technology, content accessibility and intercultural issues. With an introduction and related background, language learning is used as an example further to ex-plain these issues. This chapter then discusses authoring and content development for eLearning appli-cations (including authoring tools, virtual communities and forums) and examines technology and ac-cessibility issues in this context. The current state of eLearning is introduced along with a description of different tools and approaches. The chapter concludes with an overview of eLearning and the mar-ketplace.

Digital Rights Management Technologies and Standards

This chapter discusses technologies and standards related to digital rights management (DRM). Firstly, it presents DRM systems that are multimedia information management systems that take into account digital rights and protection. These systems enable the controlled distribution and use of multimedia content through the digital value chain. Then, this chapter presents current initiatives, standard and proprietary, that specify a DRM system. It focuses in the MPEG-21 standard initiative, mainly in the parts of this standard that normatively specify the different pieces and formats needed by a complete DRM system. Finally, this chapter presents one of the key components of DRM systems, rights expression languages (RELs) that have been defined to express content usage rules.

Web-Based Music Intelligent Tutoring Systems

Our work bridges two interesting topics: the research in the area of web-based applications and the area of learning technologies. We give an overall picture of the current development in web-based music intelligent tutoring system (WMITS). The term WMITS is coined by us to describe the two main areas in our focus. In this chapter, we address the following issues: (i) the pedagogical aspect of teaching and learning music, (ii) the background of music intelligent tutoring system and (iii) our WMITS system for teaching music theories. A web-based environment offers strengths in terms of accessibility and self-paced learning. However, the environment has a great drawback in terms of inter-activities between the users and the system. Our design addresses this issue by developing a specialised client tool. The client tool provides an interactive environment for score editing which is crucial for learning music theories. The system incorporates three major inference techniques (i.e. Deductive, Inductive, and Bayesian Inference) in dealing with music theories and uncertain knowledge such as students’ understanding.

Driving Sound Synthesis with a Live Audio Signal

An overview on problems and methods to map performers’ actions to a synthesized sound is presented. Approaches incorporating the audio signal are described and a synthesis method called “Audio Signal Driven Sound Synthesis” is introduced. It uses the raw audio signal of a traditional instrument to drive a synthesis algorithm. The system tries to support musicians with satisfying instrument-specific playability. In contrast to common methods that try to increase openness for the player’s input, openness of the system is achieved here by leaving essential playing parameters non-formalized as far as possible. Three implementations of the method and one application are described. An empirical study and experiences with users testing the system implemented for a bowed string instrument are presented. This implementation represents a specific case of a broader range of approaches to the treatment of user input, which have applications in a wide variety of contexts involving human-computer interaction.

Interactive Systems for Multimedia Opera

This chapter considers the development of systems to deliver multimedia content for new opera. After a short overview of the history of multimedia in opera, the specific requirements of opera are analysed, with emphasis of the fundamental musicality of operatic performance. Having considered the place of multimedia elements in the narrative and acting space, the relevance of previous practice in electroacoustic music and Vjing is considered as a model for a working approach. Several software and hardware configurations explored, including the use of gestural control by the actors themselves. The creation of a keyboard based “video instrument” with a dedicated performer, capable of integration into the pre- existing musical ensemble, is recommended as the most effective and practical solution.

XML Music Notation Modelling for Multimedia

The evolution of information technology has changed the use of music representation and notation in software applications, transforming and extending them from a simple visual coding model for music scores into a tool for modelling music for computer programs and electronic devices in general (e.g., keyboards), to support the exploitation of the multimedia characteristics lying behind music notation and representation. The MPEG Symbolic Music Representation (MPEG-SMR) is a new emerging standard for modelling music notation within the MPEG multimedia framework. MPEG-SMR provides an XML-based language to model most of the music notation in terms of the visual and audio aspects, as well as music score annotations. MPEG-SMR also provides a language to define the music score formatting rules, supporting personalisation for the score visual presentation, custom symbols and control visual rendering of the common notation symbols.