Computer Piano Performance Evaluation System At Hyogo University of Teacher Education

The Congregation of Attached Schools to National Universities Society staged in 1976 at Yashiro-cho, Hyogo-ken is still remembered as an avant-garde event in society of music education and musical instrument industry as well. The synthesizer ensemble by 15 girl students of Electronic Music Club of Akashi Attached Junior High school of Kobe University playing Gershwin's 'An American in Paris ' made a sensation. Never experimented before it proposed a possible near-future of school music education.

It was initiated and organized by Mr. Hiroshi Suzuki,then music teacher of the school , and now professor of Hyogo University of Teacher Education. He has been much mote involved in music education using electronic musical instruments and computer since then. Known as the author of some books including 'ABC of Synthesizer for very beginners' and 'The Best Effective Applications Of Computer To Music' ,he is apparently a trail brazer and master of music education capitalizing on computer and digital instruments.

He starts his column titled 'Music Education and DTM (Desktop Music) from this issue. Here's his theory and Story how he proceeds with his ideas in his music education.

Automatic performance analysis system

Founded in October, 1978 under new regulation of setting up national schools to raise qualified educators and improve teachers' ability, Hyogo University of Teacher Education is relatively a new institute among national colleges in Japan. Students study at Education Course to be teacher at pre-school and elementary school, while, graduates are encouraged to have better teaching technique for.pre-school, elementary, junior.and senior high schools. To serve the same purpose, there are two more schools, Jyoetsu and Naruto teachers colleges in western and southern regions in Japan.

Those colleges are known for their graduate course of which two thirds of total enrollments are reserved for teachers having more than 3 years of teaching experience at pre-schools and elementary schools. They provide more intensive expertise on education for teachers.

The huge campus site of Hyogo Teachers' College at Ureshino-dai, hillside of Yashiro-machi (town), Kato-gun(county), Hyogo-ken, accommodates diversified institutional facilities as well as dormitories for single and married students. Seventy per cent of 600 graduates and 800 college students live here.

Mr. Suzuki has his study room at its Art Building and is responsible for music course of The Center for Practical Education ,research,and Training . Besides teaching vocal, instrumental music, composition, conducting, musicology and music education, he supervises piano practice of students. His way is highly logical and scientific.

What assists his hi-tech piano lesson is the Yamaha Piano Player (Disklavier in overseas markets). When Yamaha introduced the instrument in the end of 1981, Mr.Suzuki had already started a study on performance analysis system by computer. The Piano Player accelerated to realize his idea. With 25 mil. yen special facility budget approved by the school administration, he introduced CAPIS (Computer Assisted Piano Instruction System) which is the fruit of his years of study in 1984.

The CAPIS comprises 63 Piano Players for students installed in 63 practice rooms, another 4 Piano Players exclusively used for reproduction of model performance, storage and display of performance data for students, and production of model performance data, a host of computers and printers to be used for performance analysis and evaluation, and filing and editing works. All the Piano-Players are old models introduced in the very beginning, however, they incorporate optical sensor system to detect information when piano strings are struck, specially remodeled for the system, as is standard to today's refined models. The system is run on diversified software including notation, performance analysis and data edit programs.

Scientific, data-based evaluation of performed music

The way how the system works is: firstly, students rent any floppy music disks which he or she wants to practice for the purpose of playback at any desired volume, tempo and key. Students are able to get definite image of a given music even which they have never heard of before:

Secondly, students enter their own performance in a blank floppy disk. They can reproduce the data and polish after self-analysis and some more practice. In the final stage, they bring their own floppy disk in another room where two Piano Players for playback of model performance only and data-entry are installed. They can produce the final performance disk playing the data-entry piano while listening to model performance on playback only piano. The two pianos are mechanically same as those in the practice rooms and tuned in the same pitch. The produced floppy disks are subject to analysis and evaluation by Mr. Suzuki.

Upon receipt of floppy disks from students, he applies them to his computer-controlled automatic analysis/evaluation system. The system reviews students' performance in as many factors as striking times of keys, timing of key strike, missing keys and how many missings there are, miss touches and how many times they appear, level and intensity difference of key touches on individual key in comparison with model performance data.

