Good morning ladies and gentlemen.
My name is Philip Donner and I am
working at the net communication department of the International Centre of
Chamber Music in Kuhmo, Finland. I am a developer of systems and software
applications for real-time networked music education.
My counter-part Matti Ruippo is working for the Sibelius Academy in the city of Kuopio. His emphasis is on music net pedagogy, especially the translation of our joint products into functioning courses and training programs.
I have been asked to present some
aspects on my research and development effort. I'll focus on three areas of
music net pedagogy, where I have been active. They are:
·
Data Conferencing
·
Netcasting
·
Video Conferencing
Let's have a
look at problems I have tried to tackle and some of the innovatory solutions we
have been able to produce.
Data
Conferencing
Research and
development objective:
To create
methods of enhancing NetMeeting to become a platform for music distance
learning.
Key
innovation:
·
MIDI Combo - NetMeeting keyboard software
Educational use:
Various music theory courses including
·
Arrangement
·
Figured base
·
Transcription
·
Analysis
[Demonstration
of the use of MIDI Combo in a VC setting]
Netcasting
Research and
development objective:
To develop an easy-to-use suite of applications for production of educational material in conjunction with the software engine from RealNetworks.
Products:
·
RealPix Author - an animation utility
·
RealText Author - a text authoring utility
·
SMIL Composer - an application for the
integration of synchronized multimedia material
Educational
use:
·
'MuTe Netcasting' - a netcasted music technology
seminar
·
'Sonorous Texture' - a netcasted conference
·
Real-time multimedia presentations
·
Courses in the preparation of educational
multimedia material for on-demand distribution
[Demonstration
of authoring with the RealPix software]
Video
Conferencing
Research and
development objective:
Enhancing
standard VC equipment to produce music sound quality which is acceptable for
music education.
Key
innovation:
·
'HiFi Conferencing' - an ISDN-based stereo sound
transmission system replacing the telephone level sound of current VC equipment
Educational use:
Instrumental training in
·
Piano
·
Saxophone
·
Kantele
Masterclass
training in various fields of study, including
·
Violin
·
Conducting
Support
for studies in ensemble playing
·
Orchestral rehearsals
·
Low-end production system for net concerts
[Clip from a VC-based netconcert
production]
Closing Remarks
As you can see, music net education may take
many forms. I have been using a broadly based concept of product development
covering major aspects of real-time communication. The reason for this strategy
is the fact that we are right now quite concretely experiencing the convergence
of different modes of transmission.
Have a closer look at my presentation and you
will find a number of instances where one mode of communication intersects with
another.
If you find some of my work interesting I would
urge you to have a look at my web pages, which you can find at
[http://www.virtuosi.fi/pdonner/].
I am very grateful to the Finnish Ministry of
Education which strongly supports the Music Education On-line (MOVE) project,
which has played a central role in my work [http://movenet.fi/].
The Finnish Virtual University is a country-wide
program, which uniquely encompasses all universities of Finland. I would also
like to refer you to the English pages of the university at
[http://www.virtualuniversity.fi].
As your discussions are focused on the
potentials for international cooperation I would also like to bring to your
attention that the Finnish Academy [http://www.aka.fi/] has made international
cooperation into one of its top priorities.
I thank you very much for your attention.
-- Ph. Donner, 01.11.2002