The two largest universities in Norway started a new joint international master’s program called “Music, communication and technology” (MCT) in 2018. MCT constitutes the framework for developing a new shared learning space (The Portal) for physical-virtual interaction, musical communication, and collaboration.The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated several challenges within hybrid teaching concerning the design of learning spaces and related pedagogical and technical issues. In our case, we identify challenges in delivering a hybrid learning space with spatial audio and discuss a method to implement such a solution in the context of spatial audio and ambisonics workshops developed for the MCT master’s program. We propose a stable but flexible technical solution for decoding higher-order ambisonics audio in two remote physical locations and into virtual environments in real-time, creating a continuum between the physical, hybrid, and online learning spaces mediated by technology.
Analyzing musical performances is a challenging and emergent field of computational music research, aiming to reveal performance patterns and link them to musical contexts. There exists a modest amount of computational research on Hardanger fiddle performances. The MIRAGE research project is currently contributing to this scientific body, developing advanced MIR frameworks that build on recent musicological research. This paper presents the development and evaluation of two Max/MSP/Jitter software applications for music analysis and data visualization that integrate contemporary research perspectives on the complex rhythmical structuring of springar performances, investigating how we can design user-friendly computational tools that explore performance patterns in Hardanger fiddle music, in collaboration with MIRAGE.
Based on a small questionnaire and a few operational tests, the study shows an interest in more effective software tools capable of revealing complex interrelations between musical dimensions in Hardanger fiddle performances. Additionally, the study highlights design considerations for tools aiming to increase the availability of computational music research in the field of musicology, such as cross-compatibility and integrated features that actively facilitate nuanced interpretation processes.