When different software are used, he can depict any of irregularities to be displayed and printed out. Since all performance data can be shown on display scores in realtime, it tells miss touches instantly in a visible way. Dynamics of individual note can be shown in 8 different colors on display according to performed level.

Thus, Mr. Suzuki can get very scientific data on performance level, tendency and specific characteristics of individual student ready for fact-based instluction. He says about the CAPIS, "I know there may be criticism on this system that evaluating music performance of individual student by computer can affect music education. We are not teaching would-be concert pianists, but help

raise music teachers. The CAPIS can show performance difference between student's music and model music analyzing by computer very precisely and matter-of-factly. As every analysis is done digitally, it only takes 1 minute to review a 5-minute music."

Students can use 63 private piano lesson rooms anytime of day. Two Piano Players are installed for production of performance floppy disks for analysis.

All students at teachers' colleges like Hyogo are required to learn piano as a compulsory subject. The CAPIS represents a very effective faculty-support system to give necessary advice and instruction on individual student.

In his report announced in 1988 on the CAPIS, Mr. Suzuki wrote.

--- My experiment to introduce computer and digital data processing in music education raised some friction and criticism among academies as many of them see music to be mystic and dignified under the name of art. However, history tells us that 'art' has been benefited from development of 'science' so far. I believe that scientific analysis and experiment are sure to help students study in logical step

before they come to acquire so called musical sense or unmeasurable subtlety of various musical factors. The system isn't complete and leaves a lot to be improved and further studied. music learning system. It can never replace human excellence in music. And I'm sure that 'artificial intelligence' and 'automatic analysis system' don't expel established music learning system, but can coordinate to establish better and effective measure to accomplish their goal. In fact, in the course of study, I've learned significant human abilities analyzing performance of master artists. Those studies told me what good performance has and what lacks in poor play. I was totally impressed with the real asset of art and human wisdom. I hope I can know more about the wonder of music through study of analog sound in the second stage of my work.---

To this day more than 2,000 students have experienced piano lesson in association with the CAPIS system at the school. How many can say that those graduates haven't realized the great possibilities of digital instruments and computer in music education? Hyogo isn't the only one music college which has introduced the CAPIS system and more and more students at Shizuoka and Naruto Teachers Colleges are taking advantage with the system.

Electronic musical instruments developed for music education

Mr. Suzuki is confident that electronic musical instruments including synthesizer are quite effective in music education, especially in early education. Says he,"There's no way that children in elementary or junior high schools learn or master any specific musical instrument. What is essential for them is that they know general system of music such as relationship of melody and rhythm, and experience as many different styles of music and instrumental voices. In essence, music education at this stage should be designed to make children have a general image of music itself. Electronic musical@instrument can do very good in classroom in this respect. It's certain that computer will be standard to elementary and junior high schools in the coming years. I understand that it may sound uneasy to introduce computer in music class because it's not a kind of subject which seeks one single answer. However, with DTM, it can clearly relate sounds with notes on display screen while listening to them. Children are benefited to understand music mole easily by ears and eyes. On the other hand, DTM can be a capable assistant for music teachers when they produce part scores and transpose music. I'm sure they will appreciate it because it considerably saves their time."

Admitting advantages of DTM and electronic musical instrument, however, he requests easier access to the hardware. He understands that synthesizer of these days are generally designed with easy operation in mind, but more improvement is required to be widely used by children and female teachers. He says that synthesizers on the market incorporate factory preset voices, but they often lack delicate sound. He isn't certain that that is because the manufacturers are more pop musicians-

conscious or concerned about ensemble music performed by 4 to 5 players. They have poor dynamics in general, so are not suitable for classical music. Some of those voices seem to be unpractical in sound creation to him. It's his assumption that electronic musical instrument and DTM are still designed and developed for pop music. That is, in turn, they don't meet requirement of school.

Mr. Suzuki creates his own sound every time for synthesizer ensemble concert of the school. It may be possible for well experienced music educators like him,however, a hard task for average music teachers. They may see electronic musical instrument as something to be avoided. Being a pioneer in music education using hi-tech digital gears, Mr. Suzuki expects the manufacturers of them to have closer look on school music education when they develop new products. (Masaru Sawano)

"MUSIC TRADE" 160-- 892