Knowledge Based Programming For Music Research

Knowledge-based Programming for Music Research

In Knowledge-Based Programming for Music Research, Schaffer and McGee explore expert systems for applications in artificial intelligence (AI). The text concerns (1) basic principles for knowledge-based programming, (2) concepts and strategies for programming these systems, (3) a "universal data" model for music analysis, and (4) examples that concern specific aspects of design and application. The authors also investigate Prolog (programming in logic), one of the most widely used computer languages for AI, and base some of their applications on the recent implication-based theories of Eugene Narmour. Of the applications for programming a knowledge-based system, music analysis has the most potential. Beyond identifying isolated elements, it is possible to create programs that extend to chord structures and other, more complex structures. This kind of programming allows the authors to embed the rules of composition in the application and then extend the analysis throughout the musical work. It also allows them to arrive at the underlying principles for a given composition. As a tool for music analysis, such programming has profound implications for further growth. The text is designed for musicians at various levels and could also be used in courses on computer-music programming. Parts of the book have been successfully used in courses on computer programming for music research, with which the authors have direct experience. The text includes extensive examples of code for use in individual Prolog applications and a comprehensive bibliography.

Musicology and Sister Disciplines

Drawing on the work of leading experts from around the globe, Musicology and Sister Disciplines provides the definitive, authoritative statement on the scope of musicology today and its relationship to other fields of academic endeavour, including philosophy and aesthetics, literary studies, art history, mathematics, computer science, historiography, and sociology. Presenting the Proceedings of the 16th Congress of the Musicological Society, held in London in 1997, Musicology and Its Sister Disciplines demonstrates how in recent years the scope of musicology has expanded to embrace such areas as semiotics, gender studies, and computer applications. All these key related disciplines are discussed - together with the implications of the so-called new musicology - alongside the traditional concerns of the discipline. Music is represented in all its forms, including jazz, popular music, film music, and the music of different ethnic groups and the broad-ranging theme of the collection is established at the outset by two keynote papers, by philosopher Bernard Williams and mathematician Roger Penrose. The volume contains the full texts of the Keynote Papers and Round Table sessions, reports on the Study sessions, and abstracts of the Free Papers and Poster Sessions.

Computers in Music Research