Music Visualization: Unique Social Value (USV)

Step by step, humanity is being divested of the means to earn. As ever more resources, means of production and outlets up in the hands of the few, could radical, open source solutions -delivering social value at minimal cost- render employment *irrelevant*?

Music and dance deliver value in many ways that are already well documented, but these tend to focus on either personal or collective social benefit. Can a music platform add other -perhaps more process or workflow oriented benefits? Sure:

• Configuration freedoms
• Notation diversity and discovery
• Instrument diversity and discovery
• Theory tool diversity and discovery
• Configuration freedoms
• One-click environment population and propagation
• Teacher-learner interworking
• Musical interactivity and immersion
• Musical data transparency

Big, brave, open-source, non-profit, community-provisioned, cross-cultural and monkey crazy. → Like, share, back-link, pin, tweet and mail. Hashtags? For the crowdfunding: #VisualFutureOfMusic. For the future live platform: #WorldMusicInstrumentsAndTheory. Or simply register as a potential crowdfunder..

If the mathematical structures underlying the many and diverse music systems in use world can be given simple visual context, and the relationships between music, instrument and theory dynamically controlled and configured, we have the basis for rich social value creation. But in what way is it unique?

Unique Social Value (USV)

Unique Social Value (USV)

What is Unique Social Value?

The USV of a community initiative could, I think, be represented by the green tick in the diagram to the left, and especially if the means by which it is achieved in itself acts as a multiplier. This would the case with, for example, open source software, which opens up paths to further value creation.

For future users of this platform, a given USV may (as both instruments and theory tools can be built from a generic base) be shared across multiple cultures and geographical locations.

Thrashing Out a Dance Tune

Let's try and thrash out some of the USVs associated with the music visualisation platform under discussion here.

Model

The guiding principles at this stage (further clarification needed) are nonprofit / P2P / open source / shared economy with membership at cost.

If and where interfacing with commercial music providers, adherence to the Open Music Model.

Value Drivers

'Data-Driven' Notation

Self-Aware Notation

Notation is self-aware, in as much as each element (note or other) has a small collection of data associated with it.

This information may span any of things like notename, frequency, octave, midi number, duration, and making it easy to pass information to dependent animations. It could even be customised to match the collective needs of dependent animations.. Moreover, built using arrays, score elements (collectively or individually) can be subject to a wide variety of transformations and animations with impact on visibility, position, scaling, scrolling, highlighting, colouring and identity.

Surprisingly, though a few other notation applications are able to address individual notes for the purposes of colour or other highlighting, hardly any use the them as a source of data for use in dependent tools.

Discovery: Models of Any and All Instruments

Perhaps the single greatest (if unstated) frustration with existing notation/instrument model packages amongst potential users is that so few score-driven instrument models are available.

What if you need dynamic examples of play on instruments as varied as Venezualan harp, the (originally) Swiss 'hangpan', guitarra portuguesa or African kora?

How do you compare the playing characteristics of two variants with different tunings (for example Venezuelan diatonic vs Patagonian chromatic harp, modal tunings on the kora, or, more subtly, 440 vs other hangpan base tunings)?

There is, then, a strong argument for all world music instruments finding representation, which implies their interchangeability. It's a similar story for theory tools.

The mechanisms underpinning this interchangeability form the core added value of the music visualization platform in focus here. With them, the platform generates social value.

With all data stored in tree form, pragmatic (possibly community-moderated) classifications are simple to create.

All models (instruments and theory tools) can be classified and indexed, with multiple classifications a possibility.

At some point, any and all instruments will be then available from an online repository.

Discovery: Genre Classification

Music Genre Discovery

Most heritage music genres are either already mapped in some form as a result of academic research, or are still fresh enough in the collective memory to be 'harvested'.

With recent genre no longer necessarily a reflection of historical fact (more a marketing tool with commercial goals) their structure can be contentious.

Where agreed, proven and representative, though, they are likely to be available through public APIs. No point in duplication..

Discovery: Theory Tools (Models)

Theory tools generally represent an abstraction of musical structure, but, in stripping away redundant data can reveal patterns not immediately apparent in the original.

These patterns can be of great help in understanding why and how certain musical relationships work.

Assuming mutual validity, more or less any combination of instrument model and theory tool can be brought together. Other than for comparison, it makes no sense, for example, to apply a 2D pythagorean (just intonation) model to a modern equal-temperament instrument.

The range of (currently static, but potentially 'animatable') theory tools is large. Just a few examples:

Potential Crowdfunder? First Name Email Address

Deep Theory

In applying data visualisation techniques, we find ourselves in a position to develop much more subtle, information-rich and interactive theory tools than are currently the norm in single page or web applications.

In place of, say, a simple circle of fifths or interval diagram, we gain access to a wide range of geometric models reflecting the great diversity of musical thinking and research.


Not only are these models of immediate use, but as our intellectual reach and curiosity expands, these tools are likely to find ever more relevance.

You can find many, many more on my Pinterest pinboards, but to view them will need to open an account.

Joint Instrument / Theory Tool Configuration

Joint Instrument  / Theory Tool Configuration

Joint configuration of instruments and theory tools is entirely feasible, potentially greatly simplifying the user interface.
There will certainly be cases where a given configuration is no longer compatible with the driving source (score, midi, audio and so on), but still leaving considerable scope for 'what-if' and comparative musicological studies.
Exchange formats such as MusicXML can be expected to narrow this gap somewhat, but in the meantime, a number of (particularly microtonal) alternatives to 12TET already exist.

Immersion (High Educational Value)

Musical Immersion

I'm not entirely sure immersion can be said to be unique, but what probably is, is the potential level of immersion.

Everything required for immersion are available from the moment teacher and student connect.

Deep, rich, music theory models are exposed - with high and immediate relevance to the current musical context - the source score or audio.

Moreover, the comparative musicology applications are numerous, including areas such as experimental music.

Understanding is the foundation of and framework for mutual respect and tolerance. To understand someone else's cultural values and history is not to sacrifice your own. Without an appreciation of these, any study of instrument, notation or musical system is, indeed, incomplete. It provides context.

Irish dance and session music as we know it today, for example, was born out of several centuries of brutal colonial oppression, the impact of two world wars, Ireland's struggle for liberation, and, (as regards evolution of session music styles) the recent decline in musician's exposure to social dance. It's a similar story for any music genre.

A Basis For P2P Teaching

Freedom of Musical Expression

P2P teaching is already practised (using video chat), but more or less without supporting tools.

Any tools in use have been 'off-line' and non-shared, such as PDF readers and spreadsheets.

More adventurous users share notation using programs such as NoteFlight, but this is a far cry from the notion of a shared environment.


P2P music teaching has, in a fully interactive, shared sense, yet to be attempted. Exploration of these possibilities is perhaps the crowning goal of this initiative.

Synergies

Once established, the platform and it's tools are likely to provide a means of empirical study overlapping with other disciplines, such as psychology and psychophyics. Dude'n'dudettes, is that wild..

Freedom of Musical Imagination 

Here we enter the realm of music and mind, with potential insights into mental and social states, development (learning, motor skills) and self-perception and the study of interaction (user experience).

These are in themselves areas of potentially profound impact, again perhaps not entirely unique, but close to it.

Other USVs?

Maybe you've seen something I haven't. Can always leave a note in the comments..

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Keywords

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online music learning, online music lessons	distance music learning, distance music lessons	remote music lessons, remote music learning
p2p music lessons, p2p music learning	music visualisation music visualization	musical instrument models interactive music instrument models
music theory tools musical theory	p2p music interworking p2p musical interworking	comparative musicology ethnomusicology
world music international music	folk music traditional music	P2P musical interworking, Peer-to-peer musical interworking
WebGL, Web3D, WebVR, WebAR	Virtual Reality, Augmented or Mixed Reality	Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning
Scalar Vector Graphics, SVG	3D Cascading Style Sheets, CSS3D	X3Dom, XML3D